GNR Women's discussion

[Lumikki]

5 hours ago, Frey said:

Should maybe be added to the "NOT [insert person here] post"  @Lumikki

Done. I added the fake graduation picture and also the picture of Axl holding a baby, because that one is commonly mislabeled as being Dylan (it's actually Lonn Friend's kid).

I should make a Tumblr post about this.

 

On 5.8.2016 at 9:27 PM, Lumikki said:

Omg, Andy All that visual fan fic you produce is hilarious Duff is the best lol

 

Not just the quality. Just look at the people. I don't think these pacifier chains were very common in the 60s (if they even existed) and neither were jeans jackets for babies or mothers wearing their babies in slings in Europe or the US. These are all pretty modern things (or modern again things).

It makes me irrationally angry to see all these fake pictures spread around   (Not directed at you by the way @_Mia_ but at the people who spread all that misinformation in the first place). I've seen that particular picture all over Tumblr and on Instagram too and it makes me wanna bash my head against a wall.

 

So for future reference:

NOT Axl's mom (and also not Axl):

 

Also NOT Axl's mom (it's a Chilean tourist guide):

 

NOT Axl's biological dad:

 

NOT Axl (it's DJ Ashba):

 

NOT Axl with Dylan (the baby is Lonn Friend's child):

 

NOT Izzy's wife (just some chick):

 

NOT Izzy (It's Richard Duagay):

 

NOT Frank Ferrer (added that one in just for you, ninja friend @Epson)

 

Did I miss anything?!

 

 

Edited August 14, 2016 by Lumikki

[Lumikki]

8 hours ago, MillionsOfSpiders said:

EDIT: I only just noticed there's someone inbetween Axl and that guy on the second pic. Lovely. 

Someone? It's our beloved friend Sasha being all over Axl

@Lanna Thank god for the guy's knee in the picture or I would be seeing even more of Sasha's naked ass than I'm already seeing. Why does she need to climb all over Axl in public with her ass and everything hanging out like that

 

6 hours ago, tiutso said:

He looked like such a dork, never would've suspected he'd be a rock star or whatever 

I think he was an adorable child and a dorky/awkward looking teenager that turned into an attractive man. Quite similar to Axl actually. And now they're both fat adorably chunky and suffer from hair loss. More proof they were made for each other, clearly. 

 

5 hours ago, tiutso said:

RE: Slash and family. Was this supposed to be a pic of three generations but he couldn't bring his actual son into the frame or something? 

 

According to Slash's dad, these pictures were taken for a magazine article about rock stars and their parents or something like that.

There's also this picture. I think it's really cute how they kinda re-created the old picture Slash is holding in the present day

 

On 13.8.2016 at 3:12 PM, nn18 said:

This was cute:

That picture Slash posted couple of days ago (lol)

From Lucy, Meegan's older daughter  

On 13.8.2016 at 3:24 PM, giuls said:

Sure, Slash, you don't  don't tell me he says it's art, oh my god 

@nn18 I love how you keep noticing little stuff like that on Instagram! This and the Ashba tattoo post were some of the most hilarious things I've seen in the GnR world recently

And @giuls I'm willing to bet that is exactly what he told her.    "I don't post porn on my Instagram, Lucy, it's art!" I can totally see that.

 

11 hours ago, MillionsOfSpiders said:

Didn't he say he took himself out of school because he wasn't learning anything. It was all too easy for him and boring. He said he took himself out of school and put himself through the school of Axl, learning about things he wanted to learn about. The school of Axl  I love that. According to his friends in Indiana, "Axl school" was painting and playing his piano LOL! 

Then there was the time he refused to have any legal representation when he got into trouble for the millionth time in Indiana. He decided to represent himself  he got chucked behind bars, but I love that too. 

Yeah, Axl school was painting and piano, but iirc he did claim he read books about whatever subjects interested him in the library as well. (Although that still doesn't really exclude porn mags )

The story about him representing himself in court is one of my favorite Axl stories ever. I can totally picture him as a bratty, smart-mouthed kid arguing his case. And hey, he did say he wanted to become a lawyer for a while, so

11 hours ago, stella said:

Axl's writing (in terms of letters or what he's written here) is very run-on and all over the place, yes. But there's still something about the way he speaks in interviews that makes me think he's smarter than the average bear. Many of the people who have interacted with him day to day - not just trying to make an assessment from a fan board - have said as much.

