Dropping the Needle: Alan Niven talks GNR

[T.wa.T]

It is a very good interveiw. I don't see Nivens agenda, he hasn't had any connection to the band since the early nineties. He might be a little bitter because he was fired, but even Slash didn't fight it.

He was one of thr very few who stood up to Axl and told him no, we all no what happens then. Out the door you go.

[Crazyman]

The Civil War - Right Next Door To Hell thing was the best part of that interview to me. An interesting point that he makes about it.

[SweetRose]

I happen to like Right Next Door To Hell though,always have since UYI release. Actually have a couple of neighbors in my building that makes it living right next door to hell. Isn't as bad as it used to be,after they saw that things weren't going to be how they wanted them to be. They didnt want to follow the rules of the apt building at first. Lol

[wasted]

what are the main controversies?

[Randy Lahey]

what are the main controversies?

http://www.mygnrforum.com/index.php?/topic/197573-dropping-the-needle-alan-niven-talks-gnr/?p=3369243

[nightrain86]

Up to the part where they talk about the first gigs England and Niven said they decided to make up the story about Axl killing his dogs. Anyone else remember the interview with Axl how he said he read in England that he killed his dogs or something? Maybe he didn't know Niven did that lol

[Randy Lahey]

He did a great job marketing the band.

[wasted]

Here's what Alan confirmed mixed with my take on it (my opinion only):

- Axl is a control freak (really?!) and basically back in the Use Your Illusion days, Axl was already taking over before the Illusion records were finished, and the rest of the band really didn't agree with the musical direction...(according to Axl, Use Your Illusion album were more because Izzy wanted his material, then Slash wanted his material as well, so they joined all the material and put it on one album) That's utter Bullshit! ------I believe Axl was taking control, in someways bcos the others couldn't or didnt want to. The material is onbviously 3 solo albums. Only a few tracks like YCBM does it really sound like a full track with everyone working together. What's Izzy's input to Nov Rain?

- Slash was frustrated with the musical direction the band was going on, because of Axl but he didn't really wanna oppose to that as long as the paycheck was coming in. --- he's said this himself.

- Axl lied in his recent aussie interview when he said he didn't really wanted to tour. Alan confirms EVERYONE was pumped up and excited to go on tour. Alan goes ahead and tell us he doesn't understand the whole (nobody cared about my safety or well being thing) and calls it ridiculous. - Axl could have been excited and knew he had to but the point as they knew he was in no fit state to do so. He may have not been aware at the time.

- Axl saw Guns N'Roses as his life, as his thing even when the Old Band was still together. ----believable.

- Axl was looking for guidance and he basically hired some spiritual advisors that were there to rip him off his money. --- seems like it. thats what I dont get. if they knew this then why so shocked by his lateness.

- In Alan's opinion Axl doesn't know who he is (besides the rock n roll star persona that he carries) ---- Axl is that rock n roll star.

- All Doug Goldstein wanted was money and he had a great part on the "contract" thing that Axl presented to the other members of the band. Also i think this interview pretty much confirms that Doug and Axl had some kind of an alliance and that Axl wanted to make more money then the other band members. Doug was very influential in Axl's business life at that point for the worst. He basically brainwashed Axl and Axl played along. And that was the main thing that caused the break up. --- totally possible.

- Chinese Democracy (Axl take over) started way before the old band broke up! ----- seems like Axl was the man with a plan. His dreams seem bigger than the rest. UYI seems to be Axl coming into his own. Maybe because Nov Rain, DC, HD wasn't on AFD.

After seeing this interview and how honest Alan Niven always was, i can conclude that to me Axl is a liar...----- it's more perceptions of the same events.

He accused Niven and Slash of only being interested in money, not caring about Axl's health and life... that's a lie!.... ----they didn't seem to care, Axl was hiring in psychics and they were just like get on stage on time. There was no sympathy for the devil. Even later there case rests on whether Axl was going on stage late for no reason. Not sure, he has or had issues. It's true that never clarifies what the problem is but they know him.

Axl wanted to tour, Axl and Doug were the ones who were trying to make every effort to try to get as much money as possible. ------ there's a difference between wanting to tour and being in a good state to tour. Like they said he was being exploited by spiritualists or whatever. So in retrospect you could say he shouldn't have been there. So don't expect perfection. No doubt it caused problems. "Do you lie? you do don't you to keep a steady ship."

It's no surprise to me, i mean we all knew that the whole story that Axl gave us didn't make sense at all.... ----it's really this confusion about before and after. supposedly nobody knew Axl was a mess when it suits them. Mainly because if they knew then it's not all Axl's power play. Both sides can take these subjective events and make them fit their story. The fact is if they didn't sign it or quit there would be no real problem. And if Axl is such a megalomaniac then just let him have the name etc. Stop trying to prove a case you knew was true all along. A snake is a snake, no surprise when it bites you.

Anyways please have a look at this interview if you're interested and take conclusions for yourself. ---- definitely interesting article, it's pretty hard to say what was going on. a power struggle with a load of psychic debris right in the middle of it.

Edited March 14, 2013 by wasted

[Randy Lahey]

I didn't think Niven was very empathetic when it came to Axl's childhood. Comparing his own plight of getting shipped off to boarding school at age seven to Axl's horrific childhood was bullshit.

Edited March 14, 2013 by Randy Lahey

[wasted]

Plus Axls personality was well known by the illusion tour. They may not have understood but they knew. So the guy who dives out of moving cars, hauls off to hit people cos they gave him funny look, he is also late sometimes. Im shocked n chargrined.

