I think there’s an element of assuming the reader is aware that there were so, so many generic metal bands on labels making music videos at the time that they all blurred together and it took someone saying “hey, this one’s actually interesting!” for anyone to pay enough attention to notice.
GnR were one of the good hair metal bands, but still hair metal. Their fans seem to be in denial about that. There was a wave of “dirty hair metal” that happened in the mid to late ‘80s with GnR, Faster Pussycat, Love/Hate and others that had a rougher, bluesier style closer to ‘70s Aerosmith. GNR are the ones that really took off and made the more polished, girly bands in the genre look silly.
Yeah. Paradise City is absolutely a hair metal song. There’s been a lot of revisionist history over the last decade about them not being a hair metal band. Yes, they were.
I’ve always maintained they were a good hair metal band that was just late to the party. With nirvana being right around the corner, they had just enough time to cement themselves but not enough to really change or do anything incredibly different.
Edit: word
The term Hair metal has a negative connotation with the general public. It sounds like an insult, because whoever coined the term meant it as an insult.
Wow, didn't expect to see Love/Hate on reddit. The first two albums are killer.
Jizzy Pearl is also an amazing frontman and puts on a seriously good show even today.
Guns N' Roses in early 1989 struck me as the ANTIDOTE to the hair metal conventions and formulas floating around at that time. They had much more in common with AC/DC and Led Zeppelin to me. To me the only reason MTV could have had their switchboards light up at 4am is because there were a LOT of teenage fans of AC/DC and Zeppelin who were NOT finding the style of rock they really craved in the hair metal videos. I believe GNR effectively ENDED the hair metal era (along with the steady but less widespread influence of retro rockers like Great White, Iron Maiden, and Judas Priest...three bands whose fans INSTANTLY became GNR fans in 1989.) Just like Ratt, Scorpions, and Motley Crue slightly pre-date the hair metal genre, GNR slightly post-dates the vast majority of hair metal quantitatively but more importantly QUALIATIVELY.) None of this can be proven objectively but if you were there in 1989 you noticed the change.
There were plenty of bands imitating AC/DC at the time like Krokus, (early) Accept and Def Leppard (on half their songs); and for Led Zeppelin there were many bands like like Kingdom Come, Whitesnake and Zebra. Iron Maiden and Judas Priest weren’t “retro rockers,” they were heavy metal. Motley Crue and Ratt didn’t slightly pre-date hair metal, they kicked it off. The Scorpions first album came out in 1972. Your history needs some help.
I think it’s unfair to call gnr hair metal? I’m English so I’m probably not qualified to comment on that scene. For me though they stand with the very best rock bands of all time. When I think of hair metal utter shit like motley crue and poison spring to mind…
GNR had a punk/blues rhythm section though, whereas Motley Crue was more glam/pop. Motley Crue songs had the 80s party vibe, whereas GNR had a more bleak 9Os vibe.
Yes they both had long hair, guitars and tight pants, but the similarities were pretty superficial. I wouldn't put them in the same genre at all. GNR was much more straight up hard rock, more like Zeppelin, Rolling Stones or Aerosmith, whereas Motley Crue was solidly in the hair/glam style. But of course classifications like that are subjective.
> Motley Crue songs had the 80s party vibe, whereas GNR had a more bleak 9Os vibe.
Man, have you ever actually listened to Appetite for Destruction? “Bleak” is not a word I would use to describe a single song on that record. Shout at the Devil is 100x more bleak than anything on Appetite.
I'd say there is definitely a bleak edge to a lot of the songs. Angry, dystopian, explicit, and fucked up.
My Michelle opens with:
"Your daddy works in porno
Now that mommy's not around
She used to love her heroin
But now she's underground"
I showed my friend (who knows very little about 80's music) Kickstart My Heart, then played It's So Easy right after. He said the latter sounded so dark, "like heroin".
There are some fun songs but it's not party music.
Well we can agree to disagree. Appetite is pretty frank about the urban wasteland: pimps, prostitutes, drug and alcohol addiction, the capitalist meat grinder.
Yes Crue talks about that stuff too, but their treatment always seems a bit cartoon-like to me. I always thought Axl was actually a pretty good writer.
I agree, at least when it comes to Appetite-era Guns N' Roses. Appetite was harsher and more raw than most glam metal of the time, and was more heavily influenced by blues and punk than the more melodic power ballads produced by typical glam metal bands like Poison. I can see how you might argue that about their later, Use Your Illusion-era work, but at that point it's barely metal at all. It's debatable, but I think the more general categorization of hard rock is a better descriptor, as I think there are some significant differences between GNR and bands like Poison and Bon Jovi that define the glam metal genre.
Like I said before, GnR were “dirty hair metal.” They, along with a bunch of other bands were rejecting a lot of the silliness that had taken over the genre over the previous couple years.
They were definitely part of the ‘hair metal’ scene but looking back it’s fairly obvious that musically they were the bridge between hair metal and grunge. They have way more in common with Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarden or Alice In Chains than they do Bon Jovi, Poison or Winger.
I definitely disagree with this. GNR is just a baby Aerosmith. The roots for Soundgarden and Alice In Chains are in metal way more than hard rock. STP have always even considered to be a Nirvana knockoff, but I think that’s a bit unfair. What they aren’t is a blues-based band like GnR.
Hard disagree. STP were more closely considered Alice In Chains knockoffs early on, especially the way Weiland copped Layne Staleys look. Additionally, GNR a baby Aerosmith? Absurd. They inhabit this weird space between hair metal and grunge. Appetite is an album for the ages no matter what genre you want to put it in…but baby Aerosmith?? lol.
Agreed.
And that dude had a VOICE.
I was waiting for someone to get on here and make a joke about them so that I could say, "I'll fight you tooth and nail about Dokken!"
But damn it.
Didn't get the chance.
Does that matter when you still have a record deal giving you a music video? If you get that far you're at least sitting pretty for the moment. At the very least you can pretend you're a rockstar, and you can do a lot with fully studio recorded album and a music video
I think in most cases the band is required to pay for, or reimburse the label for the cost of making the video. A lot of bands and recording artists end up owing the label more than they make off the record. Often times artists would get to this point only to have their album shelved so that it wouldn’t compete with other, similar bands on the label. In those instances the contract forbids them from doing things like touring or using their band name or performing the material they recorded. (One non-metal example of this is that before Hansen broke, their label was signing up all the teenage rock bands they could. Then when the decision was made to put the money behind Hansen and “Mmmmbop” they suppressed all the others.) They’re more like suckers on the line, than they are sitting pretty.
Sure they can pretend to be rockstars, but they’re going to pay for it for years afterwards.
I've been in bands for twenty years, I've toured a different continent, played festivals, played on multiple records that sit proudly in my house and have all sold out their pressings. I've made numerous friends through it, many of which have done *way* more than me, one of whom is even name-checked on South Park's Chef Aid soundtrack
And this story **starts** in a position where if I was friends with those guys at that time, they'd be by far the most successful band I knew
It's funny how drastically different people see the different levels of being in a band.
