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Matt Sorum Says He 'Wasn't Asked' To Take Part In Guns N' Roses Reunion


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1 hour ago, madison said:

 

Not sure why Matt gets such a bad rap on this forum.  Does he speak his mind?  Yeah. But, what's wrong with that? 

He's actually a pretty cool guy to talk to - and not at all arrogant as some people seem to think. 

Matt played a role in GNR's huge success, and deserves to be part of the reunion along with Stevie. He certainly earned that spot - which Frank did not. 

 

I always liked Matt too, not intimately like "cool guy to talk to", but would love to hear that story.. You could PM me you know.

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AXL:"As much as I was a friend to Matt, he was incapable of reciprocating, and life is much better without such an obvious albatross"

Life is indeed better.Once again,this is not a reunion people.This is a new lineup of GNR ready to kick your f**kin ass!!! 4tus and Ferrer are pros and have been loyal to Axl and GNR for years with respect.Of course Axl wasn't gonna kick them to the curb so,Go ahead and keep debating on why Matt should be involved and at least guest on a couple songs cuz ITS NOT GONNA HAPPEN! It would make NO sense whatsoever!

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VR playing GNR had a more GNR vibe with Matt than the songs do now with Frank.  That being said... Axl may see this as the continuation of Guns Post CD Era rather than a Reunion.  Maybe this is where he wanted the band to be in 97 or 98.  Bringing Matt back doesn't attract that many more ticket sales... only the die hards truly will know the difference.

Edited by War2k14
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5 hours ago, Nick Cobraetti said:

Pleased to meet you! Let me say first that I like Matt and I love UYIs. However...

Axl doesn't like Matt's drumming, and Matt has gone out of his way to bury Axl and GnR after his departure. That's why Matt's not there.

The issue with Matt and the psychic wasn't that "Axl took it as a diss", it was that Matt was discussing rumored details of Axl's private life in the press. To me that's not concern, it's schadenfreude.

IMO Matt had little-to-no role in the band's success. He was lucky enough to get on the elevator when it was already on the top floor. All he had to do was not suck - and to his credit, he didn't. But that doesn't make him an indispensable component by any stretch of the imagination. He was inducted because he was the drummer, not because he made a significant contribution to their success...I mean, Dennis Wilson is in the hall!

Axl disliked Matt's drumming so much that he recorded circa 44 studio songs with Matt, performed 194 shows with him and retained Sorum's services until 1997, post Slash!! There is absolutely no evidence for Axl not liking Matt's drumming - trust me, if Axl doesn't like someone musically he simply drops that person with all the grace of a bag of spuds, case in point Gilby Clarke.

From my understanding, Matt Sorum was inducted because Matt Sorum performed original material (Use Your Illusion); that was the clear difference between Sorum/Reed and Gilby Clarke, the later pair appearing on original material.

I do not agree with your ''little-to-no- statement. His drumming profoundly influenced the outcome of Illusion. 'November Rain' is evidence of this.

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1 hour ago, passenger57 said:

A couple of my fav Matt vids.
Here's a cool vid of Matt talking about recording Illusions and the GnR writing process.

 

 

This video only confirms to me the awesome drummer Matt Sorum is, he is a lot more than a guy who hits a drum, he's a song stylist. Really one of the best drummers an epic rock band (UYI era) like GNR could have; so solid and perfectionist, he's ages away from Steven (although I like him) in the way of thinking how to make the drumming of a song.

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Matt's out for a couple of reasons. One is definitely his badmouthing of Axl to the press, other is his criticism of piano led songs like November Rain, Estranged etc... to the press. At some point this guy and his poodle perm thought he had the right to bitch about the band, its music and its singer without realizing he was always a hired hand. Only Axl, Slash, Duff, Steven or Izzy can get away with this but not a hired hand.

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2 hours ago, chokes said:

Matt's out for a couple of reasons. One is definitely his badmouthing of Axl to the press, other is his criticism of piano led songs like November Rain, Estranged etc... to the press. At some point this guy and his poodle perm thought he had the right to bitch about the band, its music and its singer without realizing he was always a hired hand. Only Axl, Slash, Duff, Steven or Izzy can get away with this but not a hired hand.

Not so sure he was always just a hired hand, but I kind of agree with you- he did for the most part coast in on the work laid down by Adler on the UYI albums and it seemed he was right into the partying and excess right from the moment he joined.

