This 2-sided, framed limited-edition Picture Disc presentation measures approx. Approx. 20”h x 19” wide overall, and features custom-cut matting on both sides and a 1.5” black, bevel-cut frame with Plexiglas on both sides (so that you can easily see both sides of the disc - see back side photo, below). The front of the picture disc shows designer/artist Robert Williams’ original cover illustration, while the back shows the record’s back cover photo.

One from an edition of 100 total numbered presentations, published by Filmcells Ltd & Collectors World Int’l, Ltd., with COA on back and engraved informational plaque up front that includes a track listing. Approx. 8lbs. shipping weight.

Back side of picture disc presentation

Appetite for Destruction was the 1987 debut album by LA hard-rockers Guns N’ Roses. One of the best-selling albums ever, the package reached #1 on the Billboard 200 (after over a year on the charts). Over 25 million copies were sold worldwide (15 million of those selling in the United States alone), and Rolling Stone magazine later ranked it #61 on their 2003 list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time”.

The band’s songs painted powerful musical pictures of the gritty parts of LA’s most-notorious neighborhoods and the dangers of the life found there – the cheap sex, drugs and crime many innocents found themselves caught up in soon after their arrival there (“looking for fame and fortune”).

An adaptation of an original painting by famed artist Robert Williams (titled “Appetite for Destruction”) was to have been used as the cover of the album, but backlash from retailers about the painting’s disturbing imagery (showing a mechanical rapist, standing over his injured victim, about to be attacked by a toothy avenging monster) forced the label to move the painting to inside the CD’s booklet, replacing it with a tattoo-style cross on which five skulls were hung. Each skull represented one of the band members - Top - Izzy Stradlin (guitar/vocals); Left  – Steven Adler (drums); Center – Axl Rose (vocals); Right – Duff McKagan (bass/vocals) and Bottom – Slash (guitars).

We’re glad to be able to offer this presentation with the “banned” artwork back in its rightful place!