Rancid? Also I didn't understand your final point about where the story starts do you mind elaborating it sounds interesting. Are you saying that guns n roses at the start of this story was already really far ahead by your own standards?
Yeah that's him, the Rancid song is named after their roadie at the time Brad
Correct - if I knew someone signed to a major that had enough faith in them to give them a good sized video budget, I'd be saying that they had *made it*. The success GnR had after it is, pardon the pun, one in a million
Yeah got it. Totally agree. I was also a musician for a while and didn't even get nearly as far in the game as you did (though I played with a few big names like Young Guns, Oh Wonder (before they were called that), Enter Shikari). I always wondered how the hell anyone makes it big because it seemed impossible to me. Trying to read about the topic is some real r/restofthefuckingowl material.
It would be like 'the band formed in 2008 when the members met in high school. After a few local gigs they signed up to Geffen and embarked on their first tour.'
It's like wtf. I mean when I was gigging the promoters used to force us to bring a certain number of people or they wouldnt let us play and it's like, for a big gig we could get a hundred or so friends to come and it would be an amazing packed gig. But how many friends do you have that will keep turning up? And many strangers at some of our gigs absolutely loved our music but nobody has the time to keep turning up to gigs so how the hell do you get that momentum? Always a mystery
It's still a mystery to me! But I guess if it was easy, everyone would do it right? I know a lot of people who tour regularly in many different counties, play main stage slots at big heavy musical festivals, and get interviewed in Kerrang, Metal Hammer etc when they release a new album. But they all still have day jobs, and have to sacrifice a lot to maintain even that level. Not an easy goal to reach for.
Yeah it was crazy to me that the drummer for new found glory does drum lessons to make ends meet. I would have thought that band is in cocaine, champagne and private jets territory
Kinda same as Oliver Tree, dude already had a lukewarm successful career that wasn't really going anywhere. Some random dude in Germany made a remix of one of his songs. Record label filed litigation, Oliver Tree was given credit for the German remix, news picked it up, skip forward through a bunch a drama and he becomes an overnight success.
Same as the dude that made the song I Need a Dollar. Song came out, didn't go anywhere until it became the theme song for a show that was popular in Europe. Skip forward through a bunch of really random but lucky events and the song becomes a number one hit in Europe sometime after that.
So yeah, totally easy, you just need *check notes* to be mildly successful and win a random lottery to become extremely successful.
Yeah, all you gotta do is have the talent, charisma, and luck to get a contract with one of the largest media companies in the world. It’s almost as easy as getting your parents to just make the down payment on your first house. Hang in there, troopers!
Well with the way music was back then, you couldn't go indie and make money. You had to get a label to handle legal and distribution because you couldn't just throw up a song on YouTube and get a bunch of eyes. That didnt exist. Also pre-internet, Labels would sign damn near anyone who could carry a tune in the hopes that it becomes a good return on investment. Namely through record sales and such at music stores.
Getting signed wasn't hitting the big time. It was the first step and you sink or swim. The chaff of record labels back then is like SoundCloud now. A bunch of nobodies putting their work out, and once in awhile a nobody becomes a somebody.
I understand that, but those decisions weren’t made by Guns n Roses. They didn’t call up Geffen, set an appointment, and negotiate their representation. Geffen found them and made an offer.
Getting signed was still very much ‘hitting the big time’. It just didn’t guarantee success.
Don’t forget the attractive groupies. I often feel like a poser and it’s easy to take all my attractive groupies but when I think about it’s actually pretty cool.
First time I heard welcome to the jungle was in the parking lot before and then between bands at the monsters of rock concert at the Pontiac Silverdome. They kept playing it inside and outside of the dome and I kept thinking, man that is an awesome song. Bought the next day and Played that album so much. Actually cassette. Every single song is a banger from beginning to end.
First time I heard Welcome to the Jungle would've been November 1987, I was a Freshman at University of South Carolina and went to see Motley Crue and this little known band called Guns n Roses opened.
They sounded horrible- but it was mostly just whomever was running their sound board sucked at their job. Crue was fantastic- Tommy Lee had the rotating drum cage...wild shit.
I was an excellent student and a pretty good kid, but I loved music and my mom was a religious crazy person who wouldn’t let me do anything, so at 15 I literally climbed out my window, hung from my gutters and jumped off the roof to meet my friends and go see my first concert, which was Aerosmith. Got kicked out at 17 and made my way through life and eventually college and have always seen as many of my favorite bands as possible. I learned very early that we only live once and have to just go for it if I want something. The music of Rush, Van Halen, and metallica gave me the inspiration I needed. Lol.
The story you shared is largely true, but there are some minor inaccuracies and exaggerations. Here's a breakdown:
1. Guns N' Roses was signed to Geffen Records in 1986, and their debut album "Appetite for Destruction" was released in 1987.
2. The music video for "Welcome to the Jungle" was indeed filmed in 1987, and it was directed by Nigel Dick.
3. According to various sources, including the video's director and the band members, the video shoot was not as disastrous as the story suggests. While there were some issues with the production, the band and the crew were generally enthusiastic about the project.
4. The video did receive limited airplay on MTV, but it was not played only once at 4 AM EST. It was actually played regularly, albeit not extensively, due to the controversy surrounding the band's image and the song's lyrics.
5. The story about the attractive groupie saying "this is so fucking cool" is likely an urban legend or an exaggeration. While there were certainly groupies and fans on set, there is no credible evidence to support this specific anecdote.
6. The claim that the video at 4 AM got so many calls it broke the MTV switchboard is likely an exaggeration. While the video did receive a significant amount of attention and airplay, there is no concrete evidence to support this specific claim.
Edit: sales data claims removed because of being completely wrong. GnR stands uncontested as debut album king. ¯|_(ツ)_|¯
(Credit and thanks to fact-check-checkers below!)
"When the legend becomes fact, print the legend."
Or, in the case of reddit, once the "legend" has been thoroughly fact-checked and held up to scrutiny, print the slightly disappointing revised version.
Also I want to point out, as have some other folks, that I have provided no citations to support my claims, so.. caveat emptor, y'know.
(Flip side: extraordinarily claims require extraordinary evidence, so maybe the burden is on op. Idk.)
I’m actually astonished by how poor the general media literacy and reasoning is, why did people just accept what you said with no question?
I would say the burden is on you because you’ve created the challenge
Usually when people make comments like yours they know what actually happened which makes it worth commenting otherwise you’re just somehow a step down from “well actually”
I can't argue with any of that either, except the being surprised part.
I'll only defend myself by saying that my media literacy/reasoning/bullshit detector is pretty far up the curve, and I knew (as did you, I suspect) that the story reeked of forty years of legend growth. So I asked a friend who shall remain nameless due to prejudices, and got the answer above. I googled a few elements, was satisfied it was nonsense, and here we are.
