If Slash quit GNR again would the brand survive?

[Gibson87]

22 minutes ago, IrishgunnerII said:

So a guitarist with the skill of Slash is behind Bumblefoot ? Okay then that's utter horseshit.

I agree with you. The way I see it, Bumble is more skilled from a technical standpoint but Slash is a better musician and performer. Slash is the clear winner when it comes to songwriting ability, tone, stage presence, and overall musicianship. All of those things make him more entertaining to watch/listen to than BBF. 

Edited December 30, 2018 by Gibson_Guy87

[Gackt]

3 hours ago, gnfnrs1972 said:

A lot of you have misunderstood what Im saying as the brand. There is no way to stop nostalgia tshirt, memorabilia sales, and music that already is. Moving forward replacing Slash again with whoever, touring, replacing logos, fan acceptance, Axl accepting scaling it back again. The next new brand, not the fucking nostalgia brand that was and currently is successful.

Casual Guns fans don't give a shit.  To some, it'll always be 1987 and that's how they'll always view the band.

[LA_0013]

I probably wouldn’t want it to. Even the fact we are now calling it a ‘brand’ rather than a ‘band’ tells you what you need to know.

The fans have been milked for 20 years. Don’t think anyone has the stomach for watching the back catalogue anymore. Or another new guitarist for that matter.

If Slash left at this stage, it would be the death rattle for GNR in my opinion. 

Edited December 30, 2018 by LA_0013

[ludurigan]

15 hours ago, Old_school_gnr_fan said:

Sorry, but Guns N' Roses are a business and a brand.

If you mean the band that presents itself as "Guns n' Roses", I agree 100% with you;

15 hours ago, Old_school_gnr_fan said:

To have a successful business, you have to give people what they want

 

I am not sure that Guns n Roses and Geffen did a marketing research before writing and recording Appetite for Destruction and Use Your Illusion in order to "give people what they want"

I am not sure you understand the difference between writing, recording, releasing and performing music and selling oranges

15 hours ago, Old_school_gnr_fan said:

Because of Slash and Duff, Guns N' Roses are legitimate again after years of little interest from anyone outside of hardcore fans.

 

It may be "legitimate" in a making-money sense. I don't think anyone is crazy to deny that Guns n Aliens is the best money-making machine in business these days.

Legitimate as a rock n' roll band?

I say they are a wildly successful nostalgia act playing Appetite for Destruction and November Rain etc for the 1000th time for millions of people who are willing to pay top dollar to watch Slash and Axl together doing that.

15 hours ago, Old_school_gnr_fan said:

GN'R today are a healthy business, no longer faced with the possibility of Las Vegas residencies to keep the name alive.

I suppose the Las Vegas residencies were not meant to "keep the name alive"

I suppose it would be more correct to say that Axl used the name Guns n' Roses to make money

[Original]

If Slash bails then TB will have bowling alleys and Vegas residencies lined up again.   Probably a few cruises too.  Probably would bring in some more gong show “musicians” too.   

[WhazUp]

Axl could get away with it in the 2000's on tour because that was the closest thing to GNR we could get (besides Velvet Revolver of course  lol)

But now that Slash has toured with GNR for so long already, there is no way people wouldn't say "why see GNR without Slash now when I just saw GNR with Slash a couple years ago?"  AT this point it is either Slash is back in GNR for good, or there is no more GNR

[thunderram]

If SLASH and AXL ever part again, the GN'R brand will surely survive just as it had before they ever reunited. What won't survive is touring interest from mainstream fans.

Many fans don't like to accept it, but, beyond the music itself, the mainstream appeal of GN'R has always been AXL and SLASH.

IZZY, DUFF and STEVEN were instrumental to the overall sound (and writing), but AXL and SLASH were and still are the image.

