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Has your opinion of Slash and Duff changed since the NITL tour started?


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14 hours ago, Jordan Rose said:

Talking specifically about melody, has he really, objectively done anything as immediate, powerful, transcendent and memorable as Estranged, November etc? 

The last smkc album has him coasting. No standouts. He needs to be pushed and i jope any new music with gnr does that.

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Really? That’s your issue? Some twitter digs at Trump a couple times? 

I think it’s safe to say Axl has always advocated doing your own thinking. Doesn’t mean he can’t speak his mind. 

I guess considering the state of GNR, if that’s your issue, you’re close to being a model fan :) .

Edited by Ant
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I think it’s a 2 pronged issue. 
From what I can tell, massive frustration has built up regarding no new album for so long amongst this fan base, but it’s been compounded by the way the band has communicated information (or not communicated) with the fan base in a way that’s kept them in the dark. In recent times it’s not helped that the marketing strategy throughout the NTIL tour has been to basically mislead the fans into believing that things like new music was coming. 
that’s the first part of it. 
mths second part of it is TB and more specifically Fernando himself holding fans with such contempt in the way that they deal with this forum and deal with issues that the fans want and need addressed that essentially compounds my first point and has created a divide between us and the band. 
there is a few very small things that axl and tb could do to bridge that gap. 
In relation to duff and slash, I think interviews that duff have specifically have been very misleading. And it hasn’t painted Him in a very good light. Slash has always been aloof but I can forgive for him for that considering the divide between him and axl over the last 25 years so it’s probably not a big surprise that slash is guarded in respect to what he says publicly 
 

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13 hours ago, Jordan Rose said:

Point me to a solo that I should revisit that's Estranged, November, Give In To Me level. 

You know it's a matter of taste and there aren't such things as objective opinions.

Throughout his career Slash has managed to create great guitar work. I could name you two dozens of those but most likely you wouldn't agree. 

I'm speaking about the guitar work, not about the songs. 

Estranged, November Rain and Give In To Me happened to be great songs too. It's easy to recognize great guitar on great tracks but it seems that it's not that easy to recognize great guitar on songs that aren't on a "classic" level.

Regardless... just a few:

Messages 

Mother Maria

Obsession Confession

Anastasia

Ordinary Man

The Great Pretender

Beneath The Savage Sun

The Unholy 

Saturday Night 

Battleground

Crucify The Dead

Serve You Right (outro from 3:40 onwards)

By The Sword

Watch This

Emerald 

Where You Belong

I could go on and on really, but that's because I love his guitar work, and that's even without including Contraband and Snakepit. 

 

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20 hours ago, Jordan Rose said:

Talking specifically about melody, has he really, objectively done anything as immediate, powerful, transcendent and memorable as Estranged, November etc? 

I would argue that Contraband is very memorable. Fucking love that whole album....didn't need a NR or Estranged had its own FTP & LTA. Standout album of the 2000s for me

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19 minutes ago, Ratbrain said:

Axl could pull off "You Got No Right"

I don't know if your being sarcastic haha...but totally agree. would love to see 2/3 VR songs added the set. Sucker train blues same deep tone as ISE, would be epic IMO

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8 hours ago, Sydney Fan said:

The last smkc album has him coasting. No standouts. He needs to be pushed and i jope any new music with gnr does that.

I've given everything at least a few spins. The only thing i've heard that made me think "I wonder what Axl could do with that" was Anastasia. But again, I was replying to someone saying Slash was as melodically gifted as ever so not talking about whole songs but a searing, immediate melodic solo that will stay in your ahead after the first time you hear it. Classic Guns was drenched in them. 

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1 hour ago, Free Bird said:

You know it's a matter of taste and there aren't such things as objective opinions.

Throughout his career Slash has managed to create great guitar work. I could name you two dozens of those but most likely you wouldn't agree. 

I'm speaking about the guitar work, not about the songs. 

Estranged, November Rain and Give In To Me happened to be great songs too. It's easy to recognize great guitar on great tracks but it seems that it's not that easy to recognize great guitar on songs that aren't on a "classic" level.

