Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard admitted he was blown away by Guns N' Roses' 1987 debut, Appetite For Destruction. Ultimate-Guitar.com reported that during an online chat with Anne Erickson, Gossard explained, "To me, when Guns N' Roses came out, they were refreshing in the sense — not necessarily every song, but I could hear elements of Seattle in there. And they were way tougher than what was going on at the time in Los Angeles. 'It's So Easy,' 'Mr. Brownstone,' 'Welcome The Jungle' — all those tracks are phenomenal, they're just incredible."
Gossard went on to say he wasn't put off by how fierce the band sounded: "I love hard rock, so that wasn't a leap for me. But I do think bassist Duff (McKagan) was the punk element in that band, I think he is the element that is making that toughness come through as well."
He explained that Guns was an undeniable musical force for rock fans: "It's a surprising and exciting story to tell, and the music speaks for itself. Again, you can put it on and kind of go, 'This is cool.' Immediately, you don't have to really think about it. And the arrangements of the songs."
