Cruel Intentions

I think he just uses it for style. If his leg was really injured I don't see how he could've gone all this time without having whatever is wrong with it taken care of.

I don't understand why people are so pessimistic that this is actually going to get released. It is. This isn't just some random company putting out a bootleg. The fact that they've continually given us updates and have been talking with GNR and Axl along the way is, quite frankly, astounding.

It's probably the only way we'll ever get unreleased material, sadly, since management will want to whore his name out and make every dime they possible could.

It really makes me wonder if Fortus and DJ are just extremely naive when it comes to dealing with Axl or just overly optimistic. The fact that every member of this band has a different answer when asked about recording a new record should tell you all you need to know about where this band is at right now.

Very cool picture. I don't think Axl looks anywhere near as old as Steven Tyler does in this picture (or any other for that matter). I really don't know what Axl's sudden obsession is with all these naked chick t-shirts, though.

Yes, he's moving around much less nowadays, but still...3 hours of dancing and SOME running sure should burn a lot of calories though. It's like a 3 hour power walk!

His biggest problem is he doesn't seem to have any sort of exercise regimen. Theoretically, all his movement onstage SHOULD burn some calories, but considering he goes out boozing after literally every show it really doesn't matter.

I don't care about Axl's weight other than the fact that it's become clear he doesn't take care of himself and it shows in his performances. He's noticeably gassed by the end of every show and constantly needs to leave the stage for oxygen breaks. I would settle for shorter setlists if he got himself in better shape for them.

Now, let me also say that I think a lot that's been made about him being overweight has been beaten to death. Axl not taking care of his voice like he should is entirely different from being overweight. If he was able to bring it with more rasp consistently in every performance, I really don't think anybody here would complain.

Am I the only one who thought Axl sounded pretty fuckin good? The opening to Jungle was insane and he seemed to be singing with a lot more rasp throughout the show. I thought he killed it.

Decent setlist. I wanted to go to the show but didn't. If I did I would've been majorly bummed that they didn't play Estranged, as it's my all-time favorite song. Sounded like a fun time. I wasn't expecting anything new. Axl was obviously going to stick to the classics since this wasn't a GNR crowd and if he played a lot of CD songs it likely would've killed the mood since, let's face it, a majority of the crowd probably either hates it or never heard it. The setlist was pretty good, but I would've preferred a harder song off CD like Shackler's as opposed to This I Love. That song would've been pretty rockin at a big festival like that.

Wow the place looked like it was packed and rocking! Whatever happened to that petition again?

The same thing that happens to every other petition most likely - people stopped caring and forgot about it so it went away.

The pic they chose is great. I'd love to get my hands on one of those cards, preferably with Axl's signature, but obviously that's highly unlikely.

Axl would get boo'd like crazy. The only people left who have any love for the guy are loyal Guns fans. Most older rock fans blame him for destroying GNR and most newer music fans probably have no idea who he even is.

I think the general gist of what Manets is saying is right. Axl probably isn't wanting to sit down, write and record with the new band for 1 of 2 reasons.

first is: he already has a plethora amount of (previous) bucket material to choose from and its most likely already slated for the next album, and possibly a third (so why waste time and money trying to create something great with the new band, when its already been 5 years since CD was released and time is ticking by whilst they've never appeared in the studio all as one band. Axl would rather do the easier option and release what is already created)

second is: the record company isn't giving him any additional funding for studio costs and all the other costs associated with having 8 members or part thereof, sitting together coming up with new song ideas.

too much effort for no guaranteed final product that could be of comparable quality to the Bucket era. Axl would most likely prefer to focus on something that is already tangible and release that then spend his own money and not to mention time, attempting to create something great with the new.

Not saying you're wrong, but if Axl really feels that way then it just proves everything about him caring so much about this current lineup and getting the word out about them is false. It would also pretty much confirm that all the touring he's been doing since 2009 was for nothing other than to get paid. If he really cared about promoting this lineup as much as he claims, the only way is to release a new album with them on it and their influences all over it. Releasing previously recorded material from the late 90s/early 2000s would do nothing except set this current lineup back even further than it already is.

I'm not saying I don't want to hear the previously unreleased material, because I do. I'm just saying Axl can't talk in interviews about how much he cares about this lineup if he isn't willing to put out a new record with them or else it's entirely hypocritical.

He looks tired as fuck, bored and is smoking and drinking 40 minutes before a show. Now that's dedication.

Why not? It's not like there's actually any new GNR material he could use to help market himself.

The New York Post is still The New York Post, but their Page Six section is always accurate. It's about scoops on celebrities who are seen out and about in the city. The fact that Axl's rep confirmed this, though, makes it legit.

I don't know why he would choose to up and move to NYC after living in LA the last however many years. Interesting.

Probably not a good sign when three members of a band form their own band because they can't get their real lead singer to show up and work on any new music.

This band is hilariously embarrassing.

