Izzy and steven

[stella]

What does that have to do with Izzy not showing up for videos and interviews, though? Slash and Duff might have been three sheets to the wind and Axl might have been a diva, but at least they did the promotional work. And considering that Izzy worked as a heroin dealer, a bit ironic for him to be sanctimonious about others' drug habits.

 

If Izzy didn't like the way the band was going -- and that seems to be one of the few things that both sides agree on -- it was his right to leave, as he did. However, I don't think either side was really blameless in this. The other four guys wanted the band to be successful, even if Izzy would have been comfortable being an underground band. Izzy was right to be pissed that shows were getting disrupted/riots were happening/Axl was showing up whenever the hell he wanted; the other band members were right to be pissed that he wasn't showing up for videos/etc. when he was supposed to.

Edited April 24, 2016 by stella

[GNRfan2008]

6 hours ago, Original GNR said:

Izzy:  "Stradlin starts winding the tape forward in search of a song he can't stop laughing about. "Slash has this song, it's called 'Coma', and it's fuckin' 15 minutes long. And I still don't know it, man. I have to take a special chord chart with me whenever we play it. There's like 50 chords at the end of it and I just can't follow them."

 

That's hilarious. I love Izzy's stripped down approach as much as anyone, but you cannot deny the contributions of others. GN'R wouldn't have been anywhere near what it was without Axl/Slash/Duff pushing stuff further than Izzy wanted to. Duff even mentioned that Izzy would come up with really elementary stuff and then it was up to everyone else to figure out something to do with it. Throw in Adler/Duff's groove and it was a very special band. 

[ZoSoRose]

22 hours ago, stella said:

This is what Axl actually said about it, from Rolling Stone. It wasn't just not moving around onstage; he felt that Izzy wasn't giving 100%. And when one thinks about it...Izzy never seemed to do press, he no-showed "Don't Cry," etc.
 

 

Man, that is completely different than "Axl wanted to pay Izzy less for not jumping enough"

[Slosh13]

Izzy did this, Izzy did that. No one fucking knows who did what. I wouldn't necessarily pay attention to the credits either. It's a collective collaboration ----- just like making a film.

[xBrownstonex]

On 24. April 2016 at 8:00 AM, RONIN said:

One of Izzy's last interviews before he quit the band (sheds a lot of light on the UYI sessions):

http://www.oocities.org/rattlesnake_suitcase/vox91.htm

Wow, that was ome of the best reads i had in a long time. Thank you. Laughed my ass off

[G-Money]

17 hours ago, xBrownstonex said:

Wow, that was ome of the best reads i had in a long time. Thank you. Laughed my ass off

You can read, "These guys amuse me, but I'm out soon," all over this lol.

[mikebones]

On 24/4/2016 at 10:40 PM, downliner said:

He was now clean/sober and had to see his friends kill themselves on a daily basis, there were riots because Axl was late or whatever, they were spending millions of $$$ on music videos, he's asked to sign a contract which made him a hired hand even though he wrote the songs, he turns up in Chicago (sober) to work on UYI and finds the band in the usual disarray, the band takes so long to release UYI that Izzy can't even remember the songs they've worked on because they were recorded so long ago etc ...... Go read his interview in Vox 1991 (before he even quits Guns) and you can tell already that he was ready to checkout because of the superstar bullshit that seems to be the polar opposite of what Izzy stands for.

THIS!

What would you do if you are clean and your friends are always with drugs around you, your best friend in the band is rioting or being late the whole fn' time, you are asked about being a hired hand when you have written a huge amount of GNR anthems? That tells me a lot about Izzy's personality.

[G-Money]

Adler looked OK, but really skinny on yesterday's Instagram post. But I'm looking forward to seeing how his M3 show goes! I'm just glad he seems to be ok and getting back out there.

[Tom-Ass]

4 hours ago, G-Money said:

 but really skinny on yesterday's Instagram post. 

I thought the same, arms especially. I think I read somewhere that he is a Vegan now.. That would do it.

[ZoSoRose]

Izzy wentry to Detroit for the Stones show last year. Maybe they can get him and Steven there for the kickoff so I can see a few songs with them lol

[GoBucky]

Has Izzy posted anything recently on Twitter? 

