The history of GN'R as told by GN'R (A4D)

[Spike Killer]

Excellent new additions.

I'm surprised to read that the band didn't make much money from the Use Your Illusion tour cycle.  Between fines and lavish spending while also putting an investment in the production value - would cut into the profits.

[lame ass security]

Loved the part where Slash said he and Sebastian had to stay in separate hotels on the road because of their partying. He said he couldn't smoke pot like Sebastian, it spaced him out too hard. Sounds weird coming from a guy who snorted half of Colombia and injected heroin.😄

Edited June 27, 2020 by lame ass security

[SoulMonster]

Hi guys,

After a summer vacation I am back working on this again.

Here's the index to all the chapters so far: https://www.a-4-d.com/t4924-02-global-index#19869

And here's the latest entry: https://www.a-4-d.com/t5017-18-november-1993-november-1994-axl-and-slash-disagrees-gilby-is-dismissed#20082

This latest section covers the period from November 1993 to November 1994. Only 12 months, but 12 important months. Axl was unhappy with the songs Slash had created and he and Slash argued over the musical direction of the band. Axl wanted the band to evolve to stay relevant, Slash did not. Gilby was dismissed and Paul was brought in. Slash stopped coming to rehearsals and instead focused on his new band, Snakepit. Duff's pancreas finally quit. Axl got slapped with a lawsuit from Erin. Despite all this, they did manage to release Sympathy for the Devil, although Paul's presence on the recording further aggravated Slash and caused the rift between him and Axl to deepen. In all practicality, Slash had already left Guns N' Roses.

[Snooze]

Brilliant and much appreciated!

[SoulMonster]

Another chapter is out. It deals with the period from December 1994 to October 1996: https://www.a-4-d.com/t5018-19-december-1994-october-1996-axl-and-slash-fights-slash-quits

A longer period than usual and to some extent a period clouded in mystery. The band was working but the lineup wasn't entirely clear and Axl did no interviews in this period. Slash, on the other hand, did  interviews and would occasionally badmouth Axl and Axl's music. After a failed attempt at finding a compromise in Zakk Wylde to replace Gilby, Slash left to tour with Snakepit and him and Axl stopped talking. In addition to their argument over who to replace Gilby, Paul's role in the band, Axl's increasing dictatorial style, the direction of the music, the press learnt that there were animosity between the two men due to Axl having obtained ownership over the band's name. Izzy returned to Los Angeles to play with Duff and reconnected with Axl, but eventually did not return to the band. With more time on his hands, Duff joined the Neurotic Outsiders together with Matt and continued to reverse years of decay by exercising and eating healthy. In late 1996 the band finally got together again to work on new music and a record slated for release in early 1997, but these sessions only lasted for a few weeks before the relationship between Axl and Slash took yet another turn for the worse. On October 30, in a statement sent to MTV, Axl announced that Slash was out of the band.

[DurhamGirl]

Amazing and informative work!  Thankyou.

[jamillos]

This, along with the Chinese Whispers and GNRontour (plus some info from htgth regarding NuGNR tours), are the best collections of information about GNR out there. This one + CW in particular.  

[SoulMonster]

33 minutes ago, jamillos said:

This, along with the Chinese Whispers and GNRontour (plus some info from htgth regarding NuGNR tours), are the best collections of information about GNR out there. This one + CW in particular.  

Thank you. It will also just get better and better as I keep adding quotes from more recent interviews and sources (currently come to August 2002) and as I work more on language, fix mistakes, and include all internal links.

It will become the most comprehensive source to GN'R history, the ultimate reference - simply because it is based on the by far largest collection of sources. And on that note I cannot thank @Blackstarenough for the amazing work she has done by helping to uncover new articles and interviews, and for discussing and providing invaluable help on interpreting sources and discussing the various topics. Also a huuuge thank to everyone who has sent us scans of articles and interviews or just helped by pointing out mistakes. This work is for the entire GN'R fan community and with kind contributions and help I like to think it is also from the GN'R fan community.

[SoulMonster]

A new chapter added: https://www.a-4-d.com/t5024-20-november-1996-august-1997-robin-replaces-slash-but-matt-and-duff-quits

This chapter covers the period from November 1996 to August 1997. Slash had just left the band and this probably made it easier for Axl who now didn't have to compromise as much when it came to the music and how it was produced. Not long after Robin Finck joined the band. The band started filling DATs with song ideas, sketches, loops and riffs. The band would also look for a producer, and in this period Mike Clink, Moby, and Rick Rubin were mentioned in the press and to various degrees were involved with the process of making the next Guns N' Roses record. Eventually Matt had had enough and was out, and not long after Duff left, too. What had started as one key member leaving had now escalated to the dissolution of Guns N' Roses with only Axl and Dizzy remaining from the Use Your Illusion lineup. The band was missing vital members, but had lockers of DATs with unfinished music.