Duff is extremely intelligent AND smart and seems to have made wonderful decisions for himself, yes. Duff's a better prose writer, hands down with no questions. However, not all intelligent people come from the same mold, and Duff did not have to deal with the sheer amount of emotional and mental baggage that Axl seems to have. I would never underestimate panic attacks, but it's a bit different than being raised with a completely fucked-up and skewered world view from the get-go the way Axl seemed to have been. Mental health and emotional issues mess with people in all sorts of ways and affect them long-term.
 

That's a good point, yes. Even the most intelligent people can be affected by mental illnesses/emotional problems which cause them to make seemingly irrational/stupid/crazy decisions.

 

16 hours ago, Frey said:

I wouldn't be that shocked. Just look at all these religious fundamentalists who have all these adult children living at home, completely under their father's authority despite the fact that they're all technically of age. The Duggars that were mentioned earlier are a famous example of that.

In Axl's case, we know that he was kicked out of his house when he was 16, so most of the beatings probably stopped then (except if he maybe went back sometimes and managed to piss his father off on these occasions). But I'd say up until the point he was 16, he probably got to feel God's wrath (lovingly delivered by his step dad) pretty regularly. These patriarchal religious nuts tend to look at their children as literal children until they move out and become the heads of their own families.

Among other things, you can kind of tell his parents thought of him and treated him like a child even by the reason he was kicked out in the first place- his hair. I mean think about it, they kicked him out for refusing to cut his hair, which implies that they felt they had a say (or even the right to decide) what his hair should look like. Which would be alright with a small child maybe, but Axl wasn't a small child, he was 16, nearly an adult. At that age parents usually don't get to decide such things anymore. I would have been very amused if mom or dad had tried to tell me what to do with my hair at that age. When you're 16, you feel oh so grown up already (even if you aren't), you feel you're a man now, not a boy anymore, and you want to be treated as a man. Your parents refusing to let you have any control of your own (even over simple things like your own hair) and daddy regularly punching you in the face or whipping your ass with his belt as punishment for whatever sins you committed probably does a number on you at that age.

The thing about the hair is a good point, it does seem pretty infantilizing to tell a 16 year old how to look. I mean a lot of parents complain about their kids' clothing and style choices, but to make such a big issue out of it as to actually kick the child out of the house is insane (especially considering that his hair actually wasn't even very long at all according to Axl, just slightly over his ears or something). Shows that they wanted him to completely conform and obey to their rules and ideas.

Also was reminded of this quote by Izzy:

“For [Axl] the money wasn't as big a deal. But he had this power thing where he wanted complete control. And you can say, well, it goes back to your fucked up childhood where his dad used to smack him around, you know, and he had no control, so now he’s getting it back. But it’s like, it’s still cooky, you know? You don't have to have everybody signing stuff.” 

I mean yeah, that's only Dr. Izzy's very scientific opinion on Axl's issues, but who knows, he might have a point. Maybe a lot of these issues really do come from Axl being completely at the mercy of stepfather/parents and not getting do decide over anything in his life.

 

 

Edited August 14, 2016 by Lumikki

[killuridols]

Why is there a buddhist monk in a GN'R show? Is Axl back to believing "stuff"?

[Jane M.]

To me it looks like Richard is ready to go kung fu panda on the buddhist.

[SerenityScorp]

 

[Blackstar]

17 hours ago, Frey said:

Honestly, I'm probably biased because I can relate to Duff much more on a personal level than I can to Axl. But Duff comes across to me as someone who is level-headed, rational and makes wise decisons. Which is something I admire and none of which can be said for Axl. Obviously it's also impressive that Duff actually went back to school, has a degree, a wealth management company, great taste in books, somehow manages to have a loving family despite his rock star occupation, is thrifty and makes clever financial investments,... he just seems like a really balanced and well-rounded person in all areas of his life, who makes a lot of intelligent choices. The complete opposite of Axl basically.

