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No, this ain’t no weird „fan letter“ or me being drunk or stoned or anything. I’ve just come to the realization, that GNR has been, for the majority of my life, is in the here and now and probably will be a somewhat crucial part of my life. Strange enough, don’t feel any actual „connection“ to the musicians, not at all. I can't picture myself having a beer with Axl or Slash or anyone. But boy do I love their music. For some reason, and no particular reason at all, I just feel a very powerful urge right now to scream out THANK YOU. Thank you for the music. Thank you for the magic. The communication (though the music), the connection, the spirit, the vibe, the soul. And thank you for reaching my soul. Thank you for resonating with my soul. Regardless of how much I want to beat some new music out of you guys - thank you for everything. It's good knowing you are out there while I am out here, all of you, past and present. And I wish you nothing but the best. Same goes for fans sharing my sentiment. That’s all. Just had to get this off my chest. Probably not worth its own thread, so mods feel free to move it as you please or others feel free to chime in if you want. One band to sum it up for me, at the end of the day? One band to speak in my name, the things I can’t express but feel? Guns N’ Fuckin’ Roses.

Oh no, we can’t see Dizzy Reed

No matter from which point of view I’ve ever thought about this guy, I don’t think it’s possible for me – or anyone else really – to just fathom his mind-set, or personality in general. I mean, he has to live in a very special kind of bubble. And by this I don’t mean just that classic rock-star business that we probably can very vaguely imagine (the omnipresent fame aspect, chicks in hot tubs, money, not having to work, parties with celebs...). This guy has the balls to do gigs in front of 200 thousand people. Like the Freddie M. thing, yes. Doesn’t rehearse or often attend sound checks, comes hours late while doing god knows what. Then he has studios booked, with musicians sitting in there while he doesn’t show up for months and the money is pouring away. But then he does a gig and nails it and people love him, even when there's nobody else from his heyday music pals in the band. He calls Angus and becomes the singer of AC/DC, with the whole world watching. I think you have to be a bit of a psychopath to pull something like that. He releases an album that became a myth even before seeing the light of day, and then only chats on the internet, never promotes it, and takes a whole year to even start touring it. He knows people grab at every opportunity to see him and yet tends to disappear from the public eye for years, while folks on the internet are left to speculate, analyse 20-year old photos, and download dubious leaks. Sets up social media but barely ever uses them and has at least months’ gaps in those that he does use. Never lets anyone tell him what to do. Drags along his surrogate family with him anywhere he goes, giving off a vibe of a small cult. Doesn’t talk to the media, treats everything as a government top secret, takes years to release anything, and then puts out a questionable tune, to say the least, as the first song. No, I don’t think he’s straight-up lazy (and definitely cannot be characterized by just a single word, whatever that would be), but he definitely is a hell of an idiosyncratic, bizarre, difficult to comprehend, crazy enigma of a character, that’s for sure.

Here is the original source, around 58:10 minute mark:

Another new interview - there's also an interview with Mike Clink. Enjoy!

New interview a bit focused on the guitar gear, but not so much. He restated that GNR would be working on a new record.

Attributing Axl's super low productivity and output to "laziness" is an overly simplistic and, I should say, even childish and "lazy" in itself, approach. Same goes for when people saying that Slash, for example, "lied" as soon as something he said would happen didn't happen within the tentative timeframe he gave.

Hey Dizzy, do you have any idea when the new songs are going to get released?

As far as Robin goes I have to say I completely disagree. His solo on This I Love is a masterpiece. But the rest of his work unmemerable? Street of Dreams, ChiDem, There Was a Time, Better ... Man those solos are so amazing and melodic. His impression is all over that album, just as much as Bucket's.

Thought his mom had come back from the dead (her name is Ola too).

this point all I want is a box set of live shows (video). Some 88 shows, some other 91 shows, Paris 92, some 93 shows. All remastered

Well some say I'm lazy And others say that's just me Some say I'm crazy I guess I'll always be But it's been such a long time Since I knew right from wrong It's all the means to and end and I keep it moving along One In A Million is the only GN'R song that I wish it had only one verse - this one.

"On Wednesday, May 29 at 5:00pm SLASH and his Blues band vocalist/guitarist Tash Neal will perform live at Amoeba Hollywood." Looking forward to seeing videos from this!

