This album opens with "Welcome To The Jungle". There's nothing really wrong with this song per say (I have no idea how to spell that, and for potential comedic effect I won't look it up). It's a solid late 80s hair metal tune. But there was this VH1 special a few years back that named this song at the top of its 100 hardest rock songs of all time. Which is just completely wrong, especially when number 3 on that list was "Whole Lotta Love" by Led Zeppelin. I think number 2 was "Back In Black" by ACDC. Either of those songs are superior to "Welcome To The Jungle" but seriously... if a Led Zeppelin tune comes in that close to the top an executive decision should be made- Guns N' Roses and ACDC do not rock harder than Led Zeppelin. Not even close. It doesn't matter the song. Except for maybe "D'yer Ma'ker"...
But anyway, it was a TV show on VH1, so it's not like it carried any weight. I mean fucking Kid Rock showed up on that list. In any case I should probably talk about the album I'm listening to as I write this.
So far there's nothing special about Appetite For Destruction. It's a solid rocker, but I'm unimpressed with the vocals, bass player, and drummer. Axl Rose clearly wants to be Bon Scott or Brian Johnson (speaking of ACDC) but winds up doing a weak and squeaky impression. The rhythm section just kinda plods along and does its thing. The two guitarists, Slash and Izzy Stradlin, are more impressive, but I got the idea while listening that there was only one guitarist in Guns N' Roses. Some of the guitar work is very good, but most is repetitive riffing, and the sound and arrangment vary little between songs. I would have been more impressed if this were one guitarist playing both parts, but I don't have a good explanation as to why. It's just a feeling.
I haven't heard this song "Mr. Brownstone" in a long time, and I completely forgot it was by Guns N' Roses. For now it's my favorite song by this band. I also forgot about "Paradise City" which starts off as such a cheesy hair metal song that I have to kinda love it, though it is a tad long. I've never heard "I Think About You" and I kinda like it- very heavy, a bit noisy, but it has a cool acoustic overdub that I enjoyed.
And of course, this album features "Sweet Child O' Mine". I don't really have a huge problem with this song, though I do think it's overrated. One thing that strikes me is the famous riff and a lot of the background guitar work are pretty much just noodling and aren't very inspired. I doubt I ever made it through the whole song to the closing, "where do we go now?" segment, not that I was missing much. It's a clunky way to end such an, ahem, "epic" song.
There's a song later in the album that contains what sounds like Axl having sex with some lady. Not cool. I never want to think about Axl Rose having sex. So the album left on a sour note, but I was actually pleasantly surprised by how good most of this material was. Sure it was cliched and repetitive but that's what I expect from hair metal. The little bit extra Guns N' Roses did is enough to say I liked it. 3 stars.
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