Track By Track: Van Halen Vs Guns N' Roses - Appetite for Destruction (For Peter Legowski) 

Van Halen Easily that albums a Masterpiece.

My sentiments excactly! Sittin in math class 7th grade, teacher super cool. Let us play and album on Fridays, VH was up and nobody heard them before. After eruption all of the dudes in class sat there with jaws hitting the desk and piss in there jeans. Our world had been transformed!! Long live King Edward and his badass band!!

I was 11 years old in 1978. I remember hearing Eruption for the first time and being gobsmacked. A kid at school bought the cassette and didn't like it. I traded him KISS Destroyer for VH1. Truly the greatest debut ever recorded. This one caused a major shift in the music world that still reverberates to this day!

Ralph is spot on across the board. VH is the best American hard rock band ever. The only reason some people pick GNR or Aerosmith is because VH’s dysfunction with their singers impacted their legacy more.

Greatest debut of all time!!!! Cheap trick debut my 2nd all time!!

Appetite came out when I was 13, and I loved it back in the day, but the Van Halen album is better.

Love em both...but yea, Van Halen...Will never forget the first time I heard the 8 track...

Van Halen's first album changed the rock world forever.

I was 12 in 1978 Van Halen debut changed my life along with Ufo Obsession.

I could just stare at the cover of VH 1 for the whole time listening to it. With Dave they were my favorite live band. You saw them the same years I did, do you remember before the boys took the stage Edward playing the Munsters theme? He did it a couple times when I saw them.

Both are the best two debut albums to ever come out in my opinion. Van Halen holds top position simply because it was a game changer plus no matter how incredible the songs are on Appetite, you can't compete with Eddie!! I'll never forget when Welcome to the jungle came out. I was up that night watching MTV the very first time it played. Nothing ever grabbed me like that before except for Van Halen. Also very proud of our two Hoosiers Dave and Axl, two of the greatest frontmen in two of the best American rock bands ever!

VAN HALEN DEBUT was life changing

Appetite is a killer album but VH is one of the greatest hard rock albums ever.

MIGHTY V.H.,ALL THE WAY ,FAVORITE ALBUM OF ALL TIME ,...

1. Running with the Devil 2. It's so Easy 3. You Really Got Me 4. Aint Talkin 'Bout Love 5. Mr. Brownstone 6. Jaimie's Cryin' 7. Atomic Punk 8. Feel Your Love Tonight 9. Little Dreamer 10. Your Crazy 11. I'M on fire 8 to 3

VH all day. Would love to know your favorite/top 10 debut albums

I came for the GNR wipeout, and I wasn’t disappointed. Van Halen rules. The first Van Halen album is a classic (the 6 pack is all amazing.) I especially agreed with you on Van Halen’s covers. My favorite VH song is Pretty Woman. They made it theirs. P.S. I’m 22. Yet another reminder that music is timeless.

Awesome vid, grew up with Guns N’ Roses and didn’t know until RU-vid how the music scene was in the 70s and how big of game changer Eddie’s guitar playing was

VAN HALEN, HANDS DOWN!!!

Van Halen Easily! R.i.P Eddie! Greatest Guitarist EVER IMO

VH hands down; all tracks!

we both had a clean sweep as far as the tracks go we both gave van halen 11 and guns n roses 0 and that was even with guns n roses having the extra track on there album

The Mighty Van Halen Rules!

Van fuckin' Halen!

Van Halen 1 is the greatest hard rock album of all time…bar none.

In my opinion, I don't think there is an album in existence that can go track by track with first Van Halen, It's just that good!. And I LOVE the first GNR album. If I were stuck in a desert island for the rest of my life and I had a choice of listening to only one album, this would be it.

Vh. Was 17 when appetite was brand new but I’ll still pick vh. That album knocked rock on its collective ass just like are you experienced did 11 years before. It was a complete game changer.

Van Halen 1 inspired me to play guitar. Guns n Rose's AFD. Inspired me to drink heavily. I still play guitar, I no longer drink. Still listen to early VH.

Oh my God I really laughed for the first time in a long time Thank you 😊

I promise you, Van Halen 1 will be the highest selling album of all time at some point in the future. I've bought it 5 times over my lifetime, and every guitar player I've met has done close to the same. Even the young players own this album and know all the songs. These musicians expose the album to their friends as well. In 50 years, guitar players will still be buying Van Halen l, and the rest of the Roth era stuff imo. They are all timeless albums, full of great songs from beginning to end. Just subbed and I've been binging on your vids. They're awesome btw.

