GUNS N ROSES | APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION
One of the biggest-selling albums of all time is a perfectly sleazy unapologetic dose of sex, drugs, and rock & roll. While hair metal bands were plentiful in the late 80’s, GNR stormed onto the scene with a brash debut that dismissed itself from all contemporaries in its genre. This was flash and dirt all at the same time.
Axl Rose was an atom bomb of energetic rebellion, exploding over every song with hedonistic lyrics and menacing delivery. His voice itself was sharp as razors, mirroring the potency of intent in everything he touched. There was no excuse for who he was or what the band was doing on or off the stage. Women came easy, drugs were rampant, and alcoholism (namely Jack Daniels) was an essential part of the scene. It’s hard to separate the music itself from the world of debatchary around it and the influence of the sunset strip in Hollywood in late eighties. No band did it better, cooler, or more celebratory while still being respected.
This is a classic album that defines an era, genre, and cultural movement all at once. The world was never the same after the opening riff of “Welcome To The Jungle” stumbled into action, as Slash announced the arrival of the newest guitar God, one that was equally both parts raunch and slickness. By the end of the decade every direction the wind blow carried “Paradise City” and “Sweet Child O Mine” to the virginal ears of the masses.
The album shaped what was to come in rock music by having pop sensibility while remaining completely dangerous and uncontrived. This kind of magic doesn’t come often and the band has struggled since to find that kind of impedance and potency without becoming bloated and pompous like some of their later albums. There are no dramatic Elton John inspired piano ballads in their catalogue yet and the focus is on bluesy riffs and bare bones guitar.
Rocket Queen and Mr. Brownstone are head-bobbing standards that cast a grimy glow around the audience. There’s a certain inner-rebellion inside all of us waiting to be unleashed in our hearts, and that is why the album remains as potent today as ever.
In “It’s So Easy” we hear Axl oozing with confidence as he dips his voice into a lower register and slithers through the lyrics “Why don’t you just, f**k off!” He manages to steer off being schlocky and simultaneously creates one of the best sing-a-long moments in history. “Out Ta Get Me” paints the picture of a fantasy world where badasses are being chased by cops, haters, or anyone who just “doesn’t get it.” It’s all a great theatre of playful excess.
Welcome To The Jungle
4 oz Jack Daniels
*Straight from the bottle
Alternate Version
3 oz Jack Daniels
1 oz spiced rum
3 oz of cola
lime wedge
*Pour over ice in a rocks glass. Top with the cola and lime wedge.