[pacu44]

2 hours ago, GoBucky said:

Has Izzy posted anything recently on Twitter? 

Just a couple of youtube videos...

 

"Guns actually NEVER released another hit after Izzy left the band."

[Rubicon]

I'm pretty sure if they're gonna work something out, there won't be more than some guest appearances for Izzy.

I mean, come on... That guy worked very hard the last 20 years to get invisible. Why should he suddenly come back and get noticed everywhere because of that reunion hype?

 

[BorderlineCrazy]

35 minutes ago, Rubicon said:

I'm pretty sure if they're gonna work something out, there won't be more than some guest appearances for Izzy.

I mean, come on... That guy worked very hard the last 20 years to get invisible. Why should he suddenly come back and get noticed everywhere because of that reunion hype?

 

Because he wanted a GNR reunion. Don't know if that's still the case but he told Marc he was into it a few years ago.

[Slosh13]

Quote

GW: Didn't you play your first GN'R with them two weeks later?

CLARKE: Yeah, it was ridiculous. Two weeks! After a week of auditions, Slash called me up and told me I had the job, and that the band wanted to start touring the following week. I had to learn 50 songs in one week, and play them in front of thousands of people. My second gig was Madison Square Garden!

I would come to rehearsal, play what I had learned, then go home and learn five more songs. I didn't sleep for two solid weeks - all I did was play guitar. To make matters worse, nobody really seemed to know what Izzy played. I would perform something, and Slash would say, "I thought you knew this tune." And I'd argue that I did. And then he'd say, "No you don't - you're playing my part!" And then we'd realize that you couldn't really hear Izzy's part on some of the songs. So then we had to try to reconstruct his parts the best we could. Duff knew what Izzy had played more than anyone, so I leaned on Duff a lot.

But it also might have been a blessing in disguise. It gave everyone in the band the opportunity to suggest a fresh approach. I think they were giving me stuff to play that they always wanted to hear, but Izzy would never do. So my rhythm parts are a combination of Izzy's original ideas, some of my ideas and a few additional ideas provided by the band.

http://www.oocities.org/rattlesnake_suitcase/articles.htm

Gilby Clarke interview. Fascinating. 

[xBrownstonex]

4 hours ago, Slosh13 said:

http://www.oocities.org/rattlesnake_suitcase/articles.htm

Gilby Clarke interview. Fascinating. 

Link didnt work. Its this one

http://www.oocities.org/rattlesnake_suitcase/gilbygwtrial92.htm

[maxpax]

4 hours ago, Slosh13 said:

http://www.oocities.org/rattlesnake_suitcase/articles.htm

Gilby Clarke interview. Fascinating. 

respect for gilbys fast learning. it worked out pretty good. GnR is all about Slash when it comes to the guitar parts. Izzy also played in disguise, but he was very important for the catchy refrains and studio recordings. i don't need a 2nd lead guitar in GnR...i have nothing against 4tus, but all solos (except the axl refreshing pause fillers at concerts) should be played by slash. not because i'm a slash maniac, but it simply sounds better with only slash on the lead.

[pacu44]

35 minutes ago, maxpax said:

respect for gilbys fast learning. it worked out pretty good. GnR is all about Slash when it comes to the guitar parts. Izzy also played in disguise, but he was very important for the catchy refrains and studio recordings. i don't need a 2nd lead guitar in GnR...i have nothing against 4tus, but all solos (except the axl refreshing pause fillers at concerts) should be played by slash. not because i'm a slash maniac, but it simply sounds better with only slash on the lead.

Wrong... NOT AFD... I am always amazed at these off the wall comments.

[Tom-Ass]

4 hours ago, maxpax said:

respect for gilbys fast learning. it worked out pretty good. GnR is all about Slash when it comes to the guitar parts. Izzy also played in disguise, but he was very important for the catchy refrains and studio recordings. i don't need a 2nd lead guitar in GnR...i have nothing against 4tus, but all solos (except the axl refreshing pause fillers at concerts) should be played by slash. not because i'm a slash maniac, but it simply sounds better with only slash on the lead.

And for God sake, turn down Fortus' damn guitar.

[madison]

On 4/24/2016 at 11:40 PM, downliner said:

 

Axl maybe saw it as Izzy being lazy, not pulling his weight, not doing interview/videos etc, whereas Izzy (judging by his comments) viewed GNR as being too far removed from what it originally started out as.... a rock n roll band playing music.

