"By the time we got to the chorus, Izzy was just flying out of the sofa like a Nasa rocket pumping his fist in the air" = NEW ALAN NIVEN AUG/SEP 2017 INTERVIEW On the 30 years of Appetite

[ludurigan]

alan niven interview to mitch lafon

it starts at 14:40

no need to say it is a mandatory listen!

https://www.podcastone.com/episode/Guns-N-Roses-and-Quiet-Riot

 

some topics/quotes (no exact words):

 

TIME

It's mildly shocking to me that I send congratulations to "Curly", to Slash, for his 52th birthday. When I first laid eyes on him he was 19. Where did time go?

 

WHY APPETITE REMAINS RELEVANT

A number of factors. One factor is the lack of a truly great rock n roll band since 1990. The grunge didnt bring an awful lot of joy, it seemed to be soaked in misery from my limited sense of perspective

Another factor is that it is a genuinely good rock n roll record. It had an authencity to it and it had a vitality to it.

 

FIRST CONTACT WITH THE BAND

There was a very punkish energy there (on the demos). There were some really good songs there. But for me it was the personalities that got me in, more than the demos. It was the charactheristics of Slash and Izzy and Axl.

 

HIS FAMOUS QUOTE ABOUT IZZY BEING "THE HEART AND SOUL OF THE BAND"

"Hold on. I've never said that. What I always say is "heart of the soul". Not "heart and soul". It's an important distinction to me. But he is the heart of the soul of the band"

 

WHAT IZZY BROUGHT TO GNR

"[He brought] the simplicity. If Guns N' Roses were cool, then Izzy was the freon.

"And what I loved about him is that he had an insouciant that had formed the syncopation of his rhythm playing.

"His lyric writing was unimpeachable. And for me, as a rock 'n' roller, he was entirely authentic."

 

THE EARLY MIX OF MR BROWNSTONE

"We did a real quick mix of Brownstone in about four hours. (...) I just called (the band in Tom's office) and said 'i think you better come down here' and just put the phone down to kinda leave them in suspense. Actually only Izzy came down. He was the only one who had the nerve to come down at that point. We played back the mix (of Mr. Brownstone) and by the time we got to the chorus, Izzy was just flying out of the sofa behind us, like a Nasa rocket pumping his fist in the air"

 

MIXING OF THE ALBUM

(no time to transcribe)

 

ABOUT HOW THE APPETITE RECORDING CAPTURED THE "LIVE FEEL"

"Keep it as vital as possible and not get bogged on overdubs"

(there is more on that subject specially trying to keep the rhythm tracks that had a good vitality)

 

ON STEVEN ADLER

"Steven is not necessarily the most proficient and technical drummer in the world. The thing about Steven is that he brought an ebullience and a sense of joy that quite honestly hasnt been matched since. And he could play with a swing"

 

 

ABOUT KEEPING NOVEMBER RAIN, DONT CRY, RECKLESS LIFE AND YOU COULD BE MINE OUT OF THE ALBUM

"For me Reckless Life is pretty much a pre-Appetite song, a punk song. I had no problem with Reckless Life (being out of the album)"

"It would be very smart to hold on for two or three songs for the sophomore record" (he goes on a long explanation about the "second album blues")

 

 

WOULD THE ALBUM HAVE SUCCEEDED ON ANOTHER RECORD LABEL? (UPDATED THANKS TO

    "David [Geffen] had no direct influence on the working process, except for one which was obviously critical.

    "He was prepared to spend $365,000 on a debut record, which I found simultaneously terrifying because that is a huge royalty hole to dig out of, and at the same time I was pleased that we were getting this record done.

    "But that was still an awful lot of money to spend on a debut record - and obviously, he allowed that.

    "Any other record company would have probably pulled the plug once we went spending $100,000, so there's a part of your answer.

    "I don't think another label would have put up with that kind of an expenditure, or abandoned that kind of reputation. I think the band would have terrified most of the other labels.

