July 21st marked the 20th Anniversary of one of the greatest moments in American History. July 21st 1987 was the release date of the single greatest album released in my lifetime. The Band Guns and Roses...The Album Appetite for Destruction. It sold over 15 Million copies, a record for a debut album.
Welcome To The Jungle
It's So Easy
Night Train
Out Ta Get Me
Mr. Brownstone
Paradise City
My Michelle
Think About You
Sweet Child Of Mine
You're Crazy
Anything Goes
Rocket Queen
This really was the album of my adolescence. I mean, I was only ten when it came out, but really, I'd say They really hit it big a year or so later, maybe longer, I remember being in 7th grade I think when I had my Guns and Roses shirt, and the posters and magazines and everything else. So that's around 1989 or so. Here's the thing...This Album was popular for like 4 straight years. It wasn't until 1991 that Use Your Illusion was released, and the Guns and Roses/Metallica tour happened. That's 4 years that Appetite was out there and ruled the airwaves...I first remember seeing the video for Welcome To The Jungle when I was in 6th grade I think. Guns and Roses was a constant at school dances (Sweet Child o' Mine and Paradise City only, due to profanities)...We would do the Axl dance, and pretend we were slash playing the guitar. I remember I even attempted to draw Slash in an art project that we had. I think I may have even given the picture to a girl I was keen on...of course I'm an awful artist, and it came out awfully, so it didn't get me anywhere.
I got to see Guns and Roses twice in my life...Once with the Brian May Band...The highlight of that show was when they turned the stage into a large living room, and were playing songs off the G and R Lies EP...and a girl who had a huge tray full of beer and booze dropped it all right there...Hilarity. I also got to go to the Guns and Roses Metallica tour in Foxboro, that almost didn't happen because of Axl's hurt throat and James Hetfield's explosion. During that show, I was treated to a lovely display of women bearing their breasts for the big screen and men showing their appreciation by throwing souvenir cups of soda around the bleachers (thankfully you couldn't get beer by this point).
Eventually as the years went by, Guns and Roses just kind of faded from the limelight...Duff McKagan joined some band with a guy from The Sex Pistols. Izzy Stradlin started the JuJu Hounds...Slash started Slash's Snakepit...Later Slash and Duff joined with former Stone Temple Pilots front man Scott Weiland to form sucessful band Velvet Revolver. Axl has been writing and recording the Chinese Democracy since about 1994...and he toured however briefly with a new lineup which I believe was just him and a bunch of homeless people.
But the real point of this post is that this album has now been around for 2/3rds of my life. 20 Years is a long friggin' time, and it really feels like yesterday that it was new. Time really flies. Anyway, I don't listen to the album multiple times per day like I used to, but every once in a while, I throw it on, I'll never stop listening to it. I mean, just the fact that Rocket Queen is not just one but two of the greatest songs of all time...Paradise City is arguably the greatest rock "Anthem" of all time, and My Michelle has some of the greatest lyrics ever put to paper. I guess what I'm trying to say, is that I'm f'n old...but I love Appetite for Destruction.
Thursday, August 02, 2007
20 Years Later I'm So F'n Old
Posted by fuge at 9:40 AM
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5 comments:
My claim to fame is that I hung out with a second generationer of GNR, Gilby Clark! He bought me a beer and we chatted.
I'M CRAZY FAMOUS
This album's 4 year hey day coincided exactly with my high school years. Oh, the metalhorns did fly. I wouldn't call it the greatest album of the last 20 years, but it is a great rock album.
DF post suggestion: top 10 albums released in your lifetime.
also, we never got that promised Top 50 Songs Of All Time List, did we? C'mon, Rob Fleming. Give it up.
semi-related question - is Fever Pitch the reason you're a Gunners fan? related question - are they even going to finish 4th this year? Looks like my Hammers avoided the Hammer on this Tevez affair. Without a points deduction and any further injuries (Faubert out until XMasish), I think the Irons can contend for UEFA Cup qualification.
I'll answer all your questions in order...Top 10 Albums of my lifetime...great idea...I'll work on it.
Second...The top 50 list is happening...my move back to Middlesex county could possibly delay it till later...but we'll see.
Secondly Fever Pitch did in fact lead to the fact that I'm now a gunners fan. I saw the movie starring Colin Firth, and thought that the gunners seemed much like the sox. Then I went to London, and read the book. I felt like they were so Red Sox like, that I was hooked. Of course, I didn't realize that at the time, the gunners were the best team in the league and on their way to the Double, although I did watch the match between Arsenal and Man United where Silvain Wiltord scored the winner, in the great Gold Sega jerseys.
Finally, I am very dissapointed with Arsenal...First off, they only got 13 Million Pounds for arguably the best player in the world...and now Henry is doing commercials in the states, so I'm reminded even more. Secondly, the only guy they get back is a brazillian born croation who barely gets a Work Permit. Finally, I do think they could get top 4, but it's going to be tough...I think Reading, Bolton, Portsmouth and maybe even West Ham could make a run...although I'm pretty sure Man City is going to suck, because Sven will do something to screw it up.
So to recap:
Top 10 coming soon.
Fever Pitch yes
Top 50 slightly delayed
Arsenal makes me pissed.
Finally, Congratulations to Billerica Boy Tom Glavine...on becoming possibly the last player ever to win 300 games. You make the Green Proud.
1. Watching Brewster's Millions right now. tremendous movie. Pryor and Candy. and Candy's character's name is Nolan. nice. Candy has the best fake nervous smooth over a situation laugh of all time.
2. The Top 10 albums of your lifetime thing. I've been working on it since I posted that comment and I've come to the conclusion that you really need to do 2 lists: one of the top albums of your lifetime and one of the top albums of your music conscious lifetime (aka from 10 years old onwards give or take a few depending on your music consciousness). Also, it should probably be 20 instead of 10. 10's unreasonable.
3. I never saw the Colin Firth movie. I loved the book back in 98ish though, made the Red Sox connection, thought it would be a good team to follow despite the fact that I'm a lifelong Yankees fan/Sox hater, but had no access to the games or the internet at that time, so forgot about it. By the time I got dialed back into soccer in 01/02ish, they were the dominant team and I didn't feel like bandwagoning at that point. So, I stayed with my lukewarm support of Liverpool (when I lived in Ireland in 93/94 my flatmates were Liverpool/Man U/and Spurs fans, and I developed in instant hatred of Giggs and Cantona, so I supported Liverpool). I haven't really had a team (other than whomever is playing United) until this year when I randomly saw the West Ham - Spurs match when I realized they had picked up Tevez.
4. As for this year, I'd be surprised if West Ham finished higher than 6 or 7th, but I'm hoping. Reading hasn't really made too many moves in the offseason, have they? Spurs will make a run.
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