Popular Post RONIN Posted September 16, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted September 16, 2017 This is simply a fantastic interview that clears up a lot of misconceptions. I encourage everyone to read the whole article if you haven't already. STRADLIN' Here are some relevant excerpts from it: LRI: You oversee 150 employees at Canter’s and you once employed Slash….was he a good worker? Marc: (laughs). Yeah, he was. he always took his job seriously and was never a fuck up. He was an ace at the business end of things as far as the band went and was always working, always on the phone 24/7 and busted his ass to make sure rehearsals and sessions went smoothly and cost effectively. He was really very aware. When they were out on the road, he was busting his ass working and waking up at 8 oclock in the morning to talk to 100 different reporters for press and everything. He was a terminator and there was nothing he would not do in the name of Guns N’ Roses. He’s always been able to handle an extremely heavy workload and multiple jobs and somehow balance everything. I mean, I don’t know how he does it now but he does and he does it well. He’s got the kids and a wife, he’s recording and touring and interviews and guesting on other people’s sessions and he’s just the busiest person I have ever met. That’s the only reason I never see him. I’m lucky if we get together twice a year just because he’s that friggin busy! LRI: Axl is a talented singer but always has this reputation of being difficult. What were your impressions of him? Marc: Axl is very headstrong and he knows what he wants, he always has. The first time I met him, the very first time was at a rehearsal and they were talking about the arrangements for “Anything Goes” and I remember making a comment about it and him just looking over at me, not knowing me at all and basically telling me it wasn’t my business and he didn’t need my opinion or something like that. I was like “Oh, ok, that’s cool man, it was just a suggestion, you don’t have to listen to me, it’s cool”. After that we became really good friends and I never really had a problem with him. I’ve seen him be really frustrated at times with certain situations but he never really took it out on me. I’ve seen him take it out on everyone else and he could be really controlling and like, for instance, when they did their first demo one of the other members wanted to copy it and Axl was like “I don’t know about that” like he really didn’t want it getting around. He wanted to hoard it and listen to it and analyze it to make sure it was right. Axl is a perfectionist to the extreme, it had to be right or not at all. Somewhere along the line he had to start eating some of that and realize he couldn’t control everything. People would tape shows and he might forget a lyric or something and he ended up having to accept some of that on some level. Interestingly, they never argued amongst themselves or fought over how a song would be written though, the songs always just happened and it wasn’t any type of power struggle or control trip in that regard. A lot of the songs would start with some idea from Izzy like “My Michelle” or “Nighttrain” and then Slash would come and punk it out or rock it up, like the spooky intro part of “Michelle” was total Izzy but without Slash we wouldn’t have gotten the harder riff that followed it. Axl would hear these unfinished songs and just know exactly how to work within them. Duff and Steven would then make the songs truly swing and really flesh them out with their ideas. You could say as some have that Axl was the most important because he was the singer but even then I don’t think Axl would agree with that. If you took any one of those guys out of the equation it would have drastically changed all of those songs. It was truly a democracy in the beginning, at that time in 1985 or 1986 they were all on the exact same page. LRI: They are one of those signature bands that really had five captivating personalities and styles to begin with. Marc: Oh totally. They were a rarity because it wasn’t like one or three things working for them. Some bands it’s a great guitarist or a great singer or great drummer or songs or an amazing live show but with GNR it was the whole package, the sum was greater than the individual parts. They had every element and it fit together like a puzzle. I noticed that the songwriting was so effortless and democratic and that’s what seemed to change. They had a couple songs in 1988 for the LIES album but I think that was when things started to change. It was harder to get music to come out of them and I think it was simply because they weren’t living together like they were. Before that they were all living together in this little storage space that they rehearsed in and their instruments were there and they were just naturally writing like musicians do. It was like “Hey, check out this” and the other guy would be like “Yeah, yeah, you have something but what about if we change this and add that” or say “Well, here’s a thing I’m working on we can put the two together”. After 1987 they all had houses or at least apartments of their own and that dynamic changed because they all had their own little studios in their places and were writing and completing songs on their own. Then they’d submit the song to the rest of the band who couldn’t really do as much with a fully written song as they could when they were working with bits and pieces. LRI: We talked to Steven and he is famous for being really, really energetic and for being so into the whole making it as a rock star thing and the trappings that come with it. He said, “I did drugs because I wanted to do drugs” and he really seemed to personify the “ROCK AND ROLL ALL NITE PARTY EVERY DAY” thing. Do you think there was a difference between the way that Steven partied and the lifestyle or stardom he aspired to versus say his buddy Slash or especially Axl? Marc: Steven was always a big KISS fan and he saw everything through that KISSvision, he was like a really big kid, like an eternally excited 8 year old. As you know, Paul wanted to produce them after seeing them and Steven was totally excited by that attention but no one else was. None of them wanted to touch that association with a ten foot pole but Steven was in hook, line and sinker. Steven was totally starstruck. As far as the drugs go, that was really Izzy’s doing. He and his girlfriend were the drug addicts and I never really liked him at that point because I was just totally not at all into that whole scene. Slash was always drinking but it was never a problem really. Right around the time they got signed Izzy and his girl Desi’s habits sort of influenced or wore on Steven and Slash and that became an issue. Duff was never going to have a problem with heroin simply because his girlfriend died of a heroin overdose in his arms when he was 15. Whatever Duff did, and I’m aware he did some bad things, I know he would not touch heroin. Axl was even into it for a while and they were all hiding it from me but I would see them all strung out and wanting me to bring them food and I was like “No, I’m not gonna bring you food because you’re blowing your money on heroin”. I would bring them food when they were struggling musicians wanting to spend money on flyers or guitar strings but not when they were signed musicians simply wanting to get high and get a free ride. I was sort of in the odd position of feeling like their mother or something (laughs). LRI: They of course made the universe laugh by firing Steven for drugs and I was just wondering what your opinion was on what he brought to the band or how the band changed after he left. Did he have a certain style that was hard to replace or replicate? Marc: He did. He had something special and also, this is important, Duff and Izzy were also drummers and they could sort of