And I'm also not really seeing Axl's intelligence in some of the areas claimed here in this thread. Some people mentioned linguistic and verbal intelligence, but I'm really not convinced. Axl might be a little above average in that regard compared to some random Joe on the street, but just look at the way he writes. It's usually a ranting, rambling, barely coherent mess and a grammatical nightmare. I get the impression some people are fooled into thinking he must be really clever by his endless run-on sentences and the big words he likes to use or something.

So again Duff wins in that department. Duff's writing is way better than Axl's and actually very enjoyable to read. It's insightful, engaging, witty, easy to follow (because he actually adheres to standards of proper writing and spelling) and every bit as articulate and eloquent as Axl's, if not more so. And judging by the few examples I've seen of Slash's writing, even Slash is better at it than Axl.

And yeah, Axl likes to talk, but the things that come out of his mouth have never struck me as any more intelligent/clever/insightful/articulate/eloquent etc. than the things Duff or Slash say (at least not since they got sober). Izzy can be quite clever too if he wants to. So with the exception of Steven (who really is just not the sharpest tool in the shed), I really don't see how Axl is any smarter than his band mates in that area either.

In the old interviews Axl definitely seemed to be the most intelligent of all. He wasn't intellectual (most rock musicians aren't anyway), but he expressed himself with ease and had interesting things to say about the songs, music in general and his life. Slash and Duff seemed less articulate, even shallow-minded (especially in the early interviews), probably because they were drunk most of the time. Axl has had lack of common sense, which is not unusual for an artist. He's the artistic type and doesn't have a business mind at all, although he tried to replicate the Mick Jagger model of a successful artist and businessman. This is one of the reasons he has been taken advantage of and people like Doug Goldstein became so important. Slash, on the other hand, and of course Duff, have been better and smarter at this. Slash, for example, was very active in the band's business, despite his drug problem.

The thing is that Slash and Duff, apart from getting sober, moved on with their lives personally and professionally, worked with many other musicians, Duff went to college, etc; they matured and evolved. Axl stack at the same place and had an emotional downfall, struggling to revive the band and do something worthy of its name, and being bitter about the past. Although we don't know everything about his social life and even if he hadn't been exactly a recluse, he doesn't seem to have interacted much with other musicians and artists, apart from the band and Baz; and most of his entourage consists of people who are not the type to have an intelligent conversation with. In general, the environment he has lived in all these years is not exactly inspiring. Moreover, situations like depression have a negative effect on a person's intellect.

We don't have samples of Axl's writing in the past (except for some short letters to Erin, I think) to compare to his later writings, but I think that there has been a change in the way he talks. I have the impression that in the few interviews he did during the last ten years his speech was less coherent. For example, the way he connected sentences and meanings or his bringing up stories out of the blue. It seems like he had some difficulty to communicate his thoughts and feelings, which is something he didn't have in the past. Maybe something similar happened with his writing. In the China Exchange interview though, and the one he did with AC/DC he was more laid back and sharp in his answers (although in the end of C.E. he told a short story out of nowhere ).

Quote

Same thing with his musical abilities. Doesn't really seem any more gifted there then Izzy, Slash or Duff to me.

Axl's musical horizon is broader and he can cross genres. A problem is that while he has original and brilliant ideas, he sometimes either doesn't complete them (because he doesn't have someone else to inspire/help him) or he overdoes it with them. As for the lyrics, it depends who he's compared to. He's not a poet like Leonard Cohen or Jim Morrison or Bob Dylan, he's not John Lennon or Roger Waters or Morrissey. Axl's main strength is authenticity and honesty. He makes lyrics directly out of what he sees and what he feels, something that is not as common and easy as it seems; it's a blues or punk quality. Of course all his lyrics are not of the same level and with the exception of Civil War (which is a good song) and some CD songs he hasn't written about other subjects than his own experiences. His best lyrics are those where he expressed his anger and frustration, while self-pitying is a bad muse. It's surprising that he hasn't written a song about his bad childhood memories although he has talked a lot about it.

Izzy has written some good lyrics, but no way he's equal or better than Axl overall imo.