______________
A small note: I am currently going through articles from December 2002, so I am only about 5 years ahead of the chapters. This means that some of the most recent topics will be somewhat sparse in content. I continuously add to topics already published before as I come across relevant quotes. Blackstar also included a new interview from 1987 today, which results in a bunch of new quotes added throughout the section. It will only get more and more detailed.

[SoulMonster]

Next chapter: https://www.a-4-d.com/t5025-21-september-1997-november-1999-josh-and-tommy-joins-robin-leaves-live-era-is-released

This chapter covers September 1997 to November 1999. Matt and Duff had recently left and the band was in disarray. Fortunately Josh and Tommy were recruited in 1998 and it seems like the band were able to progress the work of new music. Axl was still keeping himself out of the public eye (except for an incident at Phoenix airport). In 1999 rumours started spreading that the band was close to releasing a new record and new music was indeed heard, first a new version of 'Sweet Child O' Mine' in the Big Daddy movie and then 'Oh My God' on the End of Days soundtrack. At the end of the year the band would also release Live Era '87-'93 and to coincide with all this Axl came back into the public to do some interviews.

[zigzagbigbag]

Great Work, @SoulMonster and @Blackstar! Thank you so much!

I know it’s off topic but I just scrolled through your Song Archive and learnd that Down on the Farm allegedly has been performed 11 times 😳 This is new to me. I always thought it was only played once at Farm Aid. However, I am only into classic GNR and a bit NITL GNR. 

My guess is that the other performances are by New GNR between 2000 and 2015, correct?

[SoulMonster]

17 minutes ago, zigzagbigbag said:

Great Work, @SoulMonster and @Blackstar! Thank you so much!

I know it’s off topic but I just scrolled through your Song Archive and learnd that Down on the Farm allegedly has been performed 11 times 😳 This is new to me. I always thought it was only played once at Farm Aid. However, I am only into classic GNR and a bit NITL GNR. 

My guess is that the other performances are by New GNR between 2000 and 2015, correct?

Thanks!

Down on the Farm was performed 10 times in 2006, so yes, correct.

Edited August 16, 2020 by SoulMonster

[zigzagbigbag]

Just now, SoulMonster said:

Thanks!

Down on the Farm was performed 10 times in 2006, so yes, correct.

Thanks! 

[SoulMonster]

Another chapter added, this one covering the period November 1999 to January 2001: https://www.a-4-d.com/t5186-22-november-1999-january-2001-lineup-turmoil-but-a-triumphal-return#20664

I am now getting into a period that is somewhat obscured due to a lack of contemporary sources describing the inner workings of the band. Some light will be shed on this period when I get to more recent articles and interviews (I am currently working my through 2004), but for now some of the chapters will appear sparse. It will all be filled out in due time.

This was a period where band members came and went, more specifically Buckethead, Brain and Chris joined and Robin re-joined, while Josh left the band. These changes likely caused issues for the work on new music, with extra work needed to accommodate new musicians who were to put their stamp on the music (like Brain replacing Josh's drums). The press would also start to whisper about planned tours to follow the release of Chinese Democracy. And eventually the new version of Guns N' Roses would indeed return for January 2001 shows at the House of Blues in Las Vegas and Rock in Rio in Brazil. These shows would be the first Guns N' Roses shows since 1993 and would be with a very different lineup, with some new songs, and with a world that was quite different from when the band left, or started. Despite this, the shows received praise and good reviews and things looked bright.

[Nice Boy]

Great work cheers

Do you guys have a transcription of a release that came out called Appetite For Conversation? I had a cassette of it years ago, it was an interviewer talking to Slash and Duff, pretty bad audio but funny conversation during the AfD tour I think. ?

[Shackler's]

4 minutes ago, Nice Boy said:

Great work cheers

Do you guys have a transcription of a release that came out called Appetite For Conversation? I had a cassette of it years ago, it was an interviewer talking to Slash and Duff, pretty bad audio but funny conversation during the AfD tour I think. ?

https://www.a-4-d.com/t558-1987-06-dd-vinyl-interview-appetite-for-conversation-slash-duff?highlight=1987

[Nice Boy]

Nice one, not heard this since mid 90s!

[Blackstar]

3 minutes ago, Nice Boy said:

Nice one, not heard this since mid 90s!

Here is a list of all the articles and interviews we have in our database from 1985 to March 2004 (of course we have interviews post March 2004, too, which will be progressively added in the list as @SoulMonster works on the history):

https://www.a-4-d.com/t2861-interview-and-article-index

So, for anyone looking for an interview from that period (text, audio or video) there is very high chance that you'll find it in our database - plus many more articles that you've probably never read.  

 

[SoulMonster]

6 hours ago, Nice Boy said:

Nice one, not heard this since mid 90s!

@Blackstar and I have purchased what we could find of interview CDs and vinyls. I even bought myself a vinyl to mp3 machine so I could convert the vinyl interviews to digital format, which makes it easier to transcribe.