Because his behavior is better explained by pointing to his insecurities, long periods of depressions, manic periods, and a possible belief that rehearsals do more bad than good. Furthermore, there is nothing lazy about doing 3 hour shows when a lot less would be enough, and stepping in for AC/DC, especially considering Axl's stage fright. And finally, if he was truly lazy and that was a distinct part of his personality which shaped his behavior, that would have been pointed out by people around him, especially when people were attacking him in the media. He has been called all kinds of things, but as far as I can recall, never lazy by anyone he has feuded with. On the contrary, people - including Dizzy, Bumblefoot, Dj, Angus Young and Alan Niven - have made a point about telling about how hard he works. To me it is clear that people who simplify this to Axl being "lazy" are themselves being intellectual lazy. They are either unable or unwilling to accept a much more complex explanation for what they observe. Which is human nature - we simply things so we don't have to deal with complexities that are beyond us, it's a coping mechanism for simpletons to navigate in a world that is too complex.

It is not "sticking up" for Axl to argue that the reasons for his poor productivity is not laziness but crippling insecurity and mental issues. 😄 Arguing that it is just a case of good old laziness is much more complimentary to him and much less of a damning description than what I provide. But hey, I wouldn't expect you to get that, either. As for your argument that Axl refraining from media and publicity because he is "lazy", I would counter that it is better explained by him being a very private person who feel that the press has been out to get him. We know that is the case.

Time to add my three cents on Katowice, Poland show. Me and my crew were there at the venue since 10:00AM, preparing the surprise for the band. We pumped 200 balloons in the form of '4' to celebrate newest SMKC album, also called '4'. We brought those up after Mammoth WVH, shortly before the SMKC show started. Handed them to people in front rows. Even though a good part of balloons didn't make it before the show started, it's been quickly noticed by the band and later during the set Myles appreciated it once again, talking about polish fans always being special to the band. Around 4:00PM we've been invited by Cheryl Hall (SMKC Tour Manager) and Slash's new bodyguard Mike to the soundcheck. We could watch it in full - not my first time but hearing Slash's guitar alone and raw is always something unique. There we have had a scheduled meeting with the band, where guys signed the middle section of our 2013 welcoming flag (check video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7k9DQVH0YeA&ab_channel=LiveMusicPL), which at the time was 12 meters long. Eleven years ago we cut it in few parts and sold all of them for charity, current owner of the middle (biggest) section of the flag reached me and I arranged the meeting. Entire band signed it and we will auction it for charity again early next winter. Here are some photos of guys signing it: The show itself was really good, band as always was super tight and the chemistry was obviously floating around. Myles has been sick for few days already which you could hear while talking to him, but he did a really good job on the show itself. It's a nice addition to have Todd singing 3 fastpaced songs, those were like nitro boosters to the audience. Rocket Man is something that any Slash's fan should hear live, both pedal steel and Myles' vocals makes it a magical time in the set. Guys were tired, you can tell that playing a show each day in different countries isn't for them anymore, you won't fool the clock. They aged and you can see it. I was hoping for some private moment between SMKC and the audience, Slash even teased us with Paradise City intro after Myles thanked us for the surprise, but nothing happened. I rate the night 10/10 though, guys, the management and security were super kind to us, Slash got late to an interview because he did not rush our meeting with the band. Super guy, amazes me everytime I meet him. R.

Another interview (in French, Rock Hard magazine,): https://www.a-4-d.com/t8416-2024-05-01-rock-hard-france-damned-blues-slash I'll translate in full at a later time (help welcomed!), but here is the part about Metal Chesnut: The record ends with an instrumental called "Metal Chestnut", a sort of “odd one out" that's closer to the Guns N' Roses repertoire than to a song written for a blues record. What's the story behind this song? It was Mike Clink's idea to end the record with an original composition. Having spent a lot of time putting together the covers and their arrangements, I hadn't thought about it. I liked his idea. So I stayed home for a couple of days to work on some ideas. "Metal Chestnut" was written on the last day of rehearsals for the album, just before recording. It's an instrumental that I think is rather inspired and came about spontaneously. If people think it sounds like Guns N' Roses, maybe it's because I'm in that band! (laughs) The rest is mostly the same stories about the recording of the covers and a bit about the performance at the Oscars. He says again that he'll start working on a new SMKC album (has already written a couple of songs) after the blues tour ends, and that GN'R has no tour planned. Doesn't know when a new GN'R album will come out, but it will be after the next SMKC cycle and all new material.

jokes aside, and I can only speak for myself, it’s not about bad guitarists rather than the prefered styles and the overall sound of CD. And still I enjoy half of that record. But when I compare the NITL singles to the leaked ones then to me the official released versions are nearer to the GNR sound and no wonder because Slash’s sound was added. It’s not necessarily a quality thing.