see things from that drummer’s perspective and really expand on it or in some cases even sit down and play a different part which Steven could then pick up and work from. That’s not to say Steven didn’t write his own stuff because he absolutely did but on a few occasions I did see those guys thinking from that beat perspective. Also, in an Alan Niven interview he said something that really made sense which was that Steven wasn’t really fired for the drugs but more for the fact that the Illusions stuff was so much different and he wasn’t really getting it. It was so 360 from the swing, groove stuff on Appetite and it required less rock and roll and more technical drumming which was more suited to a drummer like Matt Sorum. If you listen to a song like “Locomotive” it sort of makes sense what Niven was saying. It’s almost got this unreal, machine type feel to it. Of course some of those songs like “Don’t Cry” were older and he could have easily performed those but on many of those songs the groove had just changed and the songwriting was totally a different beast. LRI: Let me be more blunt. How fucked up was Steven that he became the whipping boy and was called out for it? Marc: Well, he was fucked up, no doubt about it and he would even tell you that but on the same token some of the other guys were totally fucked up at the same time. The biggest difference, and again, this is important, the biggest difference is that if you are a guitarist or a bassist or whatever you can sort of get away with being a little fucked up where as with a drummer it is usually readily apparent. Steven also went a little father with his addiction than they did and it was a little harder to keep timing with the songs and that’s a fact. But again, their writing was just was different than it was in 85 as well. I’m a big Led Zep fan and if you look at the five year gap between the material on the debut and the material on Physical Graffiti it is massive. That’s how bands are. LRI: I enjoy the Illusion albums, hell I like the solo stuff and everything including Chinese Democracy but to met it was never the same after Izzy and Steven were gone. Marc: It was a totally different band when Steven and Izzy were out. I mean, I understand one one hand, like any band, you are supposed to change and grow rather than just keep releasing the same album over and over. On the other hand it changed the way the band operated in this case. Guys would come in with totally complete songs and just expect the other guys to just agree to play what they had in mind on their tunes. Or they would hand completed songs to Axl and say “Here you go, write some lyrics”. That’s a big change. It never worked like that before. In the past, Axl would have some lyrics already and the guys would each individually have a riff or a lick, an idea to contribute. Things happened more organically and it was, in my opinion like I said before because they were all in such close proximity of each other. LRI: Do you think when Izzy went back to Indiana and got sober that it really changed the band relationship? Marc: No, no, simply because Izzy just doesn’t change. I mean he got clean and everything but he was still the same old Izzy. He STILL is. Izzy is the same guy he was in 1985. In fact, a lot of people aren’t aware of this but for about two weeks in 1996 the guys got back together in the Illusions lineup and I remember telling Axl, “Don’t fuck it up. Just go in a room like the Traveling Wilburys and sit on crates, no girlfriends, no managers just your guitars and a tape recorder and grab whatever magic occurs as a result of you all being together and playing, just make music for each other and with each other not for the world and its magnifying glass. Make believe that someone is offering you 100 million dollars to write 12 songs. These are songs that will never have to be heard but they have to be complete and you won’t get paid unless you can prove that you actually hammered out these ideas, these songs.” Of course that was all for not because two weeks later that reunion fell apart but from what I understand Izzy had a tape of like 50 songs that he was gonna bring to these sessions that never happened. I don’t know if Axl heard Izzy’s stuff and thought it to be a little primitive or something but I know that Slash had a good dozen or so as well and Axl was into at least three of them and maybe four but then Slash got big headed and just took them all and said “Fine, I’m gonna go do Snake Pit with them”. I know that Axl was really upset that Slash quit and that Slash took those particular songs because those were songs that were written explicitly for Guns N’ Roses. Just because Axl didn’t want all of them didn’t mean he didn’t wanna work with some of them. I mean, at that point Slash was a little big headed after being out on the road and playing in front of hundreds of thousands of people it starts to go to your head. It was real similar to Joe Perry leaving Aerosmith and thinking he was going to go somewhere and he went nowhere. After three records Joe came back. It was sort of that kind of a thing but Axl pretty much never forgave him for leaving and he’s still very angry about that. He’s also angry about some things Slash said in the wake of leaving and about some things said regarding signing the name of the band over. It’s really a story of miscommunication more than anything because they’re both really, honestly telling the truth but unfortunately there’s two different stories and therefore two different truths. That’s partly because there’s middle men involved that people really don’t know. For instance, if you read Slash’s book, in regards to signing over the name he says that the manager told him that he and Duff had to sign the paper or Axl wouldn’t go onstage and there would be a riot. Now, if you ask Axl he’ll say “100 % false. I never said that, I never said I wouldn’t go on”. You know what? Because of Doug Goldstein, their manager being that middle man they are both telling the truth. Axl didn’t say that, Doug said that and pushed that on Duff and Slash in order to get Axl off his back, and they bought it. I’m not even sure what was said or when it was said but it might have been along the lines of Doug saying “Come on guys, just sign it. You know Axl, if you don’t deliver this signed he won’t go on and there’s going to be a riot tonight.” Axl maintains that yes, he did want them to sign it, he wanted that control in case something bad like a death should ever happen so that control of the band would not go into the hands of wives or girlfriends but he never, ever stated he would not go onstage. Slash maintains, as does Duff, that it happened so I am sure that it did, Doug said that but Axl is upset that Slash went to the media and everyone else and spun it that he wouldn’t go on if he didn’t sign away the name or that he pressured or tricked them because he didn’t. Like I said, in a way they are both telling the truth, it just comes down to Axl being unable to forgive Slash for spinning it that way and saying that he tried to blackmail them. Axl called Slash a liar but in his mind Slash is not lying, that’s really what he was told by management because if you talk to Duff he will tell you the exact same thing. The really odd thing is that Axl will talk to Duff and doesn’t call Duff a liar. My question is, if Duff and Slash are saying the exact same thing and both wrote books saying the exact same thing then what does that mean that Axl is not angry with Duff but is angry with Slash? That means there is some misdirected communication, there’s two sides to every story and if you don’t sit down and get both sides to figure out what went wrong you can never work through it. All they really need is some good therapy with a good marriage counselor and they can probably work out at least 80% of their problems. The other 20 percent may