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That photo is a huge bombshell and should go in the Axl in the Wilderness Years thread. He looks like he did around 94-95 but with shorter hair and with a bit of weight on him. I just wonder why he cut his hair so short from 1996-98?

Yeah, I assume so! It’s class that these photos are being unearthed from periods where he wasn’t photographed all that often, or seen for that matter!

That's awesome, thanks for sharing! I assume that photo is from 1997 then.

As this is an unearthed photo, I thought it deserved a thread of it's own. Thank you, Milo!! https://www.instagram.com/p/CoX5eAyvReL/?hl=es   In 1997, Robin Finck gave me a call (on my landline, duh) He had just got an offer to go down to the GNR rehearsal studio to play some guitar. He wanted me to help him program sounds. After about two or three days, Axl and I hit it off and although I was fully planning on pursuing my own music at the time, Axl seems to believe in me enough to offer me a position to be involved in the making of the new GNR album. This position was loosely, defined, started with programming guitar sounds, but quickly moved into incorporating computer recording into their workflow. I was at the beginning of learning this craft which I started absorbing on the NIN and David Bowie tours and Axl was kind enough to hire me to work, but also learn and figure things out as we moved into this new era. It was an interesting and educational 2 1/2 years and I have to say, Axl was one of the most supportive People when it came to believing in what would become a Perfect Circle. He was a generous, empathic and inspirational man. Thank you Axl and happy birthday!

That's a very interesting point. During the grunge movement of the early 1990s, alternative rock and punk rock gained popularity and killed Hard Rock's popularity. In addition, Kurt Cobain's suicide also snuffed out grunge itself, despite Sonic Youth, Portishead, and Oasis' best efforts. It all happened so quickly. It was no longer cool to be rockstars on heroin and drugs. (Duff talks about that in his book "It's So Easy...") In 1999, rap groups were all over MTV, and in 2000, Eminem's Marshal Mathers bulldozed what was left of rock. There was so much impact that metalheads had to adapt to the new norms to keep the business, and Korn and Limp Bizkit were born. By 1999, riding Harley-Davidsons, wearing bandanas, and hanging out at Rainbow bar and such were no longer mainstream. Long epic songs by GNR and Meatloaf weren't the thing. Makes me sad each time I think about it.