Line #43 Music/AppetiteForDestruction


1	[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/appetite_for_destruction_vinyl_replacement_cover.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:320:''Just an urchin livin' under the street\
3	I'm a hard case that's tough to beat'']]
4	[[caption-width-right:320:[[labelnote:Click for the original CD version of this cover]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/appetite_for_description_cd_cover.jpg[[/labelnote]]\
5	[[labelnote:Click for the original cover (NSFW!)]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/appetite-for-destruction-original_3080.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]
6	->''She's got a smile it seems to me''\
7	''Reminds me of childhood memories''\
8	''Where everything was as fresh as the bright blue sky''\
9	\
10	''Now and then when I see her face''\
11	''She takes me away to that special place''\
12	''And if I'd stare too long, I'd probably break down and cry''
13	-->--'''"Sweet Child o' Mine"'''
14
15	->''"The singer's enthusiasm is [[RefugeInAudacity over-the-top enough]] to be [[BlackComedy both humorous and a little bit disturbing if you stop to think about it]]. He celebrates his own excess and lack of judgment enough that [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation it's difficult to tell whether to take it as just a momentary feeling of invincibility or the symptom of a deeper problem.]] And that complexity is part of the reason early Music/GunsNRoses had such tremendous power -- even though they took on [[SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll traditional heavy metal subject matter]], [[{{Deconstruction}} they sang about the ways people lived it out in the messy, unforgiving real world, not in some adolescent party fantasy.]]"''
16	-->-- '''[[WebVideo/YachtRock "Hollywood" Steve Huey]]''', ''All Music Guide''
17
18	''Appetite for Destruction'' is the debut studio album recorded by American HardRock band Music/GunsNRoses. It was released through Creator/GeffenRecords on July 21, 1987.
19
20	It entered the Billboard charts at the modest 182nd position upon release. A modest critical success at the time, the album began to creep up the charts thanks to strong word of mouth. Aided by a successful - [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes and still in-demand]] - appearance on MTV's "Live At The Ritz" series and the release of number-one hit "Sweet Child O' Mine", ''Appetite'' reached the number one slot in August 1988 and would remain on the charts for 147 weeks. Contemporary pop culture critics noted that shock value made up much of the Gunners' appeal, cynically exploiting taboo subject matter for more press; [[NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity this censure presumably only helped matters]].
21
22	In 2018, a Super Deluxe box set was released to celebrate the album's 30th anniversary. Alongside the standard tracklist, it includes several discs with demos, B-sides and live tracks, in addition to a number of merch.
23	----
24	!! Tracklist:
25	[[AC:Side G]]
26	# "Welcome To The Jungle" (4:31)
27	# "It's So Easy" (3:21)
28	# "Nightrain" (4:26)
29	# "Out Ta Get Me" (4:20)
30	# "Mr. Brownstone" (3:48)
31	# "Paradise City" (6:46)
32
33	[[AC:Side R]]
34	# "My Michelle" (3:39)
35	# "Think About You" (3:50)
36	# "Sweet Child O' Mine" (5:55)
37	# "You're Crazy" (3:25)
38	# "Anything Goes" (3:25)
39	# "Rocket Queen" (6:13)
40
41	----
42	!!Principal Members:
43
44	* Steven Adler - drums
45	* Duff [=McKagen=] - bass, vocals
46	* W. Axl Rose - lead vocals, synthesizer, whistle, percussion
47	* Slash - guitar
48	* Izzy Stradlin - guitar, vocals, percussion
49
50	----
51	!! ''You know where you are? You're in the trope list, baby! You're gonna die!''
52	* AlbumFiller: In an extremely rare case, intended filler track "Sweet Child O' Mine" became the band's single most famous song. The last minute even features Izzy Stradlin repeatedly asking "Where do we go?" - the band hit a brick wall trying to complete the lyrics, [[SureLetsGoWithThat and after Axl started questioning "Where do we go? Where do we go now?", the producer suggested that that become the last line.]] In spite of all that, a signature riff, an emotional vocal and a series of famous solos have made an iconic song out of a bit of "circus music" the band publicly bashed.
53	* AlternateAlbumCover: The original cover depicts the Robert Williams painting ''Appetite for Destruction'', which showcases a metallic monster bearing down on an oblivious robot rapist who's just finished assaulting a human woman. After retailers objected to the illustration and refused to stock the album, the painting was moved to the inner sleeve, and a new cover was designed featuring an illustration of the band members' skulls decorating a Celtic cross (which was originally included as a temporary tattoo).
54	* BadassBoast: "It's So Easy" has the straightforward "[[IHitYouYouHitTheGround See me hit you, you fall down!]]".
55	* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: "It's So Easy" is a song [[VictoryIsBoring about the emptiness of getting everything you want and living an easy life.]]
56	-->''Ya get nothin' for nothin' if that's what you do\
57	Turn around bitch I got a use for you\
58	Besides, you ain't got nothin' better to do,\
59	And I'm bored!''
60	* BigRockEnding: Most tracks. "Think About You" and "Rocket Queen" stand out for capping out tender songsparts.
61	* TheBigRottenApple: "Welcome To The Jungle" applies the trope to UsefulNotes/LosAngeles rather than the traditional UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity, [[WordOfGod as explained during the Ritz show.]]
62	-->'''Axl''': 'Bout five or six years ago, I hitch-hiked here and ended up stuck out in the middle of this place. Climbed up out of the free-way, this little old black man comes up to me and my friend with our backpacks and about ten bucks between us, and he goes, "You know where you are? You in the jungle, baby! You gonna die!" That's a true story, that ain't no lie! So, welcome to the jungle, Ritz!