    "In terms would the band have succeeded on another label once the record was finished, that again I doubt too.

    "There was a lot of serendipity to certain aspects to the development of the record.

    "And bare in mind that Eddie Rosenblatt [chairman/CEO of Geffen Record at the time] in December of 1987 took me out to a lunch and informed me that the label wanted to have band come home and start preparing their second record, and record their second record.

    "And at that point we were at approximately 250,000 units sold.

    "The company policy was - we sold a quarter of million albums, we basically recovered our money, now it's time to look at the second album.

    "And I looked at him across the table with a certain amount of annoyance and frustration, and I said, 'Eddie, we're at the quarter million sales in six months without any AOR airplay and without any MTV airplay. Could you imagine where we might get to if we got a little of both?'

    "And I was thinking maybe we could maybe get this thing up to gold. You know, what did I know? I know nothing at all ever.

    "But there was a big push from myself and from Tom [Zutaut] to stay with the record in the coming year. And part of that push was harassment of MTV by everybody to give them video play, because they never played it.

    "Had I sat there at the lunch table and said, 'Yes sir, I'll do as instructed,' who knows where the band would have gotten to or what they would have been.

    "Tom and I both felt that, 'Nah, we're not giving up on this sucker right now!' Are you kidding me?! A quarter of million records in six months and very little support? You're smoking crack if you think we're coming home. We're staying out there."

 

 

ABOUT THE FOUR NIGHTS IN PASADENA, 1987

very interesting story on how the four nights in Pasadena in December 1987 impressed Geffen executives and created a much-welcomed buzz when the label was about to give up on Appetite and tell the band to record a second album

 

 

WHAT IS A "DANGEROUS BAND" TO ALAN NIVEN

another interesting answer

 

 

THE SHOOTING OF WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE VIDEO, THE SHOOTING OF SWEET CHILD O MINE VIDEO

detailed and interesting accounts

 

ON SONGS ARRANGEMENT / STRUCTURE (UPDATED thanks to ultimate-guitar.com)

He explains how he didnt really interfere on the songwriting but was able to discuss the Welcome to the Jungle structure with the band

    "They wrote really, really good material. That said, I obviously paid attention to songs, and in my own mind checked more often.

    "There was one song that I was a little concerned about, and I felt that it was going to be an important song, and I felt there needed to be something said about it.

    "That was actually 'Welcome to the Jungle.'

    "Originally, it was verse-chorus-verse-chorus-verse-chorus, and I felt uncomfortable about that arrangement.

    "So in a pre production rehearsal, I asked Slash and Axl to look at that, and they came up with a really tasty little guitar bridge to break out of that.

    "That was thy only time that I ever had a comment."

    "I did question Axl about 'Rocket Queen' because it's so overtly two different states of mind. I said 'Are you sure you want them in one expression, or are they two different songs?'

    "And Axl said, 'No, definitely it is one song with two states of mind.' And I said 'Okay, fine. You know what you're doing.'"

 

 

ABOUT THE TOUR WITH ACDC (that never happened) and the IRON MAIDEN TOUR (UPDATED thanks to ultimate-guitar.com)

    "In a number of respects, there was an aspect of making a break to it. We had a couple of misadventures.

    "There was an AC/DC tour that I personally secured for them. It seemed to elude the agent we had at the time, who I think was playing politics, but we got an opening on an AC/DC tour.

    "And then we had the incident in Phoenix, and AC/DC went, 'We don't want any part of this band.'

    "We were out with Iron Maiden, which wasn't necessarily the most sympathetic of combinations. But at least that I could keep all my smackheads on a bus, and keep an eye on them, and keep them live and keep them mobile and away from their dealers.

    "And that had gone down the tubes. From my perspective, we had to go out on at least one more tour to see where the road was going.

