The Bottom Line
Pros
- This is a complete, genuine album, not just a collection of songs or some hits surrounded by filler.
- Like all hard rock should be, the record is threatening, raucous, explosive and unpredictable.
- Despite its in-your-face approach, the music somehow manages to be highly accessible.
Cons
- Axl Rose's screech can be a bit offputting, though it fits the music well.
Description
- Proves that uncompromising rock can generate over-the-top pop chart success.
- Hit No. 1 on the album charts, with three Top 10 hits, including the No. 1 "Sweet Child O' Mine."
- The album's brilliance almost excuses Axl's bizarre behavior for the last decade or so. Almost.
Guide Review - Guns N' Roses - 'Appetite for Destruction' Album Review
"It's So Easy" stands as a particularly strong early highlight, confidently hitting the listener while his or her nose is still bloodied from "Welcome to the Jungle." Then "Nightrain" and "Mr. Brownstone" continue to plumb the seedy depths of modern urban life, supported to perfection by Steven Adler's thunderous drumming and the unbelievably deft, dueling dual-guitar contributions of Slash and Izzy Stradlin. I mean, twin guitars had been used impressively before in rock, but with all due respect, Boston and even Iron Maiden could never muster the raw passion and improvisational feel that these two guitarists deliver here.
Very arguably the best song on the album could be "My Michelle," a blistering and devastating song about doom and lost innocence in the city that contains a lyrical opening that just slams the listener over the head as if with an unidentified blunt object. The ultimate result of listening to this album is the kind of exhilaration that only comes when good parts make up a better whole.
