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Unpopular opinion: NuGNR were better than this "reunion" of half measures.


Towelie

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Let's be honest, Axl Rose has single handedly ruined Guns N Roses. With anyone else at the healm, Slash, Duff, Izzy and Steven/Matt could've gone on to make multiple albums, and functioned like any other normal band, who release a record, tour it and then repeat the cycle. 

It is because of Axl Rose and his obvious mental health issues that this never happened for Guns. 

For anyone who is a lover of new music, things have never been worse than they are right now for this band. Admittedly, things were far from perfect with NuGNR, but at least they never purported to be the same band as the original lineup.

When Ron, Tommy and Pitman were still in the band, the CD songs at least had some links to the band who wrote and played on the album. I understand that these guys had nothing to do with the original legendary GNR material, but then you could argue that the current lineup had about as much to do with the creation of songs like Don't Cry, Double Talkin Jive, Out Ta Get Me and Patience as Ron Thal and Tommy Stinson did. It all boils down to the simple fact that a GNR reunion played out with class and integrity is simply not possible without Izzy Stradlin on board. 

What we have now is three guys coasting off the legacy instead of just one, and three random people filling in for the other two who should be there. 

What's worse is, they are marketing this as a reunion, when it is anything but. For some reason, seeing a hyperactive blue haired EDM chic sharing the same stage as Slash, whilst bouncing up and down to Welcome To The Jungle like Tigger on a Pogo stick feels even more disingenuous than anything NuGNR did. At least NuGuns never purported to be the original band and never marketed themselves as such.

What's perhaps the most disillusioning of all, is seeing Slash and Duff now happy to sell this as Guns N Roses. I remember Velvet Revolver dressing up as NuGNR once for a Halloween show and it said it all. Now they have become part of the facade and it's kind of sad to witness.

Edited by Towelie
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I think the up side is that Fortus, Frank, Dizzy kind of gave it some continuity. So they still play CD songs. If it was a straight AFD reunion the set and show would be different. It's strong line up but the shows aren't a complete nostalgia fest. I still see it as a band with a possible future. 

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When I read the post topic I was like "oh here we go"! Then I read the first paragraph and thought this is ludicrous, but I kept with it and the OP makes SOME relevant points, albeit nothing really new. 

Im not really into Melissa, I still for the life of me can't figure out how Axl thought bringing Her in was a good idea. the majority think frank is sub par (as do I) and that leaves Richard who's done a very good job but isn't izzy. To me, these issues could have been fixed for the fans if Axl wanted to fix them. 

on the flip side, this band has been tight, for the most part. I've enjoyed following the tour, I have spent money on tickets, on merch, on travelling to the gig and time online etc and since all this started I've actually enjoyed how active this band has been as opposed to 2015 where it was quiet and we got nothing. 

Im not jumping off the walls because I know it could be soooo much better if they tweaked some things to give the fans a better experience outside of the gigs but I've made my peace with the fact that it won't happen. 

my point is, I can see both sides of the fence in terms of the criticisms of the band and the tour, and people who are still loving it, I seriously can see both sides of the argument but I'm not letting it get to me now. 

 

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NuGNR started off as an interesting concept. That ended when Buckethead and Robin Finck left. Ashba was literally a poor man's Slash, he turned the whole thing into a tribute act.

Despite the lack of new music, this tour has been a substantial upgrade over the previous one.

And Axl, Slash and Duff had a lot do with making Izzy's songs what they were. Not that I don't wish they were still doing that now for the benefit of all parties concerned.

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my only real concern in this reunion is that Axl may have heaps of new gnr material he wants to put out while duff and slash want to start fresh.... it's anyone's guess what will happen but I'd guarantee that slash and duff want an album that will live up to the legacy

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I understand all kind of points of views, this one included. Personally I liked the so called Nugnr and I like this lineup too. But in the end, the lineup that releases the best music is the best lineup, so the old lineup is the best of course. Nugnr is the next best, cause this lineup hasn't released anything yet. But this version of GNR has only just started and has incredible amount of potential, so I'm not gonna complain.

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2 hours ago, Towelie said:

Let's be honest, Axl Rose has single handedly ruined Guns N Roses. With anyone else at the healm, Slash, Duff, Izzy and Steven/Matt could've gone on to make multiple albums, and functioned like any other normal band, who release a record, tour it and then repeat the cycle. 

It is because of Axl Rose and his obvious mental health issues that this never happened for Guns. 