He was now clean/sober and had to see his friends kill themselves on a daily basis, there were riots because Axl was late or whatever, they were spending millions of $$$ on music videos, he's asked to sign a contract which made him a hired hand even though he wrote the songs, he turns up in Chicago (sober) to work on UYI and finds the band in the usual disarray, the band takes so long to release UYI that Izzy can't even remember the songs they've worked on because they were recorded so long ago etc ...... Go read his interview in Vox 1991 (before he even quits Guns) and you can tell already that he was ready to checkout because of the superstar bullshit that seems to be the polar opposite of what Izzy stands for.

 

All valid points.

And all potentially good and understandable reasons for Izzy's decision to quit.  

But, I don't think it's that simple. Izzy has a long history of being unreliable and unable to commit to projects.

If you recall, long after he left GNR - I think it was around 2004 - he had agreed to fill in for the New York Dolls' late axeman Johnny Thunders for some reunion shows. The Dolls posted and promoted his appearance - only to have him pull out at the last minute for no reason. So, in fairness, Izzy isn't the most stable and reliable guy - even when there are no drugs, late starts or other issues going on.  

I truly think both sides were to blame for his departure back in the day.

But they're all older, wiser and cleaner now, so hopefully Izzy will return at some point. 

[Top-Hatted One]

1 hour ago, madison said:

All valid points.

 

 

And all potentially good and understandable reasons for Izzy's decision to quit.  

 

But, I don't think it's that simple. Izzy has a long history of being unreliable and unable to commit to projects.

 

If you recall, long after he left GNR - I think it was around 2004 - he had agreed to fill in for the New York Dolls' late axeman Johnny Thunders for some reunion shows. The Dolls posted and promoted his appearance - only to have him pull out at the last minute for no reason. So, in fairness, Izzy isn't the most stable and reliable guy - even when there are no drugs, late starts or other issues going on.  

I truly think both sides were to blame for his departure back in the day.

But they're all older, wiser and cleaner now, so hopefully Izzy will return at some point. 

 

And don't forget he bailed on 'The Project' & VR as well

[SoulMonster]

1 hour ago, madison said:

All valid points.

 

 

And all potentially good and understandable reasons for Izzy's decision to quit.  

 

But, I don't think it's that simple. Izzy has a long history of being unreliable and unable to commit to projects.

 

If you recall, long after he left GNR - I think it was around 2004 - he had agreed to fill in for the New York Dolls' late axeman Johnny Thunders for some reunion shows. The Dolls posted and promoted his appearance - only to have him pull out at the last minute for no reason. So, in fairness, Izzy isn't the most stable and reliable guy - even when there are no drugs, late starts or other issues going on.  

I truly think both sides were to blame for his departure back in the day.

But they're all older, wiser and cleaner now, so hopefully Izzy will return at some point. 

 

I agree with all this. So does (or did) Slash:

We just came to the conclusion that Izzy wasn't putting in the time we thought was necessary for the good of the band. It had been building up for a long time. And finally Izzy came out in the open with me and Axl and said he didn't want to deal with the work that was involved. So we decided to work with someone else [Guitar World, February 1992]

I love the guy dearly, so I don't want to belittle his character by saying anything about him. But he just got sick and tired of dealing with everything. I think more than anything he didn't want to do the amount of work that Guns N' Roses has to do to keep it together. [...]I totally sold my soul to this thing, but Izzy wasn't that way. He didn't want to do videos or spend all those hours in the studio, and slowly but surely he started to drop out. [...] In fact, I was really happy because I could never understand what was going on with him. Like even on stage, he would just sort of stand there--and that was the only time I'd see him on the road because he traveled separately. When he finally left, it was like a relief because there had been no communication at all. [Los Angeles Times, August 1992]

And we went out on tour, and he finally quit. And the time that he was on tour, right before he quit, I was just really pissed off. Because it seemed like he'd show up and he would stand on the stage, for the alotted two and a half, three hours. And then, you know, split. I felt for that whole period of time that he was on stage, he really didn't wanna be there [Civil War Single / Making Fuckin' Boxes, March 1993]

And even before Izzy quit, he was pretty much phased out - he's even phased out of his own band [Q Magazine, March 1994].