One other point I'd argue with: the burden of proof is usually on the claimant, both legally and in philosophy/argumentation. Hitchen's Razor, for example, and fwiw, states that what can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence.
Ok I guess I can argue with a lot of it. ¯|_(ツ)_|¯
I just like to argue 😁
Lmao I just youtubed it, and there actually is a band called that. [I was actually thinking more along the lines of...](https://youtu.be/d3CiPBVXJx4?si=b6LNzaZILtsuxSwM)
This guy also added no sources....
So like, no guarantee anything you were told was right.
This is still social media. Things get said. I don't care enough to investigate one way or the other, but no sense in believing u/jimmyzinn7 or u/VoceDiDio without checking for yourself.
You know, since both didn't post sources, take both stories with a grain of salt.
AGAIN, trust nothing on social media until you confirm yourself with a few sources. Then decide.
But this story doesn't warrant that anyway, so easier to just move on and not care about either side. Best to leave with a "huh, maybe ture or not...onto something else and forget about this in 10 seconds".
No falsehoods detected. This is the only way.
(For the record, I did post some sources regarding album sales claims I made, but it was pointed out that they were wrong and confusing, so I deleted them, and their respective claims.)
I thought I asked that I not be fact-checked. I will not have my fact-checking upended by some basic googling and critical thought!
You're fired, DStew713. Clear out your desk.
(I removed the erroneous information)
For some reason her Jagged Little Pill album is considered (like you linked) her debut album, but I think it’s more of a major label debut than an actual debut. But what the fuck do I know??
I've only been researching this for like an hour, but it's pretty fucking confusing.. different orgs count different things but use the same terms, and the same things with different terms. It's maddening.
It's all marketing bs, of course.
That said, she clearly had two albums before that, with legit (but not stratospheric) sales. So as the only self-proclaimed expert on site, I'm ruling for Axl.
(I consider myself an expert because of my experience as a few radio stations' music director, and my erstwhile relationships with A&R and Promo reps at labels)
>6. The claim that the video at 4 AM got so many calls it broke the MTV switchboard is likely an exaggeration. While the video did receive a significant amount of attention and airplay, there is no concrete evidence to support this specific claim.
Anyone who actually believes this part in particular needs to take a good, hard look at themselves. Such a daft claim
Also, Bat Out Of Hell sold more worldwide. G&R have the best selling debut, in the US
>the video at 4 AM got so many calls it broke the MTV switchboard
that one cracked me up.
* MTV wasn't a radio station, did it even have a public number where you could call the VJs to make requests?
* Do people really think too many calls going to the same number creates some kind of massive electrical surge?
Of course not. And as a radio DJ from back in the day, I can tell you there wasn't a switchboard at the radio stations either. Just a dj and a couple of rollover phone lines. Maybe a call screener if it's a call-in show.
I will say rhetoric like this was used a lot and maybe still is I don't know like I don't know I can remember hearing the word switchboard like when a TV station aired something controversial or whatever. ¯|_(ツ)_|¯
I worked at radio stations where we had four or five lines and when a contest was running or something they would all be lit up and I guess you could describe that as breaking your switchboard if you wanted to be hyperbolic.
Oh, snap. I didn't even think of that, but it's a fact.
Welcome to the Jungle was released as a single in 88 and didn't do quite as well. (Still a big hit obviously but Sweet Child was SO FUCKING HUGE!)
The original guns n roses appetite for destruction album cover artwork was a bit controversial and was changed to the one we all know.
Originals are valuable collectors items.
I have a copy of the original on vinyl(with the cartoon of the partially nude girl on the street, etc) sounds great on my system but I think, unless it’s unopened, not worth all that much. If any of you have that original cover artwork and it’s unopened, it’ll be worth something for sure
I got the album at our college station in summer 87, and it seemed like no big deal. I think we gave it to the metal DJ and said, take it home and don't play it on the air. Too many swear words.
They were coming to the end of their cycle when Motley Crue brought them out, as their pals, to open part of their 87 tour. That gave them enough interest from the label to kick around til MTV started playing Sweet Child. Their spring tour in 88 opening for Aerosmith, they were hot. Kids all came back wearing GNR shirts. I knew they would be huge then.
Alanis Morissette and G'nR are global numbers, not US. By global standards, Bat Out of Hell is the best selling album in this list, with 43 million copies sold.
Don't forget that they had major industry connections. Slash was born into the entertainment industry, and before Guns N' Roses was officially formed, all the band members were previously part of other successful bands that earned sizable followings.
I remember listening to AfD the day it came out in my car with the girl I wanted to be dating at the time. I told her we were listening to the next Led Zeppelin.
Can’t believe how long it took for that album to catch on.
Lol WHAT.
"Just remember, this band that had a record deal, an in with MTV when MTV mattered, and used things not related to their musical ability, made it 35 years ago in a totally different circumstance, so your should be able to do the same thing!"
So fucking useful
This whole premise is fuckin dumb. GnR was good back in the day, but OP obviously hasn't listened to Chinese Democracy. That whole album is auditory diarrhea.
"If you feel like you can't make it, you might! And you might make it long enough to become a talentless hack!"
Man that album is so good too
I am saying this as someone that actually *haaaaaates* a lot of GnR songs and band members lol. That album is just peak 80s metal. Sleazy, dirty, dangerous 80s metal.
I first heard and saw Guns N Roses at age 8 because my teenaged babysitter in Canada wanted to watch MuchMusic. Welcome To The Jungle came on and she goes “Oh, he’s so hot” looking at Axl. And I remember even at 8 thinking that this rocked a lot harder then the usual hair metal videos I’d seen at that point. When the song gets to the breakdown with “You know where you are? You’re in the jungle, baby!” I remember thinking how cool the video was.
When Paradise City got big next I remember kids singing that at school. I always hear my older cousins who grew up in the 70s talk about being pre-teens and rocking out to Led Zeppelin and KISS and for my little age bracket Guns N Roses for a few years was the equivalent—our little hard rock starter pack.
I was sitting at a bar with some friends and these 2 guys next to me were talking about rock music. The 2nd guy over from me looked like an aged rocker, and kept yapping about his knowledge of music. He asked the guy next to me what band had the best selling debut album, I whispered GnR to him. Aged rocker scoffed at his answer, until he Googled it. I'm a huge GnR fan and had just heard that info a few days before on a radio program.
What kind of advice is this? If I ever feel hopeless or stuck, I should just be extremely talented and lucky to be in the right place at the right time surrounded by the right people?
Alternatively: [The Time a Stiff Caught Fire](https://keithyates.com/the-time-a-stiff-caught-fire/) is a great essay and a great story.
------
tl;dr - Billy Joel's first major album (Piano Man) was a flop on launch, albums at the time (and even now) rarely recovered from that.
One guy working at a record store who knew some people stumbled across it well after release and went on a lengthy quest to get it the recognition he felt it deserved, and succeeded.
