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Layne Staley should have replaced Axl after 1996


WillieC

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hsPLDYnoXQ

A lot of people are fascinated with Axl Rose but I'm not anymore really. He had a vocal gimmick that was nice when it was novel but eventually it got be a "played" around the early 90s. If there was any voice that caught people's attention, it was the vibrato snarl of Layne Staley. I know that Layne had problems with drugs and Alice in Chains stopped for a while in the mid 90s. In a very similar fashion with Scott Weiland, Slash and Duff could have and should have formed a new band with Layne. Jerry Cantrell was driving songwriter for Alice in Chains and since they weren't productive after 96', I don't think it would be a realistic loss even in this hypothetical scenario.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjPDeD8rE-c

Axl's stylistic differences with Slash didn't allow them to progress as band anyway. Layne's darker music seems to be at the same level as Slash and I think they would have gelled and made a lot more albums in the late 90s. That is just a "what if" scenario but unfortunately that never happened. I think they should have put the Guns N' Roses name to rest and everyone would be doing their own thing, happily, to this day.

I don't know what section to put this in so I'll put it here in this section I guess.

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Scott went to jail. Layne didn't. Scott could have died but he ended up having a family and he had other outside forces at least keeping him alive and there to rebound. Even Mad Season almost got back together but their bassist died in 1999 of an overdose. This would be a what if scenario in a perfect world. I think a successful band with Slash would have been a motivator in life. Maybe he'd even be alive today.

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Scott went to jail. Layne didn't. Scott could have died but he ended up having a family and he had other outside forces at least keeping him alive and there to rebound. Even Mad Season almost got back together but their bassist died in 1999 of an overdose. This would be a what if scenario in a perfect world. I think a successful band with Slash would have been a motivator in life. Maybe he'd even be alive today.

Don't get me wrong he was an awesome singer but I think he and Slash would have been dead if they had hooked up..............

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I'll agree they could have both died with one album. For what it's worth, I think Slash was similarly on drugs anyway around this time. In particular I think he referenced his depressive state in his book around the time he got divorced and it was a bottom for him when Axl was still hounding his relatives to get back together and Slash knew he couldn't return. Layne was allegedly suicidal after his girlfriend died in 1996 and I think he never recovered. I remember reading accounts of him in his last days where he would show up to a coffee house and just sit in the corner for hours. I think his death has more to do with the head space than the drugs themselves. Something special could have happened if they had music to provide them the will.

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Axl's stylistic differences with Slash didn't allow them to progress as band anyway. Layne's darker music seems to be at the same level as Slash and I think they would have gelled and made a lot more albums in the late 90s. That is just a "what if" scenario but unfortunately that never happened. I think they should have put the Guns N' Roses name to rest and everyone would be doing their own thing, happily, to this day.

Are you nuts?

Layne: "Hey man, I just made this song, it's very dark and it talks about loss..."

Slash: "Dafuq you mean, mate? you sound like Axl, always talkin' about his girlfriends and his bitter heart, such a pussy he is. What we need is girls, sex, drugs and mothafucken rock n roll, got it?"

Layne: "You see... my fiance just died and..."

Slash: "Rock n roll, mate."

Layne: "Ok... I just made this verse using a very deep flanger to give it a very spacial tone..."

Slash: "Dude, we're a VINTAGE HARD ROCK band all we use is the guitar, the amp and some pedals like fuzz and delay, no fancy shit, ok? And what the fuck is up with these bongos? Is that xylophone"?

Layne: "Yeah, I was thinking about using them on another song, just like Long Gone Day and..."

Slash: "Dude, you're talking like one of those alternative musicians..."

Layne: "Well, yeah."

Slash: "You see, that fool, Axl, wanted Gn'R to be just like Pearl Jam, can you believe it? He wanted this band to become an altenative rock shit, that's why we kicked him. You're not like him, right?"

Layne: "..."

I always loved that Mad Season record.

Me too

I'am listening to Above right now :)

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Mike Inez played in Slash's original Snakepit so I think Slash respected Alice in Chains early on. I really don't see that their music was from different worlds. In my opinion they definitely would have gelled a lot more. I'm not saying he would have made another Mad Season, I'm saying they could have made a new band bringing their talents to the table.

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no way in hell it would have worked. layne became as much if not more of a recluse than axl. in 1996 his fiancee died and he never left his condo in seattle. he said in 1996 " drugs worked for me for years, now they are turning against me now im walking through hell."

hooking up layne with slash would have wound up with both of them dead IMO, layne would have just sped up the process IMO. it still wouldnt have been gnr but i would have loved to hear layne/slash do something but at that time it would have just blown up both were heavily addicted

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just taking part of AIC, Soundgarden, and Duff going back to Seattle, could've been a hell of a supergroup, and throw Chris DeGarmo in there (see Spys4Darwin), as well as Ann and Nancy Wilson. My "supergroup" def. could've happened in 98.

I think Layne kept it together professionally, but personally was a wreck.

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