No denying his playing on the UYI albums and tours and also TSI?, but yeah he never had the oppertunity to be much more than a touring member.

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7 hours ago, War2k14 said:

VR playing GNR had a more GNR vibe with Matt than the songs do now with Frank.  That being said... Axl may see this as the continuation of Guns Post CD Era rather than a Reunion.  Maybe this is where he wanted the band to be in 97 or 98.  Bringing Matt back doesn't attract that many more ticket sales... only the die hards truly will know the difference.

Not to mention the conspirator's..  The band nails Rocket Queen.

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13 hours ago, CardinalGunner said:

Axl does not see this as a reunion, he sees this as Slash replacing his departed guitarists.   Duff replacing Tommy.    

The press is calling it a reunion, but this is not that far removed from the 2014 lineup replacing DJ with Slash and Chris with Melissa.    

If you look at it that way, it makes sense that Matt wasn't called because Frank was already there.

This could be true, however, Axl has been touring the same songs almost non-stop since 2009.  Why the need of - what it looks like - a massive tour now?  I don't think he was in such a hurry to get replacements for the members that left his band.  And even if that was the case, why Slash?  He hated his guts.  It could have been anyone but him.

Let's take in consideration that this 'reunion' had been put in motion since at least 2012.  Members of Slash's band said it.  Slash looking for his old goldtop Les Paul from the UYI tour sort of confirmed it too. Do we have to assume that Bumblefoot, Ashba and Stinson decided to quit around or before that year and that's why Axl was considering working with Slash again?  I don't think so.

I think Axl does see this as a reunion, but they didn't have to ask Sorum to join because Frank was still working with Axl.  Back in the day when Adler was fired, they replaced him with Sorum and they didn't stop selling out stadiums.  Then Stradlin quit and they replaced him with Clarke - they didn't stop selling out stadiums either.

It is safe to say that they won't stop selling out stadiums now because Sorum isn't involved, or Adler, or Stradlin.  The big three are working together after 23 years.  That's what most people wanted to see.

Oh, and yes, I know I'm CSI:Gn'Ring the shit out of this. :lol:

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15 hours ago, madison said:

 

Matt played a role in GNR's huge success, and deserves to be part of the reunion along with Stevie. He certainly earned that spot - which Frank did not. 

 

But this isn't a reuninion. THis is  Slash and Duff filling in roles left by former members. Tommy left for family reasons and DJ left for 6AM. It would be lame if any current members got fired for former members. I'm glad Frank, Richard, and Dizzy are still in. And eventhough Pirman somehow got himself fired, it's cool to know that the keyboardist comes from the brain/buckethead camp, and has even deeper ties to GNR given she worked on the unreleased remixes.

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9 hours ago, DieselDaisy said:

Axl disliked Matt's drumming so much that he recorded circa 44 studio songs with Matt, performed 194 shows with him and retained Sorum's services until 1997, post Slash!! There is absolutely no evidence for Axl not liking Matt's drumming - trust me, if Axl doesn't like someone musically he simply drops that person with all the grace of a bag of spuds, case in point Gilby Clarke.

From my understanding, Matt Sorum was inducted because Matt Sorum performed original material (Use Your Illusion); that was the clear difference between Sorum/Reed and Gilby Clarke, the later pair appearing on original material.

I do not agree with your ''little-to-no- statement. His drumming profoundly influenced the outcome of Illusion. 'November Rain' is evidence of this.

Thank you old poster for educating new poster. 

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16 hours ago, CardinalGunner said:

Axl does not see this as a reunion, he sees this as Slash replacing his departed guitarists.   Duff replacing Tommy.    

The press is calling it a reunion, but this is not that far removed from the 2014 lineup replacing DJ with Slash and Chris with Melissa.    

If you look at it that way, it makes sense that Matt wasn't called because Frank was already there.

This. It's clearly the same with Izzy. Richard was already there, so why fire him?! Maybe that's where Izzy and Axl are disagreeing at the moment...

I think the reunion a lot of anti nuGNR fans were hoping was axl firing the entire band and just bringing back the appetite lineup with Sorum. That would never happen. This isn't Kiss

Edited by Billsfan
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9 hours ago, DieselDaisy said:

Axl disliked Matt's drumming so much that he recorded circa 44 studio songs with Matt, performed 194 shows with him and retained Sorum's services until 1997, post Slash!! There is absolutely no evidence for Axl not liking Matt's drumming - trust me, if Axl doesn't like someone musically he simply drops that person with all the grace of a bag of spuds, case in point Gilby Clarke.

