Guns N’ Roses Are Not Reuniting with Izzy Stradlin and Steven Adler, Are Releasing an Appetite for Destruction Anniversary Box Set

Richard Fortus and Frank Ferrer’s jobs are safe!

Guns N’ Roses have been teasing something Appetite for Destruction-related all week, and the use of imagery including the two dudes not involved in the band’s recent reunion — rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin and drummer Steven Adler — led a lot of us to speculate these two under-praised heroes were finally returning to the fold.

Well, we speculated incorrectly.

What the band has actually been teasing is a super-duper extra-special deluxe Appetite for Destruction re-release to commemorate the album’s thirtieth anniversary. In our defense, it would have been nearly impossible for anyone to see that coming, because Appetite for Destruction‘s thirtieth anniversary was last year. Hey, if it wasn’t late, we wouldn’t know for sure that it actually came from Axl Rose and not a pod person.

The PRP has details of this so-called ‘Locked N’ Loaded’ edition of the best debut album of all time:

“A since deleted unboxing video for the set leaked early and shared some details of what to expect from it. 73 tracks are to be included in the elaborate box set, 49 of which are previously unreleased. In addition to a remastered version of the original album, 25 unreleased songs from the band’s 1986 sessions at Sound City will be included, as will two from their recording sessions with [‘Appetite’] producer Mike Clink. The group’s early EP ‘Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide EP’ will also be featured. A super deluxe version also boasts a 96-page book with photos from Axl Rose‘s personal archives and more.”

Here’s a Redditor’s photo of a billboard advertising a June 29 re-release date for the collection:

And here are all of my random GN’R super-nerd thoughts on this development (because I know you’re all dying to read them):

• This explains why the AFD b-side “Shadow of Your Love” is what plays on the band’s new website despite the fact that it’s a song most people probably don’t know. I’m guessing they’ll use that as the first single, which is smart, because it’s very much in line with the rest of the record, but will seem new to many fans.
• Calling this ‘Locked N’ Loaded’ kinda seems cruel to L.A. Guns. Like, can’t GN’R just let them have this?
• What in the what could all this previously unreleased material be? I imagine most of it will be stuff that hardcore fans have already been passing around for thirty years, like covers of “Heartbreak Hotel” and “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and demos for songs that were intended for Appetite but ended up on Use Your Illusion (e.g., “November Rain,” “Don’t Cry,” etc.). I can’t imagine there’s a bunch of never-before-heard songs that have been sitting in a vault for thirty-one years without anyone mentioning it ever (as opposed to Chinese Democracy, for which we know 70+ songs were completed to some degree or another).
• If they really wanna drive Steven Adler over the brink, they can include the complete recording of Rose having sex with his girlfriend.
• I can 100% guarantee that this will not be included, but it would be neat if it was: Rose re-recorded Appetite with an early version of the Chinese Democracy band, including Josh Freese, Robin Finck, and Tommy Stinson. This incredibly ill-advised endeavor was never released, save for a brief snippet during the closing credits of the movie Big Daddy (seriously), and it has never, to the best of my knowledge, been leaked. I can’t imagine it ever supplanting the original, but for academic purposes, I’d be beyond curious to hear it.

I look forward to rambling about this much more as we approach a day when I will once again purchase an album I’ve already bought at least three times. Cassette, vinyl, and CD, if you’re curious.