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Jason Newsted: "GNR taught me what not to do"


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1 hour ago, RONIN said:

I'm really curious what exactly went down behind the scenes on this tour. The bitterness from Jason makes it almost seem like we all heard a really sanitized version of what really happened on that tour. It sounds to me like he saw stuff from GnR that was really shocking and loathsome (beyond the riot stuff). 

Agreed Ronin. We know from the "Behind The Music" that according to Metallica- Guns was completely indifferent to the violence and destruction going on in Montreal ("Nero playing the fiddle as Rome burned"). This interview seemed to suggest something even darker/more nefarious going on. Which- rightly or wrongly- serves to reinforce the notion (IMHO) that Guns was a legitimately dangerous, "last band truly out on the edge" outfit in '92. That will always be fascinating to people IMHO...

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1 hour ago, AXL_N_DIZZY said:

That will always be fascinating to people IMHO...


Nah. It's actually pretty silly. But that happens, when you have too much money, too much yes sayers and too little common sense.

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I'd bet most of what he says is true. Axl was smack in the middle of his getting weird/super ego/asshole stage. But I've always kinda loved the fact Axl was crazy as a bat and can be a son of a bitch when he wants to.

I remember Jason saying all that on behind the music. He also said that shit about, people say Metallica sold out, yes we sell out....stadiums all across the world every night. Or some shit like that, anyway that's a pretty punk ass comment to make so he ain't perfect or super cool either.

Edited by J Dog
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One thing that gets left out on this stuff IMHO is just how fucking huge Guns was 91-92. They were everything Metallica was with The Black Album- PLUS this crazy extra level of pop icon (Axl & Slash being rock's answer to Madonna & MJ) and sex symbol (Seymour, heartthrob "bad boys", etc.). Perhaps they didn't do the best job of it- but it was a hell of a lot more to manage and say grace over than 4 pretty average dudes in black t's plugging in and playing every night...

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8 hours ago, BorderlineCrazy said:

Not really, I want Jason on bass :lol:

Weird isn't it....Rob is clearly a better bass player, but there's something about Jason that's missing.

1 hour ago, AXL_N_DIZZY said:

One thing that gets left out on this stuff IMHO is just how fucking huge Guns was 91-92. They were everything Metallica was with The Black Album- PLUS this crazy extra level of pop icon (Axl & Slash being rock's answer to Madonna & MJ) and sex symbol (Seymour, heartthrob "bad boys", etc.). Perhaps they didn't do the best job of it- but it was a hell of a lot more to manage and say grace over than 4 pretty average dudes in black t's plugging in and playing every night...

This!

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21 minutes ago, xBrownstonex said:

I could give two shits about Fucktallica, but Rob ist just a boring personality, for such a big band that is. Plus he moves on stage like a fucking ape. Whats that all about?

Really?

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16 hours ago, AXL_N_DIZZY said:

Agreed Ronin. We know from the "Behind The Music" that according to Metallica- Guns was completely indifferent to the violence and destruction going on in Montreal ("Nero playing the fiddle as Rome burned"). This interview seemed to suggest something even darker/more nefarious going on. Which- rightly or wrongly- serves to reinforce the notion (IMHO) that Guns was a legitimately dangerous, "last band truly out on the edge" outfit in '92. That will always be fascinating to people IMHO...

Yeah - a lot of people didn't quite catch that. The insinuation in his words is that some really unsavory things happened behind the scenes that were outrageous even by the standards of the late 80's/early 90's rock/metal scene.

There is some further speculation on this by the Faith no More guys like Mike Patton who have briefly talked about the rampant sexual escapades of the band on this tour.

The "Nero" reference is very telling, especially with Axl's theme parties - I'm guessing some wild shit went down at these parties. Probably serious drug abuse, roman orgy style debauchery, and dangerous/reckless behavior from Axl and possibly Matt. Other members of metallica are quick to point out they're cool with everyone in Guns who isn't Axl - doesn't seem to be the case with Jason. Sounds like he doesn't think much of anyone in the band and whatever Duff and Slash were up-to wasn't considered professional or acceptable either by his standards.

