Guns n' Roses – Appetite for Destruction (1987)

Guns and Roses was the first band I was ever a proper fan of. When I was about 9 years old and learning to play the guitar, there was nothing better than Guns n' Roses. The band used images of skulls and monsters on their album covers, they had swear words in their lyrics and they had the coolest music videos of the day, so of course a pre-teen like myself was sold. Also, Gn'R was probably the world's biggest band around that time. My big sister already owned Appetite for Destruction on a CD, so I only got my copy later on, but my personal first ever CD was Gn'R's Use Your Illusion I that my parents brought me from their trip to London. It's safe to say that not many other bands have had such a huge influence on me than this band. I was so proud of myself when I eventually learned to play the intro riff for Sweet Child O' Mine.



I personally like the Use Your Illusion era even more than Appetite for Destruction. Probably because that was what was hot when I got interested in the band, or probably because those albums have slightly more melodic songs than Appetite for Destruction on which every single song is quite loud, fast-tempo and hard in sounds. However, Appetite for Destruction seems to be the album that people remember better years later. And I can see that this album was the one that really changed the world by bringing something new to the world.

We had a band with my friends at school. None of us really knew how to play our instruments, but it was all about attitude. We looked up to Gn'R and therefore our lead singer would run around stage in shorts, while the guitar player had the widest leg pose while playing and I on the bass kept my bass strap really loose so that the bass hung around my knees. We watched all the videos we could get our hands on and we tried to learn all the riffs in their songs, even though they were way too complicated for kids that age.

There are numerous hits from this album, but I actually tend to like songs that weren't big hits more. Instead of Welcome to the Jungle, Paradise City and Sweet Child O' Mine that were playing everywhere and that you can still hear here and there in pubs and clubs, I prefer songs such as Mr. Brownstone, Think About You and Rocket Queen. Those songs have amazing melodies and the best part is that they're not as monotonous when it comes to their structure. There are surprises waiting for you even after you've heard the verse and chorus once.

At the same time as I was learning to play the guitar, I also watched lots of MTV. Back then MTV still mainly showed music videos and Gn'R videos would frequently come up and I would tape those songs onto a VHS. Therefore I remember many of these music videos really well. I choose my favourite of the hit songs to link here. Sweet Child O' Mine has a great black and white music video that shows the energy the band had on stage while playing. I've unfortunately never seen the band live but I just made a pact with a friend of mine that the next time if they'll perform in London, we'll go. Back in the day I learned the great bass line of this song by heart and I was so super proud of myself. it's a great bass line still today.

I don't listen to that much Gn'R anymore, but whenever I do, I get really nostalgic and I remember why I liked this band in the first place. It is by far my favourite hard rock band of all times and their music originally inspired me to learn how to play guitar and bass and for that I must be ever grateful.

Listen to the album on Spotify.