When STEVEN was ousted in 1990, the bands popularity didn't suffer. When IZZY left in 1991, the bands popularity also didn't suffer. When SLASH and DUFF left circa 1996/97, the bands popularity suffered (evident once AXL continued on his own). There are numerous other reasons why popularity waned, but the fractured lineup was the biggest of those reasons. When AXL, SLASH and DUFF reunited, the bands popularity increased from where it had been the previous 20 years (despite not releasing any new music).

When not together, both SLASH and AXL's bands appeal to niche fans. When together, they appeal to the mainstream. Whether or not that appeal applies beyond nostalgia to new music remains to be seen.

Edited December 30, 2018 by thunderram

[-Jaro-]

GNR would survive, but would be irrelevant as they were 1996/7 - 2015.

 

[F*ck Fear]

Unless Axl released the rest of the Chinese Democracy stuff to tour with a new lineup, I'd be done with Guns N' Roses if Slash were to quit.

[AxlSlashthebest]

this dicussion make me nervous !!! lol

[Propaganda]

17 hours ago, RussTCB said:

I totally hear and agree with what you're saying. However, for me they became a brand the moment I saw that Monster can on the piano during November Rain. 

I believe it was DJ who brought that sponsor to Guns btw...

He brought this charismatic Chinese Democracy start:

 

He brought his clothing line to the play and Axl even copied it and started wearing jeans like his.

 

Not to mention that Axl finally felt comfortable to release a live dvd with him in the band. He was the missing key. Axl saw the potential in him, which is why he wanted to bring him to the mix in the reunion gig.

As for his talent as a guitar player. He's certainly a better songwriter than Bumblefoot. He even wrote songs for Motley Crue, so that is enough to prove my point. He's in a successful band, which Bumblefoot is not. To me he's much better doing solos. It's a shame his contributions weren't on Chinese Democracy, for obvious reasons, because I think his input would have done much more creatively than what Bumblefoot's did.

I think it's fair to say that a lot of people didn't like Bumblefoot's contributions on Chinese Democracy, namely his guitar parts.

If you look at the shows solo spots, he even contributed more to that than Bumblefoot. So to me his input on GNR was of much more value.

Not to say that Bumblefoot isn't talented. I'm not a big fan of his solo work but the dude obviously has talent. He's also a very nice guy, and has been a very nice guy to the fans. But so is DJ. I have interacted with both and DJ and was quite nice too.

 

@RussTCB When you quoted me I still hadn't edited my post. Sorry about that. 

Edited December 30, 2018 by Propaganda

[RussTCB]

17 minutes ago, Propaganda said:

I believe it was DJ who brought that sponsor to Guns btw...

It most certainly was. 

[Edward Nygma]

Don't see what Slash would gain from quitting GNR again. It won't make his solo albums or conspirators albums sell any more than they already have, Living The Dream sold 20,000 copies in its first week in the US and than took a nose dive off the charts. Slash in GNR is what works best. Plus those alimony payments will be easier to pay off playing in the big stadiums around the world, he may even get his teeth fixed who knows.

[Draguns]

2 hours ago, AxlSlashthebest said:

this dicussion make me nervous !!! lol

Why is this making you nervous? It's speculation and foolish talk by some fans.  That's all this is. No facts at all that Slash would leave the band again. 

[Azifwekare]

On 29/12/2018 at 6:04 AM, Bitchisback said:

Next album cover.

[yourcrazy]

Without Slash things would go down hill quick.  The return of Slash and Duff reignited the mainstream desire for GnR.  Now is the time to get some new music out along with a live blue ray and possibly the old UYI documentary.   They could ride this wave for the next 5-10 years.  A few albums, a few tours etc, cementing the legacy of a great band.   If Axl is left to make all the decisions it will be more of the same from 2000-2016 and we will never hear new music. 

