Guns N' Roses' 1987 debut album, Appetite for Destruction, is being marked as a landmark record that stood apart from the glam-rock scene dominating Los Angeles' Sunset Boulevard at the time. Its blend of bluesy hard rock, punk aggression and metal, driven by a distinctive line-up of musicians, helped it become one of the best-selling rock albums ever and a fixture in hard rock fans' collections alongside records such as Led Zeppelin II and Black Sabbath's Paranoid.

The album's success was not immediate: it took more than a year after release to reach the top of the charts, gaining momentum only once singles including "Welcome to the Jungle", "Paradise City" and "Sweet Child o' Mine" received heavy MTV and radio play in 1988, before it topped the Billboard 200 that August. Its creation was also troubled, marked by heavy drug and alcohol use within the band, difficulties finding a producer, and mounting pressure from an impatient record label.