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SLASH 'Wasn't Disappointed' By AXL ROSE's Decision To Skip ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME Induction


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In advance of his gigs in Dublin next month, Slash talks guitar solos – and Axl – with RONAN MCGREEVY

Apocalyptic Love, your latest album, has been well received by music critics and by your fans. How do you feel about it?

I make a point of not reading what other people think, good or bad. I think it is a good record and I had a great time making it.

It started out as a pick-up band to support my first solo record , but it was one of the one-in-a-million situations where all the pieces fitted together.

During the 2010 tour, I decided to make another record and that is what Apocalyptic Love is. It was a really inspired couple of weeks in the studio recording it. It was done as live, recorded to tape and Eric Valentine is a great producer and engineer. It was a really good time.

There is one song on the album called Anastasia which has a neo-classical intro. Some of your fans say you borrowed it from Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor. Is that correct?

In this really interesting day and age of social networking, it started with just one person who said it was a Bach thing. I had no idea it sounded like a Bach thing and then everybody asked me about it. I think it is just the style of the arpeggios that makes people think of Bach. Still, there are worse musicians to be compared to than Bach. I’m proud of the song. I always liked it. It was one of the songs that came up at the tail-end of the recording when we were in pre-production.

It actually started when we were playing our last European tour. When I was doing a guitar solo, I stumbled on this little phrase and it stuck in my head. I kept trying to do something with that phrase every night after that. Then it got longer and longer.

When I came home off the road, it became the intro riff. The rest of it just fell into place.

You have often played with awkward singers such as Axl Rose (Guns N’Roses) and Scott Weiland (Velvet Revolver) yet you seem to have a great relationship with your current singer Myles Kennedy

My hooking up with him was just by chance. I had heard of him for years, but I had never met him or heard him sing.

When I was doing that last solo record, I needed somebody to sing two songs (Back to Cali and Starlight). I was going to shelve those two songs, though they were good, if I couldn’t find the right singer for them. Then I heard that Myles was in London working with Led Zeppelin for their ill-fated comeback tour. I thought to myself “he’s got to be good”. I sent him the music and he sent me a demo with vocals back about a week later. That was Starlight.

As soon as we met, we got along very well creatively. We did the album version of the song in the studio in LA, and it was one of those seemless kind of synergetic moments and it has been going on like that ever since.

I’m beginning to think it was fate. I really wasn’t looking to be where I am now at that point.

How did you feel about Guns N’Roses being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Axl Rose not showing up?

I wasn’t disappointed. I was more relieved at the time because prior to that it was such a negative subject. At one point I thought, if we all show up, then what? When he said he wasn’t coming, I thought, “good, at least I can do something”. Duff and I spoke and we rehearsed what we did together. That in itself was a good thing.

Do you think his non-appearance finally put to bed the expectations that the original Guns N’Roses line-up would ever reform?

I think more than anything it put it to bed for Steve Adler . He was trying the hardest to make it happen because he missed a lot of it. He was finally resigned to the idea that it was never going to happen. I knew in my heart it was never going to happen because I left the band in the early 1990s. I have never really had any expectations since then.

Do you feel any resentment towards the Guns N’Roses who are touring the world at the moment?

No, I just want to get on with what I’m doing. It’s been a long time. I’m really happy that Axl seems to be happy. He’s probably at the same place that I’m at. Whether he calls it Guns or something else I don’t care. I signed that name away a long time ago.

http://www.irishtime...4329499770.html

Do you feel any resentment towards the Guns N’Roses who are touring the world at the moment?

No, I just want to get on with what I’m doing. It’s been a long time. I’m really happy that Axl seems to be happy. He’s probably at the same place that I’m at. Whether he calls it Guns or something else I don’t care. I signed that name away a long time ago.

haha, best part! It's good to see he is not bitter like Axl Rose

Edited by highvoltage
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Yeah , i can imagine that Axl not showing up took some weight off Slash shoulders , cause i imagine the pressure and the crazyness that would create for everybody . The press would just make such a circus around it .

In the end reading this just makes me sad for Steven . He is like that kid that was the Prom king on highschool , after that didnt have any other sucess on his life and just wants so bad to go back to that time .

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In the end reading this just makes me sad for Steven . He is like that kid that was the Prom king on highschool , after that didnt have any other sucess on his life and just wants so bad to go back to that time .