As far as GnR's reputation go - they were what they were and what you saw is what you got. Didn't give a fuck and played by their own rules, right or wrong. There is an element of uncertainty, excitement, and danger in all of that. Mix that in with their youth, talent, charisma and pop- culture relevance - it was a potent and combustible mix. There were very few bands like that back then, and even less so now.

Edited by RONIN
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GW Does that hold true now?

HETFIELD No. I think I’ve learned to turn that off. That part of things—Lars’ attitude—would bug me so much, because we were this band that was so anti-L.A., anti-Hollywood, and Lars was out there posing. Guns N’ Roses to me were part of the enemy, and Lars was out there with them, posing up a storm. Lars is that way. He will be infatuated with certain people in his life and need to get into them. He likes learning things from people who have that something, and Axl [Rose] had that.

...

GW What do you remember about the 1992 tour with Guns N’ Roses?

HETFIELD Man, it was the excess tour. “Hey, you going to the after party?” Axl spent tens of thousands of dollars on those parties. There were hot tubs backstage. It was very extravagant, which was so un-me. I’d go back and drink their beer and shoot pool; that’s what I’d do. By the time they’d come offstage I’d be gone so I didn’t have to hang out with them.

http://www.guitarworld.com/james-hetfield-iron-man

I think that apart from Lars Ulrich none of the other Metallica guys liked GnR (especially Axl, but not just him) even before the tour. They went with the tour just because they saw it as an opportunity and because Ulrich wanted it.

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43 minutes ago, Blackstar said:

GW Does that hold true now?

HETFIELD No. I think I’ve learned to turn that off. That part of things—Lars’ attitude—would bug me so much, because we were this band that was so anti-L.A., anti-Hollywood, and Lars was out there posing. Guns N’ Roses to me were part of the enemy, and Lars was out there with them, posing up a storm. Lars is that way. He will be infatuated with certain people in his life and need to get into them. He likes learning things from people who have that something, and Axl [Rose] had that.

...

GW What do you remember about the 1992 tour with Guns N’ Roses?

HETFIELD Man, it was the excess tour. “Hey, you going to the after party?” Axl spent tens of thousands of dollars on those parties. There were hot tubs backstage. It was very extravagant, which was so un-me. I’d go back and drink their beer and shoot pool; that’s what I’d do. By the time they’d come offstage I’d be gone so I didn’t have to hang out with them.

http://www.guitarworld.com/james-hetfield-iron-man

I think that apart from Lars Ulrich none of the other Metallica guys liked GnR (especially Axl, but not just him) even before the tour. They went with the tour just because they saw it as an opportunity and because Ulrich wanted it.

Great find. Thanks for posting that.

Iirc, Kirk Hammet is friends with Slash and James likes Slash and Duff. 

Image result for duff james hetfield

Image result for slash kirk hammett

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10 minutes ago, RONIN said:

Great find. Thanks for posting that.

Iirc, Kirk Hammet is friends with Slash and James likes Slash and Duff. 

Image result for duff james hetfield

Image result for slash kirk hammett

I think Slash gets along with all of them (he and Kirk are both horror nerds) and Lars is still good friends with Axl, he played Out Ta Get Me with Axl's band in 2006. I also remember catching some weird documentary on tv a few years ago where Lars was praising Slash big time (saying something like he would play all those killer riffs and solos and it looked so effortlessly and who wouldn't like to have so many iconic rffs. It was something among those lines).

In James' case, Axl's insanity seems to have been the perfect excuse. Just reading his comments you can see he disliked the band before even knowing the guys.

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On 5/25/2017 at 8:37 AM, DieselDaisy said:

Oh god, sycophancy of the highest order. Why do gnr fans feel the need to display their credentials at dick sucking? People are allowed to criticise them.

*fans of any band ever

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Any way you look at it, Metallica is just a superior machine. It's just awesome how Metallica still kick ass, still treating their fans like equal, being able to sell 5,000 copies of the black album each weeks...

Metallica fans were definitely the smartest and had every right to bully mellow GnR fans at school. GnR are greedy evil losers.

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19 minutes ago, RONIN said:

Iirc, Kirk Hammet is friends with Slash and James likes Slash and Duff. 

Yes, Slash and Duff are friends with everyone now. I'm not sure about back then. It seems that Slash looked up to Hetfield but I don't know if it was reciprocal (I doubt it).