be water under the bridge or comments in the press that can’t be forgiven or worked out but 80 percent is a good start. LRI: You’re speaking of Slash and Axl but what about Izzy? Is he the wild card in all of this because he’s been appearing on occasion with Axl onstage in the last ten years or so in certain situations? Marc: Izzy is kind of flakey. He’s kind of paranoid and flakey. He continues to make his music and put it out on iTunes and he may show up and play an occasional gig but you can’t really depend on him because he might say he’s gonna be there and then not show up. He quit the band for probably 20 different reasons but he was also paranoid about the lawsuits pouring in over the St. Louis riots and he was so paranoid that he would lose everything he had that he just detached and was out of the band and left that attachment. He just jumped ship but it was also because of the drugs and alcohol that Slash and Duff were doing while they were sitting around waiting for Axl to go onstage. They would just sit and drink and do drugs all night and Izzy could only take so much of being around that after he was sober for a few years. That was just way too much of a temptation for him. Then there were the overtime fees for the union crews and everything, they were playing gigs and making 200 grand but they were finding out they lost all that money to paying the crews and the concession people for them standing around waiting for Axl. They were also having to pay civic ordinance fees and fines and basically paying through the nose when they should have been cleaning up as far as the money went. Izzy wanted no part of that, they were in a band and not making any money but yet there were thousands and thousands of paying customers out there every night. When you’re not going on until midnight or whatever it starts to get pretty costly. The whole deal with the “Don’t Cry” video costing a million dollars, he wanted no part of that which is why there’s that famous sign in the video saying “Where’s Izzy?”. He even called me right before they were gonna do that and asked me to find copies of all of my old videos to try and get the band to look at all of them and piece together a video out of the various live clips of them performing it. He really wanted to avoid spending a million bucks on the video. Izzy is not that self indulgent, he’s kind of solely about the music. He’s very loose and homey and natural, he wanted to be in Velvet Revolver as the lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist and just load up a van and tour. The rest of the guys wanted to take it to another level of seriousness as a band but Izzy is very casual. He does not like drama or problems or complicated issues. If the problems between Axl and Slash were handled Izzy would be right there but he does not like confrontation or drama. LRI: In Slash’s book he talks about how there’s so much unreleased GNR footage that a feature film could be made. Will it ever be seen? Marc: Oh yeah. In 1994 they were gonna release a documentary movie and Del James, Axl’s right hand man was working on it and I saw the trailer for it actually. What it really was comprised of was live footage, backstage stuff and interviews of the Illusions tour. It looked really cool, like a better version of a VH1 type thing. Axl’s got all those gigs and then some. They shot every single night of course for the jumbotron and some of them, probably six or seven have leaked out. LRI: I have seen the Illusions DVDs obviously but the full shows you’re speaking about would be nice, I’ve got one clip of the Alpine Valley kickoff I was at and the stuff MTV shot up here leading up to the show. Marc: Oh cool. Yeah, I remember the Alpine gig, they had me at the Cleveland show soon after that and I shot four nights at the Forum here. The reason you can’t turn up full shows for the most part or the backstage stuff in the movie form is because Slash was in it all and Axl has really tried to bury it at all costs because he’s so pissed at Slash and doesn’t want to have anything to do with him or promoting anything involving him. So that’s why you’ll never see it. He just feels that Slash has burned him and told all of these lies in the press, in Slash’s mind it’s mostly all true but Axl has built up all this hatred so the movie will probably never see the light of day. It’s similar to the situation with Chinese Democracy. It was pretty much finished in 2002. The day after Rock In Rio 2001 Axl and I were at the pool and he mentioned that there was a possibility that Slash could have played on a few tracks for Chinese Democracy if he were willing to apologize in the press for the things that he said about Axl publicly. Axl was cracking the door open and saying to me “If Slash apologizes publicly for the things he said about me in the press I have three songs that he could play on the new album”. They were three songs that Slash had written on and Axl wanted to do something with them and include them on Chinese Democracy which would have been cool. That was never going to happen because Slash was too “cool” to apologize publicly first of all and second of all because half the things he wanted Slash to apologize for never happened, at least not in Slash’s recollection. Axl’s burying any option to release stuff with Slash’s likeness and that extended to his participation or interest in my book. LRI: Yeah, I had heard that your book was supposed to have come out a long time before it did, what was the story on that? Marc: When they first saw my book the only one who was excited about it was Axl, not that the other guys hated it but more that they really didn’t care. Axl loved my book and actually cared, he looked at it a few times and he made some constructive comments and was behind me a hundred percent, he cared about it truly. What happened though was that at that point the band really fell apart, my agent wanted too much money as an advance and I didn’t care about landing an advance as much as I cared about really wanting to get it out there. I know that once you get an advance all that means is that you never see any money unless you pay back the advance in full. I just wanted to release it myself and get it out but he the advance money all those agent guys love advances because then they can guarantee they get paid. Long story short, all of this stuff led to delaying the book because publishers weren’t wanting to pay what my agent was asking unless Guns was getting ready to put out a new record or something. I finished the book in 1994 and the book came out finally in 2007 when I basically found a publisher by accident more than anything. Back to Axl, he went from being the only one in 1994 who was excited about it to the only one really opposed to it. By that time he had started his “new” Guns and wanted nothing to do with anything that promoted the Appetite lineup or the DEVIL a.k.a SLASH. Not only that but now there were FOUR devils many of the figures in my book that help tell the story became devils to Axl, Tom Zutaut, Vicky Hamilton their old manager who allegedly said something about Axl in the press, Robert John, their longtime photographer who apparently had some altercation and was now off limits with Axl regardless of the fact that they were all there and all important parties in the story who really had nothing but good things to say. None of that mattered to Axl who did not want me to release my book featuring the devils because it was basically like releasing a photo book of a wedding album ten years after a nasty divorce. He could not emotionally deal with my book coming out for two reasons, firstly because it deals with all these people from his past that he now views as enemies and secondly because he has an all new Guns N Roses to promote and would like everyone to forget the Appetite lineup. He’s afraid that something like this having