10 Perfect Albums That Defined The '80s
2. Appetite for Destruction - Guns N Roses
As the '80s wore on, hair metal's reign over MTV was starting to get a little bit flimsy. Though we still had bands like Van Halen and Motley Crue that were tearing up the charts, the new school of bands were just getting a little too ridiculous to actually take seriously anymore. In between the Wingers and Warrants of the day, a couple of misfits from the dark side of LA gave us a refresher course on how great rock and roll is done.
Being equally parts punk and classic rock, Guns N Roses hit the ground running with Appetite for Destruction, with Slash and Axl Rose becoming superstars virtually overnight. Compared to the more glossy sounds of the time, hearing something like Welcome to the Jungle was a breath of fresh air, bringing you to the seedier side of Los Angeles and seeing what the real danger in town looked like.
It wasn't all about the danger though, with songs like Sweet Child O Mine having some real heart behind them that wasn't just the sappy ballads that we had gotten used to. Not only did this become one of the biggest records of the time...this is probably the record that marked the decline of hair metal as a whole. When you make rock and roll that's this badass on your first try, why the hell would you want to go back and listen to the glam stuff anyway?