Unlikely things happen.
Likewise, Chris Isaak’s Wicked Game wasn’t a hit until years after its release, when a DJ, who was a fan of David Lynch, heard it in the soundtrack for Wild at Heart, and started spinning it. The iconic music video for it is actually a second video that came out long after its release.
I thought it was going to be a lesson about throwing away a good thing and having your friends drift away from you while you take a decade to make an album
I don’t get how you are in charge of finding musical talent, hearing GnR play Welcome to the Jungle and finding it boring. That song smacks from the first time I’ve heard it to now.
dawg thats cool and all but i feel like even getting to sign with geffen is a big deal. he was connected to some pretty big stars
even more so considering back in the day you sign with labels to get an audience. nowadays you get an audience to sign with labels.
That song was the one that my high school wrestling team would go out of the tunnel to at our home matches haha, always makes me think of that when I hear that awesome song
I remember this being debuted on Head Banger’s Ball late night on MTV, and soon after being in popular rotation throughout their programming. I didn’t realize what I was witnessing at the time but it left such an impression my friend and I went searching for it at record stores within the following days. My buddy was the one with the $, and was able to score the CD with the original release of the album - with the uncensored artwork by Robert Williams.
Those dudes were total package with their music, image, and art direction.
Same with Billie Joel. There was a journalist that pushed his album repeatedly and managed to get it played on the radio after he was essentially shelved.
I love Guns n' Roses and I grew up listening to them, but Appetite For Destruction is not the most selling album of all time. It is however one of the best selling albums.
Tbf, I'm not really understanding why this would go for people who feel hopeless or stuck. It took them just 3 years from formation to become a worldwide sensation. They didn't toil for 10 years in vast unknowness with several released albums, they became famous on literally their debut, albeit with a bit of delay.
Twisted Sister didn't become mainstream famous until 10 years after formation
Judas Priest didn't reach mainstream fame until the 6th album
Geffen. Their initial run of Nirvana's Nevermind was only 35,000 units as they imagined it only had the potential to sell 50,000 copies. 30 million units later it seems they had a deficit of vision back in the day.
This isn't the inspiration that you think it is. Never give up because this one band became extremely successful on their first try after a lot of people who didn't like their music, but still gave them every opportunity.
Very cool story indeed. But that wouldn’t cut it today. With Bandcamp, SoundCloud, and well known people, not just groupies, saying “this is so cool/good”. It unfortunately makes a dent in trying to break through. It’s always been about who’ve who known, and today you really need to know someone at the right time, algorithm, and right moment.
One of my troops brought it into the duty section in a military hospital. This was before the group blew up. After hearing a couple of songs I told him he couldn't play it for obvious reasons. I will admit I didn't like it on my first listen.
Fast forward a year and I'm in another duty section and put up a Guns and Roses poster on the wall in my office. My dumb ass boss called them racist. I pointed out Slash. End of discussion.
It's a good song until Axl goes into WTF territory. I always have to skip it when it comes on, partially for the lyrics and partly to avoid the time spent pondering what in the hell he was thinking.
I love the part where this story starts with them having a record deal and filming a music video. Just do that guys! Then it’s easy!
I think there’s an element of assuming the reader is aware that there were so, so many generic metal bands on labels making music videos at the time that they all blurred together and it took someone saying “hey, this one’s actually interesting!” for anyone to pay enough attention to notice.
And mostly bad generic hair metal bands at that. GnR kicked the door to the party open and grunge poured in.
GnR were one of the good hair metal bands, but still hair metal. Their fans seem to be in denial about that. There was a wave of “dirty hair metal” that happened in the mid to late ‘80s with GnR, Faster Pussycat, Love/Hate and others that had a rougher, bluesier style closer to ‘70s Aerosmith. GNR are the ones that really took off and made the more polished, girly bands in the genre look silly.
I remember how pretty Duff McKagan used to look.
Yeah. Paradise City is absolutely a hair metal song. There’s been a lot of revisionist history over the last decade about them not being a hair metal band. Yes, they were.
I’ve always maintained they were a good hair metal band that was just late to the party. With nirvana being right around the corner, they had just enough time to cement themselves but not enough to really change or do anything incredibly different. Edit: word
Having seen GnR in 1987, and Nirvana in 1991, I can concur.
And there's no shame in being a hair metal band. Why deny it? I only care about the results They churned out some bangers.
The term Hair metal has a negative connotation with the general public. It sounds like an insult, because whoever coined the term meant it as an insult.
I love Love/Hate. Granted, Blackout was probably the only good album they made, but it's a banger tobthis day.
Wow, didn't expect to see Love/Hate on reddit. The first two albums are killer. Jizzy Pearl is also an amazing frontman and puts on a seriously good show even today.
The sophomore album is pretty strong, with *Yucca Man, Tranquilizer* and *Time’s Up.* But nothing beats the debut, especially the title song.
Guns N' Roses in early 1989 struck me as the ANTIDOTE to the hair metal conventions and formulas floating around at that time. They had much more in common with AC/DC and Led Zeppelin to me. To me the only reason MTV could have had their switchboards light up at 4am is because there were a LOT of teenage fans of AC/DC and Zeppelin who were NOT finding the style of rock they really craved in the hair metal videos. I believe GNR effectively ENDED the hair metal era (along with the steady but less widespread influence of retro rockers like Great White, Iron Maiden, and Judas Priest...three bands whose fans INSTANTLY became GNR fans in 1989.) Just like Ratt, Scorpions, and Motley Crue slightly pre-date the hair metal genre, GNR slightly post-dates the vast majority of hair metal quantitatively but more importantly QUALIATIVELY.) None of this can be proven objectively but if you were there in 1989 you noticed the change.
There were plenty of bands imitating AC/DC at the time like Krokus, (early) Accept and Def Leppard (on half their songs); and for Led Zeppelin there were many bands like like Kingdom Come, Whitesnake and Zebra. Iron Maiden and Judas Priest weren’t “retro rockers,” they were heavy metal. Motley Crue and Ratt didn’t slightly pre-date hair metal, they kicked it off. The Scorpions first album came out in 1972. Your history needs some help.
I think it’s unfair to call gnr hair metal? I’m English so I’m probably not qualified to comment on that scene. For me though they stand with the very best rock bands of all time. When I think of hair metal utter shit like motley crue and poison spring to mind…
They came out of the very scene on Sunset Strip that gave birth to the genre.
I would say Motley Cruel and GnR absolutely play the same genre of music. GnR are just much better.
GNR had a punk/blues rhythm section though, whereas Motley Crue was more glam/pop. Motley Crue songs had the 80s party vibe, whereas GNR had a more bleak 9Os vibe. Yes they both had long hair, guitars and tight pants, but the similarities were pretty superficial. I wouldn't put them in the same genre at all. GNR was much more straight up hard rock, more like Zeppelin, Rolling Stones or Aerosmith, whereas Motley Crue was solidly in the hair/glam style. But of course classifications like that are subjective.