11 hours ago, MillionsOfSpiders said:

Then there was the time he refused to have any legal representation when he got into trouble for the millionth time in Indiana. He decided to represent himself  he got chucked behind bars, but I love that too. 

Axl had said in early interviews that if he had not left school to be a musician, he would like to be a lawyer

EDIT: I just saw that @Lumikki mentioned it already.

Edited August 14, 2016 by Blackstar

[MillionsOfSpiders]

Well, if he has to have some sort of weird belief, then there are tons worse than Buddhism. 

[killuridols]

16 minutes ago, Lumikki said:

Someone? It's our beloved friend Sasha being all over Axl

@Lanna Thank god for the guy's knee in the picture or I would be seeing even more of Sasha's naked ass than I'm already seeing. Why does she need to climb all over Axl in public with her ass and everything hanging out like that

This is why Axl doesn't marry her

[killuridols]

7 minutes ago, MillionsOfSpiders said:

Well, if he has to have some sort of weird belief, then there are tons worse than Buddhism. 

I was kidding.... I forgot the smiley

I didn't mean to disrespect the religion or whatever Buddhism is... actually I like some stuff from it. But it called my attention this guy was there "blessing" the band members.

Sounds like something we've heard before, though before it was creepy and unhealthy

Makes sense with the whole "Chinese Democracy" thing. I'd really like to know if Axl has converted to Buddhism and if this is the reason for his change

Edited August 14, 2016 by killuridols
grrr i keep making grammar mistakes :(

[MillionsOfSpiders]

10 minutes ago, killuridols said:

I was kidding.... I forgot the smiley

I didn't mean to disrespect the religion or whatever Buddhism is... actually I like some stuff from it. But it called my attention that guy was there "blessing" the band members.

Sounds like something we've heard before, though before it was creepier and unhealthier

Makes sense with the whole "Chinese Democracy" thing. I'd really like to know if Axl has converted to Buddhism and if this is the reason for this change

It would actually make quite a bit of sense if that's what he's done. I honestly dont really know that much about it myself, I have a couple of friends who moved here from Asia and they are Buddhist, they're honestly the two nicest people I know.

From what I can tell they believe in karma a lot, so maybe Axl does have a My Name Is Earl Karma list after all 

It certainly beats hearing about vibe sniffers and the like, or worse...Scientology 

Edited August 14, 2016 by MillionsOfSpiders

[killuridols]

4 minutes ago, MillionsOfSpiders said:

It would actually make quite a bit of sense if that's what he's done. I honestly dont really know that much about it myself, I have a couple of friends who moved here from Asia and they are Buddhist, they're honestly the two nicest people I know.

From what I can tell they believe in karma a lot, so maybe Axl does have a My Name Is Earl Karma list after all 

It certainly beats hearing about vibe sniffers and the like, or worse...Scientology 

lol yeah, it's a big advance and change from the Yoda era, past lives and Erin killing his children

I hope all that shit is gone, really, and if Buddhism is the new thing for him I prefer this than all the other shit.

Been told is quite good, a nice philosophy of life and lots of artists are into it.

[Blackstar]

13 minutes ago, killuridols said:

Makes sense with the whole "Chinese Democracy" thing. I'd really like to know if Axl has converted to Buddhism and if this is the reason for his change

I don't know if it has to do with Chinese Democracy, because this story started years ago and Axl went to China around 2000-2001 I think, but yeah, Buddhism is much better than the new age crap.

[Andy14]

28 minutes ago, killuridols said:

This is why Axl doesn't marry her

I took me a while to see what you'd really written....I kept reading "This is why Axl doesn't marry ME" 

 

Btw. Slash's face says perfectly how I'd feel if Axl was standing close to me  

Edited August 14, 2016 by Andy14

[SerenityScorp]

Huh? You all talking about Axl into buddhism is great change than what He believe back then like past lives, but arent all about past lives N' reincarnation from buddhism  N' somethings tht He believe from the past is kinda like buddhism too 

Edited August 15, 2016 by SerenityScorp

[nn18]

47 minutes ago, Lumikki said:

 

@nn18 I love how you keep noticing little stuff like that on Instagram! This and the Ashba tattoo post were some of the most hilarious things I've seen in the GnR world recently

And @giuls I'm willing to bet that is exactly what he told her.    "I don't post porn on my Instagram, Lucy, it's art!" I can totally see that.

