Bruno P.

Buckethead played the more complex notes toward the end of the solo. No way Robin could play like that.

That was all Robin - he even used to fuck it up a lot :xmasssanta:

In Robin's defense, his SCOM solo was awesome.

The other Slash stuff? Meh.

Yup, his SCOM solo was great. As for the other Slash stuff, hit and miss. TOO hit and miss to be honest. I mean, listen to his NR solo in RiR Lisbon '06 and compare to the same solo he did in RIR '01. The first sounded completely awful, the other completely awesome.

Just because he wasn't trying to impersonate donald duck like he did back then doesn't mean he's phoning or ain't trying to sound good. Some of you are really laughable... if you hear Rob Halford and tell their fans that his mickey mouse voice sounds ridiculous you will be laughed at. If you go to an Iron Maiden message board to complain about Bruce's mickey mouse voice you're dead. I dont know if you ever discussed GNR outside of these boards but countless people made fun od Axl's abuse of his "raspy voice". It didn't sound good to several people, didn't sound good to me. That's why his current voice is much better than his old voice to me in fact most of my friends heard Chinese and agreed that he actually is singing now rather than screaming all the time.

I agree that when he goes into "when all the reasons" that Mickey mouse voice just ruins it and the meaning is lost. He should sing it in his mid or bass voice which still has alot of power as we can hear on the verses of Sorry. It's puzzling to me why Axl chooses into this mickey mouse voice when his natural voice is still strong and resonant. I mean no good vocal coach would advise that. Anything is better than that mouse singing. The verses of Sorry and It's so easy again show off his great natural tone.

If they use all 12 songs for the next album, it'll be a DJ Ash ablum with Axl on vocals.

I hope not. Ron mentioned some years ago that he thought Simple Days would soung good w/ Axl's vocals but it never happened, so he released it on his own record. If Axl liked songs like Ballad of Death and Mi Amor better than songs like Simple Days or Motivation (or Riad, Shackler's, Better, etc) I won't be interested in any future GNR records.

I was actually getting at the notion of changing the history of rock n roll and being one of the core influences behind a decades worth of underground of underground music and a worldwide explosion of alternative music and culture from the early 90s onwards, lets be clear about this, it's a helluva lot more than "a few alternative bands" but look, it's clear you don't actually have a point to make or anything to refer to, you're just gonna shag the same dead horse here nor do you appear to have much of an awareness about what you've taken upon yourself to comment on

It's crystal clear to me. He simply doesn't want to accept the truth. He probably thinks that Slash is/was a way more important guitarist than Eddie Van Halen because he sold more than him. Popularity equals quality, ya know?

I mean you've yet to even cite one single way in which Guns n Roses were at all influential in music in a historical context except to say that they sold a lot of records so lets just draw a line under this, until you feel like you wanna have a discussion or something, in which case, i'll be around, thanks, good talking to ya

Britney Spears is more important to music history than Nirvana because more people bought her records. Hell, Bon Jovi is much, much more important than Jimi Hendrix because he sold way more records. Hell, even Backstreet Boys are way more relevant than Kiss or Deep Purple.

Fuck, judging by this logic Justin Bieber is way more relevant than Chopin and Mozart combined these days - create a poll in a big teenagers website and you'd be surprised.

You people amuse me. You really do.

I could see them taking a Axls CD era songs, DJs material, Fortus song, Ron song, Tommy song and re-recording it all. The finck or bucket songs might end up on the Cutting room floor.

As much as it would suck, it would be pretty cool to have freshly recorded, more stripped down, straight-ahead versions of the songs if they're produced anything like CD. I do love layered, complex music, but CD can be a little hard to listen to sometimes with so much production.

CD had los of layered guitars, vocals, etc, but why do you guys keep sayin' that CD was complex? I don't think the compositions are complex by any means, standart rock with several influences and then some complex playing/arrangements.

12 songs and Axl liked it? Wow, never knew Axl was so into cheesy 80's guitar playing... lol. Seriously though, 12 songs... what the fuck is he thinking? That he's the only band member besides Axl? Because the way he said that made it sound like he's the only member writing songs for the next album.

http://www.artistdirect.com/entertainment-news/article/the-six-string-titans-of-the-twenty-first-century-best-modern-guitarists-list/9833198

I agree on Adam Jones and Jack White but any 21st century guitarist list without Buckethead is a monster fail. GnR or not.

He's great, no doubt, but ain't the be all and end all of guitar playing and never will be. It's not like he's the hendrix or clapton of the new century.

There arent any because they are still influencing people today.