[SoulMonster]

Finally a new chapter added, no. 23! It's been a while, life got in the way and I've had to trawl through a huge amount of interviews and articles to feel ready to update the history. 

This chapter deals with the period after Rock in Rio in January 2001 to the start of the tour in November 2002. This was a comparatively stable period with only Richard coming in to replace Paul, although rumours swirled that Bucket was on the verge of leaving. There were also managerial changes as Merck Mercuriadis took over for Goldstein. The band had a disastrous appearance at the MTV VMAs and the tour in November 2002 started with a riot in Vancouver. The Lebeis family became known to fans and ex-gunners started Velvet Revolver. Slash got rejected from the House of Blues show and Chinese Democracy was still inexplicitly not being finished.

Read the chapter here: 23. JANUARY 2001-NOVEMBER 2002: RICHARD REPLACES PAUL, TOURING STARTS (a-4-d.com)

As always, the history section is based on what has been published about the band and my sources are found here: INTERVIEW AND ARTICLE INDEX (a-4-d.com) I am currently about to start plowing through 2006 articles. And as you know, I continuously edit old chapters, and revise the structure, as I get across new information from more recent sources. So don't expect there to be any quotes from after 2005, yet. The whole section just gets more and more complete as I work my way forward. It's a living thing.

 

[SoulMonster]

I am on fire! New chapter: (1) 24. NOVEMBER 2002-APRIL 2004: THE TOUR BREAKS DOWN, THE END OF GUNS N' ROSES? (a-4-d.com)

This deals with the period from November 2002 to April 2004. A pretty long stretch but not that many posts. This wasn't a particularly good period for Guns N' Roses and Axl, especially not seen from the outside. It started with a riot in Philly and the cancellation of the remaining shows on the band's fall tour. This prompted the media speculating about GN'R now ending. Buckethead left the band with no immediate replacement coming in. With time on their hands, band members concentrated on other projects, Tommy on his solo record and tour, Dizzy on his Hookers & Blow. To make matters worse, the record label released Greatest Hits despite the objections of Axl, Slash and Duff, Lawrence released a Rapidfire demo, despite objections from Axl, and Velvet Revolver was building momentum and was about to release their debut record, with likely unexpressed objections from Axl. To cap it off, Slash and Duff sued Axl. Anything positive? New music came in the form of a few leaks and allegedly the band was still intent on releasing Chinese Democracy. Some time.

Edited February 6, 2021 by SoulMonster

[Dean]

1 minute ago, SoulMonster said:

I am on fire! New chapter: (1) 24. NOVEMBER 2002-APRIL 2004: THE TOUR BREAKS DOWN, THE END OF GUNS N' ROSES? (a-4-d.com)

This deals with the period from November 2002 to April 2004. A pretty long stretch but not that many posts. This wasn't a particularly good period for Guns N' Roses and Axl, especially not seen from the outside. It started with a riot in Philly and the cancellation of the remaining shows on the band's fall tour. This prompted the media speculating about GN'R now ending. Buckethead left the band with no immediate replacement coming in. With time on their hands, band members concentrated on other projects, Tommy on his solo record and tour, Dizzy on his Hookers & Blow. To make matters worse, the record label released Greatest Hits despite the objections of Axl, Slash and Duff, Lawrence released a Rapidfire demo, despite objections from Axl, and Velvet revolver was building momentum and was about to release their debut record. To cap it off, Slash and Duff sued Axl. Anything positive? New music came in the form of leaks and allegedly the band was still intent on releasing Chinese Democracy. Some time.

I made my way through half of yesterdays while listening to UYI I. I'll finish the rest of that today and get onto this one tonight. Thank you for all the hours you put into this.

[SoulMonster]

Here's the index to the story so far: (1) 02. GLOBAL INDEX (a-4-d.com)

Some background info:

- To write the story so far I have read through more than 2000 articles comprising a database of more than 2,5 million words. That's a word file of 5302 pages written in font size 9.

- Throughout this abundance of material, Slash has on 57 different occasions made the disclaimer "all things considered" to make sure we understand he takes a holistic approach when considering stuff. No one else has said that.

- Steven has on different occasions graciously offered that Axl, Matt and Jizzy Pearl can kiss his ass. No one else has made that offer.

- Tracii for some reason doesn't disappear from the story but keeps inserting himself in various ways, lastly by suggesting he could replace Buckethead.

- Steven is entirely uninhibited and would in many ways been better off if the stroke had made him perfectly mute.

[rumandraisin]

Excellent read. Can't wait for the next era. 

The 2003 to 2005 era was utterly depressing and looking back made worse by Fortus and Dizzy keep saying its coming soon. 

[Sisyphus]

Great work. I was browsing through a few paragraphs and I came across a ridiculously ironic quote from Axl I completely forgot about. In a 1999 interview he said he had watched Slash "throw it all away" by playing with "everyone from Space Ghost to Michael Jackson" thus losing the "love and respect of the world." That's not what happened though whereas in the case of Axl ...