 

I have IG profile for about a year and a half and yet I've never posted any pic, but still I spend way too much time there lurking around, reading comments and stalking people. Looks like it pays off! 

 

[MillionsOfSpiders]

24 minutes ago, SerenityScorp said:

Huh? You all talking about Axl into buddhism is great than what He believe back then like past lives, but arent all about past lives N' reincarnation from buddhism 

Well, all religions kind of believe in the afterlife don't they? Thats what comes with the territory, doesn't it? You be a good person, you get to heaven/nirvana. Most religious people believe in rebirth. Believe in souls. You can't really have religion or spiritualism without that bit unfortunately. 

I'm not remotely religious, but I do believe we all have a soul. So where does that leave me? What's the scientific explanation for a soul? 

I seriously doubt Axl became a monk anyway, we all know he has too many naughty ways for that 

Sorry for rambling on, I should be asleep. 

[SerenityScorp]

1 minute ago, MillionsOfSpiders said:

Well, all religions kind of believe in the afterlife don't they? Thats what comes with the territory, doesn't it? You be a good person, you get to heaven/nirvana. Most religious people believe in rebirth. Believe in souls. You can't really have religion or spiritualism without that bit unfortunately. 

I'm not remotely religious, but I do believe we all have a soul. So where does that leave me? What's the scientific explanation for a soul? 

I seriously doubt Axl became a monk anyway, we all know he has too many naughty ways for that 

Sorry for rambling on, I should be asleep. 

But thts different from wht I mean, I mean about the past lives N' reincarnation, Afterlife N' reincarnation are different, not all religion believes in reincarnation, thts part of buddhism, Axl believe in reincarnation

[Andy14]

8 minutes ago, MillionsOfSpiders said:

Well, all religions kind of believe in the afterlife don't they? Thats what comes with the territory, doesn't it? You be a good person, you get to heaven/nirvana. Most religious people believe in rebirth. Believe in souls. You can't really have religion or spiritualism without that bit unfortunately. 

I'm not remotely religious, but I do believe we all have a soul. So where does that leave me? What's the scientific explanation for a soul? 

I seriously doubt Axl became a monk anyway, we all know he has too many naughty ways for that 

Sorry for rambling on, I should be asleep. 

Axl's school, Axl's religion, Axl's rules 

[Frey]

5 hours ago, killuridols said:

The things I highlighted in bold are those that made me raised my eyebrows while reading your response and those are the ones I want to address... So, FIRE!

j/k

Um... I understand what you mean about Duff being or apparently being a much more balanced and well-rounded person in life than Axl, but it looks like you're judging them from a very "conservative" point of view, for lack of a better word in my limited English vocabulary.

Duff looks more like the hero of his own life story because he overcame his addictions, got his health back, formed a family and is living the "american way of life". Duff perfectly fits the "american dream" of moving upwards in life, through hard work, getting your own house, car, a perfect looking wife and beautiful perfect looking children. In your eyes, you probably desire what Duff has for your own life and that's why you can relate more to him than to Axl.

But if you think about it, Axl has also achieved lots of things in his life similar to what Duff did. And to give more credit to Axl, let's don't forget where he's coming from, the environment where he was brought up and how much he had to fight to get out of the hole. Axl was condemned to be a delinquent person to end his days in jail. That's probably what his ignorant parents thought of him anyway, that's why they never supported him with being what he wanted to be. However, the kid shown them he wanted more than the boring suburban life in the mid-west of the United States and he found a way out of the hole by himself. He pursued his dream and never stopped until he got it.

So how is Axl less admirable than Duff? Just because he has not formed the perfect family the "American way of life" dictates? Because that's all he's lacking. The rest, he got it. He has money, fame, success, more than one property, cars and millions in the bank.