 

ABOUT THE AEROSMITH TOUR ("the highlight of my time with the band. I used to feel bad for Aerosmith") (UPDATED thanks to ultimate-guitar.com)

    "And the only one available was Aerosmith. Of course, Aerosmith at that time were all rehab fellows. So in an ordinary circumstances, the likelihood of Tim Collins [Aerosmith manager] taking on GNR to open for guys that he had rigid control over to keep them from their habits was very slight.

    "But we were labelmates, and I went to Eddie Rosenblatt [from Geffen Records] and said, 'We need the Aerosmith tour, and you've got to deliver it for us.' And David Geffen and Eddie Rosenblatt basically beat Tim Collins up and insisted that he take out GN'R. So, thank you David and Eddie.

    "And off we went on the Aerosmith tour, which Axl did not want to do at the time.

    "However, from my perspective of my involvement with the band, that tour is the highlight of my experience with the band. That was the highest moment, the magic of an incredible response being manifest by the audience.

    "I used to feel bad for Aerosmith having to follow GN'R on stage. Because GN'R would suck all the energy out of huge audiences before [Aerosmith] hit the stage.

    "An incredible tour. It remains in my memory as the highlight of my experience with the band."

 

 

ON GNR POTENTIAL

"My perspective after a year or so with the band was that hey had the potential and the talent to have the kind of career and build the kind of catalog that the Rolling Stones had. They very much had personified the attitude that had turned me on about the Rolling Stones, the anti-authoritarian (attitude)" 

 

 

ABOUT AN APPETITE "DELUXE EDITION"

"Repackaging to me is just marketing. I dont like (the idea of) repackaging at all. What I would be curious is to see Use Your Illusion remade in one album"

"The demo should be a demo and remain so"
 

 

ON THE CURRENT TOUR (copied and pasted from ultimate-guitar.com)

"Who could see this coming?

"And I've had a number of people in the last week tell me that the show in New York was fantastic. I think part of the reason why it was fantastic was because it was confined in a smaller building, which amplifies the power.

"And everybody have said that Slash was sublime, and he is definitely playing the best of his life. His playing at the moment is magnificent.

"And I have to take my cap off to Axl. Who saw this coming? That was an incredible workload that he has gotten through already, and now they're playing over three hours. I don't know how he's doing it, I don't know if they're injecting him with virgin's blood.

"But whatever they're doing, he has taken on an incredible workload and brought it. And let me tell you, when the reunion...

"And I have the hard time with the "reunion", because for my personal perspective, if Izzy's not there, it's not truly Guns N' Roses reunion

"But when this thing first got rolling, all the conventional wisdom was that maybe they'll get through five dates before it imploded and exploded. And I just have to say I'm mildly in awe at the moment.

"I'm absolutely amazed at how many shows they have done, I'm really stunned at the workload that Axl has shouldered. And I think thats... I can't figure it out. I can't figure it out how he has done it.

"He's in his 50s. I draw the analogy, people like Pavarotti sang long and hard at the performance well into their later years.

"But rock 'n' roll is three and a half hours, that's a lot to take out of any human body. And it's a lot of work even when you're in your 20s. When you're in your 50s it's amazing! I'm really stunned by it."

Edited October 4, 2017 by ludurigan

[6lake sa66ath]

Fuck yeah, can't wait to listen to all of it! Love a good Niven interview!

[Carburetta]

I just find this guy annoying. "Appetite is a genuinely good rock n roll record". Yeah no shit. It's like he doesn't get or acknowledge how good they are, I always get that sense from him.

[soon]

Yeah, listened to that earlier.  Great interview.  Lafon has had a GNR related interview every show for about a month or so to honour AFD30.  Steve Thompson was another.  Thanks for posting and prompting a repeat listen.

[Tori72]

7 hours ago, ludurigan said:

THE EARLY MIX OF MR BROWNSTONE

"We did a real quick mix of Brownstone in about four hours. (...) I just called (the band in Tom's office) and said 'i think you better come down here' and just put the phone down to kinda leave them in suspense. Actually only Izzy came down. He was the only one who had the nerve to come down at that point. We played back the mix (of Mr. Brownstone) and by the time we got to the chorus, Izzy was just flying out of the sofa behind us, like a Nasa rocket pumping his fist in the air"

Thank you for the that. I'm looking forward to listening to it. 