success will just pour fuel on the reunion fire but the reality is this book is just history and you wouldn’t have his new band were it not for that original history. The funny thing is when he plays gigs he does do ten or so of the Appetite songs so he does see the significance of it on some level but. LRI: In your opinion is there any part of Axl that was still into or at least impressed by the RECKLESS ROAD? Marc: Its hard to tell, I’m sure there are some parts of it he still enjoyed or had fond memories about but it really came down to him wanting it to come out well after Chinese Democracy. Chinese Democracy has been recorded nobody had heard it, but in 2001 Axl showed up at my house unannounced, picked me up and drove me to the studio and played some of it for me and I finally heard some of the songs. What I heard was great. In 2006 I heard the finished and mixed album totally finished with vocals and everything. This was after the gig at Hard Rock in August and Steven and I both were up in Axl’s room while he was blaring the new album for us. Steven had originally been thrown out of the gig by Del but Axl was like “Why? I wanted to talk to him” so we both were up there enjoying it; it was friendly between Steven and Axl. Axl was telling me that it should be ready to come out and packaged by November so I was like “Oh, ok cool”. My book had been on the shelf this whole time since 1994. In October, I bumped into some people who wanted to publish it and signed a deal for it took come out the following summer in 2007 which I thought would be more than enough space between the book and the new album. Then of course, November comes and goes and there’s no CHINESE DEMOCRACY. I was kind of like what do I do now and calling people, I called Del James and asked “well when is it going to come out?” and he’s told me March. I called him in March and he said May. I’m getting nervous because the wheels were already in motion as far as me releasing my book, contracts had been signed. My book was gonna be released and sure enough the book came out before CHINESE DEMOCRACY and Axl is still sort of sore about that. He told me he was disappointed and that he may have supported it at a later time. We had a little falling out but it’s okay, we will patch it up sometime, I’m sure of it. LRI: Are you still closest with Slash? Marc: I’ve always remained close with Slash but believe it or not until this happened between us in 2007 I had become closer with Axl than any of them. I had a great relationship with him, if I needed anything or had any trouble or needed help he would be right there for me. When something new would come out like I remember when DVD players first hit, Axl sent one right over to us, he was really cool like that. I probably saw Axl and hung out with him 5 times a year or so prior to the book release whereas I would probably only get together with Slash once a year. Slash was like an old best friend that got on drugs and got busy and was always somewhere else while Axl was always here in the area and always around. He’d come to my house and drive me over to the studio and let me listen to stuff as it was happening and we still hung out and if I needed something I could really depend on Axl maybe even more than Slash. We had become really, really good friends over the years but it all came down to the book and the timing of it’s release. Also, the fact he knew I was still obviously really good friends with Slash and now Slash was more than ever, the devil. For the longest time though, I was probably one of two people in the world who still talked to Slash AND Axl where everyone else was sort of forced to pick a side and stick to it, they understood that I was loyal to and friends with both. I had always thought that if Axl and Slash were ever going to bury the hatchet I could serve as something of a middle man but I’ve had very little contact with Axl since the book came out. I did email him and contact him to write a little thing for the book intro like Duff and the others did but he didn’t do it, he’s just still a little sore at me. He’s really just disappointed in me, I think he knows I didn’t want to betray him. I wanted all five of them to do the foreword and Izzy kind of disappointed me by not participating, I ended up getting Slash, Steven and Duff. I had finally had some contact with Izzy who I was the most distant with and hadn’t talked to in probably 17 years. He was really jazzed and really into my doing the book and said “That appetite period was one of the best times of my life” and he was just really happy about it coming out. We talked on a Sunday and he was gonna come over on a Tuesday and do some interviews for it. LRI: Which begs the question then….”Where’s Izzy”? Marc: (laughs) Well, here’s the deal John. We were doing video interviews because we wanted to use the footage for an interactive online element of the book we had planned, which I guess Izzy where he misunderstood me. We had kept shooting all these other people we interviewed for the book on a few different backgrounds when it was time to do Izzy’s, my video guy was like, “This is getting a little same-ish looking, let’s ask Izzy if we can shoot the video at his house rather than have him come here and do them here on the same background as the others”. So I called him and asked him if we could shoot the video at his place instead and he was like “Huh, what? Video??” and I knew right then I had lost him, he was wigging out on me. So I was like, realizing I was losing him and said “Ok, we don’t have to do the video, let’s just do the interview and he just like “Ahh, I gotta go”. So he hangs up and sends me a text and says “email me some pics or something for a comment” and he gives me his email address and he wanted me to send him a few photos for which he would give comments but other than that he was gone. He never replied to the emails. I also think I blew it because I had honestly told him that Desi was coming to be interviewed and Desi was his heroin girl and he probably was freaking that Desi would let the cat out of the bag about whatever history they had together, even though I really wasn’t looking for that from anyone. I was really just looking to talk about the music but she had to be there because she was important to the story, I needed her voice for the story because she was always a part of it all. She used to strip down to almost nothing and dance to “Jumpin Jack Flash” and all those songs at their gigs. We weren’t gonna dig about the selling drugs or using drugs or any of that, we were just gonna ask her about the rock and roll but at the same time Izzy knew she was still strung out and didn’t trust her and got paranoid. He was like “I don’t want to be there when she is there”. Then when the video thing happened it was just out of the question with Izzy. The oddest thing was, I bumped into him at the Heaven and Hell tour and he was all normal and talking to me like “Hey, Marc, how did that all work out with the book?” and I was like (laughs) “Well, how did it work out? You never got back to me and wouldn’t be involved when I needed your help”. I was disappointed because I did a lot for Izzy over the years and he KNOWS I did and all I needed, all I needed, was for him to simply answer a few questions or give me a little something for the book. I have the questions I was going to ask him for the book and it was all about how IMPORTANT he was. He was so important to the look that made them famous, he really set the style because he knew that the Hanoi Rocks look was the way to go. He was just a little bit more savvy and smart than the other guys when it came to image and all that. He really knew what looked cool image wise and always set that tone and they all kind of followed. If you look at the old pictures, pay close attention to Izzy in the beginning and then watch how the others all