For anyone who is a lover of new music, things have never been worse than they are right now for this band. Admittedly, things were far from perfect with NuGNR, but at least they never purported to be the same band as the original lineup.

When Ron, Tommy and Pitman were still in the band, the CD songs at least had some links to the band who wrote and played on the album. I understand that these guys had nothing to do with the original legendary GNR material, but then you could argue that the current lineup had about as much to do with the creation of songs like Don't Cry, Double Talkin Jive, Out Ta Get Me and Patience as Ron Thal and Tommy Stinson did. It all boils down to the simple fact that a GNR reunion played out with class and integrity is simply not possible without Izzy Stradlin on board. 

What we have now is three guys coasting off the legacy instead of just one, and three random people filling in for the other two who should be there. 

What's worse is, they are marketing this as a reunion, when it is anything but. For some reason, seeing a hyperactive blue haired EDM chic sharing the same stage as Slash, whilst bouncing up and down to Welcome To The Jungle like Tigger on a Pogo stick feels even more disingenuous than anything NuGNR did. At least NuGuns never purported to be the original band and never marketed themselves as such.

What's perhaps the most disillusioning of all, is seeing Slash and Duff now happy to sell this as Guns N Roses. I remember Velvet Revolver dressing up as NuGNR once for a Halloween show and it said it all. Now they have become part of the facade and it's kind of sad to witness.

That s your opinion. I don t think nu gnr were better than axl slash & duff!!! 

The only reason I followed nugnr was axl. The only reason why I went to see SMKC was Slash and so on. It s all about the original guys and even when I grew up there was only the big 3 plus Matt :vomit:and Gilby :sleeper:

So we have the same situation now as in the 90 s. Big 3 plus others. Therefore they are entitled to call it reunion in my eyes. Of course I would jump around like crazy if they got steven and izzy back bit as long as this doesnt happen I am fine with this reunion. Dont need nu gnr or an album of nu gnr =cd 2.

 

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2 hours ago, Towelie said:

Let's be honest, Axl Rose has single handedly ruined Guns N Roses. With anyone else at the healm, Slash, Duff, Izzy and Steven/Matt could've gone on to make multiple albums, and functioned like any other normal band, who release a record, tour it and then repeat the cycle. 

It is because of Axl Rose and his obvious mental health issues that this never happened for Guns. 

For anyone who is a lover of new music, things have never been worse than they are right now for this band. Admittedly, things were far from perfect with NuGNR, but at least they never purported to be the same band as the original lineup.

When Ron, Tommy and Pitman were still in the band, the CD songs at least had some links to the band who wrote and played on the album. I understand that these guys had nothing to do with the original legendary GNR material, but then you could argue that the current lineup had about as much to do with the creation of songs like Don't Cry, Double Talkin Jive, Out Ta Get Me and Patience as Ron Thal and Tommy Stinson did. It all boils down to the simple fact that a GNR reunion played out with class and integrity is simply not possible without Izzy Stradlin on board. 

What we have now is three guys coasting off the legacy instead of just one, and three random people filling in for the other two who should be there. 

What's worse is, they are marketing this as a reunion, when it is anything but. For some reason, seeing a hyperactive blue haired EDM chic sharing the same stage as Slash, whilst bouncing up and down to Welcome To The Jungle like Tigger on a Pogo stick feels even more disingenuous than anything NuGNR did. At least NuGuns never purported to be the original band and never marketed themselves as such.

What's perhaps the most disillusioning of all, is seeing Slash and Duff now happy to sell this as Guns N Roses. I remember Velvet Revolver dressing up as NuGNR once for a Halloween show and it said it all. Now they have become part of the facade and it's kind of sad to witness.

Axl didn t ruin gnr at all. Let s see: steven was a drug addict , slash was even dead for some minutes, duff s organ exploded and izzy sold drugs before gnr became famous... so who is to blame ? 

All of them are responsible for the enormous success and the stupid things that followed... 

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3 hours ago, xBrownstonex said:

Bla

Yeah, that! To the OP, shut up and leave, if it bothers you that much. FakeGNR and this is not even at the slightest compareable. For 2 decades it was absolutely impossible of Slash and Axl ever sharing a stage again... remember "Cancer" "Avoided" "Removed" "The less heard of him, the better" "One of us will die before there is a reunion" "The only way we would get together would be by ambush and that wouldn't be pretty". Now they are back on stage together, playin stadiums around the world with a hype and prestige last seen over 20 years ago and motherfuckers are still complaining. Yes, it is not the dream reunion (AFD) everybody wanted, but still miles better than any FakeGNR or whatever could have been expected.

