LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-JULY 21, 2019…A MONUMENTAL DAY FOR ROCK N’ ROLL. GUNS N’ ROSES ‘APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION’ WAS RELEASED ON THIS DAY 32 YEARS AGO AND IT WAS A MASSIVE ALBUM.
G ‘N”EFFIN R’s APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION WAS RELEASED ON THIS DAY 32 YEARS AGO AND IT WAS MASSIVE !
HERE’S SOME QUICK ‘APPETITE’ TIDBITS:
-THE ALBUM SPENT 147 WEEKS ON THE BILLBOARD 200
-IT WAS POWERED BY 3 MASSIVE SINGLES ‘WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE’ ‘SWEET CHILD O’ MINE’ AND ‘PARADISE CITY’
-THE RECORD WAS CERTIFIED 18 TIMES PLATINUM FOR SALES OVER 18 MILLION COPIES SOLD IN THE U.S.A.
-TO DATE “APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION” HAS SOLD OVER 30 MILLION COPIES WORLDWIDE.
-IT IS THE BEST SELLING MUSIC DEBUT ALBUM OF ALL-TIME.
-THE INFAMOUS ALBUM COVER WAS ACTUALLY THE 3RD COVER CONSIDERED BY THE BAND, AND CAME ABOUT AS A COMPROMISE BETWEEN THE BAND AND THE RECORD COMPANY
-IN AN INTERVIEW CIRCA 2011, AXL ROSE REVEALED HIS ORIGINAL IDEA FOR THE COVER WAS A PHOTO OF THE SPACE SHUTTLE CHALLENGER EXPLODING. THE RECORD COMPANY SAID NO WAY.
-THE ORIGINAL ARTWORK WAS AN IMAGE BASED ON THE ROBERT WILLIAMS PAINTING OF THE SAME NAME. THIS COVER DEPICTED A GIRL WITH HER PANTS AROUND HER ANKLES, A ROBOT RAPIST, AND A METAL AVENGING ANGEL ABOUT TO TAKE REVENGE. GEFFEN, THE BAND’S LABEL, HAD TO WHIP UP AN ALTERNATIVE WHEN SEVERAL RETAILERS REFUSED TO STOCK THE ALBUM.
THE ORIGINAL COVER
THE “COMPROMISE” COVER OF A CROSS WITH THE SKULLS OF THE 5 MEMBERS WAS ORIGINALLY DESIGNED AS A TATTOO AND THE KNOT WORK
IN THE CROSS IS A REFERENCE TO ONE OF AXL’S FAVORITE BANDS, THIN LIZZY.
-A RECORD COMPANY DOUCHEBAG ALMOST NIPPED THE ALBUM’S SUCCESS IN THE BUD. ONCE ‘APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION’ HIT THE 200,000 SALES MARK, THE RECORD COMPANY CONSIDERED CUTTING THEIR PROMOTIONAL BUDGET TO PROMOTE THE RECORD AND WERE GOING TO GET THE GROUP TO GO BACK INTO THE STUDIO AND WORK ON A FOLLOW UP INSTEAD.
INSTEAD, SOMEONE CONVINCED THE COMPANY TO KEEP PROMOTING THE RECORD AND IT IT WENT ON TO SELL OVER 30 MILLION COPIES. I WONDER IF THE GENIUS THAT WANTED TO CUT EXPENSES STILL HAS A JOB ?
-‘OUT TA GET ME TELLS THE STORY OF ROSE’S TROUBLE WITH THE LAW GROWING UP IN INDIANA
– ‘NIGHTRAIN’ IS A TRIBUTE TO THE CHEAP WINE THE BAND USED TO DRINK IN THEIR EARLY DAYS BECAUSE IT WAS INEXPENSIVE AND PACKED A HIGH ALCOHOL CONTENT
-‘PARADISE CITY’ HOLDS THE UNIQUE DISTINCTION AS THE ONLY SONG ON THE ALBUM TO FEATURE A SYNTHESIZER.
-SLASH SAID THAT ‘PARADISE CITY’ WAS WRITTEN IN THE BACK OF A VAN ON THE WAY BACK FROM A GIG IN SAN FRANCISCO. SLASH WANTED THE LYRICS
“Take me down to the Paradise City/ Where the girls are fat and they’ve got big titties.” HOWEVER THE BAND WENT WITH ROSE’S LINE “Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty.”
-‘MR.BROWNSTONE’ IS ABOUT THE PROBLEM THE BAND USED TO HAVE WITH HEROIN. THE ORIGINAL LYRICS WERE JOTTED DOWN ON THE BACK OF A GROCERY BAG.
-ICONIC GNR SONGS ‘NOVEMBER RAIN’ ‘YOU COULD BE MINE’ AND ‘DON’T CRY’ WERE ALMOST INCLUDED ON ‘APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION’ BUT WERE PUT ON HOLD FOR VARIOUS REASONS. IN THE CASE OF ‘NOVEMBER RAIN’ IT WASN’T INCLUDED BECAUSE THE ALBUM ALREADY HAD THE BALLAD ‘SWEET CHILD O’ MINE’
-SLASH SAID THAT ‘WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE’ TOOK THREE HOURS TO WRITE. AXL SAID HE WAS INSPIRED TO WRITE THE LYRICS WHEN HE WAS A RUNAWAY AS A TEENAGER. HE RAN INTO A HOMELESS MAN AS HE WAS GETTING OFF THE BUS IN NEW YORK CITY. THE GUY WAS YELLING AT ROSE
“You know where you are? You’re in the jungle baby. You’re gonna die!!”
-‘SWEET CHILD O’ MINE’ STARTED DURING A JAM SESSION AFTER SLASH JOKINGLY PLAYED A CIRCUS MELODY AND WAS CLOWNING STEVEN ADLER WHILE PLAYING. IZZY STRADLIN HAD HIM PLAY THE RIFF AGAIN WHILE DUFF ADDED A BASS LINE AND ADLER ADDED A BEAT. MEANWHILE, AXL ROSE WAS UPSTAIRS LISTENING TO THE JAM SESSION, AND HE WROTE SOME LYRICS.
WHEN THEY ALL PLAYED IT TOGETHER, ROSE WONDERED “WHERE DO WE GO? WHERE DO WE GO NOW?” THE BAND LOVED IT AND TOLD HIM HE HAD TO MAKE THAT PART OF THE SONG.
-RATHER THAN DO THE TRADITIONAL “A” & “B” SIDES ON THE VINYL AND CASSETTES, ‘APPETITE’ IS SPLIT INTO “G”&“R” SIDES. THE “G” SIDE DEALT WITH DRUGS AND HARD CITY LIFE, THE “R” SIDE WERE ALL ABOUT LOVE, SEX, AND RELATIONSHIPS.
-THE TOTAL BUDGET FOR THE RECORD WAS $370,000.
-THE BASIC TRACKS WERE RECORDED IN TWO WEEKS. THE ACTUAL MUSIC WAS RECORDED IN JUST 6 DAYS. THE VOCALS TOOK LONGER BECAUSE AXL IS A PERFECTIONIST AND DID THE TRACKS ONE LINE AT A TIME.
-RATHER THAN DO THE TRADITIONAL “A” & “B” SIDES ON THE VINYL AND CASSETTES, ‘APPETITE’ IS SPLIT INTO “G”&“R” SIDES. THE “G” SIDE DEALT WITH DRUGS AND HARD CITY LIFE, THE “R” SIDE FEATURED SONGS THAT WERE ALL ABOUT LOVE, SEX, AND RELATIONSHIPS.
HERE’S THE OFFICIAL VIDEO FOR “WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE”