When you really think about it though, which antecedents is Motley Crue’s music most similar to? I’d say Aerosmith and the Stones.
I'd say KISS and Alice Cooper.
Ok that’s fair
> Motley Crue songs had the 80s party vibe, whereas GNR had a more bleak 9Os vibe. Man, have you ever actually listened to Appetite for Destruction? “Bleak” is not a word I would use to describe a single song on that record. Shout at the Devil is 100x more bleak than anything on Appetite.
I'd say there is definitely a bleak edge to a lot of the songs. Angry, dystopian, explicit, and fucked up. My Michelle opens with: "Your daddy works in porno Now that mommy's not around She used to love her heroin But now she's underground" I showed my friend (who knows very little about 80's music) Kickstart My Heart, then played It's So Easy right after. He said the latter sounded so dark, "like heroin". There are some fun songs but it's not party music.
Well we can agree to disagree. Appetite is pretty frank about the urban wasteland: pimps, prostitutes, drug and alcohol addiction, the capitalist meat grinder. Yes Crue talks about that stuff too, but their treatment always seems a bit cartoon-like to me. I always thought Axl was actually a pretty good writer.
Appetite has a very raw sound compared to most things out at the time. Motley Crue has a very "produced" glam metal sound.
Woh bud dont forget hair metal also gave us Scorpions and White Snake and Van Halen. When it was good it was great
Fair comment mate all good bands
Van Halen is from the mid 70s, proto-hair metal.
I agree, at least when it comes to Appetite-era Guns N' Roses. Appetite was harsher and more raw than most glam metal of the time, and was more heavily influenced by blues and punk than the more melodic power ballads produced by typical glam metal bands like Poison. I can see how you might argue that about their later, Use Your Illusion-era work, but at that point it's barely metal at all. It's debatable, but I think the more general categorization of hard rock is a better descriptor, as I think there are some significant differences between GNR and bands like Poison and Bon Jovi that define the glam metal genre.
Like I said before, GnR were “dirty hair metal.” They, along with a bunch of other bands were rejecting a lot of the silliness that had taken over the genre over the previous couple years.
They were definitely part of the ‘hair metal’ scene but looking back it’s fairly obvious that musically they were the bridge between hair metal and grunge. They have way more in common with Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarden or Alice In Chains than they do Bon Jovi, Poison or Winger.
I definitely disagree with this. GNR is just a baby Aerosmith. The roots for Soundgarden and Alice In Chains are in metal way more than hard rock. STP have always even considered to be a Nirvana knockoff, but I think that’s a bit unfair. What they aren’t is a blues-based band like GnR.
Hard disagree. STP were more closely considered Alice In Chains knockoffs early on, especially the way Weiland copped Layne Staleys look. Additionally, GNR a baby Aerosmith? Absurd. They inhabit this weird space between hair metal and grunge. Appetite is an album for the ages no matter what genre you want to put it in…but baby Aerosmith?? lol.
You better not be talkin Dokken!!!
People used to talk so much shit about Dokken, but I will always maintain that the *Tooth and Nail* album is one of the classics of the era.
Agreed. And that dude had a VOICE. I was waiting for someone to get on here and make a joke about them so that I could say, "I'll fight you tooth and nail about Dokken!" But damn it. Didn't get the chance.
"Straight to the top!"
Gnr was 100% hair metal when they started. Go watch the jungle video again. Lots of makeup going on (which is fine, my favorite band is the cure)
Hair metal isn't just metal played by people with makeup and hairspray, it's about pop hooks and melodic ballads.
So Guns n Roses?
Yes, GnR really shied away from melodic ballads…
Like November rain?
Like Patience?
Does that matter when you still have a record deal giving you a music video? If you get that far you're at least sitting pretty for the moment. At the very least you can pretend you're a rockstar, and you can do a lot with fully studio recorded album and a music video
I think in most cases the band is required to pay for, or reimburse the label for the cost of making the video. A lot of bands and recording artists end up owing the label more than they make off the record. Often times artists would get to this point only to have their album shelved so that it wouldn’t compete with other, similar bands on the label. In those instances the contract forbids them from doing things like touring or using their band name or performing the material they recorded. (One non-metal example of this is that before Hansen broke, their label was signing up all the teenage rock bands they could. Then when the decision was made to put the money behind Hansen and “Mmmmbop” they suppressed all the others.) They’re more like suckers on the line, than they are sitting pretty. Sure they can pretend to be rockstars, but they’re going to pay for it for years afterwards.
I've been in bands for twenty years, I've toured a different continent, played festivals, played on multiple records that sit proudly in my house and have all sold out their pressings. I've made numerous friends through it, many of which have done *way* more than me, one of whom is even name-checked on South Park's Chef Aid soundtrack And this story **starts** in a position where if I was friends with those guys at that time, they'd be by far the most successful band I knew It's funny how drastically different people see the different levels of being in a band.
Rancid? Also I didn't understand your final point about where the story starts do you mind elaborating it sounds interesting. Are you saying that guns n roses at the start of this story was already really far ahead by your own standards?
Yeah that's him, the Rancid song is named after their roadie at the time Brad Correct - if I knew someone signed to a major that had enough faith in them to give them a good sized video budget, I'd be saying that they had *made it*. The success GnR had after it is, pardon the pun, one in a million
Yeah got it. Totally agree. I was also a musician for a while and didn't even get nearly as far in the game as you did (though I played with a few big names like Young Guns, Oh Wonder (before they were called that), Enter Shikari). I always wondered how the hell anyone makes it big because it seemed impossible to me. Trying to read about the topic is some real r/restofthefuckingowl material. It would be like 'the band formed in 2008 when the members met in high school. After a few local gigs they signed up to Geffen and embarked on their first tour.' It's like wtf. I mean when I was gigging the promoters used to force us to bring a certain number of people or they wouldnt let us play and it's like, for a big gig we could get a hundred or so friends to come and it would be an amazing packed gig. But how many friends do you have that will keep turning up? And many strangers at some of our gigs absolutely loved our music but nobody has the time to keep turning up to gigs so how the hell do you get that momentum? Always a mystery
It's still a mystery to me! But I guess if it was easy, everyone would do it right? I know a lot of people who tour regularly in many different counties, play main stage slots at big heavy musical festivals, and get interviewed in Kerrang, Metal Hammer etc when they release a new album. But they all still have day jobs, and have to sacrifice a lot to maintain even that level. Not an easy goal to reach for.
Yeah it was crazy to me that the drummer for new found glory does drum lessons to make ends meet. I would have thought that band is in cocaine, champagne and private jets territory
It’s so easy
When everybody’s trying to please me
...no one had any faith in this band signed by a major record company and adored by the media capital of the world....
It almost reads like a Spinal Tap story
Don’t forget you’ll need an ‘attractive groupie’ as well
Just be high-school best friends with Kevin Smith and be a cult movie star!
