The average rock fan may find the upcoming Guns N' Roses album a little hard to get. Next month, the legendary rock band will celebrate the 30th anniversary of its debut album, "Appetite for Destruction," to the tune of a $1,000 commemorative album.
The remastered and expanded edition of the album debuts June 29, made available in multiple packages. The biggest, most expansive package is the Locked N’ Loaded edition, which comes in a huge box with a handmade 3D cross, and will cost $999.
The package will also include 25 unreleased demos recorded during a 1986 session at Sound City. Never-before-seen posters, guitar picks, and Blu-ray Discs round out the offerings.
The original album, which came out in 1987, catapulted to the top of the Billboard charts thanks to hit singles such as "Sweet Child O' Mine" and "Paradise City." The album ultimately sold 30 million copies worldwide.
Many music lovers have scoffed at the hefty price tag, some saying the album should be encased in gold for it to be worth the exorbitant price. The album's distributor, Universal Music Group, clearly expects some serious demand, as the company has issued a 10,000-unit production run. Experts of the music industry told CNBC that the price tag will not deter fans from getting their hands on the special edition.
"Guns N' Roses has gobs of fans across the globe who were teens or of college age during the band's heyday," Rafe Gomez, co-owner of VC Inc. Marketing, told CNBC.
"Many of these Guns N' Roses devotees, who are now adults, have the disposable cash to invest in the band's new release," he added.
Moreover, $1,000 has been considered good value to see Guns N' Roses live in concert, so the notion that fans would dish out similar cash for the album shouldn't be all that absurd.
"Fans pay well over $1,000 on either secondary premium tickets or for those V.I.P. experiences that many bands offer," Armen Shaomian, a professor of entertainment at the University of South Carolina, told CNBC.
The reissue is available for pre-order in all its forms.
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