Guns N’ Roses
Appetite For Destruction
The Band: Axl Rose- vocals
Slash- lead guitar
Izzy Stradlin- rhythm guitar
Duff McKagan- bass
Steven Adler- drums
Guns N’ Roses. Without a doubt one of the most innovative bands of the late 1980’s. You see at this point in music history the music scene was dominated by Glam Metal. But Guns N’ Roses brought in a new bread of hard rock that people immediately went nuts over. It was unlike anything they had ever heard before. Axl’s unique vocals instantly grabbed peoples attention and then once the individual was intrigued Slash’s marvelous solos roped them in further. Then once the listener had their foot in the door the solid bass and drums pulled them in and then locked the door.
At the time there was just something about GNR that people found simply irresistible and it wasn’t just the music. A big part of their popularity was their onstage antics. The band has been known to excessively drink and smoke on stage among other things. Such as varied types of horse play and I believe Axl even made orgasmic noises a few times on stage. Or, so I’ve heard. If he actually did so it was probably during a solo and he didn’t know what to do so he just made orgasmic noises, I guess. The band also had little signature things about them that made people not only notice them but remember them. For instance their band names Axl, Slash, Izzy and Duff. They also had other little trademark things like Slash’s top hat.
Now, time to dissect the instrumentals. We’ll start with the guitar. The rhythm guitar was splendid. It varied between power chords, actual chords and some catchy riffs. Although, it wasn’t entirely flawless. I may be nit-picking but some songs should have had a cleaner tone to start out with. For, example “Paradise City”. It had a nice G chord based intro but it wasn’t quite as clean as I would’ve liked it to be. I noticed this at other times in the album as well. I also noticed that here and there, there was too much distortion and some notes ran together. But again, I’m just being picky and I wanted to describe the rhythm guitar a little more than just one sentence. Anyways, the other than that the rhythm guitar is stupendous. Especially in “Sweet Child O’ Mine”. Now, onto the lead guitar. Which was in my opinion, completely flawless. Slash is definitely a contender for greatest guitarist of all-time. Every solo was simply genius. Usually good length. Fairly long but not too long. Lots of huge bends and super fast hammer ons and pull offs. Slash also threw in some wah for some solos. Which was great. Wah being one of my favourite FX. For some of the cd’s best solos I’d recommend “Sweet Child O’ Mine”, “Welcome To The Jungle” and “You’re So Crazy”.
Onto the bass. Unlike most bands at the time the bass had a pretty major role on the album. Several songs had little bass interludes and bridges that really completed the song. The majority of the bass lines were very powerful. I don’t know why but “chugging” seems to be a good adjective to describe them. They had a certain sound to them that’s difficult to describe. It’s almost like the notes blended together, yet you could here every one perfectly individually as well. It seemed like you could here the string vibrating. If that makes sense. Anywho, other than the supreme FX used on the bass, the bass lines themselves very well written. Aside from being extremely well written, the bass also did a good job of doing it’s main job. Keeping the rhythm. Props to Duff, he just moved up a few spots in my list of all-time favourite bassists.
And onto the drums. Which weren’t overly fancy. There were lots and lots of simple beats, but I didn’t mind this too much. Mainly because a vast majority or drummers overuse simple beats. I guess there’s nothing wrong with that, I just like the see people mix things up a bit. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that the drums were bad. They were actually more than adequate. There were some very nice fills and roll beats here and there. I just thought they were a tad simple, especially compared to the rest of the bands instrumental skill. The drums also did an excellent job of keeping the beat. Unlike most people when I listen to music I keep one ear open to see whether or not the drummer is in time, and as far as I can tell Steve was on his game the whole way through.
Now I’d like to give a brief description of the vocals. To be very frank, they were ridiculously high-pitched. I’m not quite sure why Axl enjoys such an illustrious reputation in the vocal department. I mean sure, they weren’t
that bad. But I’ve heard people describe him as one of the best vocalists ever. I can’t imagine how he would be even close. At some points they weren’t too high pitched I suppose, but some points just made your ears ring. Although, the vocals didn’t take anything away from the album, and although Axl’s vocals aren’t great they’re the only ones that truly suite this album.
Pros: Instrumentals
Well produced
Bass was more involved than most bands at the time
Cons: Vocals
Overall Rating: 5/5
This album is truly classic. I very, very strongly encourage all of you out there to look into this if you haven’t already done so. Other than a few little details here and there it’s flawless. I especially recommend this to any guitarists out there. Slash has some truly outstanding solos and their very fun to learn. So, once again this album is excellent. If you want anymore proof, take this into consideration. It’s sold more copies than other album ever. Now I know how many copies it sells has little to do with the music, but it has to count for something. Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.
Metallicaman