[Randy Lahey]

It doesn't seem like any of them ever really sat down with Axl and tried to have a heart to heart conversation with him.

[wasted]

You would think they would have.

[trqster]

Cool interview, thanks.

[useyorappetite]

can someone please post the highlights till i can watch it later? Thanx

[nightrain86]

can someone please post the highlights till i can watch it later? Thanx

You obviously skimmed past the post by Wasted.

[useyorappetite]

No i read it! BUT IT WAS 3 HOURS! is it all?

i listened a bit and he he said izzy was the soul witch we've heard before. But noone really seems to take it seriously.

[Carburetta]

Gonna be listening to this later.

[DieselDaisy]

It is an excellent interview, but if you are one of these who likes to make excuses for W. Axl Rose at every turn, you will probably not like it.

[Daedalus]

Alan always has something interesting to say. Here is an excerpt from one of his interviews (about Chinese Democracy):

BraveWords.com: “Well, yeah. Are you ‘allowed’ to say?
Alan Niven: “I thought it was complex and difficult to get through, but it was pretty Axl.”

BraveWords.com: For me, it was really more a question of is this what I waited fourteen years for? These songs could have been worked up in six months.
Alan Niven: “Here’s my pot shot about Chinese Democracy. Axl made two huge mistakes. One was releasing it and the other was Irving Azoff.”

BraveWords.com: Irving Azoff? Really? Why?
Alan Niven? “If I’d been in a responsible position to advise and counsel Axl, I would have done everything in my power to make sure that Chinese Democracy was something that people always talked about and wondered about, but never actually got to completely hear, that it would never be actually released. Recording went on for so long that there was no way in hell that the record he was putting together was going to meet expectations. The minute it was released Mitch, it became just one more record. Before its release it was a myth. It was fascinating. People talked about it. People wanted to hear it. The third mistake was that he should have made sure to keep all his tapes and all his discs under his wing and under his lock and key, so, that there wouldn’t have been any leaks. Then he could have released the occasional track and he could have worked them 'live' for another ten years. That would have been more mysterious, more engaging, more fascinating…”

BraveWords.com: It has been said that the ‘anticipation is always greater than the get.’ That’s what Chinese Democracy was…
Alan Niven: “I would disagree. The "get" of my wife was much more than I could have anticipated.”

BraveWords.com: The Toronto Star interviewed me about Chinese Democracy’s release and my quote was that ‘Chinese Democracy – the myth would always be greater than the actual album’.
Alan Niven: “Absolutely and if Axl had gone out and toured when he needed to he could have played the occasional song from it live. There would have been a process there for him… the immediacy of performance really sharpens up a musical statement and releasing the whole album was a mistake. I think the release was done purely based on financial reasons. And Irving wanted to get it out of the way because he wanted the reunion. I doubt he was motivated to see it successful. He essentially got paid for it's release, not it's subsequent performance and the deal with Best Buy was set up that way. Going with Best Buy narrowed the market reach - Wal Mart would have been a better exclusive - they have a deeper reach into secondary and tertiary markets - but best of all would have been to let everyone have it. There is a sense that the deal was designed to maximize the immediate take - to grab that and run to the next point of agenda - a re-union. I don’t think Irving ever understood the unlikelihood of that reunion ever taking place and how deep feelings run.”

BraveWords.com: Irving has always been one to make things happen, to make reunions happen. Do you think there was an arrogance there that he would be able to make a reunion happen?
Alan Niven: “I couldn’t speak to whether Irving can be deemed arrogant, but I do suspect his middle name is Napoleon.”

Full interview: http://www.bravewords.com/news/146671

Oh, and there was a great, 6 or 7 page interview with him in Classic Rock magazine (2009). I have it in .pdf, so if anyone is interested, I can upload it.

Edited March 14, 2013 by Daedalus

[wasted]

The thing is CD is a great record. For it have remained in the vault isnt as good as how great it is. You put CD up againgst just about any record and it kicks its ass. After you actually listen to it a few hundred times the complexity or layers arent so hard. Its like a vast, rich journey to victory. I guess when youre closer to the people involved its harder to enjoy.

[maynard]

The thing is CD is a great record. For it have remained in the vault isnt as good as how great it is. You put CD up againgst just about any record and it kicks its ass. After you actually listen to it a few hundred times the complexity or layers arent so hard. Its like a vast, rich journey to victory. I guess when youre closer to the people involved its harder to enjoy.

hahahaha. there are a lot of layers of power chords. that't not complex. it's just having 6 guitar players in one record.

[wasted]

To be honest as cool as gritty rnr sounds it was suicide. Not exactly at that time but it shut down options. They really needed Nov Rain something other than sleaze rock to take stadiums. Otherwise stay in clubs and be motorhead. But look at Axl he was like ferrari and they wanted him to race the Dakar rally.

Its also more complicated than WAR or Axl. Do you think Izzy gave a shit about Coma or Locomotive.

Basically you have to strip it down to Izzys songs. Add Nov rain for the hit. Then strip it down to 8 track. But at the end of the day if you quit the tour cos you cant handle the drugs what kind of manifesto do you got.

[saber_]

Remember, Slash gets a free pass for signing the band away because he can't be held accountable for being a heroin junkie alcoholic, and mean ol' Axl swindled him.

[jimb0]

Dog Killing! Feed them a bone.

[alfierose]

Why should they have had to follow a formula of 3 AFDs then a UYIs though? Wasn't not following what others have done previously what set them apart and made them so big. By the time they got to a third AFD type album people would have lost interest to some extent and they would have been another Motley Crue.