Edited September 5, 2017 by Tori72

[Sunset Gardner]

no izzy... no gnr.  fake reunion.  

[Silent Jay]

If you're not easy, you're against me.

[MyPrettyTiedUpMichelle]

Thanks so much for posting this.  Fascinating interview.  Particular loved hearing the story behind the SCOM video shoot and how economics dictated their approach and, ultimately, how it turned out.  

Had to laugh at him calling the band 'smack heads'.

Also loved little things I hadn't heard before, like Axl saying of RQ that it was one song, two different states of mind.   

[IncitingChaos]

Why didn't the rest of the band come down for Brownstone mix? What were they upset about haha I'm dying to know but can't listen until later

[Modano09]

2 minutes ago, IncitingChaos said:

Why didn't the rest of the band come down for Brownstone mix? What were they upset about haha I'm dying to know but can't listen until later

No cell phones and they lived in a storage locker, who knows where they were?

[IncitingChaos]

5 minutes ago, Modano09 said:

No cell phones and they lived in a storage locker, who knows where they were?

But it said Izzy was the only one to have the nerve to come down at that point...what happened haha

[MyPrettyTiedUpMichelle]

30 minutes ago, IncitingChaos said:

Why didn't the rest of the band come down for Brownstone mix? What were they upset about haha I'm dying to know but can't listen until later

Yeah, it was slightly annoying that Mitch 'warned' Nivan he'd be asking 'hard questions' and then proceeded not to ask any hard questions. lol 

Also, why didn't Axl want to do the tour with Aerosmith? 

[Majestic Beast]

 Izzy was the first member who abandoned the band and now he plays it serious,what a douchbag.Wasted talent over the years.

[Ratam]

12 hours ago, ludurigan said:

alan niven interview to mitch lafon

it starts at 14:40

no need to say it is a mandatory listen!

https://www.podcastone.com/episode/Guns-N-Roses-and-Quiet-Riot

 

some topics/quotes (no exact words):

 

TIME

It's mildly shocking to me that I send congratulations to "Curly", to Slash, for his 52th birthday. When I first laid eyes on him he was 19. Where did time go?

 

WHY APPETITE REMAINS RELEVANT

A number of factors. One factor is the lack of a truly great rock n roll band since 1990. The grunge didnt bring an awful lot of joy, it seemed to be soaked in misery from my limited sense of perspective

Another factor is that it is a genuinely good rock n roll record. It had an authencity to it and it had a vitality to it.

 

FIRST CONTACT WITH THE BAND

There was a very punkish energy there (on the demos). There were some really good songs there. But for me it was the personalities that got me in, more than the demos. It was the charactheristics of Slash and Izzy and Axl.

 

HIS FAMOUS QUOTE ABOUT IZZY BEING "THE HEART AND SOUL OF THE BAND"

"Hold on. I've never said that. What I always say is "heart of the soul". Not "heart and soul". It's an important distinction to me. But he is the heart of the soul of the band"

 

WHAT IZZY BROUGHT

"[He brought] the simplicity. If Guns N' Roses were cool, then Izzy was the freon.

"And what I loved about him is that he had an insouciant that had formed the syncopation of his rhythm playing.

"His lyric writing was unimpeachable. And for me, as a rock 'n' roller, he was entirely authentic."