Regardless... just a few:

Messages 

Mother Maria

Obsession Confession

Anastasia

Ordinary Man

The Great Pretender

Beneath The Savage Sun

The Unholy 

Saturday Night 

Battleground

Crucify The Dead

Serve You Right (outro from 3:40 onwards)

By The Sword

Watch This

Emerald 

Where You Belong

I could go on and on really, but that's because I love his guitar work, and that's even without including Contraband and Snakepit. 

 

I DO understand your point and if i've time later i'm gonna flick through some of those. MY point is still that if you took ANY of those solos I mentioned and dropped them into the most turgid Snakepit song you would go "What the fuck was that?!" after the solo. 

Also, you can be objective to a point. I don't like the Beatles. Don't like Lennon's voice. Don't like their sound(s). Don't connect with them. Have listened to everything, could probably make one CD of stuff I really enjoy. Would rather take McCartney's Memory Almost Full to a dessert island than their whole catalogue. 

BUT I completely understand their genius, brilliance, originality and almost unparalleled influence on the industry. Just because I don't connect doesn't mean I don't understand.

Edited by Jordan Rose
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26 minutes ago, Jordan Rose said:

I've given everything at least a few spins. The only thing i've heard that made me think "I wonder what Axl could do with that" was Anastasia. But again, I was replying to someone saying Slash was as melodically gifted as ever so not talking about whole songs but a searing, immediate melodic solo that will stay in your ahead after the first time you hear it. Classic Guns was drenched in them. 

In terms of melodic post guns the solos to "youve got no right" "american man "and "fall to pieces" and his solo for ozzys new song is probably the closest melody wise since classic GNR, illusion era. I think his solo stuff has a tendancy to focus on riffs than solos.

Anastasia live sydney 2013, is also another one to hear.

Also i dont like the beatles either. None of their work i connect to except guitar gently weeps. I find them overrated. But i guess like most bands you have to put them within the context of their time.

Edited by Sydney Fan
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My opinion on both has changed for the worse.

Ever since Duff's interviews last year and the resulting aftermath with Raz's open letter etc., I've seen him with new eyes and been forced to reevaluate my opinion on him. I used to have a fairly positive opinion on Duff and thought he was the most decent guy in GNR. Even when he said that GNR were good dudes I might have thought there was some truth to it if he had been talking about himself and not his band members, because I had never heard anything horrible about Duff before.

As for Slash, it was disappointing that while in South Africa he and Meegan visited facilities where tourists are allowed to cuddle lion cubs and walk with lions. They claimed they had done their research before visiting the place. Yet if you do any research at all you will immediately find out that these places are bad for animals and connected to canned lion hunting. Animal welfare and wildlife organizations have worked hard to educate the puclic to stay away from such tourist attractions. Slash had a reputation as a wildlife activist and had previously spoken out for elephants, so it was disappointing that he not only visited the place but also gave it a lot of free advertisement.

Del James also visited similar facilities and took pictures with animals that appeared to be so heavily drugged they were completely out of it. My opinion on Del didn't change because it wasn't the first time I had seen animal cruelty related pictures of him.

At this point I think I like Steven the best as far as the classic lineup. He's a little bit more honest with a little bit more heart to him than the rest of them - or at least that's my impression. Even if he occasionally blurts out the wrong thing, I find it refreshing if the alternative is the hus hus mentality and never saying anything interesting. I can barely read through interviews with current members anymore because they are such a borefest. The most exciting moments of the NITL tour were the brief moments Steven was on stage with them. For a long time I was hoping he would return. Lately I've began to think that maybe it's for the better that he stays away if being in GNR means completely losing your balls, freedom of speech, and any integrity that you might have.

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When I was a dumb kid first posting on these forums I used to defend Axl and put down Slash, like an idiot. Then I grew a brain, and realized Slash was cool.

While my opinion on Slash hasn’t changed (I still think he’s cool), my opinion on Duff has indeed changed a bit since NITL got started. He seems more “defensive” or something now than he used to, pre-reunion.

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in re: Slash

Like Mick Taylor, he does his best stuff when he's playing in a great song. Great songs are, in general, really rare and usually accidents.

Still, here we are in 2020, and he is practically peerless - put him onstage next to any current or older electric blues player, and he will kill.

I've seen NITL twice and he was fucking awesome both times. There was plenty of pointless noodling but he still fucking slayed it!

