jekylhyde

In my opinion, perfectionism is a bullshit term. There is no such thing as a perfectionist. You either tinker endlessly because you're insecure/indecisive or you complete your art and understand that being an artist is a long, ongoing, endless process, which means your work will never be "perfect". And I think with Axl it was a case of endless tinkering caused by insecurity and indecisiveness. He would've needed a good manager and a good producer, but more importantly he should've been ready and willing to trust them too.

"Axl is sounding great, shows with new deep cuts are being played, fans are happy and eager for new music... We better start fucking things up quick!" - Team Brazil, probably.

I used to feel the same, but now I dig these fast songs a lot. They have this cool punk-ish vibe to them. Funnily enough it was Absurd that made me appreciate them more They are a fun way to cleanse your palate between the epic ballads and the groovy rockers

It was really easy to check from Youtube. It is Absurd.

These kind of reviews are usually less about the band and more about the writer and their ability to be a witty and sarcastic wordsmith. Objectively, he does make some good points about Axl's voice and the band being a kind of caricature of themselves. Subjectively, I don't care though. They are still a great live band and their shows are so much fun. That's the most important thing.

Moments like these remind me why I love this band and why I especially love this forum This is so great!

That low voice is just so The whole band sounds great!

The main goal of a band should be keeping the audience engaged. With three hour shows that can be difficult, if the energy goes up and down and up and down and up and down. I think a good show always has some kind of dramatic arc or balanced rhythm. You can have too much of a good thing. Though, obviously, it differs from person to person. When I saw them in 2017, I think three hours was kind of pushing it. But each to their own

While not a perfect song, Absurd does sound more inspired and "new" than some paint by numbers hard rock *cough* Hard Skool *cough*. I love it how it makes you scratch your head a bit. I would definitely take an album full of absurds over an album full hardskools. And based on Youtube videos it does sound really good live. Absurd live is a good example of how the current lineup can sound like a cohesive, well oiled band, when they don't need to imitate the older lineups.

I'm kind of unable to get back into Velvet Revolver. When Contraband came out in 2004 I had a summer job where I could listen to music and I spun that album 8 hours a day for a month. It was also pretty much the only album I listened during the following fall and winter. Burnt myself out with it. I still listen to it maybe once a year and really dig it, but more than that feels still too much. But all in all, it has aged pretty well. Definitely a good snapshot of 2004. So I was definitely there when it came out

Yes, this. It's like they wanted Libertad to fail.

Ah, Pellegrino fizzy water and Ritz crackers! Diet of the champions! And no, I'm not being sarcastic. Those can get you through anything