Yup, but there are those who are pushing the guitar playing nowadays. Bucket is one of them, but he's not untouchable or anything like that

http://www.artistdirect.com/entertainment-news/article/the-six-string-titans-of-the-twenty-first-century-best-modern-guitarists-list/9833198

I agree on Adam Jones and Jack White but any 21st century guitarist list without Buckethead is a monster fail. GnR or not.

He's great, no doubt, but ain't the be all and end all of guitar playing and never will be. It's not like he's the hendrix or clapton of the new century.

He is god.

Yea, pretty much my opinion as well.

Not only a truly amazing person but arguably the best guitarist walking on this planet - something that he wouldn't mind "sharing" with his great friend Guthrie Govan. A guitarist that can actually blow Govan's mind like nobody else is special. Possibly the nicest person i've ever got to "know" too.

'Chinese Democracy' has been available to purchase since November 2008, so now you've had time to fully digest the album and everything, what is your view on it?

My view on 'Chinese Democracy'? Well first, I think it's so different from the music that the band started with. To me, it's like comparing 'The White Album' (1968) to 'Meet the Beatles!' (1964). I always think of everything in terms of The Beatles, because I'm just a big Beatles fanatic. To me, 'Appetite For Destruction' came out, and that was everything up until 'A Hard Day's Night' (1964) - it was the thing that just blew everyone away. Shea Stadium, 1965, couldn't even hear the band; it was just the audience screaming, and pissing in their pants. As they then started getting more into the musical side of things with the 'Use Your Illusion' albums, that is equivalent to getting more into 'Revolver' (1966) and 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' (1967), where it was becoming more musical. It wasn't just attitude and rock 'n' roll - they were starting to really compose. Now The Beatles, they kept on putting albums out and you can chart the changes as the band morphed into what they became in their last few years, with 'The White Album', 'Let It Be' (1970), 'Abbey Road' (1969).

The thing about Guns N' Roses is it all happened in a cocoon, where it went in as one creature and came out as something totally different. I think that because of that, when 'Chinese Democracy' came out, people thought "That's not the caterpillar I was expecting". It was like "Right. It's a butterfly". I think it took probably a good year (laughs) for people to start forgetting about the baggage that was attached to this album, like the issue that it's not the same band members, it's not all the same band members that wrote and played on it, and that it's not the same sounding music. Guns N' Roses is a different creature now, but that's what makes it special. Where else in the history of rock music are you gonna find an album that has a decade of all these different people contributing all this cool stuff? Robin, and Paul, and Brain, and Buckethead, and me and Frank, and Tommy and Richard, and Dizzy and Pitman, and Sebastian Bach too. Nowhere are you gonna find an album that has such a history to it, and that has accumulated so many building blocks from such a long journey.

To me, 'Chinese Democracy' isn't your typical album where you write it, record it, release it, promote it, and tour. This is a totally different creature, and I think a lot of people needed a minute to realize that for it to sink in, and to stop trying to fit it into the mould of a typical album because it's not a typical album. It's so much more experimental, and it's just a totally different thing. To me, 'Chinese Democracy' is 'The White Album' for G N' R in a way. Maybe I'm wrong, but to me it seems like the album is more accepted now than it was when it first came out, and that over time, people are gonna forget about the journey that it took to come out, and they're just gonna listen to the songs and the music and just take them as they are. Either they like them or they don't.

I found as we played these shows in Asia, that people are really responding to the new songs. I didn't know how people would react, because you know that they're gonna cheer like crazy for "Welcome to the Jungle", for "Paradise City", for "Sweet Child O' Mine", for "Nightrain", but now they're cheering for "Street Of Dreams", and for "Better", and for "Prostitute" (laughs). When the song kicks in, they know what song it is and they burst out, and it's good to see. I'm glad that that's happening, and I hope that in time, when this is all just history and people are looking back on it, that people will appreciate this one of a kind fucking genuine experience that brought this album to be what it is. For me, how do I think of the album? I just think of it as this long road that finally reached its destination. It's like driving a very long drive, and finally getting there (laughs).

At least Orianthi can play the solo like Van Halen.

Sure, but she hasn't come up with anything of her own that is of much value.

She's much better and more interesting than most - if not all - pop acts out there. I enjoy her music, love her playing and current originality...

At least Orianthi can play the solo like Van Halen.

She's great and a more interesting guitar player than most guitar players playing w/ bic acts!

Regarding Fortus, seriously... as much as I like him live I'm happy with his contributions.

Yes, but before Ashba come to GNR... now it would be just another rock album like Sixx AM, Motley Crue etc... a big shame...