The Greatest Debut Album of the 70's vs. The Greatest Debut Album of the 80's. Van Halen All The Way!!! That's the Van Halen Album I listen to the most because of it's genius! Appetite is great too but not as great as Van Halen 1! It doesn't even come close! There would be no GNR without Van Halen! Van Halen is... aww... you get what I'm saying! Stay Frosty!

Both Albums are Awesome, different stiles, But i love both, Cheers !!

Can we have your Top 10 favorite debut albums Ralph?

Hands down VH! The mighty i was 17 when vh1 hit the airwaves.

Totally agree. Appetite is a great album, but VH is on a whole different level.

Van Halen hands down

THE "MIGHTY VAN HALEN" W.D.F.A!!!

This is a tough one. I love both of these albums. VH wins 6-5 for me. 1. Welcome To The Jungle 2. Eruption 3. Night Train 4. Ain’t Talkin Bout Love 5. Brownstone 6. Jamie’s Crying 7. Atomic Punk 8. Feel Your Love Tonight 9. Sweet Child Of Mine 10. Ice Cream Man 11. Rocket Queen

1. Runnin' With The Devil 2. Eruption 3. Nightrain 4. Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love 5. I'm The One 6. Paradise City 7. Atomic Punk 8. Feel Your Love Tonight 9. Sweet Child O' Mine = Little Dreamer 10. Ice Cream Man = You're Crazy 11. On Fire Van Halen 1 - 8, Appetite for Destruction - 3 Somehow I must have been more impressionable at age 9 in 1978 rather than 18 in 1987. You know, the DNA factor. Who am I bullshitting? 1. Welcome to The Jungle = Runnin' With The Devil 2. It's So Easy = Eruption 3. Nightrain = You Really Got Me 4. Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love 5. Mr. Brownstone = I'm The One 6. Paradise City 7. Atomic Punk 8. Think About You = Feel Your Love Tonight 9. Sweet Child O' Mine 10. You're Crazy = Ice Cream Man 11. On Fire (vs Anything Goes and Rocket Queen) Van Halen 1 - 6 (6/11), Appetite for Destruction - 5 (5/12)

I will go with VH1 but this is a tough one. Top 10 rock albums excluding Classic rock, grunge and progressive (i.e Zeppelin , AIC & Rush). -Back in Black -VH II -VH 1 -Let There Be Rock -Jailbreak -KISS (debut) -Appetite for Destruction -Destroyer -Motley Crue (debut) -Fair Warning

I was a youngster when AfD was released. In my mother's womb when VH1 came out. I still take VH1. A shut out, in fact.

Such a tough track by track. My two favorite bands. I would have to flip a coin on practically each track.

Best channel on RU-vid by far

I saw guns and roses the first time opening for motley Crue couldn't understand a word Axl Rose was saying

VH slapped disco silly, GNR slapped hair "metal" silly. R.I.P. Edward

Agreed 💯% VH over GNR.🍻

Keep up the good work

I agree. All VH songs are better than Appetite.

The best american hard rock band. Period!!!!!! Jaws 2 came out the same yr. Summer 78. Ruled. Even though. I was 9

Damn dude. 1. Runnin' With The Devil 2. Eruption 3. You Really Got Me 4. Ain't Talkin' Bout Love 5. I'm The One 6. Jamie's Cryin' 7. Atomic Punk 8. Feel Your Love Tonight 9. Little Dreamer 10. Ice Cream Man 11. On Fire 12. Rocket Queen 11-1 Van Halen rules. Appetite is great but damn dude.

The Mighty Van Halen!!!

1. Runnin’ With the Devil 2. Eruption 3. Nightrain 4. Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love 5. I’m the One 6. Paradise City 7. Atomic Punk (ouch so close) 8. Feel Your Love Tonight 9. Little Dreamer 10. You’re Crazy 11. On Fire 12. Rocket Queen (by default)😂 VH- 8 GNR- 4 I also was 13 when I discovered VH!! Thanks to my older brother

Doctor Eddie Ganja here I agree The First Van Halen album Is probably the best debut album ever And Appetite for Destruction to me is The Best Guns N Roses album

2 of my favorite debut albums, along with shout of the devil 😊

Totally agree Ralph, with you van halen ruled.🎉

dave's voice doesn't suck, he can be somewhat of a crooner with dynamic vocal screams. he also has good vibrato.