change as the months go on. It’s pretty clear. I was also trying to ask him about his songwriting process and what goes through his brain and how he writes songs and these were all the questions I pre-emailed him, NONE of them had anything to do with drugs. There was no way he was going to accidentally be trapped into a comment or something he simply could have emailed the answers back but he never did. When he never got back to me I said okay I will use some of the stuff you gave me on the phone when we first talked and you were really into the book, when you said it was the best times of your life and he emailed me back and said “No, don’t quote me”. I was really disappointed that he left me hanging when I really needed him. I can’t really explain or fully understand where it all went south exactly or pinpoint it with Izzy. Axl is a totally different story, he’s emotionally hurt that I disappointed him by including the devils. I mean, if I needed a body part I’m sure Axl would help me because he loves me as a person he’s just really pissed at how it all went down with the timing of the book. It’s only a matter of time before he gets over it and things in our relationship are back to where they were because he knows that I love him as well. LRI: I would imagine the Hall of Fame buzz would help push RECKLESS ROAD book a little bit, of course it would help if the five guys could ever get in a room together. Marc: Yeah, just get under the same ROOF. I really thought that Duff could be a middle man to a meeting of the minds. LRI: Slash ended up going to the Hall Of Fame but originally he put out a blurb in the press saying how the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame didn’t really mean that much to him before issuing a clarification a few days later saying he understands it’s a great honor. What’s your take on where his head was at on that? Marc: He lies. LRI: Huh ??!!!(laughs). Marc: No, seriously Slash lies. (laughs). Axl was right about that in a sense but the way that Slash lies is that he lies to make himself look cool for the most part. For example saying that Sweet Child was lame when its still a part of his set and obviously means a great deal. He just wants to be the eternally cool rocker, Joe Perry used to say the same thing about Dream On. He’ll lie on occasion to twist out of something because every now and then he gets caught in a corner. He of course, does care about those awards and acknowledgements and that’s why he admitted later that it was a great honor to be included and everything. That first quote also may have come as a result of him being cornered by the press. He was, at that time, under the assumption, like many were, that Axl and his current band would be invited and of course Slash wanted no part of that. Later, he found out that wasn’t the case and that it was only going to be the people who ended up getting asked for inclusion and it didn’t include Axl’s current band. Once he realized that it wasn’t going to be he and Steven and Duff in one corner and Axl and the new band in another he was okay with it all. When he realized that wasn’t happening he was like “Yeah, it’s an honor and blah, blah, blah”. LRI: We are all still stupidly hoping that there will be a reunion someday but Axl’s letter sort of clarified that situation sadly. I realize you’ve had a falling out with him for the short term but what’s your take on Axl based on what you’ve seen in 2012? Marc: The one thing about Axl that I have noticed, is that he really IS starting to come to terms with things emotionally and is coming off very kind and honest and approachable, it’s remarkable and a good sign. In recent interviews whether it was on That Metal Show or even some little clips on youtube of him goofing around and talking with fans and that’s really good to see. There’s been times where we wouldn’t see or hear from him publicly or he’d perpetually be in a bad mood or whatever but we have this year and it seems like he’s in a good place and not operating under some dark cloud so that’s fantastic. It’s not just been one or two random clips of him recently but 10 or 12 of him and he’s always in that same happy, joking and smiling demeanor. Good for him. I mean, honestly I don’t think Axl trusts Izzy or Steven to have their shit together or be on time but I think he knows that Slash and Duff are a solid commodity. I know Steven is too because I’ve seen his band and I know what he’s capable of. Don’t get me wrong, I’m just like everyone else, I’d love to see the five of them together some day. I’d love to see a perfect scenario of a massive tour of Axl’s new band doing their full set to blow the doors off the beginning of the show. Do a really nice hour plus set. Take a break and include a combination where they do a stripped down set every night with Steven, Duff, Slash and Izzy and then finish with an Illusions set including Gilby and Matt and that material to close things out with a bang. LRI: Hell, they could even do a few Duff solo, Slash solo, Izzy and Steven solo spots… Marc: Right, if they really wanted to they could just like the Eagles did. Joe Walsh did a few, Henley did, Timothy did, Glen did and then they also did the Eagles stuff. I understand Axl not wanting to disrespect or walk away from the time, money and effort he’s invested in the new band or give up on continuing to have that be his avenue for new recordings but this could be a way to incorporate both. I mean noone wants to see Axl unhappy or fail just to springboard a reunion. There’s better ways to go about it and this would allow his NEW band to be able to tour STADIUMS in the U.S. like they were during the Illusions era. I think Axl knows that, he knows that as good as the new band is doing he could be doing ten times that if he incorporated the reunion. I know that in the past he thought that his new band could just come out and stomp the reunion demand and just crush the pressure for the classic five. LRI: But he’s financially well off right? He has no real urgent need to give a shit or pay any bills right? Marc: I’m not so sure about that. I mean it costs a lot of money to have the life he has and the entourage he has. There has to be more money coming in than going out and he’s aware that a reunion tour would bring in hundreds of millions of dollars that WOULD UNDOUBTEDLY make him well off and secure. I guess he’s just not willing to do it because he would have to believe in the devil but I’d like him to put that aside so that he can make all that money and have all that freedom and also make all of the fans so happy. I mean back when we were so close a few years ago we would talk for hours about that John. We would go back and forth and I would tell him “Axl nothing will ever touch the old band, the new band will be viewed as very good and an excellent thing unto itself but it will never touch the old band, they will both be different and great in different ways.” I mean I told him I totally understand what he’s doing because there IS no old band but it just was never going to be better than the old band and he insisted that it was going to be better than the old band and that Robin Finck was his Randy Rhoads and compared it to Ozzy finding Randy. I told him “No Robin is NOT Randy and he will be viewed as good but never better than Slash on ANY level, musically, personality wise, that was just lightning in a bottle” and we just went on and on and you get the idea (laughs). I mean the CHINESE DEMOCRACY lineup can be great but it will be a different kind of great just like ILLUSIONS was a different kind of great. You can get together with different chefs and come up with a great new soup but it will always be DIFFERENT. I just kept telling him that what happened was magic that can never be recreated, even if he got back together with Slash they will never write another APPETITE. I mean, I’m sure if they got together and wrote a song it could be good but you can’t expect it to ever happen the way it did in 86 again. I mean, is anything the Stones do now or what they did in the 80s or 90s as good as what they did in the 60s or 70s? No, but there can still be some good, great moments. LRI: I know this means a great deal to you. What specifically do you want from them as a fan and follower of the band, aside from your personal friendships? Marc: I just want them to talk. I want them to talk because I think that if they were just able to talk they would see that their problems are not so hard to solve or understand. Their biggest problems are actually simple so that’s what makes it so hard to believe. Duff is a stand up guy, and Axl trusts him, if there is any hope it is in Duff bridging the gap. LRI: Do you think Axl sees any importance to what Van Halen is doing in securing their legacy with David and Eddie? Marc: No. That doesn’t matter to Axl at all, all he thinks is “Why would I put my neck on the line and associate with these devils again?”