I vividly remember the first time I ever saw or heard of Guns N' Roses. I was visiting a friend in suburban Memphis, and the video for "Sweet Child O' Mine" came on MTV. I was sold immediately. Soon after that, I bought Appetite on tape at Phar-Mor -- because that's the kind of thing a 10-year-old did in 1988. I even showed my mom the cover and asked her if I could buy it, just to be safe. For reasons that are still unclear to me, she said okay, even though it had a "parental advisory" sticker on it and featured five skulls on a cross.
Appetite's importance cannot be understated. It was raw, it was powerful, it was rock and fucking roll. I've heard people say that they were the last band that was dangerous, and I agree -- as I'm sure the guy who got hit in the head with a bottle thrown by Axl at a concert several years later in St. Louis would also agree. Upon my return from Phar-Mor, I went home and popped the tape in my boom box. Hearing "It's So Easy" -- and it's "why don't you just fuck off!" -- for the first time was an eye opener for a prepubescent suburban lad, but I absolutely loved it. And then, there was the artwork on the inner sleeve, showing what appears to be a flying robot dragon with knives for teeth about to exact revenge on a skeleton with a gun attached to his head who just raped a blindfolded woman who was selling little robot toys on the street. I still don't quite understand what's going on there, but apparently that was the original album cover artwork. You can understand why Geffen nixed that. And frankly, the actual album cover has become one of the most iconic in rock history.
I have never tired of Appetite. It's a first-ballot desert island album. There's not a bad song on it, and it spawned some of GNR's most beloved and well-known songs: "Sweet Child O' Mine," "Welcome to the Jungle," "Paradise City," and "Nightrain," to name a few, not to mention "Mr. Brownstone," "It's So Easy," "My Michelle," and my personal favorite, "Rocket Queen." Appetite is the best-selling debut album in music history, selling 18 million copies in the U.S. alone and about 30 million worldwide.
A few years ago, the band released Appetite on vinyl and in various formats, limited editions, and the like, as well as some demos from the album. I bought the normal vinyl version -- as opposed to the box set, which was like $800 -- and, as you can see above, it came with the plastic sleeve with the iconic skull cover artwork, but the actual album cover was the nixed original album cover. The version I have is spread out into three sides, which gives me a chance to tell you about three songs instead of two. God, I love this album -- and I hope you do too, or that you will use this social distancing time to get acquainted with it either for the first time or once again.
Favorite song from Side 1: "Nightrain"
After the emotional journey of the aforementioned "It's So Easy," the third track on the album is the fast-paced and fun-loving "Nightrain." When I was a kid, I thought this song was about the band's journey on a very fast train. As it turns out, it's about a cheap wine that was one of the only things the band could afford to drink before they made it big. One of the highlights of my adult life is drinking Night Train Express while listening to "Nightrain."
Favorite song from Side 2: "My Michelle"
It was really hard to choose between "Mr. Brownstone" and "My Michelle," but I decided on "My Michelle," rather than the song detailing the ups and downs of heroin addiction. As you can imagine, as a ten-year-old, hearing the first line of this song was eye opening. "Your daddy works in porno / Now that mommy's not around / She used to love her heroin / But now she's underground." I mean, holy shit. Does it get more real than that? Interestingly, "My Michelle" is based on a woman named Michelle Young that the band used to hang out with. Axl originally wrote it as a romantic song, but then decided to be honest about Michelle's life and completely changed the song into the dark and raunchy song it became.
Favorite song from Side 3: "Rocket Queen"
"Rocket Queen" was, is, and will always be my favorite Guns N' Roses song. As the last song off of Appetite, it's a suitable ending to the greatest selling debut album of all-time. The song is apparently about a chick the band knew in LA, Barbi Von Greif, who wanted to form a band called Rocket Queen, and it's kind of an ode to her. What a perfect name for female '80s Sunset Strip scenester, by the way.
There are two distinct parts to the song. The first part starts off with a bang, as Steven Adler drives the song with a relentless drum beat, followed by Duff's driving bass line. Then you get that raunchy riff from Slash that repeats throughout the first part of the song, before Axl breaks in and does what Axl does. I have always loved the first lines of the chorus: "Here I am, and you're a rocket queen / I might be a little young, but honey, I ain't naïve." As a 10-year-old, I could relate –- not to the part about the rocket queen, but about being young, but not naïve, honey. Then again, I'm pretty sure Appetite for Destruction was the sole reason I was no longer naïve when I was 10 years old.
During the break, right around the 2:20 mark to the 3-minute mark, you can hear a woman moaning, which is, in fact, the sound of Steven Adler's girlfriend at the time, Adriana Smith, copulating (or pretending to copulate) while getting banged in the studio. The only problem was that it was Axl Rose, and not Steven Adler, who was banging her. Needless to say, things between Adler and Smith kind of deteriorated after that. Actually, it's probably more accurate to say that things between Adler and everything deteriorated after that.
Then, around the 3:25 mark, the song kicks into the second part, which is essentially a different song, but the parts flow together quite well. The second part is a relatively touching message of hope and friendship from Axl, who explains that he'll be there for this chick whenever she needs him. "If you need a shoulder / Or if you need a friend / I'll be here standing / Until the bitter end" has to be one of the genuinely nicest and supportive lines in the Guns N' Roses catalog.
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