Guns N’ Roses’ greatest asset in “Appetite”, according to Gene Simmons

When it emerged, in the second half of the 1980s, the Armas e Rosas gave rock a real shake-up. At the time, many bands were adopting sounds considered more pasteurized, with production exaggerations and synthesizers in the foreground. When Axl Rose, slash and company arrived, once again highlighting a more organic type of sound, bringing the spotlight back to the dynamics of guitars, bass and drums.

This happened on Appetite for Destruction (1987), the group’s first studio album, then completed by Izzy Stradlin, Duff McKagan It is Steve Adler. Sales were not good in its first months of release, but the work took off and became a sales phenomenon, today accumulating 30 million copies sold across the planet.

The album in question was mentioned in 2015 by Gene Simmons as one of his all-time favorites. The bassist and vocalist of Kiss was already a rock veteran when Guns appeared, but that didn’t stop his admiration for the then newcomers. To the The Quietus(via Igor Miranda website), he highlighted the great merit of the GN’R in Appetite for Destruction:

“This record brought the honesty that rock and roll was missing. The 80s were a terrible time when guitars didn’t sound like guitars and there were drum machines. But suddenly here comes this group, the Armas e Rosaswhich connected your guitars and just didn’t have anything fancy.”

Then, rock’s biggest tongue-in-cheek drew parallels between one of the work’s biggest hits, “Bem Vindo a Selva”and other classics of the style.

“The songs were undeniable! ‘Bem Vindo a Selva‘ is indisputable in the same way as ‘Satisfaction‘ (Rolling Stones) has that great riff with the lyrics on top. Great lyrics, great imagery, and as soon as you hear that high-pitched voice that brings to mind a singing approach to Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin), which hadn’t been heard for a long time… Well, it still works today. This must be 30 years old, but if you put it on today, if it was a brand new band, I’d say, ‘Who’s that?’ This intro is almost symphonic and just defines the band. You listen to this song and then the rest of the album follows. ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ is head, hands and feet above the other material.”

Finally, the musician responsible for the alter ego of Demon at the Kiss pointed out:

“Bands have some songs that just stand out, you know? Do you think about ThinLizzyyou think about ‘The Boys are Back in Town’. Do you think about us Stonesyou think about ‘Satisfaction’. Do you think about Led Zeppelinyou think about ‘Stairway to Heaven’. There are just some songs that, whether because of the melody, the lyrics or the sound of the song, intrinsically say, ‘This is it.’ The only band that doesn’t have that, just because they have so many good songs, are Beatles.”

Kiss and Guns N’ Roses

Elsewhere in his statement, Gene Simmons reflected on the possible influence of Kiss at the Armas e Rosas. It is known that the band members, especially the drummer Steve Adler, were big fans of the masked group. Vocalist and guitarist Paul Stanleypartner of Simmons throughout his career, he was approached to produce Appetite for Destruction. Gene highlights:

“I don’t know if we influenced them. We never pay attention to anything. People can be influenced or not, but at the end of the day you are on your own. When you think about it, the Beatles were influenced by Motown, The Everly Brothers, Chuck Berry, etc, but when you hear them, it’s their thing. It’s like cooks. Everyone uses salt, everyone uses vegetables, there’s nothing unique about it, but the way you mix these elements makes it yours or not. If you can nail a style, I think it has to do with talent. Everyone cooks, but few are cooks.”