You say Duff made a lot of intelligent choices in his life. Yes, he did. When? After the health scare, because before that, he was a mess, even worse than Axl in the addictions department. Yes, it is admirable that he got cleaned and pushed the reset button. How do we know this? Because he's told his story in his books. If he had not told us what he went through, we wouldn't know and that's the difference. Axl has not talked about what happened in the last 20 years of his life. He still has not open up to the fans, the public, he has not written his memoirs and told us how he was able to fix his fallout with his bandmantes and until he does not tell his story, all we have is speculation. We can't say he has not done intelligent choices in his life. Yes, he did a lot of mistakes but it is from mistakes that you learn. If you were born knowning everything, then you'd be god or something. The more mistakes you make, the more learn (when you are open to learn).

We all can see something different in Axl now. We all have noticed a noticiable change on him. We still don't know what caused that change and we will be in the dark until he tells us but I think we should stop saying he's a mess because he's doing good right now. Maybe it took him longer than Duff and Slash to fix his own life. Well, why judge him because of that? We are all different, we all have our own internal clock and maybe when it seems it is the right time for others maybe it is not for yourself and viceversa.

As for the writting thing, again, you seem to be judging it from a conventional standard kind of perspective and you decide one is better than the other based on your own preferences. In my case, I do not think Duff is an exceptional writer or someone with outstanding writting abilites. He is pretty much average, he is okay as in yes, he adheres to proper standards of writting and spelling, but that doesn't make him stand out in any way.

I am a reader of Hemingway, Bukowski, Dostoievski, Kafka, Aldous Huxley Sylvia Plath, Virginia Woolf, etc. and I think that anyone who is into reading of fictional and non-fictional literature knows that Duff's writting is nothing out of this world. Axl's writtings are not in that level either but when Axl writes his "endless ramblings" he's showing us his personality through them and in that department, I think Axl is way more creative than Duff.

The fact that we can, or some of us can, detect an Axl's tweet or sentence without knowing he wrote it, it is a sign that his ways are not conventional. That he's got a particular style that people can quickly identify and that talks about his uniqueness. Just like his handwriting is so particular, you wouldn't mistake his handwriting for someone else's, would you? Or his deep raspy voice, right?

I can't say this has to do with being above average intelligent, super smart or whatever but I know Axl is a special person, an unique artist, with a style that cannot be ignored or overlooked.

 

I didn't mean to discredit Axl's achievements. I'm actually pretty impressed by what Axl has done with his life considering where he came from and how high the odds were stacked against him. And I swear I'm not holding Axl's lack of a family or anything against him. What I was talking about was more along the lines of him constantly doing really dumb shit (though that's admittedly gotten a lot better and we haven't heard anything like that recently).

Stuff like renting a luxury apartment in NY for years and never even setting foot in it (that's flushing your money down the toilet. Even if you got as much of it as he does, it's still a dumb (or at best disorganized) thing to do). Stuff like being late for or cancelling concerts for ridiculous reasons, despite knowing all the trouble he's going to get out of doing that. Wasting his time filing pointless lawsuits and fighting ridiculous legal battles. Throwing pianos out of windows or destroying cars. Taking an eternity and wasting 15 mil to record an album. Getting drunk despite knowing it will make him more likely to pull crazy stunts like biting security guards. Hiring and paying people for ridiculous tasks. Having really bad judgement when it comes to the character of the people he surrounds himself with. And I could go on. And on...

As for Duff's writing, I never compared him to the likes of Hemingway, Kafka etc. To do so would be ridiculous. But Duff is a decent writer and he is a downright exceptional writer for a rock musician. Axl's writing is not even exceptional for any random person, except for the fact that it is indeed rather easily recognizable due to how convoluted it is. You may call that unique, yes, but I don't think it's a sign of intelligence.

13 hours ago, stella said:

Axl's writing (in terms of letters or what he's written here) is very run-on and all over the place, yes. But there's still something about the way he speaks in interviews that makes me think he's smarter than the average bear. Many of the people who have interacted with him day to day - not just trying to make an assessment from a fan board - have said as much.

Duff is extremely intelligent AND smart and seems to have made wonderful decisions for himself, yes. Duff's a better prose writer, hands down with no questions. However, not all intelligent people come from the same mold, and Duff did not have to deal with the sheer amount of emotional and mental baggage that Axl seems to have. I would never underestimate panic attacks, but it's a bit different than being raised with a completely fucked-up and skewered world view from the get-go the way Axl seemed to have been. Mental health and emotional issues mess with people in all sorts of ways and affect them long-term.