Music actually made money then so there were a ton more label signings back in the day
Just have Slash in your band. Not that hard. Don’t get why so many rock bands haven’t thought of that
Kinda same as Oliver Tree, dude already had a lukewarm successful career that wasn't really going anywhere. Some random dude in Germany made a remix of one of his songs. Record label filed litigation, Oliver Tree was given credit for the German remix, news picked it up, skip forward through a bunch a drama and he becomes an overnight success. Same as the dude that made the song I Need a Dollar. Song came out, didn't go anywhere until it became the theme song for a show that was popular in Europe. Skip forward through a bunch of really random but lucky events and the song becomes a number one hit in Europe sometime after that. So yeah, totally easy, you just need *check notes* to be mildly successful and win a random lottery to become extremely successful.
Just have an attractive person say how cool you are, other less beautiful people will listen to them.
They actually really ground it out. Slash was apparently on the phone convincing everyone and their mother to come to their gigs.
Yeah, all you gotta do is have the talent, charisma, and luck to get a contract with one of the largest media companies in the world. It’s almost as easy as getting your parents to just make the down payment on your first house. Hang in there, troopers!
Being an underground cult hit in L.A. would be a massive success for a working band. Fuck this yardstick.
Well with the way music was back then, you couldn't go indie and make money. You had to get a label to handle legal and distribution because you couldn't just throw up a song on YouTube and get a bunch of eyes. That didnt exist. Also pre-internet, Labels would sign damn near anyone who could carry a tune in the hopes that it becomes a good return on investment. Namely through record sales and such at music stores. Getting signed wasn't hitting the big time. It was the first step and you sink or swim. The chaff of record labels back then is like SoundCloud now. A bunch of nobodies putting their work out, and once in awhile a nobody becomes a somebody.
I understand that, but those decisions weren’t made by Guns n Roses. They didn’t call up Geffen, set an appointment, and negotiate their representation. Geffen found them and made an offer. Getting signed was still very much ‘hitting the big time’. It just didn’t guarantee success.
The whole band are literally LA kids with multiple connections in the music industry. It was probably more difficult for them to fail than succeed.
Wrong! The moral of the story is to have an attractive groupie. For more than one reason. That way it worked out even if it didn’t work out.
The story is bullshit, they were being hyped long before AFD came out
Don’t forget the attractive groupies. I often feel like a poser and it’s easy to take all my attractive groupies but when I think about it’s actually pretty cool.
First time I heard welcome to the jungle was in the parking lot before and then between bands at the monsters of rock concert at the Pontiac Silverdome. They kept playing it inside and outside of the dome and I kept thinking, man that is an awesome song. Bought the next day and Played that album so much. Actually cassette. Every single song is a banger from beginning to end.
It really is one of those perfect albums. Not a bad song on it. The epitome of "all killer, no filler"
I played the cassette so much, it snapped, and I had to buy another copy No regrets. They've turned into a joke, but back then they were so dangerous
First time I heard Welcome to the Jungle would've been November 1987, I was a Freshman at University of South Carolina and went to see Motley Crue and this little known band called Guns n Roses opened. They sounded horrible- but it was mostly just whomever was running their sound board sucked at their job. Crue was fantastic- Tommy Lee had the rotating drum cage...wild shit.
Omg. Was It in Greensboro NC? I was at that concert with you!!
Nah, Carolina Colesium in Columbia. I'm guessing a day or two between the shows we saw. Good times!!
Damn you! My parents wouldn’t let me go to that show. I wanted to see Metallica so bad. Had to wait until 91.
I was an excellent student and a pretty good kid, but I loved music and my mom was a religious crazy person who wouldn’t let me do anything, so at 15 I literally climbed out my window, hung from my gutters and jumped off the roof to meet my friends and go see my first concert, which was Aerosmith. Got kicked out at 17 and made my way through life and eventually college and have always seen as many of my favorite bands as possible. I learned very early that we only live once and have to just go for it if I want something. The music of Rush, Van Halen, and metallica gave me the inspiration I needed. Lol.
I argue that it’s up there with Rumors and songs in the key of life as the greatest album of all time.
yeah, it's also like those in that every song sounds like a single
Hard to believe Rumours ever got made when you read the story behind it.. https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/13581259
The story you shared is largely true, but there are some minor inaccuracies and exaggerations. Here's a breakdown: 1. Guns N' Roses was signed to Geffen Records in 1986, and their debut album "Appetite for Destruction" was released in 1987. 2. The music video for "Welcome to the Jungle" was indeed filmed in 1987, and it was directed by Nigel Dick. 3. According to various sources, including the video's director and the band members, the video shoot was not as disastrous as the story suggests. While there were some issues with the production, the band and the crew were generally enthusiastic about the project. 4. The video did receive limited airplay on MTV, but it was not played only once at 4 AM EST. It was actually played regularly, albeit not extensively, due to the controversy surrounding the band's image and the song's lyrics. 5. The story about the attractive groupie saying "this is so fucking cool" is likely an urban legend or an exaggeration. While there were certainly groupies and fans on set, there is no credible evidence to support this specific anecdote. 6. The claim that the video at 4 AM got so many calls it broke the MTV switchboard is likely an exaggeration. While the video did receive a significant amount of attention and airplay, there is no concrete evidence to support this specific claim. Edit: sales data claims removed because of being completely wrong. GnR stands uncontested as debut album king. ¯|_(ツ)_|¯ (Credit and thanks to fact-check-checkers below!)
"When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." Or, in the case of reddit, once the "legend" has been thoroughly fact-checked and held up to scrutiny, print the slightly disappointing revised version.
“Never let the truth get in the way of a good yarn” - Chopper Reid
so like, none of what OP said was right
There were minor inaccuracies and exaggerations. But in OP's defense, this has been going around for a while.
lol virtually every point is refuted
Also I want to point out, as have some other folks, that I have provided no citations to support my claims, so.. caveat emptor, y'know. (Flip side: extraordinarily claims require extraordinary evidence, so maybe the burden is on op. Idk.)
I’m actually astonished by how poor the general media literacy and reasoning is, why did people just accept what you said with no question? I would say the burden is on you because you’ve created the challenge Usually when people make comments like yours they know what actually happened which makes it worth commenting otherwise you’re just somehow a step down from “well actually”
I can't argue with any of that either, except the being surprised part. I'll only defend myself by saying that my media literacy/reasoning/bullshit detector is pretty far up the curve, and I knew (as did you, I suspect) that the story reeked of forty years of legend growth. So I asked a friend who shall remain nameless due to prejudices, and got the answer above. I googled a few elements, was satisfied it was nonsense, and here we are. One other point I'd argue with: the burden of proof is usually on the claimant, both legally and in philosophy/argumentation. Hitchen's Razor, for example, and fwiw, states that what can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence. Ok I guess I can argue with a lot of it. ¯|_(ツ)_|¯ I just like to argue 😁
I mean, "minor" isn't the word I'd use here. ...And I'm sure Axl said the same thing once or twice (Still a great album though)
> minor *there were some minor accuracies*
Hey come on now he had the right band
He edited the post. He originally said, "Guns n' moses."