The GNR camp was obviously responsible for the clusterfuck. In all likelihood everybody walks on egg shells around Axl and nobody probably had the balls to just flat out tell him, "Hey, you gotta do an interview after the show" (Yes, I'm aware that's probably much easier said than done). But I don't believe for a second that Axl knew absolutely nothing about the interview until after he got offstage at 3 a.m. If that was the first he heard of it, chances are he would've just blown it off. I'm sure he knew something about it but nobody gave him the full details until after the show.

But as far as Eddie Trunk goes...yes, we know you guys were dead tired, but you're telling me you didn't have a set list of questions to ask Axl ahead of time that you could've read off a piece of paper? I don't buy the entire excuse of "I was so tired and delusional I could barely make it through the interview." People pull all-nighters all the time and if you had an interview as big as this (which he said several times how big this interview was) you would be up and alert for it. The questions were obviously predetermined because everything asked put a positive spin on GNR in the end. It's clear they didn't want to ask any genuinely tough questions because if Axl got pissed off, well there goes any chance they ever have at getting another interview with him.

Didnt Beta talk to Eddie while Axl was onstage, and pretty much said she would make sure Axl would do the interview?

Im pretty sure TMS went down there with no guarantee of getting Axl on camera

Yes. That was the story that Jim Florentine told on the air a few days before the interview aired. Basically, they went down without any guarantee if an interview happening and the entire day they were there people just kept giving them the whole runaround of Axl's at his hotel, taking a shower and then coming right over, etc. But Beta apparently told them during the show that she'd make sure he did the interview. I'm pretty sure she was managing the band at the time, but who the hell really knows.

Axl hasn't wanted to release new music since UYI

This band can't do anything right. Even when they try to, it just turns into some sort of disaster.

I watched it last night. I thought it was really good. Axl sounded fine for the most part. He struggled a bit on Paradise City, but he always does since it's the last song of a three-hour show and he's pretty much out of gas by then. I thought his "bad Jesus" speech before that was hilarious haha.

As far as the song selection...I really didn't have a problem with it. This wasn't going to be a showcase for an album that came out in 2008. If anything, it was probably a good thing they played classic hits because it showed he can still sing them.

My only three real problems with the show were:

1. DJ's guitar volume was SO low. You could barely hear him on solos. I don't know how they didn't fix that while putting this together before airing it.

2. Would've liked to hear Estranged and 14 Years mainly because they're two of my favorite GNR songs ever. But it's not that big of a deal since they're apparently airing the whole show in a few weeks in HD (is that right, BTW?).

3. The censoring of curses was pretty annoying. I understand bleeping "fuck" but they really couldn't allow "bitch," "shit" or even "drink and drive" in It's So Easy? I've watched comedy specials on Comedy Central late at night on weekends in the past and they let comedians say every curse except F-bombs, so this was sort of annoying.

Some people's train of thought on here is hilarious. What do you think, that random security guards go out of their way to come up with these elaborate stories of why Axl is late on stage just to tarnish the already severely damaged legacy of an 80s rocker who - let's face it - is pretty much irrelevant at this point in time? I have no reason to believe this isn't true. Anyone who actually thinks there's a legitimate excuse as to why Axl is late every night is only fooling themselves.

Am I the only one who thinks Axl's face actually looks younger?

Why is there even a debate? Dude got old. He's 51. He never took care of his voice and he lost it over time. The end.

He sounded great only 2 years before though. I think if Axl puts in the time he can sound great again. But I'm not sure if he's got the motivation to do it.

He sounded great in 2009 and 2010 because it was the first time he was touring in four years. Even if he wasn't doing anything to take care of his voice (and it's clear he wasn't), four years off without singing is still going to give a rest to your vocal chords. I don't think it's any coincidence his voice has gotten progressively worse within the last 3-4 years when you consider the fact that GNR has basically been touring nonstop with the exception of a number of months off here and there.

He can still do it but chooses not too. I personally think he's worn the fuck out and doesn't have the fire anymore, so he doesn't pull out the rasp. His voice is directly related to his emotional state.

But I saw GNR in New Jersey last year, and Axl was really awesome. It is true that the YouTube videos don't do him justice.

Agreed. He sounded excellent in NJ.

I still say that the two shows I saw Guns play this past tour (Roseland Ballroom in February 2012 and East Rutherford, NJ in November 2011) Axl sounded fantastic. And I know it's not just me being biased because I went with a friend who is a casual GNR fan and hated Chinese Democracy and he thought Axl sounded awesome. But there's no doubt his vocal performances have been inconsistent at best. The reasoning is pretty simple - he doesn't take care of his voice and he doesn't take care of his body. If he got in better shape, rehearsed, etc. there would be a noticeable difference in his performance, but he's just not willing to devote any time to go the extra mile these days.

Oh boo fucking hoo they come on late and Axl makes us wait. I'm so sick to death of those BS played out excuses. If people were signing the petition because they think Axl's voice sounds like shit now that's one thing, but I guarantee you a majority of the people who are against them playing are the retards with the standard "it's not the real GNR without Slash" point of view that haven't seen the new lineup play a single song in the last decade.