. That’s it. Add to that the fact that he has this army of people who are in his inner circle who personally are, of course, invested in the new lineup and basically are agreeing with him and even the segment of fans who you’ve seen siding with him. They’re pouring gasoline in the fire and reaffirming what Axl believes to be fact even though the vast majority would love to see a reunion. The fact that others like Van Halen are doing it is meaningless to him, it would come down to Axl realizing that Slash and Steven are not as evil as he thinks. LRI: Is Slash 100% down as far as your regular conversations with him? Marc: Slash would do it in a heartbeat. He would do it because it was a lot of fun, the music and chemistry was great and the fact that he knows without a shadow of a doubt that it would make the fans ecstatic and be extremely successful. He knows that better than anyone. He also doesn’t hate Axl the way that Axl hates him. If he did, such a concept would be so much more complicated than it is. It’s really only a one sided beef. There’s issues of course, there are personal issues with them but they are fairly simple and mostly based on misunderstanding and separate versions of different truths. LRI: Would someone like a Susan Mckagen or a Perla Hudson be an issue, I know Perla is very visible in Slash’s career and Susan in Duff’s? Marc: I know they are now but they couldn’t be in such a Reunion scenario. They would never be an issue. Wives and girlfriends are forbidden from the inner circle of GNR. I know this to be a fact. I even told Perla, “Just know that if Slash were ever to work with Axl again, you would not only not be in the same room but you’d be blocks away.” Nothing personal against them, they are wonderful, that’s just the way it’s always been. http://www.legendaryrockinterviews.com/2012/04/22/legendary-rock-interview-with-guns-n-roses-insider-and-author-marc-canter/ 5 7 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaskingApathy Posted September 16, 2017 Share Posted September 16, 2017 Cool interview. Interesting to read in light of where they're at now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyPrettyTiedUpMichelle Posted September 16, 2017 Share Posted September 16, 2017 @RONIN What a find - awesome, thanks! I've only got time to skim read it this morning; actually looking forward to taking my time over this later on, but one thing that jumped out at me: semi-reunion in 96 - Izzy had, what was it, 50 songs?! And what they played was recorded! So apart from the stuff that Slash nicked for Snakepit, has Axl got the rest in the vault then? Would LOVE to hear the demos from those 2 weeks in 96. Bloody hell Axl...what other gems you got hidden in that vault... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoot Posted September 16, 2017 Share Posted September 16, 2017 (edited) 24 minutes ago, Oldest Goat said: Marc Canter is the man. He seems like a genuine good guy. I really should buy Reckless Road already. We fucking NEED: The Perfect Crime documentary and all if not at least the best proshots. the '96 recordings. the CDII recordings. NEW MATERIAL. Just fucking do it. Pretty sure we have the '96 recordings... on Izzy's 117 degrees and Slash's Snakepit. Edited September 16, 2017 by Kris_1989 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silverburst80 Posted September 16, 2017 Share Posted September 16, 2017 Fuck me Canter tried to put his input into Anything Goes? Surprised he didn't get the " GET THAT GUY OUTTA HERE!, that guy right there...gone! are you listening Mr Slash!?" 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
estrangedtwat Posted September 16, 2017 Share Posted September 16, 2017 Has Marc posted here since the reunion? Is he not allowed to talk about GNR anymore? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfierose Posted September 16, 2017 Share Posted September 16, 2017 55 minutes ago, estrangedtwat said: Has Marc posted here since the reunion? Is he not allowed to talk about GNR anymore? Marc hasn't posted here in about a year which is why we decided to archive the section. Whilst I do not know his reasons he did state after the reunion was announced something along the lines of his hopes of seeing Axl and Slash reunited had been realised so there was nothing more for him to say (I'm paraphrasing here based on memory, the post will be in the Canter section). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackstar Posted September 16, 2017 Share Posted September 16, 2017 (edited) There is some confusion with the 1994-96 timeline in the interview and it's natural, as Marc recalls the events many years later. It's trivial and doesn't change the essence of what happened, but just to clarify the series of events: - The Slash Snakepit songs saga with Axl being interested in working only with some of them and Slash recording his solo album took place in '94. In its most part it developed at the same time frame as the Paul Tobias being brought in to "help" and SFTD saga, and those two stories are interrelated. Slash's album was finished by the end of '94 or earlier and released in Feb. '95. Slash went on tour in March. A little before that (early '95) Zakk Wylde was brought in. - Based on interviews of the period (which are more reliable as far as the timeline goes, since they referred to events of the recent past or happening at the time of the interview) and also according to Izzy himself later, the brief semi-reunion with Izzy took place in '95, not '96. Edited September 16, 2017 by Blackstar 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soon Posted September 16, 2017 Share Posted September 16, 2017 4 hours ago, Kris_1989 said: Pretty sure we have the '96 recordings... on Izzy's 117 degrees and Slash's Snakepit. Well, Snakepit was released in 95' and seems to have been recorded in 94 (at least the bulk of it). So Marc was getting his timelines a bit blurred. And Marcs comments on the 50 songs is really vague and I find confusing. Did Axl hear the 50 songs, did the rest of the band? By all other accounts recording did take place in the 96' sessions, so what of those Izzy songs? Definitely possible for some of 117 to have been from that same tape, but much of it was recorded in 1993 and not released in until 98' as far as I gather. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