Also this story (probably most people here have heard of it) from the promoter Barry Fey:

And then there's the one about how he supposedly held a gun to Axl Rose's head when the Guns N' Roses frontman mysteriously disappeared from a gig at Mile High Stadium that Barry had booked with Guns and Metallica (spoiler alert: didn't happen, even if Lars Ulrich remembers it differently).

....

So what's your favorite story?

I guess my favorite story... oh, God, that's hard. Dave, that's really hard -- and I'm not being cool - but the one I had most fun with is debunking the story that's not true.

What's that?

The Axl Rose story, as told by Lars Ulrich. You've heard about that one, right? That story is, I guess, the most famous of the stories. We had Guns and Metallica at Mile High. And there was 48-49,000 people there. It was a big tour, and they alternated closing. One night, one band would close, and the other night the other one.

This one, Metallica opened, and... the whole story's in the book, but I'll tell you... Metallica opened, and I went out - it was a great set - I went backstage for the opening number of Guns. I went out, and they played "Welcome to the Jungle." I'm walking out - I'm going to give you the language, and you clean it up however you want; I'm just telling you how it happened - I'm walking backstage, and this guy comes running out and says, "Barry, Axl just left."

I said, "'The fuck are you talking about, 'Axl left'?" So I ran backstage, and I found out that he had come down off the stage, got into the limousine and left the site. So I said to... I went up to - his name was Big John; he was the guy who ran the limo company - and I said, 'You don't work for him; you work for me.' I said, 'You ever want to see another fucking dime of this company's money, you get that car back here.' And he said, "What?" I said, "Yeah. The only way he gets out of that car is if he jumps out. And if he jumps out, you leave him in the street. But you get that car back here."

So he gets on his little telephone. People are getting a little pissed by this time. Guns is up there just jamming, right? They played "Welcome to the Jungle," and then they didn't do anything; they were just jamming, and people were getting a little pissed off. In fact, I found out that they were taking their Guns N' Roses T-shirts back to the concession stand and throwing them at them and saying, "Give me a Metallica shirt."

So I went into the Guns and Metallica dressing room. So Guns sends down an emissary -- and this I know for sure because I was standing there within three feet - and he tells Lars, "Would you guys consider coming back up and jamming with us, because the crowd's going to get out of line?" So Lars tells him, word for word, "You bozos don't have enough money in your collective bank accounts for me to get back on that stage."

So at that point, I left the dressing room, went back out to the parking lot and got my .357 out of my glove box and put it in my back pocket. So I go out there, and I don't know what I'm going to do, because, you know, he had caused a riot in Montreal, I believe, by leaving and not coming back. Well, a few minutes later, the car comes back, and Axl gets out and talks to his manager - his name was Doug Goldstein; he was a glorified security guy; he use to do their security, and he took over their management. But how do you manage, manic depressive heroin addicts? That's a pretty good trick. I don't know how you do that.

So he [Axl] comes and talks to his manager and goes right up on the stage and gets back into it. So I put three of my, what do you want to call 'em, security, goons, thugs -- the toughest ones I have - at the top of the stairs and three Denver cops at the bottom. My instructions are: "The only way he gets out, if he leaves again, is that way," and I point to the crowd. Doug Goldstein says, "Barry, you can't do that. Axl will get so pissed." I said, "I don't give a fuck about him, and I don't give the same about you. I care about them," and I pointed to the people.

So that, basically, is what happened. But Lars tends to tell a different story, and Lars has far more credibility out in the industry than I have. He swears I put the gun up to Axl's temple and said, "Get on that fucking stage or you're going to die." It [his .357] never left my pocket. But every time he sees me today, he says, "Barry, are you packing today?" So that was that story.

Of course, that also was Slash's bachelor party that night. It was downtown at the Embassy Suites, which is no longer there. They were handing out little tickets - a blue ticket, like if you wanted a blow job, a yellow ticket if you wanted to get laid, a red ticket if you wanted to do both. It was a crazy night. And it turns out, I found out later, the reason Axl left was because he had a fight with Slash on the stage. But you know, I didn't really care. I just... I wasn't going to let him get away with that.

