10 Greatest Classic Rock Songs Of The 1980s

Guns N Roses are everything that you would want in a rock band. Though their arrival on the hard rock scene came a little later in the decade than their contemporaries, their debut album Appetite For Destruction was the moment where rock found its real swagger again.

Much has been said about the dangerous sound of the band, but the songs won't mean a thing if there isn't any heart behind it. Bringing the entire record full circle was "Sweet Child O Mine," whose performance mesmerized each listener who tuned in. Written at first as a joke, frontman Axl Rose quickly expanded on the band's sketches before coming up with one of the most heartfelt songs of the era.

Many bands on the LA scene had had their trademark power ballad song, but this tune felt more genuine than anything the pinups from Hollywood were doing at the time. The sound also hasn't dwindled with age, with the crisp guitars still cutting through every time they are played over the radio. In that respect, Guns N Roses have done something very few have been able to accomplish: having a song with one foot in the classic rock realm while also steering the path towards rock's future.