Since this is supposed to be a music forum( at least that's what the name says), it is about time that I started discussing music on a more frequent basis. My last post was about Indian rock powerhouse Motherjane but I am going to go for something a bit different. I am going to make a series of posts on my influences as a musician and they shall be wide ranging, from musicians to songs to albums! Well this month I have decided to talk about all the albums that influenced me. And I am trying to keep them in a chronological manner so if someone were to deduce a progression in my tastes they probably could try.
Anyway, to the post then. Well I hail from a family which had very humble beginnings and there was absolutely no English music happening in my house. My parents loved music and I was exposed to all the old Bollywood classics and Bengali classics as well. I didn't know that a separate world existed, but my reverie was to be broken. I remember my elder brother(God bless him) bringing home a cassette from one of his friends. This was when I was ten and my brother had just gotten a guitar as a gift from dad for doing exceptionally well in his board exams. The guitar later came to me but that story is for a different day. Anyway my brother heard the thing for quite a few times and I was firmly asked to stay away. But such is the nature of the bored mind that I sneaked the cassette and gave it a listen anyway.
What makes Appetite an excellent album to listen to is that it can give you the same euphoria every time you hear it. The starting riff of "Welcome to the Jungle" can give you goosebumps every single time. You might have heard the song live too right?.... ("Do you know where the fuck you are??? You're in the jungle baby,wake up...it's time to dieeeee.....") and Axl Rose's howl transports you to a darker, almost sinisterly romantic place. That one line and riff captures the basic essence of metal! The feeling that you can never deny.. it creeps up on you and makes you submit. And for a ten year old kid who had never heard a distorted guitar before that thing was almost scary.. like forbidden fruit. It ends after four and a half minutes of gut wrenching music.. of riff and solo.. of bass line and drums.. of Axl crooning midway to the song as Slash's harmonics cut through the mix. Metal had pervaded my universe.. and although the next time I heard the album was after an interval of 8 years I recognized all the songs instantaneously.
To the other songs.. "It's so Easy".. lyrics that twisted my head( made me look up fuck in the dictionary..ha ha) and the same power of rock that was a feature in all of their songs. As Slash had said about Appetite.. "Appetite was the best record we made.. cuz it wasn't dictated by industry pressures or producers.. It was just us doing our thing".
The lyrics of the songs still make for interesting listening. "My Michelle" was about( as Axl put it).. " this crazy girl i knew.. doing drugs and shit". "Night Train" was about a bottle of whiskey by the same name. One has to love the cowbell intro to Night Train, and the twin guitar parts in the solos..first time i had heard that too.
"Mr. Brownstone", definitely one of the funkiest and probably most understated rock riffs ever. It's kinda like Aerosmith's "Walk this Way".. not just quite up there but pretty good in it's own right. I mean I could ramble on about how good each of the songs are.. but you should give it a listen if you haven't yet.
The thing about GnR is that they introduced cool to the mainstream rock audience. They were more public than most other bands who were flaunting their act at the time. Motley Crue and the entire glam rock movement were pretty flashy, but none of them sold as well as GnR. Well, Axl had proclaimed that Appetite for Destruction was going to be the largest selling debut album by a rock band. And he was right.. At 15 million record sales.
But truth be told.. these songs are good but not worth 15 million in record sales.. that was accomplished by the two songs that really kicked the album to the sky.. "Paradise City" and "Sweet Child o' Mine". Radio friendly in the last true period of mainstream rock, these two songs were the reason for the notoriety that followed during GnR's reign at the top. They spent their advance money for Appetite on clothes!!! And they still lived in a hovel somewhere near Sunset Strip!The intro to "Sweet Child o' Mine" is like a guitarist's "First ten licks to learn" kinda thing. The solo is still difficult to pull off. There hasn't been a guitar god since the Les Paul straddling, cigarette and hair dangling, Slash. Even though he plies his trade with "Velvet Revolver" now, it's not the same thing. Nonetheless, they were( were.. not are, the money spent on recording Chinese Democracy could have erased a few nation's hunger issues) one of the best rock bands that ever were.. erased from meaningful existence by MTV and their 90's flagship Nirvana, but they gave us some really good songs that will last for a really long time.
Summary, well it's a great album. Guitars, bass, drums, riffs, solos, vocals, lyrics.. the complete hard rock package. Lessons in sex, drugs and rock n' roll by the best in the business. Cheers!
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