 

THE EARLY MIX OF MR BROWNSTONE

"We did a real quick mix of Brownstone in about four hours. (...) I just called (the band in Tom's office) and said 'i think you better come down here' and just put the phone down to kinda leave them in suspense. Actually only Izzy came down. He was the only one who had the nerve to come down at that point. We played back the mix (of Mr. Brownstone) and by the time we got to the chorus, Izzy was just flying out of the sofa behind us, like a Nasa rocket pumping his fist in the air"

 

MIXING OF THE ALBUM

(no time to transcribe)

 

ABOUT HOW THE RECORDING CAPTURED THE "LIVE FEEL"

"Keep it as vital as possible and not get bogged on overdubs"

(there is more on that subject specially trying to keep the rhythm tracks that had a good vitality)

 

STEVEN ADLER

"Steven is not necessarily the most proficient and technical drummer in the world. The thing about Steven is that he brought an ebullience and a sense of joy that quite honestly hasnt been matched since. And he could play with a swing"

 

ABOUT KEEPING NOVEMBER RAIN, DONT CRY, RECKLESS LIFE AND YOU COULD BE MINE OUT OF THE ALBUM

"For me Reckless Life is pretty much a pre-Appetite song, a punk song. I had no problem with Reckless Life (being out of the album)"

"It would be very smart to hold on for two or three songs for the sophomore record" (he goes on a long explanation about the "second album blues")

 

WOULD THE ALBUM HAVE SUCCEEDED ON ANOTHER RECORD LABEL

very interesting long answer -- no time to quote it here
 

 

THE FOUR NIGHTS AT PASADENA IN 1987

very interesting story on how the four-nights at Pasadena in December 1987 impressed Geffen executives and created a much-welcomed buzz when the label was about to give up on Appetite and tell the band to record a second album

 

WHAT IS A "DANGEROUS BAND" TO ALAN NIVEN

another interesting answer

 

THE SHOOTING OF WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE VIDEO, THE SHOOTING OF SWEET CHILD O MINE VIDEO

detailed and interesting accounts

 

ON SONGS ARRANGEMENT / STRUCTURE

He explains how he didnt really interfere on the songwriting but was able to discuss the Welcome to the Jungle structure with the band

 

ABOUT THE TOUR WITH ACDC (that never happened), the IRON MAIDEN TOUR (that was useful to keep the boys on a bus -- away from their dealers) and THE AEROSMITH TOUR ("the highlight of my time with the band. I used to feel bad for Aerosmith")

 

ON GNR POTENTIAL

"My perspective after a year or so with the band was that hey had the potential and the talent to have the kind of career and build the kind of catalog that the Rolling Stones had. They very much had personified the attitude that had turned me on about the Rolling Stones, the anti-authoritarian (attitude)" 

 

ABOUT AN APPETITE "DELUXE EDITION"

"Repackaging to me is just marketing. I dont like (the idea of) repackaging at all. What I would be curious is to see Use Your Illusion remade in one album"

"The demo should be a demo and remain so"
 

 

ON THE CURRENT TOUR (copied and pasted from Ultimate Guitar = https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/gnr_manager_why_is_izzy_so_important_for_gnr.html)

"Who could see this coming?

"And I've had a number of people in the last week tell me that the show in New York was fantastic. I think part of the reason why it was fantastic was because it was confined in a smaller building, which amplifies the power.

"And everybody have said that Slash was sublime, and he is definitely playing the best of his life. His playing at the moment is magnificent.

"And I have to take my cap off to Axl. Who saw this coming? That was an incredible workload that he has gotten through already, and now they're playing over three hours. I don't know how he's doing it, I don't know if they're injecting him with virgin's blood.

"But whatever they're doing, he has taken on an incredible workload and brought it. And let me tell you, when the reunion...

"And I have the hard time with the "reunion", because for my personal perspective, if Izzy's not there, it's not truly Guns N' Roses reunion

"But when this thing first got rolling, all the conventional wisdom was that maybe they'll get through five dates before it imploded and exploded. And I just have to say I'm mildly in awe at the moment.

"I'm absolutely amazed at how many shows they have done, I'm really stunned at the workload that Axl has shouldered. And I think thats... I can't figure it out. I can't figure it out how he has done it.

"He's in his 50s. I draw the analogy, people like Pavarotti sang long and hard at the performance well into their later years.

