2002.08.DD - Blender Magazine - "My Whole Life Has Been Rawk!" (Slash)

The 50 Greatest Rawk Albums of All Time!

“I’m a street-walkin’ cheetah with a head full of napalm,” sang Iggy Pop, but he wasn’t the only one. Chug a mug of bull’s blood, say “I am Satan’s willing monkey-slave!” and allow Fred Durst, Slash, Nikki Sixx, Angus Young, Joe Elliott, Rob Halford and Andrew W.K. to guide you through Blender’s rawking guide to the most teeth-grinding, ear-splitting, brain-liquidizing rawk albums the world has ever seen!

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1. GUNS N' ROSES
APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION
GEFFEN, 1987

The rudest rock record ever made

Grunge didn't kill hair metal: Guns N' Roses did, with the streetwise, no-bullshit hard rock of their debut. After Appetite for Destruction topped the charts in the summer of '88, big hair was over. Appetite had it all: sex, drugs, violence, death, swearing and a sweet little tune about Axl Rose's blue-eyed first love.

STANDOUT TRACKS "Welcome to the Jungle," "Sweet Child o' Mine"

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My Whole Life Has Been Rawk!
And who's going to argue with Slash?

Interview by Rob Kemp

Where are you right now?

I'm at a friend's house who's taking care of my snakes. I'm watching my pythons and boas shed their skins.

Time to head down Memory Lane...

I hope I have some left.

What was the mindset of Guns N' Roses as you hit the studio in August 1986 to start recording Appetite for Destruction?

We hated everything. There was no one we looked up to: not to the "bad boy" L.A. bands, not the record companies. The label put us in different studios, tried different producers. We went in and kicked it out. They were live performances. Axl's vocals and my solos were the only overdubs. We banged out 12 songs in 12 days.

When was the last time you listened to Appetite?

The only time I ever listened to it was when we rehearsed for our first tour.

You might be the only rock fan in the world who has listened to that album only once.

It's not necessary to go back to some party you were at and pick up the broken beer bottles and try to relive it.

Did GN'R get too big too soon? Would you have done anything differently?

I have no regrets about anything. If all the original members wanted to do it again, I'd do it.

You say that even after Axl didn't let you into his show in Las Vegas last December?

I'm not going to make any excuses for him, but I know he wasn't responsible for that. That was management.

Did Axl go slightly nuts after Appetite?

I think success exaggerates whatever you are. He's not nuts. I just don't understand where he's coming from.

Did you ever understand him?

I used to take solace in the other guys. The four of us had a simple approach that was a buffer for Axl's eccentric mentality.

We've voted Appetite the hardest-rocking album ever, although Back in Black is pretty damn close.

I appreciate it. Back in Black was the last really great rock & roll record.

What's the most rawk moment of your life?

Playing with Aerosmith and Deep Purple at Giants Stadium. Guns were just beginning to break, and the place just turned upside down. But man, my whole life has been pretty rawk!

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