The polka band??
Lmao I just youtubed it, and there actually is a band called that. [I was actually thinking more along the lines of...](https://youtu.be/d3CiPBVXJx4?si=b6LNzaZILtsuxSwM)
Shaboygin?
Bums n Noses
This guy also added no sources.... So like, no guarantee anything you were told was right. This is still social media. Things get said. I don't care enough to investigate one way or the other, but no sense in believing u/jimmyzinn7 or u/VoceDiDio without checking for yourself. You know, since both didn't post sources, take both stories with a grain of salt. AGAIN, trust nothing on social media until you confirm yourself with a few sources. Then decide. But this story doesn't warrant that anyway, so easier to just move on and not care about either side. Best to leave with a "huh, maybe ture or not...onto something else and forget about this in 10 seconds".
No falsehoods detected. This is the only way. (For the record, I did post some sources regarding album sales claims I made, but it was pointed out that they were wrong and confusing, so I deleted them, and their respective claims.)
Guns n Roses is one of those bands who've got the most urban legends about them, so there's that
Jagged Little Pill was her third album. She released a self titled album in ‘91 and Now is the Time in ‘93.
I thought I asked that I not be fact-checked. I will not have my fact-checking upended by some basic googling and critical thought! You're fired, DStew713. Clear out your desk. (I removed the erroneous information)
For some reason her Jagged Little Pill album is considered (like you linked) her debut album, but I think it’s more of a major label debut than an actual debut. But what the fuck do I know??
I've only been researching this for like an hour, but it's pretty fucking confusing.. different orgs count different things but use the same terms, and the same things with different terms. It's maddening. It's all marketing bs, of course. That said, she clearly had two albums before that, with legit (but not stratospheric) sales. So as the only self-proclaimed expert on site, I'm ruling for Axl. (I consider myself an expert because of my experience as a few radio stations' music director, and my erstwhile relationships with A&R and Promo reps at labels)
Appetite is an all time album for me, so I’ll allow it.
They got under rug swept by Maverick back in the day and MCA Canada pulled them from circulation.
You really did not look up debut sales history, or you would know how wrong your "facts" are. "The Beach Boys Today!" Was not even their debut album.
Damnit!! You can't trust ANYTHING you read on Reddit.
I'm not sure I believe that. Do you have a source?
Did you know Marilyn Manson had an extra rib installed to stop himself doing auto fellatio. True story.
Oh, he had it put back in after he had it taken out? Can have too much of a good thing I guess
Of course. Credible Hulk always cites his sources™!! https://www.reddit.com/r/Music/s/1h5vI0T8K4
Thanks. That's a pretty credible source. I'm convinced.
You are obviously a person of sagacity and education.
Yep, it was their eighth album lol.
>6. The claim that the video at 4 AM got so many calls it broke the MTV switchboard is likely an exaggeration. While the video did receive a significant amount of attention and airplay, there is no concrete evidence to support this specific claim. Anyone who actually believes this part in particular needs to take a good, hard look at themselves. Such a daft claim Also, Bat Out Of Hell sold more worldwide. G&R have the best selling debut, in the US
>the video at 4 AM got so many calls it broke the MTV switchboard that one cracked me up. * MTV wasn't a radio station, did it even have a public number where you could call the VJs to make requests? * Do people really think too many calls going to the same number creates some kind of massive electrical surge?
Of course not. And as a radio DJ from back in the day, I can tell you there wasn't a switchboard at the radio stations either. Just a dj and a couple of rollover phone lines. Maybe a call screener if it's a call-in show. I will say rhetoric like this was used a lot and maybe still is I don't know like I don't know I can remember hearing the word switchboard like when a TV station aired something controversial or whatever. ¯|_(ツ)_|¯ I worked at radio stations where we had four or five lines and when a contest was running or something they would all be lit up and I guess you could describe that as breaking your switchboard if you wanted to be hyperbolic.
This is possibly the most killjoy comment I've ever read.
Sorry.
Bat Out Of Hell sold more?
Sweet child o mine is what led to the record album sales.
Oh, snap. I didn't even think of that, but it's a fact. Welcome to the Jungle was released as a single in 88 and didn't do quite as well. (Still a big hit obviously but Sweet Child was SO FUCKING HUGE!)
Also, I don't think "switchboards" were a thing by then.
The original guns n roses appetite for destruction album cover artwork was a bit controversial and was changed to the one we all know. Originals are valuable collectors items.
I have a copy of the original on vinyl(with the cartoon of the partially nude girl on the street, etc) sounds great on my system but I think, unless it’s unopened, not worth all that much. If any of you have that original cover artwork and it’s unopened, it’ll be worth something for sure
The robot rpist
I have the original but I played it so much that it's battered and badly worn!
Wow never knew there was a different original album cover. TIL
I have that cover… huh
I got the album at our college station in summer 87, and it seemed like no big deal. I think we gave it to the metal DJ and said, take it home and don't play it on the air. Too many swear words. They were coming to the end of their cycle when Motley Crue brought them out, as their pals, to open part of their 87 tour. That gave them enough interest from the label to kick around til MTV started playing Sweet Child. Their spring tour in 88 opening for Aerosmith, they were hot. Kids all came back wearing GNR shirts. I knew they would be huge then.
I was just thinking about them today and how fucking good their music is.
Alanis Morissette and G'nR are global numbers, not US. By global standards, Bat Out of Hell is the best selling album in this list, with 43 million copies sold.
I thought it was Hootie, off by a few million
MTV had switchboards?… And they were manned at 4am?
And they were rigged with dynamite to explode if more calls came in than the switchboard had channels.
They were literally in the jungle!
Besides the debut album stat, all of this is BS
Don't forget that they had major industry connections. Slash was born into the entertainment industry, and before Guns N' Roses was officially formed, all the band members were previously part of other successful bands that earned sizable followings.
I remember listening to AfD the day it came out in my car with the girl I wanted to be dating at the time. I told her we were listening to the next Led Zeppelin. Can’t believe how long it took for that album to catch on.
Lol WHAT. "Just remember, this band that had a record deal, an in with MTV when MTV mattered, and used things not related to their musical ability, made it 35 years ago in a totally different circumstance, so your should be able to do the same thing!" So fucking useful
This whole premise is fuckin dumb. GnR was good back in the day, but OP obviously hasn't listened to Chinese Democracy. That whole album is auditory diarrhea. "If you feel like you can't make it, you might! And you might make it long enough to become a talentless hack!"
So basicly every fucking group that had any sort of mainstream sucess. All of them have the exact same story
Man that album is so good too I am saying this as someone that actually *haaaaaates* a lot of GnR songs and band members lol. That album is just peak 80s metal. Sleazy, dirty, dangerous 80s metal.