"But rock 'n' roll is three and a half hours, that's a lot to take out of any human body. And it's a lot of work even when you're in your 20s. When you're in your 50s it's amazing! I'm really stunned by it."

Amazing praise of Axl!! 😨

7 hours ago, Blake Sabbath said:

Fuck yeah, can't wait to listen to all of it! Love a good Niven interview!

Great interview 

[Silverburst80]

" There's no-one who can match him, his style is impetuous, his defence is impregnable

and he's just ferocious, he wants your heart, he wants to eat your children'' -Alan Niven on Izzy Stradlin

 

[6lake sa66ath]

Heh, he actually compared Pavarotti to Axl at this point in his career ;-D

[Boogs]

"Izzy was the heart of the soul of Guns N' Roses"? What is that supposed to mean? 

[RONIN]

6 hours ago, Boogs said:

"Izzy was the heart of the soul of Guns N' Roses"? What is that supposed to mean? 

It means that Izzy Stradlin' was the fuckin man.

[Sosso]

1 minute ago, RONIN said:

It means that Izzy Stradlin' was the fuckin man.

Don't you think that he overplays the role of Izzy a bit? I mean, he was important, but so were the other guys in the band 

[JoeyBananaduck]

Phew, finally a look back at AFD. It's about time some focus was placed on that little known gem of an album that all too often gets overlooked in this band's vast and sprawling discography.

[Chris 55]

On 9/5/2017 at 12:02 PM, Modano09 said:

No cell phones and they lived in a storage locker, who knows where they were?

?

 

"The band were waking up in Tom's office" 

 

approx 22:30 in. 

[ludurigan]

12 hours ago, Sosso said:

Don't you think that he overplays the role of Izzy a bit? I mean, he was important, but so were the other guys in the band 

he is likely doing that because TO THIS DAY izzy gets overlooked.

i have read countless articles THIS WEEK about the south american tour including the headline on the biggest brazilian newspaper stating that "the classic line up of GNR is back" etc etc

alan is basically saying that izzy is just as important as the other guys in the band, specially axl and slash

if, for example, everyone in the world thought that "axl and izzy" are guns n roses and slash was the one "overlooked", i am sure alan and many others would jump in and say how slash was important to GNR

if, for example, everyone in the world thought that "slash and izzy" are guns n roses and axl was the one "overlooked", i am sure alan and many others would jump in and say how axl was important to GNR

i am sure he wouldnt do it with so much passion in axl's case, because alan probably doesnt like axl too much or not as much as he likes izzy

11 hours ago, JoeyBananaduck said:

 vast and sprawling discography

[RONIN]

16 hours ago, Sosso said:

Don't you think that he overplays the role of Izzy a bit? I mean, he was important, but so were the other guys in the band 

@ludurigan covered this pretty well but to add my 2 cents:

If you go back and read past interviews with Axl, Slash, Duff, hell - even Tracii Gunns - you get a sense that Izzy had a real talent for songwriting and arranging the GnR songs. He was almost the backbone of the GnR catalog in that he would provide the foundation of music that the others built off of. These guys were at their best when they were writing together in a room (more than 60-70% of the original GnR catalog was written that way). Izzy was the foundation of those sessions. His importance began to wane once the band started writing on their own (the last 1/3 of Illusions) - that organic quality of the music taking shape (and Izzy's role in that process) was lost. But this is where you get that "heart of the soul" talk - Izzy's role is literally being the backbone of the music - the other guys played on top of the foundation he laid.

And look - he gave the band a gritty punk authenticity. A stripped down/minimalist sensibility (akin to the grunge bands). Izzy was a true rock and roller - and when him (and Steven) were in the band, they made the GnR songs swing. It helped counterbalance the bloated indulgences of Axl and Slash. Izzy's a really tasteful player - he plays what is needed and nothing more - something neither Axl nor Slash really understand. That's why Izzy/Axl and Izzy/Slash were such an effective songwriting and guitar duo, they complemented each other's styles really well. There was a good push and pull in those relationships.