Ryan Gosling Says Slash Barely Made It to Their ‘I’m Just Ken’ Oscars Performance: ‘It Was Very Tense’ https://www.billboard.com/culture/tv-film/ryan-gosling-slash-almost-missed-im-just-ken-oscars-performance-1235671649/

This. There have only been 3 iconic reunions in music history. Zeppelin, Floyd and Guns. Shame we will never get to see that Troubadour show.

No, they shouldn’t have stopped after AfD. As iconic as that album is, it was the UYI tour that catapulted them to the top of the rock world back then. With Appetite only, I’m not saying they would have been forgotten, but they wouldn’t have been anywhere near the position they finally achieved. What they should have done is settling the differences after a few years, stop bickering like kids, and reunite no later than in 2006 (or even 2002, as long as Axl wouldn’t have had that voice). Instead of that, they wasted another decade. And tempus fugit.

What irks me about Axl's lack of productivity is that GNR are my favourite band, bar none, and yet I never listen to them anymore. And I'm sure I'm not alone with that. No band will ever move me the way GNR did and I cherish all four of their proper albums, but it's just such slim pickings. There are bands I don't like anywhere near as much as GNR that I listen to far more regularly, simply because they have a wealth of material to discover. It's a shame. I'd love to look forward to new releases from my favourite band, but life's a shit and rarely gives you what you want.

Great interview with Slash !!!

We don't do that around here.

@Blackstar 'on the books' is scheduled at some point, that's how I read it.

The Cathouse shows would be awesome. I know he’s pretty illegitimate these days, but I believe Alan Niven said this was the best and most raw he ever saw them.

The fact they still haven't released a proper NITL DVD (ideally the Troubadour or any 2016 show) still kind of baffles me. I don't count the Selects, that's crap. Eight years. Eight years since the biggest rock reunion of the last decades... and nothing.

Axl is one of the laziest musicians who’s ever lived. He’s basically retired. He gets to just show up for his concerts where he openly admits he doesn’t rehearse the new material, make money and leave. He has not (seriously) written music in over 20 years. I don’t even think it’s a debate.

I hope his festival is doing good and he brings it to Europe. That plan alone is good news to me because I don’t wanna miss this. He just confirmed again that they’re trying to work on a new GNR record. I don’t doubt that when he or Duff say it. I don’t even doubt that Axl is as honest as it gets when he says ’ok guys, let’s do it’. But their work ethic is just so different it doesn’t matter as long as Axl’s the producer and works on it forever

Why's it uncool to want to see Dizzy? Second longest serving band member. Quietly does his thing on keys and percussion.

We feel generally speaking that despite the best efforts & F'N attempts from those who would wish to position themselves as shall we call them ..... "insiders" That "digs" or otherwise negative assessments on the character of either myself, Guns (as an entity either in part or whole) serve only in the long run & the F'N short run as well in all honesty to be nothing more than an attempt to "sap" or "cloak" the energies of all involved..... At the expense of both myself......and you the fans.... I say fuck that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We sat down.......... Idea's on my (our) website were shared back N' forth N' by both myself & ""Interested parties" in a 3 hour meeting some years ago.... Fernando took the ball & walked very slowly with it, passing it to a dedicated team who understand the cutting edge of the "world wide Webs" Fernando had wanted (to his credit) to be part of the website (designed to promote a sense of progressive healing & serenity) however his computer, phone, wifi roota, & F'N otherwise assorted electrical paraphernalia's were taken away by the F'N PO PO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We feel the book will happen at a time best in the interests of both myself, Guns, NuGuns, management, Previous management, Bookshops, online retailers, Print setters, & cover artist A, Cover artist B, Cover artist C, Best Buy, Wallmart ect, ect. As soon as all those assorted parties fall into place and shall we say otherwize "click" You will see it... PEACE OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOW M'F'N' VOTE!!!!!!!!!!! PS....Check NIGHTRAIN FOR LTD EDITION GN'F'N'R PLASTERS/ & OTHEWIZE ASSORTED BANDAIDS COMING SOON IN 2028

What the fuck is this trash?

Ok apologies if this has been addressed in another thread. So I've finally gotten a reasonably priced UYI super deluxe edition (7 CD and Blu Ray version). Obviously the first disc I play is the Blu Ray. And whilst it's a great performance from Izzy era Illusion tour one thing sucks. Did whoever the camera people were forget about Dizzy? You can see his piano on the left hand side of the stage. If you squint you can see him in the shadows. I think one of the only times you see him when Axl introduces him during Estranged. I know he's not an original member and most fans probably watch for Axl, Slash n Duff. But Matt wasn't an original member and we see plenty of him. I don't know about everyone else. But if I buy something which contains a Blu Ray concert of a favourite artist/band I expect to see the whole fucking band.