63	* BSide: Live covers of "[[Music/{{ACDC}} Whole Lotta Rosie]]" and "[[Music/BobDylan Knockin On Heaven's Door]]" made it onto the back of ''Appetite'' singles.
64	** ChekhovsGun: A studio version of the latter would eventually appear on the follow-up ''[[Music/UseYourIllusion Use Your Illusion II]]''.
65	* CrazySurvivalist: "Out ta Get Me" is about a guy who's paranoid of the danger, but believes he can fend off the perils.
66	* CreepyCrosses: How else would you call the cross on the album cover, featuring five skulls of the band members?
67	* {{Deconstruction}}: Of hedonistic HairMetal subject matter, especially drug addiction and sexual conquest.
68	* DesignStudentsOrgasm: The original controversial album cover by Robert Williams. The replacement cover is by Billy White Jr.
69	* DrugsAreBad: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with.]] Drugs have negative consequences in these songs-- users can't get out of bed, built-up tolerance creates a cycle of abuse, and the comedowns are awful-- but the effects are depicted as positive as well. "When you're high, you never, ever wanna come down" indeed.
70	* EpicRocking: "Paradise City" and "Rocket Queen", both surpassing 6 minutes and with some tempo changes (though the former only goes faster aside from a break).
71	* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: LP and cassette releases split the tracklist across a "Side G" and a "Side R", referring to the "GNR" initialism for the band's name.
72	* TheImmodestOrgasm: For the moans in "Rocket Queen", Axl banged Steven Adler's girlfriend seeking revenge on the studio (leading the liner notes to credit the guy who caught it on tape as [[CreditsGag "The fuckin' engineer"]]). Slash notes in his autobiography that she was loud enough during sex [[RightThroughTheWall that he couldn't sleep]].
73	* IntercourseWithYou: "Anything Goes". The opening lyric is even "I've thinking 'bout, thinking 'bout sex".
74	* LyricalDissonance: Many don't notice how the narrator of "Paradise City" is going through a hard life - thus the suffering verses lead to an uplifting chorus that is basically "I wanna go home!".
75	* MoodWhiplash: The most tender songs ("Think About You" and "Sweet Child O'Mine") are between two really loud and brash tracks with content bordering on AntiLoveSong ("My Michelle" and "You're Crazy").
76	* OdeToIntoxication: "Nightrain", for alcohol. "Mr. Brownstone" for heroin.
77	* OneWomanSong: "My Michelle", "Rocket Queen".
78	* PowerBallad: Album closer "Rocket Queen" inverts the typical structure, starting off as a heavy rock song about propositioning an older woman and [[SongStyleShift winding its way down]] into a sensitive ballad.
79	* PrecisionFStrike: Many songs.
80	** "It's So Easy"
81	--->''"I see you standin' there/You think you're so cool/Why don't you just/Fuck off!"''
82	--->''"It's so easy, so fuckin' easy!"''
83	** "Out Ta Get Me"
84	--->''"I got somethin' I been buildin' up inside for so fuckin' long!"''
85	--->''"I'm fuckin' innocent!"''
86	** "Mr. Brownstone"
87	--->''"But that old man he's a real motherfucker"''
88	** "You're Crazy".
89	--->''"You're crazy (oh yeah) You're fucking crazy!"''
90	* RadioFriendliness: The band had a curious relationship with this trope, picking lyrics at times specifically to write "something that would get played on the radio" (particularly "Paradise City") but responded poorly to [[ExecutiveMeddling changes from without]], leading to CreatorBacklash against "Sweet Child O' Mine", whose single cut lost a solo. This, combined with Axl's sense that the then-emerging classic rock format cheapened songs by overplay, may have had something to do with the rash of radio-unfriendly [[EpicRocking marathon ballads]] on the ''[[Music/UseYourIllusion Illusion]]'' twins.
91	* RealLifeWritesThePlot: "My Michelle" about a friend of the band, a girl named Michelle Young, whose father indeed worked in the pornography industry and whose mother had suffered through a drug addiction and died.
92	* RefugeInAudacity: The original album cover featured a painting of a rape robot by Robert Williams. Certain songs glorify alcohol, drugs and sex.
93	** [[WordOfGod Axl Rose claimed]] that the original cover was going to be a photo of the Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' disaster used on the cover of ''Magazine/{{Time\|Magazine}}''. Mind you that this album was released in '''''1987'''''. Geffen ([[Administrivia/TropesAreTools thankfully]]) [[ExecutiveMeddling refused to allow it]].
94	* SameContentDifferentRating: The "clean" and explicit versions of the album are the same. The "clean" version is simply an unstickered version intended to be sold at Walmart and other locations that refuse to sell stickered content.
95	* SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll: The album's lyrics in a nutshell. Izzy even described "Think About You" as "a quick love song about drugs, sex, Hollywood and money".
96	* ShoutOut: "[[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica Captain America's]] been torn apart, now he's a court jester with a broken heart. He said, 'Turn me around and take me back to the start.'"
97	* SkullForAHead: The band members on the album cover.
98	* SpellMyNameWithAnS: "Nightrain" is a homage to a cheap Californian wine brand named ''Night Train Express'', deliberately spelled wrong in the song's title.
99	* SurprisinglyGentleSong: "Think About You" and "Sweet Child O'Mine". The last half of "Rocket Queen" too.
100	* TakeThat: "Sweet Child O' Mine" was the target of a famous TakeThat from the Music/RedHotChiliPeppers on 1989's ''Mother's Milk'', which used the famous riff at the end of "Punk Rock Classic", a song about pay-for-play.
101	* YoureInsane: "You're Crazy", where [[BreakupSong the insanity leads into break-up]].
102

Context Music / AppetiteForDestruction