From my understanding, Matt Sorum was inducted because Matt Sorum performed original material (Use Your Illusion); that was the clear difference between Sorum/Reed and Gilby Clarke, the later pair appearing on original material.

I do not agree with your ''little-to-no- statement. His drumming profoundly influenced the outcome of Illusion. 'November Rain' is evidence of this.

"With 'Illusions' several years ago, something came on the radio and I realized how the energy in the drums, though solid and consistent, brought me down in a way I feel damaged the material in the long run, if not from the get-go. Maybe it's there with some, most or all of us in ways, but I specifically notice it more with the drums. And when listening in that sense of analyzing how something feels to me in regards to its involvement or inclusion in the song, whether anyone disagrees I'm somewhat capable of removing myself and events from the picture." - Axl Rose

Seems like pretty solid evidence to me, no? AFA the fills on November Rain, that's a bad example -by his own admission Matt played the fills on that song the way he was instructed (by Axl) to play them!

"That fill was Axls idea As a musical phrase that carried on through the trilogy , ‘Don’t Cry’ and ‘Estranged...

“Axl goes, ‘Do you hear that?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, I love Nigel Olsson, man,'” Sorum said referring to Elton John’s drummer. “He says, ‘Do that on the song we’re going to record tomorrow!’ - Matt Sorum


 

 

Edited by Nick Cobraetti
attiribution of quote
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5 minutes ago, The_Original_RK said:

I've never been a fan of Matt's playing. Found it a bit monotonous in nature and have always wondered what UYI would have sounded like with a more versatile drummer.

 

It would have been much better with Steven. Even if he was so fucked up, the bubble gum swing was still there. 

Edited by AncientEvil80
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Ok guys, what if Sorum was the BIGGEST reason why gnr crashed and burned back in the mid 90s? He is clearly a big ego, and not always the easiest to get along with. I've been in many band's, and too many cooks in the kitchen ALWAYS leads to a break up. I hate to say it, but for the sake of the band, some guys really just need to be able to play and be happy to be there. If everyone has big ideas or wants to be heard as an equal, the band will break up. Before you know it, people are taking sides, then Shit gets worse. I have a very strong feeling that Sorum might have been the root of a lot of the Shit between Slash and Axl. Slash is not a confronatational guy, it was Sorum pushing him to make issues out of everything. Go watch the the VH1 behind the music, Sorum admits to it on there. 

The more I think about it, the more I honestly feel that if they hadn't hired Sorum in the first place, maybe gnr never breaks up to begin with? So that now that they are back, and by all accounts getting along great, why bring Sorum back? Because he deserves to be there more than so and so? No. Not a good enough reason, he will fuck Shit up again. I think both Slash and Duff know this, cause Sorum caused a bunch a trouble in VR as well. Honestly he sounds like that he is the cancer that is better off removed. 

When Adler gets the call (which I fully expect to happen) Is he going to show up and cause trouble? No. He is going to show up, play, and have a fucking blast doing it. I can't say the same for Sorum, he is just too damn opinionated. Axl, Slash, and Duff are calling the shots, and that's how it's going to stay. Everyone else is just supposed to show up, do their job, and be happy. Fortus and Ferrer are perfect for those roles. 

1 bad apple spoiled the whole damn bunch...

Edited by Iron MikeyJ
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I kinda agree with Axl in the above statement. However Matt did save the band back when Steven was fired, so he should be given alot of credit for that.

In regards to Steven's absence Izzy summed it up best ""Adler's sense of swing was the push and pull that give the songs their feel. When that was gone, it was just... unbelievable, weird. Nothing worked. I would have preferred to continue with Steve, but we'd had two years off and we couldn't wait any longer."

That said I think players shine more when they are part of the original band and not hired hands being told what to do.

I think in VR Matt's drumming is much more free and fluid. His personality comes out more.
 

Check this out - Case in point - When Steven broke his arm GnR hired the Cinderella drummer.  You can see Slash getting frustrated with him at 4:32
All that aside, Axl and Izzy look super cool in this vid! Slash and Duff look pretty wasted lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkmiXmM4I1s

Edited by passenger57
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LOL at the notion Frank doesn't "deserve" to be in the band just because he wasn't in the band 25-30 years ago. Judge him for his style, skill, vibe. But it's flawed logic to consider him undeserving of his spot solely because of the year he joined Guns N' Roses.

