Just sneaking into the qualification criteria, Guns’n’Roses’ 1987 debut Appetite for Destruction is for me, a celebration of Slash. Unleashed upon the world on July 21, 1987, less than two months after I was, there are some songs here that will live out eternity in classic rock lore. It topped the Billboard charts and sold over 30 million copies, this was not a flash in the pan, but an onslaught of guitar riffs that were among the best of the decade. This was in a time when rock and roll was still on the tip of everyone’s tongue, as evidenced by no less than three singles cracking the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100.

When you talk about all time rock intros, or about masterful use of guitar effects, it would be a sin not to mention album opener, “Welcome to the Jungle.” Slash employs the delay pedal to perfection on the opening salvo of this classic rock mainstay. It puts you into a swarm of notes before kicking into the main riff, and then takes you on a ride. You also have to love the lyric inspired by a homeless man when the band first traveled to New York City, “You know where you are? You’re in the jungle baby, you gonna die!” Really the only knock on the song is its use by the Cincinnati Bengals as a stadium anthem. Despite being to the big game twice they have just as many Super Bowl rings as Cleveland.

Working through the first half of the album there are memorable tracks like, “Nightrain” and, “Mr. Brownstone” that keep it flowing. I generally consider Guns’n’Roses to be above the hair band era in terms of quality, but you can hear the sounds of the time ever present. It changes however, when you hear that heavenly chorus pedal opening from Izzy Stradlin give way to Slash’s relentless riffs on, “Paradise City.” As far as an ethos, you can do a whole lot worse than, “Take me down to the paradise city where the grass is green and the girls are pretty. Oh won’t you please take me home?”

I have been involved in many, many, late night, can’t-see-straight classic rock music discussions with both those whose musical acumen I respect, and those I quickly dismiss. There is a candidate for best classic rock song of all time on this album and it’s called, “Sweet Child O’ Mine.” Let me just go through some classic rock attributes it has in spades: great and uplifting lyrics, piercingly iconic intro, and a great rhythm section. All of that allows for the quintessential classic rock staple, the guitar solo, of which this song has two great ones. The first one acts as a great interlude and preface for Slash’s out of his mind main solo. I can’t overstate how stop-you-in-your-tracks great this guitar solo is, and that is why it is in the pantheon of classic rock. I mention this because if I think of glass tank distilled, 200 proof classic rock, it’s this, “More Than a Feeling” by Boston, “Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin, and “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” by The Rolling Stones. That would be my current Mt. Rushmore, subject to change via beer or hearing Toto’s, “Africa” late enough into the night.

I didn’t want to focus on the debauchery or disfunction of Guns’n’Roses, that would only serve as distraction from this great collection of songs and I get enough lead singer drama with Oasis. Slash’s guitar playing on this album is nothing short of extraordinary, and that is reason enough to give it another spin.