July 21, 1987: Guns N' Roses Release "Appetite for Destruction"

July 21, 1987: Guns N' Roses Release their debut album, Appetite for Destruction. It established them as America's premier hard rock band. But that wouldn't last long.

The band brought together members of 3 established heavy metal bands in Los Angeles. From L.A. Guns came guitarist Jeffrey Dean Isbell, a.k.a. Izzy Stradlin. From Hollywood Rose came guitarist Saul Hudson, a.k.a. Slash. From Road Crew came bass guitarist Michael Andrew McKagan, a.k.a. Duff McKagan; and drummer Michael Coletti, a.k.a. Steven Adler. 

And singer William Bruce Rose Jr., a.k.a. Axl Rose, had been in Hollywood Rose; then, after they broke up, joined L.A. Guns; then, after Hollywood Rose re-formed, rejoined them.

Much like an earlier Los Angeles-based band, The Doors, a Guns N' Roses concert was unpredictable: You never knew when the lead singer was going to join with the others to give you a transcendent experience, or when he was going to start a riot, or whether he was going to show up drunk and unfit to perform, whether he was going to show up at all.

Between the booze, the drugs, the unreliability, and Axl's lyrics sometimes being racist, or misogynist, or homophobic, GN'R were the most controversial band of the late 1980s. But, with songs like the anthemic "Welcome to the Jungle" and the Number 1 hit "Sweet Child o' Mine," with Slash's unforgettable opening solo, they may also have been the best band of that period.

In 1989, Adler quit the band, and was replaced by Matt Sorum. It took them until 1991 to release their follow-up, but it was 2 albums at once: Use Your Illusion I, which had a cover of Paul McCartney's James Bond film theme, "Live and Let Die"; and Use Your Illusion II, which had a cover of Bob Dylan's "Knockin' On Heaven's Door." (Neither Macca nor Ole Doc Zimmerman seemed to mind.) The album was predicted to be the Sgt. Pepper of heavy metal. It wasn't. It flopped.

In 1993, the band released The Spaghetti Incident? This album of covers was the band's last with Slash, McKagan and Sorum. For a while, it looked like it might be Axl's last release, period. He talked about releasing an album titled Chinese Democracy, and the running gag was about which would happen first: The release of the album, or actual democracy in China. Along with the Beach Boys' Smile and Prince's Black Album, it became a legendary unreleased album: Everyone presumed it had actually been recorded, at least partially, but nobody knew if or when it would ever be released.

While GN'R fans waited for Chinese Democracy, and waited, and waited... Slash, Duff and Matt formed a new band, Velvet Revolver, with Stone Temple Pilots lead singer Scott Weiland, and Wasted Youth guitarist Dave Kushner. They released 2 albums: Contraband (clearly, a play on words) in 2004, leading to a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock performance for the song "Slither"; and Libertad in 2007.

Axl kept touring under the GN'R name, which he owned, but no one who went to a concert was, well, using their illusion: They knew it was just him. And he was making money off the name. But the success of Velvet Revolver showed that, like Mick Jagger with Keith Richards, Axl needed Slash a whole lot more than the other way around. The Doors' Jim Morrison died at age 27. His legend outlived him. Axl outlived his legend.

Finally, on November 23, 2008, after spending $13 million to put it together, making it the most expensive album ever made, in any genre of music, Axl released Chinese Democracy under the GN'R name. It was met with mild critical approval, and sold a little over 1 million copies. Had there been a fraction of the hype, it would have looked a lot better.

Axl, Slash and Duff swallowed their differences, and reunited for a tour that lasted from 2016 to 2019. Still, there hasn't been a real GN'R album since 1991.

*

July 21, 1987 was a Tuesday. Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy was born. And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Chicago White Sox, 3-2 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The Yankees tied the game in the top of the 8th, but in the bottom of the 8th, future White Sox general manager Ken Williams brought Iván Calderón home with a sacrifice fly. Dave Winfield went 2-for-4 with an RBI, Don Mattingly went 3-for-5, and Rickey Henderson went 2-for-3.

* The New York Mets lost to the Houston Astros, 7-5 at Shea Stadium. Glenn Davis hit a home run for the Astros, Gary Carter and Kevin McReynolds for the Mets.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-3 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Mike Fitzgerald singled Tim Raines home with the winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Seattle Mariners, 11-5 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 2-1 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Mike Schmidt went 1-for-4.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Kansas City Royals, 4-3 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Eddie Murray hit a home run. Cal Ripken went 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. George Brett went 0-for-4 with a walk.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 13-9 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. A football score, for a football stadium.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Cleveland Indians, 7-3 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the California Angeles, 5-4 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Lou Whitaker won the game with a home run in the bottom of the 10th inning.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 13-4 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Robin Yount went 1-for-4. Paul Molitor went 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the San Diego Padres, 9-3 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego.  Barry Bonds went 2-for-5 with his a home run.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs, 7-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* And the San Francisco Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-4 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.