Ralph I agree with you 100%! ...and I'm a GnR fan too! VH with DLR was the absolute best in hard rock! I saw them in 1984 and it's still goes down as the greatest show I've seen ever! DLR was the King! No body was even 2nd best!

Love your channel you pickle whistler and I love Dave and Sammy both!! 😆😆😆😆

Two great albums

Couldn't have the drive to go against the "Van Halens" of the 80s, without Edward. 😊

van halen is the only hard rock band to include barber shop quartet into the mix !

I normally try to do track by tracks, but honestly, both albums are very sentimental for me, so even though Van Halen I is clearly better, not giving any points to Appetite (which would be a distinct possibility) still wouldn’t feel right. So I’ll just hand it to Van Halen.

Awesome

Van Halen all day

1. Runnin’ with the Devil 2. It’s So Easy 3. Nightrain 4. Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love 5. Mr. Brownstone 6. Paradise City 7. Atomic Punk 8. Feel Your Love Tonight 9. Sweet Child O’ Mine 10. You’re Crazy 11. On Fire 12. Rocket Queen VH1 - 5 AFD - 7 Even though Appetite won, I prefer the first Van Halen album as a whole more.

This went exactly as I hoped it would. The best song on the GnR album couldn't touch the weakest track on the VH album.

Brilliant track-by-track, Ralph - thanks. I expected a VH1 victory and got it. 🤟🏻😎 Living in England though, I think it’d be the other way round if the albums were faced-off by a British fan. Van Halen were never that well-known over here. ps. My bad re. the number of tracks, tho’ I did send another email saying to drop Think About You. 😁

Love your channel

You should do a comparison of The Black Album and Nirvana Nevemind

How about this track by track Bruce Dickinson Chemical Wedding without the bonus tracks vs Paul Di'anno Nomad without the first intro track

Appetite came out when i was 11 or so. I wont compare both albuyms because i love em both,both are in my top 10 for debut albums. Btw nobody likes disco but we all know the "Nobody rules the stage like Diamond Dave,sammy hagar sucks!!" 🤣

Van Halen all the way

I won't disagree a bit. I really like Appetite but VH1 is epic and a huge part of my early rock years. Jamie's Crying would have won over Mr. Brownstone and everything else on Appetite. It's my second favorite off the album after Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love. Only saw VH once and that was in 1984 and even at the end of the Roth era, they are the best live band I have ever seen. I would have loved to see then in '78 or '79. Its hard to imagine them being any better but I've heard they were.

Mr Brownstone is the On Fire on the first GNR album. Both songs are musical perfection on the guitar riff, bass and drums. Both songs are my favorite from each band.

I think both albums are perfect dude, but I totally agree with you, VH One destroys Appetite all the way! And the 70's had the best music too..

Runnin With the Devil Eruption, kinda hurts but like the Doc said, back in the day TOTAL freakin game changer. Night Train Aint Talkin Bout Love Mr. Brownstone Paradise City (Christ i hate Jamies Cryin so much) Atomic Punk Feel Your Love Tonight Little Dreamer Ice Cream Man On Fire

That era VH ALL DAY!!! GnR 73,896 thumbs down

A little off topic but agree with you about Dave's voice on Little Dreamer.... but I gotta say one of it not my favorite vocal performance by David Lee Roth is Sinner's Swing!

5:06 In 1978 -- the only guy who even comes close is Uli Jon Roth --- IMHO

Both awesome albums but come on, Van Halen wins. Even my least favorite song off first VH album is better than any song off AFD in my opinion

1. Welcome to the Jungle 2. Eruption 3. Night Train 4. Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love 5. I'm the One 6. Paradise City 7. Atomic Punk 8. Think About You 9. Little Dreamer 10. You're Crazy 11. Anything Goes 6-5 Appetite for Destruction, even though I like the Van Halen album better.

Both great but Appetite is stronger overall. And I think "Rocket Queen" is much better than "On Fire".