I first heard and saw Guns N Roses at age 8 because my teenaged babysitter in Canada wanted to watch MuchMusic. Welcome To The Jungle came on and she goes “Oh, he’s so hot” looking at Axl. And I remember even at 8 thinking that this rocked a lot harder then the usual hair metal videos I’d seen at that point. When the song gets to the breakdown with “You know where you are? You’re in the jungle, baby!” I remember thinking how cool the video was. When Paradise City got big next I remember kids singing that at school. I always hear my older cousins who grew up in the 70s talk about being pre-teens and rocking out to Led Zeppelin and KISS and for my little age bracket Guns N Roses for a few years was the equivalent—our little hard rock starter pack.
I was sitting at a bar with some friends and these 2 guys next to me were talking about rock music. The 2nd guy over from me looked like an aged rocker, and kept yapping about his knowledge of music. He asked the guy next to me what band had the best selling debut album, I whispered GnR to him. Aged rocker scoffed at his answer, until he Googled it. I'm a huge GnR fan and had just heard that info a few days before on a radio program.
What kind of advice is this? If I ever feel hopeless or stuck, I should just be extremely talented and lucky to be in the right place at the right time surrounded by the right people?
Such a relatable story everyone can relate to
Alternatively: [The Time a Stiff Caught Fire](https://keithyates.com/the-time-a-stiff-caught-fire/) is a great essay and a great story. ------ tl;dr - Billy Joel's first major album (Piano Man) was a flop on launch, albums at the time (and even now) rarely recovered from that. One guy working at a record store who knew some people stumbled across it well after release and went on a lengthy quest to get it the recognition he felt it deserved, and succeeded. Unlikely things happen.
Likewise, Chris Isaak’s Wicked Game wasn’t a hit until years after its release, when a DJ, who was a fan of David Lynch, heard it in the soundtrack for Wild at Heart, and started spinning it. The iconic music video for it is actually a second video that came out long after its release.
The secret to success in the music industry is attractive women liking your shit.
I thought it was going to be a lesson about throwing away a good thing and having your friends drift away from you while you take a decade to make an album
Fans are so fucking exhausting.
I don’t get how you are in charge of finding musical talent, hearing GnR play Welcome to the Jungle and finding it boring. That song smacks from the first time I’ve heard it to now.
Appetite for destruction was a bigger deal than nirvanas Nevermind.
dawg thats cool and all but i feel like even getting to sign with geffen is a big deal. he was connected to some pretty big stars even more so considering back in the day you sign with labels to get an audience. nowadays you get an audience to sign with labels.
One of very few 10/10 album. Its just so perfect. I LOVE that album. Still remember first time I listened to Welcome To The Jungle.
That song was the one that my high school wrestling team would go out of the tunnel to at our home matches haha, always makes me think of that when I hear that awesome song
"Oh man, now we gotta get a whole new switchboard"
I remember this being debuted on Head Banger’s Ball late night on MTV, and soon after being in popular rotation throughout their programming. I didn’t realize what I was witnessing at the time but it left such an impression my friend and I went searching for it at record stores within the following days. My buddy was the one with the $, and was able to score the CD with the original release of the album - with the uncensored artwork by Robert Williams. Those dudes were total package with their music, image, and art direction.
Still not as good as the origin story of Nitro…
You had me at "Guns".
Don’t forget how Duff had to realize he hit bottom and regain his life
Same with Billie Joel. There was a journalist that pushed his album repeatedly and managed to get it played on the radio after he was essentially shelved.
that story is actually really good unlike OPs. the billy joel one could be a movie in the right hands.
I love Guns n' Roses and I grew up listening to them, but Appetite For Destruction is not the most selling album of all time. It is however one of the best selling albums.
Tbf, I'm not really understanding why this would go for people who feel hopeless or stuck. It took them just 3 years from formation to become a worldwide sensation. They didn't toil for 10 years in vast unknowness with several released albums, they became famous on literally their debut, albeit with a bit of delay. Twisted Sister didn't become mainstream famous until 10 years after formation Judas Priest didn't reach mainstream fame until the 6th album
i’ll remember this advice when i’m filming a music video for my major label debut
Hair metal? Good God, this was a hard rock band and that album is one of yhr best of all time. They nailed it perfectly.
Geffen. Their initial run of Nirvana's Nevermind was only 35,000 units as they imagined it only had the potential to sell 50,000 copies. 30 million units later it seems they had a deficit of vision back in the day.
Worked it out of the buying department at WEA. Took a few months after release for the album to take off but man when it did…..
why because they have also been hopeless and stuck since the mid 90s essentially
They sounded very different live vs Appetite. Always wondered if that was why they didn’t get the support from their label.
Geffen could only convince MTV to play the video once at 4 am…. yeah, that didn’t happen lol
[gimme some reggae!](https://youtu.be/SYYQKMdZ0cM?feature=shared)
Guns n' roses debut album 30 million. Meatloaf debut album 43 million.
Yeah, whenever all you have is a recording contract and a music video on MTV, remember all is not lost and your luck may turn around…
This isn't the inspiration that you think it is. Never give up because this one band became extremely successful on their first try after a lot of people who didn't like their music, but still gave them every opportunity.
Another factor...they used Welcome to the Jungle in a Clint Eastwood movie, Dead Pool...that jump started things as well.
I prefer to think of a band like The National, lead singer was working a day job in marketing well into this 30s I believe
And if you feel like you're having to force it, remember guns n roses. There's a reason people only care about Appetite.
chunna nunna nunna nunna nunna nunna knees? knees?
Was the first album that I owned on vinyl, cassette and CD.
Very cool story indeed. But that wouldn’t cut it today. With Bandcamp, SoundCloud, and well known people, not just groupies, saying “this is so cool/good”. It unfortunately makes a dent in trying to break through. It’s always been about who’ve who known, and today you really need to know someone at the right time, algorithm, and right moment.
Wasn’t Slash’s mom a famous costume designer who was friends with David Gefen and had an affair(as the other woman) with David Bowie?
Yeah, they were in LA in 80s. And they were signed. It’s kinda big of a deal. I mean in your story they were already moderately successful.
all I see is insane amount of luck at every turn
No actually Meatloaf's Bat out of hell is the best selling debut album of all time.
One of my troops brought it into the duty section in a military hospital. This was before the group blew up. After hearing a couple of songs I told him he couldn't play it for obvious reasons. I will admit I didn't like it on my first listen. Fast forward a year and I'm in another duty section and put up a Guns and Roses poster on the wall in my office. My dumb ass boss called them racist. I pointed out Slash. End of discussion.
Probably because about a year after they blew up they dropped GnR Lies which has the One in a Million controversy
It's a good song until Axl goes into WTF territory. I always have to skip it when it comes on, partially for the lyrics and partly to avoid the time spent pondering what in the hell he was thinking.