[avahland]

5 minutes ago, yourcrazy said:

Without Slash things would go down hill quick.  The return of Slash and Duff reignited the mainstream desire for GnR.  Now is the time to get some new music out along with a live blue ray and possibly the old UYI documentary.   They could ride this wave for the next 5-10 years.  A few albums, a few tours etc, cementing the legacy of a great band.   If Axl is left to make all the decisions it will be more of the same from 2000-2016 and we will never hear new music. 

Down hill ? I would say just another hill...

Edited December 30, 2018 by avahland
typo

[TeeJay410]

Axl could still play arenas in South America, Asia, and Europe, snag some Festival headlining spots in Europe, and play big clubs/small arenas at best in the US. It could go on as a lesser version of the post-cd pre-reunion guns.

 

But really, that path could begin even with Slash if they don't take advantage of this teeny tiny window to put out a record with a smash rock radio hit to give them a Black Ice or Death Magnetic push into their golden years. They already missed their chance to be the Rolling Stones, but they could whip this into being AC/DC, successfully touring stadiums/arenas until they decide they're done.

[Sydney Fan]

14 hours ago, Tom2112 said:

Also... I NEVER compared CD era GNR to UYI era... certainly not in terms of success and appeal, that would be crazy! 

It's interesting how some classic era fans like to say GNR were stuck playing bowling alleys, but that tour was probably put in place because Axl thought it would be cool to play some tiny venues... he's not the first artist to do something like that. I'd never argue that they were ultra successful during that period but in a time when bands of a similar status were struggling to sell tickets, GNR were definitely doing well... even with a fraction of their fanbase actually interested in attending shows. 

In terms of your first paragraph, i wasnt meaning that you were one of those fans  so apologies. 🙂

In terms of the second paragraph i really think he was doing it on purpose as a way of enticing more fans to the show, but im sure with no music on the horizon nuguns fans may have seen to be moving on.

[Sydney Fan]

2 hours ago, Azifwekare said:

Next album cover.

Thats the front and below with the front of a bottle of ashba water.

 

[Sosso]

3 hours ago, RussTCB said:

It most certainly was. 

Slash and DJ were both sponsored by Monster. 

Edited December 30, 2018 by Sosso

[RussTCB]

15 minutes ago, Sosso said:

Slash and DJ were both sponsored by Monster. 

But you don't see a Monster can during November Rain anymore. 

[Swedish]

16 minutes ago, RussTCB said:

But you don't see a Monster can during November Rain anymore. 

I like Monster Energy, I like November Rain, I don’t want them anywhere near each other again! 

[Propaganda]

58 minutes ago, youngswedishvinyl said:

I like Monster Energy, I like November Rain, I don’t want them anywhere near each other again! 

Why not? It's a sponsor! A good one! Why not have good sponsors?!?

[kiwiguns]

5 hours ago, Draguns said:

Why is this making you nervous? It's speculation and foolish talk by some fans.  That's all this is. No facts at all that Slash would leave the band again. 

Props to you as you get it. 

I understand this is a fan forum and fans come here to express an opinion or there thoughts. But this thread is like many based on no facts or confirmation that Slash is leaving the band. 

What happens to Guns N Roses in the future we as fans have no control of what path each individual takes, the band line up, what venues they play, what they wear, the tempo of the band or when the next album is released. 

As fans we can control what we do by listening to old music or watching old videos  by the original line up, of your favourite album or possibly more recent line ups or the current line-up. 

We as fans can also choose to pay money to see the current band play live. 

Individual members of Guns N Roses have no control of what we as fans do. 

I use the term leave your baggage at the door as most of the same posters high jack threads with the same old same old mind set often not leaving that at the door before they enter the thread if its based on a different subject matter. 

I feel these people don't want the band to succeed as they never accepted  the facts or see things as they are. 

The band has just finished a successful tour (2nd all time earner), they have been managed well by both there management, booking agents and promoters and from the outside looking in as fans individuals in the band seem happy, relaxed and as a band (a group) of people both on stage and off don't seem to want to end the journey they have started. 

 

Edited December 30, 2018 by kiwiguns