Yes, I'll admit Axl's mental health is probably to blame to a certain extent for the less than clever decisions he makes.

1 hour ago, Blackstar said:

In the old interviews Axl definitely seemed to be the most intelligent of all. He wasn't intellectual (most rock musicians aren't anyway), but he expressed himself with ease and had interesting things to say about the songs, music in general and his life. Slash and Duff seemed less articulate, even shallow-minded (especially in the early interviews), probably because they were drunk most of the time. Axl has had lack of common sense, which is not unusual for an artist. He's the artistic type and doesn't have a business mind at all, although he tried to replicate the Mick Jagger model of a successful artist and businessman. This is one of the reasons he has been taken advantage of and people like Doug Goldstein became so important. Slash, on the other hand, and of course Duff, have been better and smarter at this. Slash, for example, was very active in the band's business, despite his drug problem.

The thing is that Slash and Duff, apart from getting sober, moved on with their lives personally and professionally, worked with many other musicians, Duff went to college, etc; they matured and evolved. Axl stack at the same place and had an emotional downfall, struggling to revive the band and do something worthy of its name, and being bitter about the past. Although we don't know everything about his social life and even if he hadn't been exactly a recluse, he doesn't seem to have interacted much with other musicians and artists, apart from the band and Baz; and most of his entourage is consisted of people who are not the type to have an intelligent conversation with. In general, the environment he has lived in all these years is not exactly inspiring. Moreover, situations like depression have a negative effect on a person's intellect.

We don't have samples of Axl's writing in the past (except for some short letters to Erin, I think) to compare to his later writings, but I think that there has been a change in the way he talks. I have the impression that in the few interviews he did during the last ten years his speech was less coherent. For example, the way he connected sentences and meanings or his bringing up stories out of the blue. It seems like he had some difficulty to communicate his thoughts and feelings, which is something he didn't have in the past. Maybe something similar happened with his writing. In the China Exchange interview though, and the one he did with AC/DC he was more laid back and sharp in his answers (although in the end of C.E. he told a short story out of nowhere ).

Axl's musical horizon is broader and he can cross genres. A problem is that while he has original and brilliant ideas, he sometimes either doesn't complete them (because he doesn't have someone else to inspire/help him) or he overdoes it with them. As for the lyrics, it depends who he's compared to. He's not a poet like Leonard Cohen or Jim Morrison or Bob Dylan, he's not John Lennon or Roger Waters or Morrissey. Axl's main strength is authenticity and honesty. He makes lyrics directly out of what he sees and what he feels, something that is not as common and easy as it seems; it's a blues or punk quality. Of course all his lyrics are not of the same level and with the exception of Civil War (which is a good song) and some CD songs he hasn't written about other subjects than his own experiences. His best lyrics are those where he expressed his anger and frustration, while self-pitying is a bad muse. It's surprising that he hasn't written a song about his bad childhood memories although he has talked a lot about it.

Izzy has written some good lyrics, but no way he's equal or better than Axl overall imo.

Axl had said in early interviews that if he had not left school to be a musician, he would like to be a lawyer

EDIT: I just saw that @Lumikki mentioned it.

Yes, in old interviews Axl usually does tend to come across as the most articulate and intelligent one. But how is that a fair comparison when he was also the only clean one? Not to mention also a few years older than Duff and Slash for example. Who knows what Duff and Slash would have sounded like if they had been both clean and the same age as Axl. Also I have to say that Slash at least manages to be quite articulate and intelligent even in a lot of old interviews, especially for guy high on god knows what. And yes, I know, Slash and Duff are both very business savy which is another point in favor of their intelligence as opposed to Axl's. I'm not really buying the "Axl's just a typical artist with no sense for business" thing. Everyone can learn and adhere to a few basic ground rules, and some of the shit Axl has pulled is just insane, even for someone who doesn't have much of a business mind.

Agree with you about Axl being stuck in the past and not moving forward with his life, being surrounded by dumb people etc.

