Although critics at first had mixed feelings toward the album, Appetite for Destruction is now liked by critics and is considered as one of the greatest albums of all time. In 2018, it was re-released as a remastered box set with critics liking it too.
Background
Guns N' Roses first recordings were for a planned EP in March 1985. This was shortly after the band formed. The recording included a cover of "Heartbreak Hotel". "Don't Cry ", "Think About You" and "Anything Goes".[1] The EP did not happen because original guitaristTracii Guns left the band. He was replaced by Slash.[2] Shortly afterward, a new lineup of Axl Rose, Duff McKagan, Slash, Steven Adler and Izzy Stradlin was confirmed.[3] This is the classic lineup for the band.
After playing many shows in Los Angeles clubs, the group signed with Geffen Records in March 1986.[4] In December 1986, the group released the four-song EP Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide, which was made to keep people interested in the band while it started work in the studio.[5][6] The label also thought the band didn't have enough songs, so they made the EP.[7]
Singer Axl Rose said that many of the songs on the album were written while the band was performing on the Los Angeles club circuit, and a number of songs that would be featured on later Guns N' Roses albums were considered for Appetite for Destruction, such as "Back Off Bitch", "You Could Be Mine", "November Rain" and "Don't Cry". "November Rain" was not put on the album because "Sweet Child O' Mine" is already on it. They only wanted one ballad.[8][9]
Producer Spencer Proffer was hired to record "Nightrain" and "Sweet Child o' Mine" to test if he could work with the band.[10] They eventually recorded nine songs during these sessions, including "Heartbreak Hotel", "Don't Cry", "Welcome to the Jungle" and "Shadow of Your Love".[10] In mid to late 1986, the band recorded demos with Nazareth guitarist Manny Charlton,[10] which were released in 2018. (See Below for more info)
The band at first considered Paul Stanley of KISS to produce, but he was rejected after he wanted to change Adler's drum set more than Adler wanted.[10]Robert John "Mutt" Lange was also considered, but the label didn't want to spend the extra money on a famous producer.[10] Ultimately, Mike Clink (who had produced several Triumph records) was chosen,[11] and the group recorded "Shadow of Your Love" first with Clink as a test.[10]
In 1999, Rose re-recorded the album with the lineup at the time (Rose, Robin Finck, Tommy Stinson, Paul Tobias, Josh Freese, Dizzy Reed & Chris Pitman) to "spruce up" the album with new recording techniques.[12] The re-recorded version of the album was never released, although an edited clip of "Sweet Child O' Mine" featuring the second half of the song using the re-recorded version was included over the credits of the movie Big Daddy in 1999.
Track listing
Original release
All songs written and composed by Guns N' Roses, except where noted.
A fifth disc is included; a Blu-ray disc, which has 96 kHz 24-bit 5.1 Surround Sound & Remastered Stereo mixes, mixed by Elliot Scheiner and Frank Filipetti. It includes all of Appetite for Destruction, alongside bonus tracks "Shadow of Your Love", "Patience", "Used to Love Her", "You're Crazy", and "Move to the City (1988 Acoustic version)". In addition, it includes music videos for "Welcome to the Jungle", "Sweet Child O' Mine", "Paradise City", "Patience", and a previously unreleased video of "It's So Easy".[14]
Deluxe edition
All songs written and composed by Guns N' Roses, except where noted.
↑Dr. Rock (June 16, 2010). "Giving It Both Barrels: Dr Rock Takes On Tracii Guns Of The LA Guns". TheQuietus.com. Archived from the original on April 20, 2013. Retrieved June 9, 2015. Guns: "And then I lasted for about seven or eight months in that, and then Axl and I got into an extraordinary fight ... and we did two shows after that argument and then I left. It just wasn't fun anymore."
↑McKagan, Duff (2011). Stacy Creamer (ed.). It's so Easy (and other lies). Collaboration by Tim Mohr. Touchstone. p. 37. ISBN978-1-4516-0664-5.