And Lars says to me, "Don't tell me you wouldn't have shot him." I said, 'Oh if he's not going to go on, he's going to get shot." But it didn't have to happen. So that's a great story, but it's true. That's the way it is. If you hang up with me and call Lars, he'll tell you the story, "Yeah, Barry put this fucking gun to his head." Didn't happen.

http://www.westword.com/music/barry-fey-on-that-time-that-he-held-a-gun-to-axl-roses-head-and-how-the-business-has-changed-5693265

I don't know how credible the guy is though, because there are inaccuracies in his story (I don't think they were alternating closing, like he says).

 

 

 

 

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Funny story, but according to gnrontour axl indeed left after jungle. So it seems to be true.

 

Reciew from that show:

Quote

Getting onstage at 10 p.m., the band ripped into Welcome to the Jungle, while a mammoth, inflated crab-like monster (no, not Axl) rose in an empty area of the lower southwest stadium stands. Not a bad opener, but what followed for three more songs simply upped the anxiety level.

Rose skipped offstage, leaving the rest of the crew to play without a net. Bassist Duff McKagan took over temporary vocal duties for two obscure songs, one a ballad and another Ramones-flavored, quick-tempo number called Attitude. The remaining band members then worked out a slow blues instrumental. Still, no Axl.

http://gnrontour.com/sets1992/19920919reviews.html

Edited by xBrownstonex
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8 hours ago, Blackstar said:

Yes, Slash and Duff are friends with everyone now. I'm not sure about back then. It seems that Slash looked up to Hetfield but I don't know if it was reciprocal (I doubt it).

Also this story (probably most people here have heard of it) from the promoter Barry Fey:

And then there's the one about how he supposedly held a gun to Axl Rose's head when the Guns N' Roses frontman mysteriously disappeared from a gig at Mile High Stadium that Barry had booked with Guns and Metallica (spoiler alert: didn't happen, even if Lars Ulrich remembers it differently).

....

So what's your favorite story?

I guess my favorite story... oh, God, that's hard. Dave, that's really hard -- and I'm not being cool - but the one I had most fun with is debunking the story that's not true.

What's that?

The Axl Rose story, as told by Lars Ulrich. You've heard about that one, right? That story is, I guess, the most famous of the stories. We had Guns and Metallica at Mile High. And there was 48-49,000 people there. It was a big tour, and they alternated closing. One night, one band would close, and the other night the other one.

This one, Metallica opened, and... the whole story's in the book, but I'll tell you... Metallica opened, and I went out - it was a great set - I went backstage for the opening number of Guns. I went out, and they played "Welcome to the Jungle." I'm walking out - I'm going to give you the language, and you clean it up however you want; I'm just telling you how it happened - I'm walking backstage, and this guy comes running out and says, "Barry, Axl just left."

I said, "'The fuck are you talking about, 'Axl left'?" So I ran backstage, and I found out that he had come down off the stage, got into the limousine and left the site. So I said to... I went up to - his name was Big John; he was the guy who ran the limo company - and I said, 'You don't work for him; you work for me.' I said, 'You ever want to see another fucking dime of this company's money, you get that car back here.' And he said, "What?" I said, "Yeah. The only way he gets out of that car is if he jumps out. And if he jumps out, you leave him in the street. But you get that car back here."

So he gets on his little telephone. People are getting a little pissed by this time. Guns is up there just jamming, right? They played "Welcome to the Jungle," and then they didn't do anything; they were just jamming, and people were getting a little pissed off. In fact, I found out that they were taking their Guns N' Roses T-shirts back to the concession stand and throwing them at them and saying, "Give me a Metallica shirt."

So I went into the Guns and Metallica dressing room. So Guns sends down an emissary -- and this I know for sure because I was standing there within three feet - and he tells Lars, "Would you guys consider coming back up and jamming with us, because the crowd's going to get out of line?" So Lars tells him, word for word, "You bozos don't have enough money in your collective bank accounts for me to get back on that stage."