I love Steven, and I want to say that at the beginning. He's very important to early GNR and he just all around seems a good guy.

Having said that, he screwed his life up and his success with GNR with it. Its the sad reality that you make mistakes in life, and you just sort of have to pay for them. Yeah, he missed alot, but thats his fault and he was given chances that he failed to take seriously. Honestly, and hopefully it doesn't sound too harsh, but he could be doing ALOT worse. Luckily nowadays, for one reason or another (GNR, the rehab show) people know who he is and he should be comfortable. He's not a some junkie that people forgot about, and who in the 90s would have predicted that WOULDN'T be the case. He's got it good now and should be thankful that he's back to being friends with Slash (I assume very important to him) and almost all of GNR minus Axl.

Yeah, he probably won't have any other successes. He tries, and it usually fizzles out. He's a drummer, its not that uncommon he can't get something going. Its good to see that he's possibly finally starting to let it go, because thats all you can do. Its sad when you have that occasion where you're the prom king and everything after that is downhill, but thats just how it is. So many of us GNR fans wish we could go back to that time too where it was just those 5, but its better to say "wishful thinking" than to keep dwelling on it. And again, back to the prom king analogy, at least in this scenario Steven is still relatively well off financially and famous to a degree. May not help, but its better than nothing. He could be living at home with his parents like a prom king with nothing else might be.

Back to Slash, this is an excellent article. I'm sorry, but its reasons like this that Slash comes off so well and has become my favorite. I love Axl, but no matter what he does he can't seem to help being a douche. Slash nowadays means no harm to anyone and why wouldn't he wish Axl the best. He should be doing that while Axl is reciprocating! Its just like Slash sees it so much clearer than everyone else (myself included). This article, Slash's birthday wish to Axl last year, its all signs that he's so far past this, as a normal adult should be.

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I can't wait until Axl wraps up his current lawsuits so he can sue Slash and the HOF for using his legally owned band-name to promote people who aren't in the band.

hmm not sure if trolling or just... stupid....

btw fuck off. I was at tonight's Slash show in Budapest and he kicks ass (even i don't like Myles Kennedy)

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I can't wait until Axl wraps up his current lawsuits so he can sue Slash and the HOF for using his legally owned band-name to promote people who aren't in the band.

hmm not sure if trolling or just... stupid....

btw fuck off. I was at tonight's Slash show in Budapest and he kicks ass (even i don't like Myles Kennedy)

Slash's current band is awesome live, I never disputed that.

All I'm saying is it's a bit weird that Axl goes after Activision in such a frivolous case (Slash being associated with Guns N' Roses) but has yet to even speak out about the HOF billing Slash n' Friends AS Guns N' Roses

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"I signed that name away a long time ago." It must really sting to have to admit that.

Why? Its true and it happened awhile ago. Honestly, it makes Axl look like a dick more than Slash feeling angry about it. Its essentially him saying (what he says all the time) "that was so far in the past it means nothing now." I don't understand at all why it would "sting".

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"I signed that name away a long time ago." It must really sting to have to admit that.

Why? Its true and it happened awhile ago. Honestly, it makes Axl look like a dick more than Slash feeling angry about it. Its essentially him saying (what he says all the time) "that was so far in the past it means nothing now." I don't understand at all why it would "sting".

I never said anything about Slash being angry.

Regardless of how he 'feels' about it, it was a colossal blunder to sign the name away. That name means something to him, or he wouldn't keep playing the songs from GnR, he wouldn't keep associating himself with the name, he wouldn't keep dressing like the old days and wearing a tophat. You can see it in his face, his voice, and his mannerisms... when he's asked about Axl or GnR, it stings. He can try to play it off all he wants. But it stings, believe me.

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Guest bellastar2355

In the end reading this just makes me sad for Steven . He is like that kid that was the Prom king on highschool , after that didnt have any other sucess on his life and just wants so bad to go back to that time .

I love Steven, and I want to say that at the beginning. He's very important to early GNR and he just all around seems a good guy.

