Day 0600 - Appetite For Destruction

Guns n Roses "Appetite For Destruction" (1987)

 
Gunners, formed from members of two bands: LA Guns and Hollywood Rose... should be pretty obvious from that where their new band got its name.   After a few disagreements and members quitting, guitarist Slash and drummer Steven Adler were brought into the fold and... well I'd say the rest was history, but the band line-up continued to be in flux long after this.

The 'classic' GnR lineup set about recording their debut album.  They had an abundance of material, and several songs (including "Don't Cry", "November Rain" and "You Could Be Mine") were held over until the "Use Your Illusion" album.

The album doesn't suffer from the omissions, it's a stonking classic of a rock album.  From opener "Welcome to the Jungle", the blues rock vibe of "Nightrain" to the MTV favourite, rock ballad "Sweet Child o' Mine", the album is a lean, mean rock monster.  I'm not even a huge GnR fan, but I enjoyed every song.

I'm not sure if this is true or 'Axl legend' but I read that the band finished the music quite quickly, but Axl insisted on recording his vocals one line at a time to make sure and get everything right.  I'll bet he had a glass of brown M&Ms on standby too.

The original cover (top) featuring some kind of robot john and a prostitute or something was deemed to be 'a bit much' and was replaced with the better known alternative above.

Day 0391 - My Aim is True

Elvis Costello "My Aim is True" (1977)

 
Costello mixes 1950s-style rock n roll with the dirty production sound, angst and sneer of punk.  In some ways he was anticipating the 1980s’ fondness for all things 50s (back to the future, cry-baby, nu-greasers, plus all of those people who really just wanted a return to the 'golden years' when they could be racist and sexist with impunity (MAGA)).

According to the book, he had not recruited his band 'the Attractions' for these sessions. He recorded the album over six 4-hour sessions in a tiny little 8-track demo studio - which probably helps lend it its gritty sound.

"Welcome to the working week" is a catchy, danceable number, "Mystery dance" is boisterous rockabilly and "Alison" is a more tender track.

"Watching the detectives" (not on the original album but released shortly after and included on the version I listened to) is a little bit of white-boy reggae/ska that mines a similar vein as artists such as the Police and the Specials.