default_ Posted September 16, 2017 Share Posted September 16, 2017 1 hour ago, Blackstar said: There is some confusion with the 1994-96 timeline in the interview and it's natural, as Marc recalls the events many years later. It's trivial and doesn't change the essence of what happened, but just to clarify the series of events: - The Slash Snakepit songs saga with Axl being interested in working only with some of them and Slash recording his solo album took place in '94. In its most part it developed at the same time frame as the Paul Tobias being brought in to "help" and SFTD saga, and those two stories are interrelated. Slash's album was finished by the end of '94 or earlier and released in Feb. '95. Slash went on tour in March. A little before that (early '95) Zakk Wylde was brought in. - Based on interviews of the period (which are more reliable as far as the timeline goes, since they referred to events of the recent past or happening at the time of the interview) and also according to Izzy himself later, the brief semi-reunion with Izzy took place in '95, not '96. As far as I remember Slash wasnt around during the Izzy thing, was he? Wasnt it just Duff and Izzy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RONIN Posted September 16, 2017 Author Share Posted September 16, 2017 (edited) 1 hour ago, Blackstar said: There is some confusion with the 1994-96 timeline in the interview and it's natural, as Marc recalls the events many years later. It's trivial and doesn't change the essence of what happened, but just to clarify the series of events: - The Slash Snakepit songs saga with Axl being interested in working only with some of them and Slash recording his solo album took place in '94. In its most part it developed at the same time frame as the Paul Tobias being brought in to "help" and SFTD saga, and those two stories are interrelated. Slash's album was finished by the end of '94 or earlier and released in Feb. '95. Slash went on tour in March. A little before that (early '95) Zakk Wylde was brought in. - Based on interviews of the period (which are more reliable as far as the timeline goes, since they referred to events of the recent past or happening at the time of the interview) and also according to Izzy himself later, the brief semi-reunion with Izzy took place in '95, not '96. He definitely has the Slash timeline mixed up a bit but he's right about the 2 week trial period where Slash briefly came back to work things out with Axl in late '96. We know Izzy and Duff recorded songs together briefly in April of '95 iirc, one of those songs, "Down by the Ocean", was potentially slated for the first tracklist of Chinese Democracy. It doesn't seem like he's confused on the Izzy timeline - nothing he's saying contradicts the 95 sessions. What Mark seems to be saying here is that Izzy was supposed to come to those final '96 sessions with Duff, Slash and Matt w/ 50 songs he had already put together. Izzy didn't show or before he could show, the sessions fell apart...and/or he sent the tapes to Axl and Axl possibly rejected the material. If Axl heard the material, then it's in his vault along with the Izzy/Duff demos from '95. There are also brief statements from Slash in 1996 (on chinese whispers) where he mentions that they have a bunch of songs ready to go for the next album. I think there's definitely something tangible from those final sessions in '96. It would be a shame to not hear that material since it's truly the final "lost" album of classic GnR. Edited September 16, 2017 by RONIN 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackstar Posted September 16, 2017 Share Posted September 16, 2017 5 minutes ago, RONIN said: He definitely has the Slash timeline mixed up a bit but he's right about the 2 week trial period where Slash briefly came back to work things out with Axl in late '96. We know Izzy and Duff recorded songs together briefly in April of '95 iirc, one of those songs, "Down by the Ocean", was potentially slated for the first tracklist of Chinese Democracy. It doesn't seem like he's confused on the Izzy timeline - nothing he's saying contradicts the 95 sessions. What Mark seems to be saying here is that Izzy was supposed to come to those final '96 sessions with Duff, Slash and Matt w/ 50 songs he had already put together. Izzy didn't show or before he could show, the sessions fell apart...and/or he sent the tapes to Axl and Axl rejected the material. If Axl heard the material, then it's in his vault along with the Izzy/Duff demos from '95. There are also brief statements from Slash from 1996 on chinese whispers where he mentions that they have a bunch of songs ready to go. I think there's definitely something tangible from those final sessions in '96. It would be a shame to not hear that material since it's truly the final "lost" album of classic GnR. Yeah, maybe it was so with the 1996 sessions and Izzy, although no one else has mentioned it. But there's certainly timeline confusion in what he says right after that about Slash's 12 songs that became the Snakepit album; that happened in '94. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackstar Posted September 16, 2017 Share Posted September 16, 2017 44 minutes ago, default_ said: As far as I remember Slash wasnt around during the Izzy thing, was he? Wasnt it just Duff and Izzy? Yeah, Slash was on tour then. But it's possible that Izzy was about to come back for a second time in '96, as @RONINpointed out, but didn't happen. What is for certain is that the second guitarist spot was open in '94-96 and in '96 they were even considering to fill it with various guest players for the album. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RONIN Posted September 16, 2017 Author Share Posted September 16, 2017 10 minutes ago, Blackstar said: Yeah, Slash was on tour then. But it's possible that Izzy was about to come back for a second time in '96, as @RONINpointed out, but didn't happen. What is for certain is that the second guitarist spot was open in '94-96 and in '96 they were even considering to fill it with various guest players for the album. There seems to be some rumors/innuendo that Slash and Duff wanted to bring Izzy back into the band but that idea was torpedoed by Axl in favor of having Tobias and as you mentioned, guest players. It's interesting to consider why Axl would want Tobias in the band over Izzy. Perhaps this is where it starts with Axl stacking the lineup with yes-men to counter Duff and Slash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sosso Posted September 16, 2017 Share Posted September 16, 2017 22 minutes ago, RONIN said: It's interesting to consider why Axl would want Tobias in the band over Izzy. Perhaps this is where it starts with Axl stacking the lineup with yes-men to counter Duff and Slash. Probably because he felt that Paul's songwriting was more suitable for the future of the band than Izzy's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyPrettyTiedUpMichelle Posted September 16, 2017 Share Posted September 16, 2017 1 hour ago, RONIN said: There seems to be some rumors/innuendo that Slash and Duff wanted to bring Izzy back into the band but that idea was torpedoed by Axl in favor of having Tobias and as you mentioned, guest players. It's interesting to consider why Axl would want Tobias in the band over Izzy. Perhaps this is where it starts with Axl stacking the lineup with yes-men to counter Duff and Slash. I think Blackstar offered a plausible explanation for this, something along the lines of Tobias being Izzy-centric in that he was from Indianna, a childhood mate, played a similar style to Izzy (though nowhere near as good) and was easy to get along with (or so he thought), and on that basis might slot into the band relatively drama free. Except that wasn't the case because Slash was going to hate whoever Axl brought in because, as per usual, Axl didn't go about it very well, failed to communicate his intentions, failed to consult the others etc. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackstar Posted September 16, 2017 Share Posted September 16, 2017 (edited) 6 hours ago, RONIN said: There seems to be some rumors/innuendo that Slash and Duff wanted to bring Izzy back into the band but that idea was torpedoed by Axl in favor of having Tobias and as you mentioned, guest players. It's interesting to consider why Axl would want Tobias in the band over Izzy. Perhaps this is where it starts with Axl stacking the lineup with yes-men to counter Duff and Slash. I don't know where that rumour comes from, at least for Slash. It doesn't look like it from his 1994-96 interviews. In '94 he was bitter towards Izzy; and in '95-'96, it's not that he wouldn't want Izzy back and of course he'd prefer Izzy over Tobias, no question lol, but he didn't seem to care much about it either. As far as Axl goes, I don't think he ever had to deal with an "Izzy vs Tobias" question where he chose the latter. Izzy talked with Axl in 1995, then he got a call from Duff and they were writing songs. Axl apparently knew about that and agreed. Then Izzy fled because Axl was taking or looking at notes in one of their phone conversations. Tobias wasn't going to be a full member anyway even if Axl insisted on it, because even if he was on the record he wouldn't tour. It was an overall difficult and complicated situation. Tobias was around in the studio but his position was unclear, Izzy seemingly wanted back but not in full capacity (he just wanted to write but not the full package), Axl was playing guitar (Slash didn't like that idea either), so they (or mainly Axl) came up with the idea to have guest guitarists, maybe Axl on some songs and probably hire someone else to tour with them. Slash said in one of his last GnR interviews that he had found a guitarist, a guy who was in Alice Cooper's band (he meant Ryan Roxy); in his book he said that Axl was expecting his input on the second guitarist before those last 1996 sessions but he didn't do anything because his mood was so bad that he couldn't function. -------- H.R.: Since Axl is playing guitar does that mean there won't be any replacement for Gilby? Matt: No, there's someone, but I can't tell you his name. H.R.: Is he well-known? Matt: No. He's unknown. But I can't tell you his name because I don't know if he will tour with us. There will probably be several guitarists on this album, a lot of guests. We are working on rock songs that last only 4 minutes (laugh). We already did 7 songs and we will write 7 others. H.R.: Will it be a normal CD or something strange again? Matt: No, it will be a single album with 10 or 12 songs. H.R.: Duff told us that the deadline is for Spring 97'¦ Matt: Absolutely! We want to tour next summer. Once we will be in the studio, it won't be long. The only problem is to find a way to get together. [Matt Sorum, Hard Rock magazine, summer 1996] -----From [...]: What is Izzy Stradlin' up to? Will he be performing/or writing with GNR at all? Slash Says: Last time I saw Izzy, he was on the way to Mexico. When I went to play with Alice Cooper, and I haven't seen or heard from him since. As far as I know, he's just doing donuts around the house with his motorcycle. ... From Spawn@Stradlen': are you still friends with Izzy? Slash Says: As far as I know...actually, I wanted to get together with him to write some songs. [Slash chat, Oct. 1996] Edited September 16, 2017 by Blackstar 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PirateRadio Posted September 16, 2017 Share Posted September 16, 2017 6 hours ago, alfierose said: Marc hasn't posted here in about a year which is why we decided to archive the section. Whilst I do not know his reasons he did state after the reunion was announced something along the lines of his hopes of seeing Axl and Slash reunited had been realised so there was nothing more for him to say (I'm paraphrasing here based on memory, the post will be in the Canter section). Yes, that's correct. Feels kinda strange for this world.. Marc's contributions here seemed to have a purpose(s) and when realized, they were concluded/archived. How many things GNR has actually gone through that complete a process?! Appetite for Destruction is the only one that comes to mind haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhazUp Posted September 16, 2017 Share Posted September 16, 2017 This interview takes me back to the times not-too-long-ago before Axl and Slash and Duff were all back in GNR again. I hope we never have to go back to that ever again lol 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvanG Posted September 16, 2017 Share Posted September 16, 2017 (edited) Quote I just kept telling him that what happened was magic that can never be recreated, even if he got back together with Slash they will never write another APPETITE. I mean, I’m sure if they got together and wrote a song it could be good but you can’t expect it to ever happen the way it did in 86 again. This is what I think. I got the impression that a lot of people think that if the Appetite lineup will reunite and start writing music, everything will be the same again, but that's impossible. Doesn't mean it can't be good, maybe there's still some chemistry and they will write some good songs together, but it will never be like in the mid 80s. Edited September 16, 2017 by EvanG 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sloth Posted September 17, 2017 Share Posted September 17, 2017 Izzy is flaky, paranoid and flaky. Got it Mark, loud and clear. Seems like Axl was telling the truth on that interview last year. How is the guy doing these days? The last picture I saw of him he looked like a corpse. Hope he's alright. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RONIN Posted September 17, 2017 Author Share Posted September 17, 2017 1 hour ago, Sloth said: Izzy is flaky, paranoid and flaky. Got it Mark, loud and clear. Seems like Axl was telling the truth on that interview last year. How is the guy doing these days? The last picture I saw of him he looked like a corpse. Hope he's alright. But here's the thing, Izzy has never missed a single show with GnR when he was in the band. Why would they feel he is risky for a tour? And Axl thinks Izzy is flaky? Check out the riot thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sosso Posted September 17, 2017 Share Posted September 17, 2017 18 minutes ago, RONIN said: But here's the thing, Izzy has never missed a single show with GnR when he was in the band. Why would they feel he is risky for a tour? And Axl thinks Izzy is flaky? Check out the riot thread. I think that they tried to avoid as much trouble as possible before the tour started. That's why Pitman was fired and that's why Izzy and Steven aren't included. I would love to see a three guitar player line-up with Slash, Rich and Izzy at the next tour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris 55 Posted September 19, 2017 Share Posted September 19, 2017 On 9/16/2017 at 9:44 AM, Blackstar said: [Matt Sorum, Hard Rock magazine, summer 1996] -----From [...]: What is Izzy Stradlin' up to? Will he be performing/or writing with GNR at all? Slash Says: Last time I saw Izzy, he was on the way to Mexico. When I went to play with Alice Cooper, and I haven't seen or heard from him since. As far as I know, he's just doing donuts around the house with his motorcycle. ... [Slash chat, Oct. 1996] I remember this. So many fans never heard the expression "doing donuts" when it came to vehicles so they actually thought Izzy was in his house eating donuts on his motorcycle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Top-Hatted One Posted September 19, 2017 Share Posted September 19, 2017 On 9/16/2017 at 10:37 AM, Blackstar said: Yeah, Slash was on tour then. But it's possible that Izzy was about to come back for a second time in '96, as @RONINpointed out, but didn't happen. What is for certain is that the second guitarist spot was open in '94-96 and in '96 they were even considering to fill it with various guest players for the album. Will Slash ever consider working with Izzy again? So many missed opportunities fell thru 95-96, VR & now NITL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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