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I think I have read about all I want to hear of this, old member bashing 'Fortus is god' hysteria. The ironic thing is, If the reunion had Stinson in place of Duff,  you lot would be saying things like ''Stinson was one of the earliest nugnr members and a loyal band mate of Axl'', and that ''Duff never wrote many songs anyway and does not have the legendary status of Stinson''. If it was Axl, Izzy, Duff, Matt, Richard and Bumblefoot, you lot would be still stuck in full-on Slash hate mode, commenting on ''Axl and Izzy being the songwriting giants of old gnr and founding members, so as good as a reunion as we would possibly get''. The usual lines about Richard and Bumble's technical proficiency would be stated, and swipes at Slash's solo career. If this line-up had Gilby instead of Richard, Richard would be simply another used tampon, like Bumble, Stinson, Pitman and Ashba are now. Nobody would be talking about him at all!! You would all be saying things like, ''Gilby blended well with Slash in the '90s and was a good replacement for Izzy, so this reunion will suffice''.

1 hour ago, Nick Cobraetti said:

"With 'Illusions' several years ago, something came on the radio and I realized how the energy in the drums, though solid and consistent, brought me down in a way I feel damaged the material in the long run, if not from the get-go. Maybe it's there with some, most or all of us in ways, but I specifically notice it more with the drums. And when listening in that sense of analyzing how something feels to me in regards to its involvement or inclusion in the song, whether anyone disagrees I'm somewhat capable of removing myself and events from the picture." - Axl Rose

Seems like pretty solid evidence to me, no? AFA the fills on November Rain, that's a bad example -by his own admission Matt played the fills on that song the way he was instructed (by Axl) to play them!

"That fill was Axls idea As a musical phrase that carried on through the trilogy , ‘Don’t Cry’ and ‘Estranged...

“Axl goes, ‘Do you hear that?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, I love Nigel Olsson, man,'” Sorum said referring to Elton John’s drummer. “He says, ‘Do that on the song we’re going to record tomorrow!’ - Matt Sorum


 

 

Illusion was recorded 1990-91, so this merely raises the question, why did Axl persevere with Sorum until 1997, until after Slash had left, when work on what would become Chinese Democracy had proceeded? Axl suddenly decided for reasons only known to himself that he didn't want to write with Gilby and unceremoniously dumped him. He has just dumped Pitman recently - there is no one more ruthless at sacking band mates than W. Axl Rose. Yet he stuck with Sorum until 1997. And it was not even a musical difference which led to Sorum's sacking but an argument, an incident of Sorum defending Slash against some comments by Tobias I believe.

You can always trust Axl to speak a bunch of contradictory pap.

Edited by DieselDaisy
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1 minute ago, ZoSoRose said:

Who is ripping on Matt and Izzy, @DieselDaisy? Jesus dude, you are ridiculous. It's possible to like those guys AND Frank and Richard

Gilby is about as popular as Hitler on here now. Matt - NB critics above in this very topic. Matt's stock has plummeted drastically since it was apparent he didn't make the hybrid. He was god of the hour on the Hall of Fame thing. And even Izzy - yes, some have dared to criticise Izzy, saying that Fortus is this ''much better player'' (merely subjective), and Izzy has ''no interest in Guns'' (unconfirmed circumstantial speculation). Further, look at the nugnr members who didn't make the hybrid. I know everybody hated Ashba and Pitman anyhow but Stinson, Bumblefoot are about as popular as, well, poor old Gilby Clarke which is about as unpopular as it gets!! All this shite about ''Richard's loyalty'' and ''longevity of service'' could equally apply to them - more so in fact, Tommy - yet they have been dispensed with (by this forum) with barely a parting whimper.

( I cannot believe I am actually defending nugnr members, nugnr being a band a generally loathed, but somebody has to point out these double standards!)

The people who hated nugnr still hate them of course, but they have suddenly found a long lost love for Richard Fortus and Frank. Fortus is being elevated to levels of godliness on here - it is truly absurd. If Ashba was a hack, Fortus was also.

It is like Tony Blair or some seedy political specimen flip-flopping.

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