So at that point, I left the dressing room, went back out to the parking lot and got my .357 out of my glove box and put it in my back pocket. So I go out there, and I don't know what I'm going to do, because, you know, he had caused a riot in Montreal, I believe, by leaving and not coming back. Well, a few minutes later, the car comes back, and Axl gets out and talks to his manager - his name was Doug Goldstein; he was a glorified security guy; he use to do their security, and he took over their management. But how do you manage, manic depressive heroin addicts? That's a pretty good trick. I don't know how you do that.

So he [Axl] comes and talks to his manager and goes right up on the stage and gets back into it. So I put three of my, what do you want to call 'em, security, goons, thugs -- the toughest ones I have - at the top of the stairs and three Denver cops at the bottom. My instructions are: "The only way he gets out, if he leaves again, is that way," and I point to the crowd. Doug Goldstein says, "Barry, you can't do that. Axl will get so pissed." I said, "I don't give a fuck about him, and I don't give the same about you. I care about them," and I pointed to the people.

So that, basically, is what happened. But Lars tends to tell a different story, and Lars has far more credibility out in the industry than I have. He swears I put the gun up to Axl's temple and said, "Get on that fucking stage or you're going to die." It [his .357] never left my pocket. But every time he sees me today, he says, "Barry, are you packing today?" So that was that story.

Of course, that also was Slash's bachelor party that night. It was downtown at the Embassy Suites, which is no longer there. They were handing out little tickets - a blue ticket, like if you wanted a blow job, a yellow ticket if you wanted to get laid, a red ticket if you wanted to do both. It was a crazy night. And it turns out, I found out later, the reason Axl left was because he had a fight with Slash on the stage. But you know, I didn't really care. I just... I wasn't going to let him get away with that.

And Lars says to me, "Don't tell me you wouldn't have shot him." I said, 'Oh if he's not going to go on, he's going to get shot." But it didn't have to happen. So that's a great story, but it's true. That's the way it is. If you hang up with me and call Lars, he'll tell you the story, "Yeah, Barry put this fucking gun to his head." Didn't happen.

http://www.westword.com/music/barry-fey-on-that-time-that-he-held-a-gun-to-axl-roses-head-and-how-the-business-has-changed-5693265

I don't know how credible the guy is though, because there are inaccuracies in his story (I don't think they were alternating closing, like he says).

 

 

 

 

No, metallica never played after gnr.  They like.it or not GNR was the main act on that tour.

Of course most bands didnt like gnr back then.  THEY WERE THE REAL THING AND THE UNDISPUTABLE NUMBER 1 BAND.

 

Jo newstwed.. U can talk as much as u want. The thing is u had to name a really huge important thing (gnr) to get others interested in what u say. Otherwise u're pretty close to the "Mr nobody" zone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

S.O.S    Venezuela

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2 minutes ago, SEPTEM said:

No, metallica never played after gnr.  They like.it or not GNR was the main act on that tour.

Of course most bands didnt like gnr back then.  THEY WERE THE REAL THING AND THE UNDISPUTABLE NUMBER 1 BAND.

 

Jo newstwed.. U can talk as much as u want. The thing is u had to name a really huge important thing (gnr) to get others interested in what u say. Otherwise u're pretty close to the "Mr nobody" zone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

S.O.S    Venezuela

Septem, are you from Venezuala? If so, I hope you are safe!

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2 hours ago, ZoSoRose said:

Septem, are you from Venezuala? If so, I hope you are safe!

Yep man.. Thanks..  Things are undescribeble hard here.

Goberment is killing people (specially teenagers) every day since about 50 days a go ( we have 67 deaths so far and counting)

Yesterday they broke in to a building close to where i live and just took people away to "military jails", broke a part every single car on their way and killed 2 guys.

And there s. so much more i can tell u.  This is literally a living hell.

Im sorry to bring up all of this.  I apologyze to everybody for writing this, now more than ever GNR is my little window to smile and enjoy.  

 

Thanks for asking man. 

 

 

 

 

 

S.O.S       Venezuela

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On 5/24/2017 at 10:06 AM, AlexC said:

But it's just funny that he's still bitter after 25 years. He left the biggest gig you could get and now he's playing clubs, that's why he's bitter. Meanwhile GN'R is earning a fuckload which was also obviously what he was asked about in the first place, their current tour. 

If any other member of Metallica left, they'd be playing clubs too. GNR was getting close to that until Slash came back

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