Running with the devil Eruption Nightrain Aint talking about love I’m the one Paradise city Atomic punk Feel your love tonight Little dreamer Ice cream On fire

Nope I was around 13 when appetite came out and Van Halen I thought still kicked it's ass

Ok Van Halen should win this pretty easy, but GnR may get some points. Let’s see: Running With The Devil It’s So Easy You really got me (thought this might lose, but not against Nightrain) Ain’t talking about love (easy) I’m the one (love Brownstone but not better than I’m the one) Paradise City (that’s tough…very close) The atomic Punk (doesn’t matter what GnR song it goes against) I can’t wait Little dreamer (better than any GnR song) Ice Cream Man On Fire (better than any GnR song) VH - 9 GnR - 2.

Love both albums but love VH1 alot more! Running With the Devil Eruption You Really Got Me Ain't Talkin Bout Love I'm the One Paradise City Atomic Punk Think About You Little Dreamer Ice Cream Man On Fire Rocket Queen Even with Rocket Queen being a freebie VH1 wins 9-3

Wow

Sorry, I'm not doing this one. Van Halen got me into music big-time even though I liked KISS, B.T.O.,Lynyrd Skynyrd and Alice Cooper.Van Halen,Blue Oyster cult,boston and Nazareth blew me away. I missed Heart's set trying to find my mom an ambulance.

Van Halen no questions asked. Appetite has some good tunes but overrated Running With the Devil welcome to the jungle was prob the only song that stood a chance but come on lol Eruption I hate it’s so easy and eruption was a game changer You Really Got Me love that tune reminds me of the party scene in over the edge Ain’t Talkin Bout Love I got boner hearing u describe them doing this live I’m The One ain’t nothing beating that song come on. Ba ba ba shooby doo wop Last In Line rules 🤘🏼🤘🏼 I am revolution is my jam Jamie’s Cryin because I prefer zero the hero lol Atomic Punk and love ur version of the song Feel Your Love Tonight that song sounds so much like early Beatles Little Dreamer great vocals by diamond dave I hate sweet child lol Ice Cream Man On Fire one of my fav by Van Halen

Greatest debut for me is Are You Experienced? by Hendrix - but Van Halen ain’t far behind!

VH is Alex,Ed, Micheal and David all the way....

No contest and no comparison. VAN HALEN's self-titled album turned the music industry upside down; VH's debut album was revolutionary. To put it into perspective, disco and dance music dominated the airwaves and charts in 1978. Rock was passé. King Edward VAN HALEN's guitar playing style, and his recorded and live guitar tone were unlike any other on the scene. EVH changed rock guitar forever; therefore, EVH's playing style, techniques and sound were all revolutionary as well. Diamond David Lee ROTH is one of the best, if not the best, frontmen, lyricists and live performers in the rock genre. DLR is to hard rock what Frank SINATRA is to crooners singing jazz standards. There are some great songs on 'Appetite For Destruction' and that is a fact; however, there is nothing revolutionary about GNR, Axl, Slash, and AFD. VAN HALEN's self-titled album is the cornerstone of hard rock, like the BEATLES' 'Rubber Soul' and 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band', and PINK FLOYD's 'Dark Side Of The Moon' and 'Wish You Were Here', and Michael JACKSON's 'Thriller' are to progressive and pop rock.

💯‼️💥💥💥

Spot on about VH being the Beatles of their time, and it's almost like Guns were the Stones, also great but not as innovative and mind blowing sonically.

Not even close IMO, VH absolutely kills GNR! GNR is a one hit wonder band, what two albums created, give me a break!

both good albums but eddie van halen guitar hero then slash.

Agree it’s a wipe out Not one victory for the over rated Guns n Roses record Not to mention the hits on this are over rated but I’ve truly never gotten the fascination with Axl Roses vocals Awful Plus hes a pickle Whistler

I'm in the minority here, but I think VH2 is a waaaaay better album than 1. I know that 1 was the first time this sound was heard and minds were blown, but 2 is the album I reach for when I want VH. Also, It's So Easy over Eruption

Polarizing music kinda goes against everything music is about. I love both albums, and hating on any rock/metal band is equivalent to pissing into the wind. Most country and pop gives me a headache, but I even get into Mozart. Whatever appeals to you, listen and enjoy, but the opinions of others; shouldn't matter.

Interesting. I also think it’s a no brained but in the opposite direction. Van Halen is not nearly as energetic, or heavy, and it’s got so much generic stomp clap stomp clap riffs. Just doesn’t go nearly as hard as Appetite, in my opinion.