Edited by PatrickS77
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2 hours ago, megaguns1982 said:

Axl + slash = GNR to the general public.    Even if duff wasn't there they would have sold out stadiums.

Exactly. Most people were waiting for Axl and Slash to reunite. The others don't matter much.

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Axl, Slash,Duff vs. Axl, Bumblefoot, Dj Ashba. I'll Axl, Slash, Duff.

As someone who thought I would never see one of my favorite singers and one of my favorite guitarist on stage together playing my favorite songs, I love it.

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As great as it is seeing Axl/Slash and Duff up there together the parallels to NuGnR are what is keeping this whole thing from being as good as it could have been... No, NuGnR wasn't better than what we have now.

That said, there are some valid posts in the OP..   They have gotten better but this isn't a very tight band musically... It feels forced and glued together at times with no natural chemistry between some of the people up on stage.. 

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19 minutes ago, Intercourse said:

Its still Axl's band, Duff and Slash are where Axl wanted them to be, tier 1 employees of him.

They are so long out of GNR that I doubt they care about the legacy anymore, there is word that Slash tried to get all the originals involved but it didn't happen.

Without the original line up, this is a very tasty and happy gig for Slash and Duff but I very much doubt they see it as "their" Guns N Roses and so are not working for it like the used to. 

Hence the lack of crowd interaction, articles, photo shoots and TV appearances that normal bands do - this is not a band in the old fashioned sense, its a bunch of seasoned professionals delivering music made by the ghosts of a few of their young selves for a massive payday and some sentimental love.

They will never be the genuine band again and that seems to be just fine to the three main characters and I guess it has to be for us too.

Agree with all of this

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Nu-Gnr became a joke when robin left (and to a lesser degree, when brain left). The addition of dj ashba literally made me lol and I lost interest, although I did see them once with him in the lineup. Dj ashba is a walking, talking gimmick. That ridiculous hat (that he only wore during GNR performances), and that stupid hulk hogan hand to ear listening gesture during the opening licks of wttj were obnoxious and atrocious.

That being said, the original nu gnr with robin, bucket, and brain was so interesting and had so much potential, axl had the chance to completely reform one of the most successful bands of all time and ACTUALLY PULL IT OFF, and failed time and time again to capitalize... only to have members gradually leave out of frustration to be replaced by last talented, less interesting members, and then finally, blow the whole thing up just to have duff and slash return for a tour. 

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4 hours ago, Towelie said:

Let's be honest, Axl Rose has single handedly ruined Guns N Roses. With anyone else at the healm, Slash, Duff, Izzy and Steven/Matt could've gone on to make multiple albums, and functioned like any other normal band, who release a record, tour it and then repeat the cycle. 

It is because of Axl Rose and his obvious mental health issues that this never happened for Guns. 

For anyone who is a lover of new music, things have never been worse than they are right now for this band. Admittedly, things were far from perfect with NuGNR, but at least they never purported to be the same band as the original lineup.

When Ron, Tommy and Pitman were still in the band, the CD songs at least had some links to the band who wrote and played on the album. I understand that these guys had nothing to do with the original legendary GNR material, but then you could argue that the current lineup had about as much to do with the creation of songs like Don't Cry, Double Talkin Jive, Out Ta Get Me and Patience as Ron Thal and Tommy Stinson did. It all boils down to the simple fact that a GNR reunion played out with class and integrity is simply not possible without Izzy Stradlin on board. 

What we have now is three guys coasting off the legacy instead of just one, and three random people filling in for the other two who should be there. 

What's worse is, they are marketing this as a reunion, when it is anything but. For some reason, seeing a hyperactive blue haired EDM chic sharing the same stage as Slash, whilst bouncing up and down to Welcome To The Jungle like Tigger on a Pogo stick feels even more disingenuous than anything NuGNR did. At least NuGuns never purported to be the original band and never marketed themselves as such.

What's perhaps the most disillusioning of all, is seeing Slash and Duff now happy to sell this as Guns N Roses. I remember Velvet Revolver dressing up as NuGNR once for a Halloween show and it said it all. Now they have become part of the facade and it's kind of sad to witness.

hahaha!  too much to drink when you posted this?  :-)  I will take the majority of the real band playing THEIR hits, then Axl and the cover band any day.  Just my opinion

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