Guns N Roses' debut album was a shot in the arm to hard rock music in 1987. When every other band of their ilk was looking for nothing more than a good time, these guys were into the dangerous side of things. Their music had an undeniable edge to it that bands like Poison and Cinderella were sorely missing. Appetite For Destruction marks a turning point in the sound of 80s rock music. And the era was much better for it. When GNR released their Greatest Hits album in 2004, it could have (and should have) featured more than half of their debut album, and no one would have batted an eye about that decision. "Welcome to the Jungle," "Nightrain," "Paradise City," "Sweet Child O' Mine," and "It's So Easy" are all on the same album. And of course, there's also "My Michelle." And "Mr. Brownstone." It's...kind of ridiculous, really. Appetite is the literal definition of a hit parade. But while it's no doubt achieved legendary status as a genre-defining classic, not everything on Appetite holds up three decades later. ("Rocket Queen" is only memorable because it features some live, in-the-studio dirty deeds between Axl and drummer Steven Adler's then-girlfriend. ) But you have to really start nitpicking to find too much at fault with this near-perfect debut album. In fact, one of its only flaws is that it set the bar too high, which may have led to the band's ultimate destruction in the long run. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1tj2zJ2Wvg