I think the band outgrew Izzy, and even if Axl behaved better and Duff and Slash got sober, Izzy would have quit. It just became too big for him. It was not what he wanted.

 

 

[RONIN]

Izzy never missed a single gnr gig even when he was a full blown heroin junkie. This whole " Izzy is unreliable" schtick is a revisionist Axl fairytale. Let's not forget that Izzy was the only guy who showed up in Chicago ready to work on UYI material -- he stopped giving a shit once he saw how the band was in total disarray (mostly due to Axl not showing up as usual).

Izzy didn't record as much stuff for UYI because by the time the band got their shit together, he had already mentally checked out. Those Chicago UYI sessions destroyed the morale of the old band as Duff mentioned in his book.

As for VR, he didn't want to deal with a lead singer (turns out he saw the writing on the wall with Scott). He offered to share singing duties with Duff - Slash didn't go for it and that was that. 

Ironic that conjecture of his so called "unreliability" is coming mainly from the redhead who is the textbook definition of unreliable.

Izzy was cut out of rejoining the band over money -- it's the only explanation that makes sense. The guy who cofounded the band and wrote more than half the band's catalogue is nowhere to be seen.

Meanwhile, you have some sadly deluded people on this forum talking about how a journeyman session guitarist is a better fit for gnr than Izzy because he played izzys songs on tour and collected a paycheck from Axl for 15 yrs. And now apparently he's even a better lead guitarist than Slash and needs to share in lead guitar duties for GNR. There are even people here who consider the bumblefoot years to be the glory days of guns (i am not making this up). The guns fanbase is like the Republican party -- batshit crazy.

Edited April 28, 2016 by RONIN

[HeartbreakerWoman]

37 minutes ago, RONIN said:

Izzy never missed a single gnr gig even when he was a full blown heroin junkie. This whole " Izzy is unreliable" schtick is a revisionist Axl fairytale. Let's not forget that Izzy was the only guy who showed up in Chicago ready to work on UYI material -- he stopped giving a shit once he saw how the band was in total disarray (mostly due to Axl not showing up as usual).

Izzy didn't record as much stuff for UYI because by the time the band got their shit together, he had already mentally checked out. Those Chicago UYI sessions destroyed the morale of the old band as Duff mentioned in his book.

As for VR, he didn't want to deal with a lead singer (turns out he saw the writing on the wall with Scott). He offered to share singing duties with Duff - Slash didn't go for it and that was that. 

Ironic that conjecture of his so called "unreliability" is coming mainly from the redhead who is the textbook definition of unreliable.

Izzy was cut out of rejoining the band over money -- it's the only explanation that makes sense. The guy who cofounded the band and wrote more than half the band's catalogue is nowhere to be seen.

Meanwhile, you have some sadly deluded people on this forum talking about how a journeyman session guitarist is a better fit for gnr than Izzy because he played izzys songs on tour and collected a paycheck from Axl for 15 yrs. And now apparently he's even a better lead guitarist than Slash and needs to share in lead guitar duties for GNR. There are even people here who consider the bumblefoot years to be the glory days of guns (i am not making this up). The guns fanbase is like the Republican party -- batshit crazy.

Actually Slash and Duff were the only guys to show up to Chicago. Izzy showed up a few weeks late and Axl showed up about a month late, and when Axl trashed the hotel room they were staying out, Izzy bailed. Read Duff's book on that score.

[RONIN]

13 minutes ago, HeartbreakerWoman said:

Actually Slash and Duff were the only guys to show up to Chicago. Izzy showed up a few weeks late and Axl showed up about a month late, and when Axl trashed the hotel room they were staying out, Izzy bailed. Read Duff's book on that score.

You're right -- I forgot about that, thanks for clarifying.

The point is though, no matter what was going on with Izzy, he showed up to play every gig. He was there for most of the uyi sessions.This directly contradicts what Axl says about his unreliability. It's only once he felt that the band was in complete chaos that he stopped caring.

So yeah, he didn't show up to shoot the uyi videos and wasn't around for the final UYI sessions -- technically Axl has a point. But given what led to all that, it's hard to blame Izzy. 

Edited April 28, 2016 by RONIN