Duff is another guy in the mold of Izzy who gave the band a back to basics punk authenticity when Axl and Slash were disappearing up their own ass with November Rain and Coma.  You need both. You need Axl's ambition but you need Izzy to counterbalance him and make sure he doesn't go off the rails.

As for Alan, I think for the most part - he just tells it like it is. Of course he likes some people (Slash, Izzy) more than others (Axl) but he's mostly fair in his assessment of the various band members. I think Izzy's approach is closer to Alan's - they see things similarly, so that's probably a big reason he favors him more. Alan is not a fan of indulgent, bloated bands and Izzy is the type of rockstar that is the antithesis of that. 

Edited September 30, 2017 by RONIN

[Sosso]

5 minutes ago, RONIN said:

@ludurigan covered this pretty well but to add my 2 cents:

If you go back and read past interviews with Axl, Slash, Duff, hell - even Tracii Gunns - you get a sense that Izzy had a real talent for songwriting and arranging the GnR songs. He was almost the backbone of the GnR catalog in that he would provide the foundation of music that the others built off of. These guys were at their best when they were writing together in a room (more than 60-70% of the original GnR catalog was written that way). Izzy was the foundation of those sessions. His importance began to wane once the band started writing on their own (the last 1/3 of Illusions) - that organic quality of the music taking shape (and Izzy's role in that process) was lost. But this is where you get that "heart of the soul" talk - Izzy's role is literally being the backbone of the music - the other guys played on top of the foundation he laid.

And look - he gave the band a gritty punk authenticity. A stripped down/minimalist sensibility (akin to the grunge bands). Izzy was a true rock and roller - and when him (and Steven) were in the band, they made the GnR songs swing. It helped counterbalance the bloated indulgences of Axl and Slash. Izzy's a really tasteful player - he plays what is needed and nothing more - something neither Axl nor Slash really understand. That's why Izzy/Axl and Izzy/Slash were such an effective songwriting and guitar duo, they complemented each other's styles really well. There was a good push and pull in those relationships.

Duff is another guy in the mold of Izzy who gave the band a back to basics punk authenticity when Axl and Slash were disappearing up their own ass with November Rain and Coma.  You need both. You need Axl's ambition but you need Izzy to counterbalance him and make sure he doesn't go off the rails.

As for Alan, I think for the most part - he just tells it like it is. Of course he likes some people (Slash, Izzy) more than others (Axl) but he's mostly fair in his assessment of the various band members. I think Izzy's approach is closer to Alan's - they see things similarly, so that's probably a big reason he favors him more. Alan is not a fan of indulgent, bloated bands and Izzy is the type of rockstar that is the antithesis of that. 

Good point. That means that Izzy was the Malcolm Young of Guns N' Roses. Bon Scott described Mal as the brain of the band. Paul Tobias was similar to Izzy because he was in the background most of the time. The different lead guitarists (Tracii, Slash, Robin, Bucket, etc.) had roles similar to Angus - the showmasters of the band. 

[RONIN]

17 minutes ago, Sosso said:

Good point. That means that Izzy was the Malcolm Young of Guns N' Roses. Bon Scott described Mal as the brain of the band. Paul Tobias was similar to Izzy because he was in the background most of the time. The different lead guitarists (Tracii, Slash, Robin, Bucket, etc.) had roles similar to Angus - the showmasters of the band. 

Sounds about right - the Malcolm Young and Keith Richards of the band. 

Not sure what is real truth and what is embellished by Axl when it comes to Paul Tobias - but yeah, it does sound like Paul had a similar role in GnR. Izzy was also very important to the guitar dynamics of the band which Paul wasn't - important distinction to make here. 

I think Buckethead could have served a similar role as Izzy if Axl had let that guy contribute in a meaningful way. I don't think he used Buckethead properly - I feel like 90% of his talents were wasted with GnR which is a real shame.