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Do Axl and Slash hate the UYI albums?


Vincent Vega

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Since he's left, Slash has very rarely played any of the UYI songs live and even now, out of 30 songs to choose from, he only plays Civil War. One song out of thirty. Does Slash hate the UYI albums?
And really the same question goes for Axl, too. Until recently, he only played the well known hits off the UYIs (KOHD, NR, YCBM, LALD--Two of which are covers), and even now, all he plays are the hits plus CW and Estranged. Still, that's 6 out of 30 songs.
I mean the UYis make up the bulk of GN'R's back catalog, most of what GN'R's material is is in those albums just by sheer numbers, and the albums were critically acclaimed and massive selling records, so it's not like they were hated flops that were repudiated, so why do they get so little love from their creators?
It just seems like Axl and Slash sort of try to downplay the UYIs and that era of their careers, even though it was the pinnacle of their creativity and relevance as musicians, and instead they focus on either AFD or their newer stuff.
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I think you may have a point with Slash.

As for Axl, I think he plays the UYI songs that he knows people want to hear. He plays a total of seven UYI songs live (Don't Cry, Civil War, November Rain, Estranged, YCBM, LALD, KOHD) - which I think is a respectable amount. Lets face it, as much as we'd jizz at the prospect of a live rendition of Locomotive or Breakdown, 75% of the people attending GNR shows probably only own the Greatest Hits or maybe an old copy of Appetite.

Edited by Towelie
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I think you may have a point with Slash.

As for Axl, I think he plays the UYI songs that he knows people want to hear. He plays a total of seven UYI songs live (Don't Cry, Civil War, November Rain, Estranged, YCBM, LALD, KOHD) - which I think is a respectable amount. Lets face it, as much as we'd jizz at the prospect of a live rendition of Locomotive or Breakdown, 75% of the people attending GNR shows probably only own the Greatest Hits or maybe an old copy of Appetite.

I'm not saying he has to add Coma or Breakdown to the setlist on a nightly basis...But why not break them or like Don't Damn Me or something out once in a while, you know, just to shake things up?

And the point is mainly at Slash. Like I said, out of 30 songs to choose from, many of which he helped make or played fantastic solos on, he plays only one. That is odd.

Edited by Vincent Vega
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Axl once said that the Illusion records remind him of when the band started to truly fall apart, so the fact that he still plays 7 of those songs is nice considering all the bad blood that was going on between the band at the time as well as all the lies they were feeding the press at the time.

As for Slash, he said recently that the Illusion records have "good shit on them" with an ear-to-ear grin. But I think he must also feel some bad vibes when listening to those songs for the same reason Axl does, because they were made during a troubling time for the band. Slash also kinda said now and then that he doesn't like certain "synthesized" aspects of the Illusion records and that in some ways he prefers the demos. He's said more than once that he considers Appetite to be the true GNR masterpiece and that "everything else after that is just moving on."

As a fan, I can honestly say that I love the Illusion records. I'm sure regardless of the fact that they carry bad blood and don't stylistically fit with all the members' tastes, Axl and Slash can still both agree that they were a major part of GNR history. Perhaps not so much as Appetite, but still pretty major!

Edited by rocknroll41
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It's just the downplaying and revisionism and sort of repudiation of the UYI era that's gone on with a segment of the fanbase in the last 4 or 5 years is...mind boggling. Along with Slash and Axl's own sort of downplaying of that period...Even if there was bad blood behind the scenes, it was still the peak of GN'R's popularity. Those albums are what separates GN'R musically from just being another '80s band and they showed GN'R had something to them that was much more than drinking, drugs, poverty and sex.....

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As for Slash, he said recently that the Illusion records have "good shit on them" with an ear-to-ear grin. But I think he must also feel some bad vibes when listening to those songs for the same reason Axl does, because they were made during a troubling time for the band. Slash also kinda said now and then that he doesn't like certain "synthesized" aspects of the Illusion records and that in some ways he prefers the demos. He's said more than once that he considers Appetite to be the true GNR masterpiece and that "everything else after that is just moving on."

That about sums up Slash's view in my opinion. I do not think he'd deny there are some great songs on there, but he seems to not feel any personal connection to them anymore. We know he had a distaste for the "epic" Axl songs, the band was falling apart, and he was unhappy with the final sound of the album (as compared to those "raw" mixes he talks about); he probably just sees it as a part of his past he respects but doesn't revisit.

Axl has said before he has major problems with the albums both due to the personal conflicts of making them and he even pointed out certain things he found dated about them (I believe he mentioned the drums). Also, realistically, I doubt Axl could sing a lot of those songs anymore. He had a hard time singing "Coma" in 1992.

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personally think the reason u dont hear uyi stuff live as much as afd stuff is cuz its alot more complicated stuff... stuff only the original lineup could pull off the right way... sorry but to hear miles kennedy or even scott weiland for that matter, doing vocals for songs like estranged or even november rain is just plain wrong... and those are 2 of the most popular songs... can u imagine them signing stuff like coma, dont damn me... or right next door to hell ? lol

same goes for the current line-up of gnr... still like the band so dont get me wrong, but something just doesnt sit well with me when i hear ashba "trying" to play slash solos lol you hear alot more afd stuff cuz most of the tracks on that album are classics... classics almost any band could cover well... theyre songs that no matter who plays them, when you hear them, you think gnr.. the uyi stuff imo is a product of the chemistry (or lack therof depending how you see things lol) they had in the 90's.. chemistry that cant be replicated no matter how hard any band other than classic gnr tries... and im pretty sure axl and slash are very aware of this too... dont think it has very much to do with "bad blood" tbh

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It took Axl a long time to get more UYI tracks back in the setlist.

the reason for that i would think is cuz its a little more challenging... not only for axl himself, but for the rest of the band as well... if it were because of bad blood, i dont think he would have ever added them to the set lists... we all know axl isnt one to let a grudge go, or "burry the hatchet" lol

Edited by Hollywood Gunner
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they both may have hard feelings about the illusions, because the project was a product of a big compromise. but Slash may dislike it more cause Axl managed to push his vision about the sound, the keyboards, the arrangement of the songs and the touring musicians. anyway, its a shame, they both should be proud of it

edited: another reason why Slash may not like the illusions is because they contain the best examples of Axl's brilliant and very personal lyrics. While in AFD era they used to come with the ideas for songs together and then Axl developed the plot (like Paradise City, Welcome to the Jungle, Nightrain etc)

Edited by netcat
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Don't think they hate it. I think many tracks wouldn't sound right without Axl and a keyboardist on them.

As for New GNR... I think that it's hard to fit all of AFD, some CD and more illusions tracks into the set. Especially if they are going for the Nostalgia angle, it's kind of hard to find a reason to put more deeper cuts into the set, especially the tracks that are hugely Slash influenced. I think we were very lucky to get Estranged, Don't Cry and Civil War. And those were some of the more popular tracks. I'd love for them to drop the covers of LALD / KOHD for Yesterdays, Don't Damn Me, Dead Horse or Right Next Door to Hell though. Coma... NEVER. Some of those tracks would be too challenging for Axl to sing, and I don't think he's in a place where those songs mean close to what they used to for him. I do think they are both very proud of them though, and definately do not hate them at all.

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