GUNS N’ ROSES // Appetite For Destruction Gets A $1,500 Special Edition

IYCMI, seminal rockers Guns N’ Roses sent the internet into meltdown mode this week when, two years after their first reunion shtick debuted, billboards started teasing a full-on throwback to the iconic Appetite For Destruction lineup.

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The five simplistic posters–each featuring the skullborne faces of frontman Axl Rose, guitarists Slash and Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Steven Adler—even popped up in Sydney, naturally sparking rumours of a world tour with the band’s original quintet.

Rose, Slash, McKagan, Stradlin and Adler were the fivesome from hell on the Gunners’ landmark Appetite For Destruction LP, which first dropped in July 1987. The band reunited after almost two decades with Slash and McKagan for the 2016 Not In This Lifetime tour (which is still raging hard overseas), however Stradlin and Adler sat the run out for varying reasons–much to fans’ dismay.

Well, allow us to be the bearers of bad news: the reunion isn’t happening. Rather, the weeklong surge of hype was all to peddle a new reissue of Appetite For Destruction, dubbed Locked N’ Loaded, which is set to hit shelves on June 29th in configurations ranging from a tame $20 CD to a fucking mental $1,450 collector’s edition.

Those for whom the term ‘financial responsibility’ is gibberish can expect quite the stocking stuffer. Spanning a total of 73 tracks (49 of which have never been released before), the top-tier offering features five CDs and 14 vinyl records (half 12” and half 7”), alongside a 96-page hardbound book and a myriad of extra little goodies. You’ll have to suss the link below for the full specs (because there’s just so much going on with this thing), but trust us when we say this: holy shit.

We’d be lying if we said we weren’t a tad miffed at the lack of a proper reunion, but hopes shouldn’t be nipped in the bud just yet: Stradlin almost made an appearance at a few shows last year, and Adler has told press he was upset when he wasn’t invited back for the original reunion. And who knows? Maybe the fan reaction to Locked N’ Loaded will convince Rose to push for Adler and Stradlin’s return to the mix.

Hysteria caught the Australian leg of GNR’s Not In This Lifetime tour last February, where we said, “ It felt like we’d stepped back in time, trading the passive Rose of decades past for the young, fiery beast that once had a hell of an appetite for destruction.” Read full review here.

Appetite For Destruction: Locked N’ Loaded is out June 29th via Universal Music, Pre-orders are available from the Guns N’ Roses website now.