Duff is Duff - he's always been a bit dispassionate. He's kinda the solid rock in the center of the Axl/Izzy/Slash chaos - he's still doing his thing as he always has, just adjusted for his age/experience.

 

One way or another, this band has basically been a cash machine since Izzy left. Sometimes the price of admission gets you a killer, unforgettable performance. Sometimes you get to watch millionaires punch their time card.

 

They have this in common with every band that's lasted more than 3 album cycles.

 

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Well, they can say what they want, but to me...GnR does not feel like a real partnership between the three. It seems more like Duff and Slash joined Nu Guns. That theory seems to be gaining more and more traction each year without new music.

Slash is doing what he needs to do given the circumstances and is pragmatic about it. I suspect he had more interest in getting Izzy and Steven involved for NITL than the others. Yes, his recent playing seems tasteless and nowhere near even the VR days - but he's carrying this entire enterprise on his back and for that we must give credit. 

Duff is a clown. How can you trust the judgement of a guy that recommended his Instagram followers to go see Rambo Last Blood? That movie was shite as the British would say. I get that he's friends with Stallone but come on man.

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On 2/10/2020 at 10:09 PM, Sydney Fan said:

The last smkc album has him coasting. No standouts. He needs to be pushed and i jope any new music with gnr does that.

LTD came across as very lazy. May have been a little better with another singer but Myles doesn't help the cause. 

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I think it took them many years (decades) to reach the same place in life that Axl settled into: just don't give a fuck.

They had a lot to accomplish after 1996 and 1998 - namely, trying to create another band whose music was big enough to become a household name. They kinda did that - even if Velvet Revolver was only relevant for their debut album, they touched the sky with that band with the two singles which were pretty ubiquitous.

After that...

Well, Rock N Roll is built on memories, not on the path of tomorrow.  They did their own minor things for periods of time but came to realize that if they wanted back into the tent of the big circus and the glamour of that - that they would have to develop an attitude of apathy and an acceptance that there is no forward momentum.

Guns N' Roses is a lumbering touring machine and nothing more. It's a well oiled stage act that can command the highest ticket prices but cannot figure out what its identity is independent of its original albums.

I think they both know that and they reached a place of apathy where there are very weak expectations as to anything else.

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There was a time when you formed an opinion on a person when you meet them in person, interact and than make your own judgement based on that interaction with the individual. 

Unfortunately today, that is not the case  with social media and other avenues available, people resort to basing their opinion on irrelevant information or read to much into things, that does not offer a true picture of one's character. 

I have had the opportunity to meet Duff and his wife, plus Richard in person, and will form my opinion on my interaction with them. 

Duff and Susan. Polite, funny and very open minded. Wanted to know more about my country and culture. Respect for taking the time to learn more in life adding to one's life experiences. 

Richard. Nice guy, spoke at length about his touring schedule, dude goes for a jog/run each morning when on tour. Respected the fact i had my 8 year old son with me, and turned his attention from me to making my son a happy young man. 

 

Edited by kiwiguns
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23 hours ago, kiwiguns said:

There was a time when you formed an opinion on a person when you meet them in person, interact and than make your own judgement based on that interaction with the individual. 

Unfortunately today, that is not the case  with social media and other avenues available, people resort to basing their opinion on irrelevant information or read to much into things, that does not offer a true picture of one's character. 

I have had the opportunity to meet Duff and his wife, plus Richard in person, and will form my opinion on my interaction with them. 

Duff and Susan. Polite, funny and very open minded. Wanted to know more about my country and culture. Respect for taking the time to learn more in life adding to one's life experiences. 

Richard. Nice guy, spoke at length about his touring schedule, dude goes for a jog/run each morning when on tour. Respected the fact i had my 8 year old son with me, and turned his attention from me to making my son a happy young man. 

 

A brief personal encounter with a celebrity doesn't necessarily offer a true picture of their character, either. It's not only on social media that people read too much into things or base their opinion on irrelevant information. The same thing happens in real life encounters.

 

 

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Duff became a little bit of a sell out with all the business-y stuff... still love him though.

Slash disappointed me with all his uninterested playing and noodling as well as his generic SMKC endeavors. I know it's to late for VR to come back, but still... he had a chance. He's still great on stage though...

Axl... well Axl. What can you say? 

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