My Appetite For Destruction Story

So, Guns N' Roses debut album Appetite For Destruction was released 30 years ago. I contend that it is the best hard rock album ever made from start to finish. But that is not the point of my story.

I was in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area that summer (I was in college at the time) and listening to the now defunct (I think) Z-ROCK which had mandatory Metallica every hour (played one Metallica song every hour).

I kept hearing this song by this new band Guns N' Roses. Never heard of them, but, damn, that song was good. That trip also introduced me to Faster Pussycat, apropos of nothing.

I knew I would be entering radio wasteland on my trip home, so before I left I stopped by a record store and purchased Appetite, on cassette (I wore out two of those before I got a CD player).

Four hour drive and it played the whole time. I was so enamored with this album. I played it a lot the rest of the summer and when I returned to college was excited to share it with my buddies. Their reaction was pretty "meh". Whatever. There were a few of us that really dug it and listened to it all the time.

Fastforward a year. "Sweet Child O' Mine" was released as a single in August of 1988. MTV blew it up. Suddenly all the "meh" people had a copy of Appetite. At that point I was already on my second cassette.

Did I feel vindicated? Maybe, a little. I was just happy that this masterpiece of an album was being appreciated.

Side note: Slash's and Izzy's rhythm parts are not stereo. Slash is on the right and Izzy on the left. Slash's solos are stereo, Izzy's solo in "Think About You" is only on the left. So, if you're a real music nerd/audiophile, you can hear two different albums.

Guns N' Roses

Given that Appetite For Destruction is one my favorite albums of all time, the Guns N' Roses "reunion" should excite me much more than it does. But I just get a big feeling of meh.

A little history first.

The first Guns song I heard was "Paradise City" on Z-Rock. This was before Guns N' Roses was a thing. I bought the cassette (yes, the cassette) and took it back to college with me. I played it for everyone I knew. Most didn't get it until......"Sweet Child O' Mine" hit MTV. Then, boom! Guns N' Roses was everywhere.

From start to finish, Appetite is one of the best hard rock albums of all time. You can argue it's placement, but not that is belongs.

The five people that made that record - Axl Rose, Slash, Duff McKagan, Izzy Stradlin and Steven Adler - are what Guns N' Roses will always be to me. Those five guys made magic on that album.

Rumors swirl. Who's in, who's out. So far, from what I've heard, it's Axl, Slash and Duff confirmed. Which is great, but I'm just really not interested unless Izzy and Adler are there. And no one else. No offense to Matt Sorum, Gilby Clarke, Dizzy Reed or any of the numerous musicians to play in whatever version of Guns N' Roses Axl chose to put together, but those five are Guns N' Roses.

Personally, I wouldn't want to see a Guns N' Roses all-star cast. It's those five original members or nothing for me.

Anyone who chooses to go to the shows, more power to you. Especially those of you who never knew the original Guns. It will be great. And you'll enjoy it. Just not for me.

Now, if in the next few days/weeks/months it turns out that it is Axl, Slash, Duff, Izzy and Adler? I'm all in. But until that is confirmed.......

Now let's enjoy something from Appetite For Destruction: