Editing Appetite for Destruction (section)

==Marketing and sales==

When ''Appetite for Destruction'' was released by [[Geffen Records]] on July 21, 1987, it received little notice from American press and radio, apart from some airplay in California. Music journalist [[Stephen Davis (music journalist)|Stephen Davis]] later attributed this to competing rock music in the mainstream at the time, including [[Aerosmith]]'s comeback hit album ''[[Permanent Vacation (Aerosmith album)|Permanent Vacation]]'', [[Def Leppard]]'s presence on radio with their ''[[Hysteria (Def Leppard album)|Hysteria]]'' album, and the dominance of [[U2]]'s spiritual rock over [[MTV]]'s prime-time viewership.<ref name="Davis">{{cite book|last=Davis|first=Stephen|pages=[https://archive.org/details/watchyoubleedsag00davi/page/181 181–82]|title=Watch You Bleed: The Saga of Guns N' Roses|year=2008|publisher=Penguin|isbn=978-1592403776|url=https://archive.org/details/watchyoubleedsag00davi/page/181}}</ref> The album debuted at number 182 on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]] the week of August 29, but it only sold 200,000 copies in the first several months of its release, and Geffen planned on "walking away" from the record.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Draper|first=Jason|year=2017|title=How The 'Welcome To The Jungle' Video Made Guns N' Roses Overnight Stars|url=https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/welcome-jungle-video-guns-n-roses/|url-status=live|website=Udiscovermusic|access-date=February 23, 2021|archive-date=October 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028063107/https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/welcome-jungle-video-guns-n-roses/}}</ref>

Radio stations originally did not want to play "[[Welcome to the Jungle]]", and MTV did not want to air the song's music video. However, after several months of lobbying the network, Geffen general manager [[Al Coury]] convinced MTV to play the video just once a night for three nights.<ref name=":7">{{Cite book|last=Konow|first=David|year=2002|title=Bang Your Head: The Rise and Fall of Heavy Metal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZyBtHRq2ncQC&q=guns+n+roses+coury&pg=PA439|url-status=live|pages=277–278|publisher=Crown |isbn=9780307565600|access-date=May 3, 2021|archive-date=May 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519231038/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZyBtHRq2ncQC&q=guns+n+roses+coury&pg=PA439}}</ref> "Welcome to the Jungle" became the most requested video on the network, and Coury pitched this success to radio stations, whom he sent promo copies of "Welcome to the Jungle", "[[Paradise City]]", and "[[Sweet Child o' Mine]]".<ref name=":7" />

With the radio and video airplay, as well as the band's touring, ''Appetite for Destruction'' managed to top the ''Billboard'' 200 on August 6, 1988, over a year after it was released.<ref name="Titus" /><ref name=":7" /> It spent four non-consecutive weeks at number one<ref>Slash (2008) p.257</ref> and a total of 147 weeks on the chart.<ref name="billboarddebut">{{cite magazine |title=Billboard 200: Week of August 29, 1987 Biggest Jump | magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |url=http://www.billboard.com/charts/1987-08-29/billboard-200?order=gainer |access-date=March 21, 2013 |archive-date=July 9, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140709143544/http://www.billboard.com/charts/1987-08-29/billboard-200?order=gainer |url-status=live }}</ref> Slash recalled: "We thought we'd made a record that might do as well as, say, [[Motörhead]]. It was totally uncommercial. It took a year for it to even get on the charts. No one wanted to know about it."<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Mark|last=Rowland|title=LA Law and Disorder|magazine=[[Select (magazine)|Select]], reprinted from [[Musician (magazine)|Musician]]|date=February 1991|page=45}}</ref>

From 1994 up to 2018, ''Appetite for Destruction'' sold 1,216,017 copies in the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.musicweek.com/live/read/it-s-been-a-long-time-in-the-making-guns-n-roses-locked-n-loaded-box-set-unwrapped/072756|publisher=[[Music Week]]|first=James|last=Hanley|title='It's been a long time in the making': Guns N'Roses Locked N'Loaded box set unwrapped|date=June 8, 2018|accessdate=February 18, 2023}}</ref>

By September 2008, the album had been certified [[RIAA certification|18× platinum]] by the [[Recording Industry Association of America]] (RIAA), having shipped over 18 million copies in the United States,<ref>{{cite web | title = Top 100 Albums | publisher = Recording Industry Association of America | url = http://riaa.com/goldandplatinum.php?content_selector=top-100-albums | access-date = December 18, 2011 | archive-date = June 4, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110604050421/http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinum.php?content_selector=top-100-albums | url-status = live }}</ref> making it the country's 11th best-selling album ever.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gc.guitarcenter.com/interview/mike-clink/ |title=Mike Clink |publisher=[[Guitar Center]] |access-date=August 12, 2015 |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150708033526/http://gc.guitarcenter.com/interview/mike-clink/ |archive-date=July 8, 2015}}</ref> According to ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' in 2008, it is also the best-selling debut album of all time in the US.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1043884/ask-billboard-best-selling-debut-album-dido-australian-acts-trying-to-crack|title=Ask Billboard: Best Selling Debut Album, Dido, Australian Acts Trying To Crack The U.S. Market|magazine=Billboard|access-date=August 13, 2015|archive-date=September 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130918064323/http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1043884/ask-billboard-best-selling-debut-album-dido-australian-acts-trying-to-crack|url-status=live}}</ref> That year, [[Sky News]] reported the album's worldwide sales to be approximately 28 million copies, making it one of the [[List of best-selling albums|best-selling albums]] of all time;<ref>{{cite web|title=Guns N' Roses New Album Looms|publisher=Sky News|date=October 23, 2008|url=http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Showbiz-News/Guns-N-Roses-To-Release-New-Album---Axl-Rose-Is-The-Only-Original-Remaining-Member/Article/200810415127112 |access-date=December 18, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090213122711/http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Showbiz-News/Guns-N-Roses-To-Release-New-Album---Axl-Rose-Is-The-Only-Original-Remaining-Member/Article/200810415127112 |archive-date=February 13, 2009|url-status = dead}}</ref> more recent figures have worldwide sales at approximately 30 million units.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/did-thriller-really-sell-a-hundred-million-copies|title=Did "Thriller" Really Sell a Hundred Million Copies?|author=Bill Wyman|date=January 4, 2013|magazine=The New Yorker|access-date=September 17, 2015|archive-date=May 15, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150515103954/http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/did-thriller-really-sell-a-hundred-million-copies|url-status=live}}</ref>