I didn't mean to say Izzy is a better lyricist than Axl (he's written some spectacularly weak lyrics recently), I was talking about them as musicians as a whole. And I don't think that Izzy is less talented than Axl in that regard (and neither is Slash imo). Izzy is a good song writer. He just has a different style than Axl, but I've always loved what he brings to the table for the most part. If we're talking solely about lyrics, than yes, Axl's are probably the best (usually at least...) out of all the guys in the band. But like you yourself said, that doesn't really mean a whole lot when compared to people who are actually great lyricists. I agree that what saves Axl's lyrics is their authenticity and honesty.

Also, isn't Oh My God about his childhood experiences? Despite Axl's official statement about the song, I have it in the back of my head as relating at least in part to his childhood/family. Did he say anything like that in the chats or something?

Btw, the official statement about Oh My God is a great example of Axl's typical brand of pseudo-intellectual babbling. Though still more coherent than other stuff he's written.

"The chorus deals with the societal repression of deep and often agonizing emotions -- some of which may be willingly accepted for one reason or another -- the appropriate expression of which (one that promotes a healing, release and a positive resolve) is often discouraged and many times denied. Emotionally the song contemplates several abstract perspectives drawing from personal expression as well as from the film and its metaphors. The appropriate expression and vehicle for such emotions and concepts is not something taken for granted.[2]

The fight of good vs. evil, positive vs. negative, man against a seemingly undefeatable, undeterrable, unrevealed destiny, along with the personal and universal struggle to attain, maintain and responsibly manage freewill can be and often is frustrating to say the least. In America our country's constitutional right to freedom of expression gives us a better chance to fight for that expression than many in other countries enjoy. It can be a big gig, like kickin' the crap outta the devil!"

 

@SerenityScorp There's a difference between believing in the possibility of reincarnation like many buddhists and non-buddhists do and charlatans telling you all kinds of ridiculous crap they think you might like under hypnosis. Come on, they told him he was Napoleon in a past life and the guy who nailed Jesus to the cross. And that he was the reincarnation of the Led Zep drummer or something. And that Erin and Steph had killed his children in a past life, giving him a convenient excuse as to why he was treating them badly now. That's got nothing to do with accepting that reincarnation might exist, that's just plain bullshit.

 

Edited August 15, 2016 by Frey

[MillionsOfSpiders]

15 minutes ago, SerenityScorp said:

But thts different from wht I mean, I mean about the past lives N' reincarnation, Afterlife N' reincarnation are different, not all religion believes in reincarnation, thts part of buddhism, Axl believe in reincarnation

Yes, maybe. But don't they believe the ultimate goal is to get to heaven by living life as peacefully as possible? I can't really see any relation to those things Axl says in his 90s interviews with RS and this religion. That's what I'm trying to say, if he has to have some form of belief we deem weird, then that one wouldn't be as alarming as other things he's mentioned. 

Edited August 15, 2016 by MillionsOfSpiders

[SerenityScorp]

@Frey True but tht doesnt mean He didnt believe in reincarnation. If He didnt believe tht He will deny N' call it bullshit or something. It could be because He believes tht all those fake like Yoda use tht to make Axl believe in Them

Edited August 15, 2016 by SerenityScorp

[MillionsOfSpiders]

13 minutes ago, Andy14 said:

Axl's school, Axl's religion, Axl's rules 

Yes. The church Of Axl Rose 

Stripper poles down the aisles and the font will be filled with Stella. 

[Frey]

2 minutes ago, SerenityScorp said:

@Frey True but tht doesnt mean He didnt believe in reincarnation. If He didnt believe tht He will deny N' call it bullshit or something

No one has a problem with Axl believing in reincarnation in general, I think. Even I myself think reincarnation is a thing that is possible at least. People only have a problem with Axl being told and believing insane bullshit stories and stuff like that.

[SerenityScorp]

Just now, MillionsOfSpiders said:

Yes. The church Of Axl Rose 

Stripper poles down the aisles and the font will be filled with Stella. 

 

[SerenityScorp]

2 minutes ago, Frey said:

No one has a problem with Axl believing in reincarnation in general, I think. Even I myself think reincarnation is a thing that is possible at least. People only have a problem with Axl being told and believing insane bullshit stories and stuff like that.

Out of likes

 

 

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