I'm not sure if Axl is lazy or not, he's slow to do anything productive. He's not grabbing life by the balls from what I see. He is a peculiar, unique character and I can't imagine anyone else wanting to try and manage him.

Axl defense team to the rescue! Nom nom nom, Axl’s balls are magically delicious!

If Guns want to get played on the radio then they need to ditch the CD era. That whole era is full of mid tempo songs with no real guitar riffs and lyrics about all the people that wronged Axl in the 90s. People don’t really relate to that.

Probably because most people don't care about the new songs, and nobody requests them. My local station plays tons of GNR too, aside from the hits I regularly hear Don't Cry (Alt version), Mr Brownstone, Nightrain... they played the shit out of SOYL when that was released. I heard Hardschool once when it was released, and Perhaps maybe twice at the most. Of course they're not gonna play Absurd or The General. The NITL singles are mediocre and the production sucks. It's really that simple. My local station has Killing Floor in regular rotation and I've heard Oh Well several times, too.

No, we are not ignoring anything, I have already pointed to better explanations for his long periods of inactivity than "laziness". When I wrote that they referred to him as a "dictator" you can be 100% sure that is true. You might not agree with my opinions but you should be intelligent enough to know that I know my stuff when it comes to the history of this band Again, if you think that I am "defending" Axl by pointing to his debilitating insecurity and mental illness instead of just being "lazy" to explain his behavior over the years, then something is wrong with you.

Karice please... Just don't. Thx.

Well he's obviously not irrelevant cos he's lasted 34 years straight and counting. He stays on stage the full show switching between keys and percussion cos he's a band member, not a backup musician. And you can often hear Dizzy on percussion. Take Rocket Queen on Tokyo 92 where he switches between keys and percussion. He's actually a pretty decent percussionist as well as keys player. He's all over the Chinese Democracy album and the recently released songs. Obviously Axl thinks he's worth keeping around. And a lot of members have come and gone.

Probably because he’s completely irrelevant. I’ve often wondered why he bothers to stay on stage shaking a little percussion instrument that no one can hear during half the songs.

Decided to check in and the first post I saw was yours. Welcome back bro. Long time. 😃 And hello everyone 👋

No one with any knowledge on Slash could accuse him of being lazy. He is a very hard-working musician. Still, during this period in the band's history he did lose interest in GN'R and he did admit to not showing up to rehearsals. Of course not because he was lazy, but simply because he was having such a hard time dealing with the band and especially Axl. I don't know if Axl is lazy or not - he certainly has a tendency to overwork on stuff and be erratic. Not exactly a productive musician. And prone to bursts of activity and longer periods of inactivity, I guess. Which is why it was so important that Slash was around when Axl wanted to work. But I don't think anyone can blame Slash for finally giving up and focusing on Snakepit back then. He was worn thin. As for a comment someone else made about people commenting on Axl not being part of the work on Chinese Democracy. He was more active than some of the musicians realized, or at least what such comments would suggest. It seems like he built a studio in his Malibu home to work on the music and ideas that the rest of the band would turn in. He would then make comments and suggestion, often by phone back to the band (Brain has talked extensively about this). Years went by when the band was just brainstorming ideas. Josh got fed up with this and left. It might have played into Robin and Bucket leaving, too, although they also got some bad experiences from touring. And then Axl would shut down operations from time to time, he was likely fighting with doubt and somewhat crippling insecurity. Then it would start up again, but still just collecting ideas and creating sketches of songs.

actually, not showing up to rehearsals is one of Axl's most favorite activities as a musician

You understand the entire purpose of filming that concert at the time was to make a music video for YCBM? It was never intended for us to see it all, as a full show, like other bands full filmed shows intended to be released officially, as a full concert... 30 years later we are lucky we even got to see it lifted from the vaults in the first place, and re-used for that purpose, since it's incredible footage. Since there's 0 piano in the song it's pretty understandable to me that the camera guys focused on members you actually hear on the song because they needed as much footage of them as possible to choose from.

I could believe Axl's studio work frequency may actually have been different at that time than what it became later. But if Slash really was avoiding studio, it wasn't because of laziness. We know it was already basically done for in 1996. What they had there was... failure to communicate. Some men you just can't reach.