Having said that, he screwed his life up and his success with GNR with it. Its the sad reality that you make mistakes in life, and you just sort of have to pay for them. Yeah, he missed alot, but thats his fault and he was given chances that he failed to take seriously. Honestly, and hopefully it doesn't sound too harsh, but he could be doing ALOT worse. Luckily nowadays, for one reason or another (GNR, the rehab show) people know who he is and he should be comfortable. He's not a some junkie that people forgot about, and who in the 90s would have predicted that WOULDN'T be the case. He's got it good now and should be thankful that he's back to being friends with Slash (I assume very important to him) and almost all of GNR minus Axl.

Yeah, he probably won't have any other successes. He tries, and it usually fizzles out. He's a drummer, its not that uncommon he can't get something going. Its good to see that he's possibly finally starting to let it go, because thats all you can do. Its sad when you have that occasion where you're the prom king and everything after that is downhill, but thats just how it is. So many of us GNR fans wish we could go back to that time too where it was just those 5, but its better to say "wishful thinking" than to keep dwelling on it. And again, back to the prom king analogy, at least in this scenario Steven is still relatively well off financially and famous to a degree. May not help, but its better than nothing. He could be living at home with his parents like a prom king with nothing else might be.

Back to Slash, this is an excellent article. I'm sorry, but its reasons like this that Slash comes off so well and has become my favorite. I love Axl, but no matter what he does he can't seem to help being a douche. Slash nowadays means no harm to anyone and why wouldn't he wish Axl the best. He should be doing that while Axl is reciprocating! Its just like Slash sees it so much clearer than everyone else (myself included). This article, Slash's birthday wish to Axl last year, its all signs that he's so far past this, as a normal adult should be.

Btw, he was supposed to play at the whisky a go go and it was cancelled? Does anyone know why? I don't twitter, so maybe someone knows?

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"I signed that name away a long time ago." It must really sting to have to admit that.

Why? Its true and it happened awhile ago. Honestly, it makes Axl look like a dick more than Slash feeling angry about it. Its essentially him saying (what he says all the time) "that was so far in the past it means nothing now." I don't understand at all why it would "sting".

I never said anything about Slash being angry.

Regardless of how he 'feels' about it, it was a colossal blunder to sign the name away. That name means something to him, or he wouldn't keep playing the songs from GnR, he wouldn't keep associating himself with the name, he wouldn't keep dressing like the old days and wearing a tophat. You can see it in his face, his voice, and his mannerisms... when he's asked about Axl or GnR, it stings. He can try to play it off all he wants. But it stings, believe me.

Oh please! I'm pretty sure he couldn't care less at this point. He plays the songs live because he wrote the songs and they are part of his career. On top of that, he knows fans want to hear them and he's not gonna be a dick and not play them. The combination of both of those make it obvious why they are played. And really "dressing like the old Slash"? Its his look, why should he change it? I constitute more as "thats what Slash looks like" as opposed to "thats what Slash looked like in GNR". Its his clothing choice and I see no reason why he should have to change that because its what he wore 20 years ago. If he wanted to wear different clothes, he'd wear different clothes, as simple as that. He has said on multiple occasions he'd prefer not to talk about GNR since it was so far in the past. He's so far past it, yet the press still hound him about it. He's not the one that ever brings it up that makes it sound like "I miss those days." He looks back at them fondly, but he's in a different place. He could be a dick like Axl and demand no questions about GNR, but luckily he's not like that and sits through the bullshit. And your comments about knowing "that it stings"? Well I guess thats your opinion, but I think that couldn't be more off. He absolutely couldn't care less about signing the name away at this point. Everyone knows he was in it and he still gets money for his contributions.

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"I signed that name away a long time ago." It must really sting to have to admit that.

Why? Its true and it happened awhile ago. Honestly, it makes Axl look like a dick more than Slash feeling angry about it. Its essentially him saying (what he says all the time) "that was so far in the past it means nothing now." I don't understand at all why it would "sting".

I never said anything about Slash being angry.

Regardless of how he 'feels' about it, it was a colossal blunder to sign the name away. That name means something to him, or he wouldn't keep playing the songs from GnR, he wouldn't keep associating himself with the name, he wouldn't keep dressing like the old days and wearing a tophat. You can see it in his face, his voice, and his mannerisms... when he's asked about Axl or GnR, it stings. He can try to play it off all he wants. But it stings, believe me.

wow man, you clearly have some paranoid reactions towards Slash

gunsfanoldie+1

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