Doubt it. Very much doubt it. Axl wouldn't follow the easier route... sure, Ashba songs wouldn't be complex, but Chinese never had complex compositions either. I guess CD was all about arrangements, electronica and leads tracks being put together... Not enough genre and tempo changes, weird chord structures, etc. Bumblefoot's (and Buckethead's) music, on the other hand, are the opposite route that GNR's (or any major rock act) been following in the past. That's why I believe we would get a bluesier sound coming in after a heavy metal-like chorus or a shred guitar following some jazzy momments. That's why songs like Shackler's and Scraped are waaaaay different and this is probably why Shackler's my favorite CD rocker, Bucket's weird ideas mixed with Bumblefoot's craziness is a win win situation to me. Expect the unexpected.

Absolutely, but I'm talking within the general realm of rock n roll here. There's guys like Axl who make an effort to write creative memorable rock songs and then there's tools like DJ Ashba who write mid grade run of the mill shit you forget about after x amount of time, which is my original point

And this is why I want Axl (and the other guys) to work a lot on Ashba songs (if there are any) since I don't want GNR to turn into fkn' Motley Crue.

Huh I always thought it was Bucket cause of the kill switchy effect at the end of it, thats a good solo though. I just kind of hate everything about Shackler's Revenge to be honest, other than the intro with the dissonant synth and the descending wah thing, thats pretty cool

Haha Buchethead did do the kill switch part at the end but 90 percent of the solo was Ron.

No, that was Ron again. If I'm not wrong even Bucket didn't use killswitch on this song...

I voted Shackler's Revenge. It's a very ballsy solo, far away from GnR's old style and I've never heard it being played in rock n' roll before - seriously, how many fretless slides or solos similar to Shackler's have you heard out there? It has a distinct start, middle and end. When I watched him doing it live I was like - what the hell was that? My eyes almost couldn't even follow his hands, lol. It's one of those solos that are so technical yet sound so awesome, original and totally different at the same time - to me as well. I voted for it because its simply my favorite GNR solo overall.

Nice to hear someone appreciate Shackler's guitar solo, especially since its fretless.

I love every bit of the solo! Riad solo is great as well, but they never played it live, so...

Can't believe I need to explain that to somebody on a Guns N' Roses fan forum, what a joke.

You said something that Slash (or even Axl!) wasn't so I was curious.

I disagree, Axl is a very talented songwriter and while he doesn't push boundaries so to speak he does create very original and fresh sounding material. When I first heard Catcher in The Rye I thought "damn, that's a very traditional rock song but the ideas sound completely original", because unlike DJ's work with Sixx AM it isn't catering to an audience, it actually sounds like a genuinely inspired song and at the end of the day that's all that really matters.

As different as his songs sound sometimes, they're not really original/inventive songs. I mean, they're still mainly Hard Rock songs with several influences... he doesn't go to unusual ways to create music. There are some great compositions in the GNR catalog, and like you said, it's all that matters to people, but as musicians I don't think they ever pushed anybody or rock in general.

I voted Scraped and Riad. I'd add Maddy but the studio version ain't got shit on the RIR version. Also both 'Better' solos should be mentioned, as well as the Prostitute ending solo...

Scraped solo was Buckethead. Bumble played the solo that's under the vocals after Bucket's solo.

Ron did the solo. Bucket did the outro

Talk to someone who has versions of the song from before Ron was in the band. You might be surprised.

You know you're stronger than the lies that they tell you.

I'm not an insider and there's no need to talk to someone who has versions of the song from before Ron was in the band. Ron plays Scraped solo and that's the truth, the fact. Talk to someone who has ears to regonize a fretless guitar being played - as you know, Bucket has never recorded anything - nor was seen performing - on a fretless guitar. The tone, the slides, the wah... everything is totally Ron's. Bucket plays the outro solo, you can clearly notice his bending towards the end as Ron's bending is totally different live... the live performances all have pretty much the same (with some improvisation thrown in, of course) soloing on the outro but played by Ron's hands. And you can notice that it's somewhat different from the studio version, and then again, the bending towards the end is where you should look at.

What's next, you gonna tell me that Shackler's solos were played by Bucket as well? I remember when we first heard "Chicken Dinner" the GNR community had several insiders confirming that Bucket was a god because he did the Shackler's crazy-ass solos when in fact it was totally Ron and the first fretless slide should be more than enough for someone who ain't tone deaf recognize Ron's fretless playing - the same slide that he used to do when performing Nightrain in '06 and '07 was the one that he played on Shackler's. Bumblefoot also plays the Riad solo and at the very ending he even plays a kind of counter-solo following/dueling Bucket's outro solo, so even the outro solo ain't only Bucket playing...

Man I really need to tell apart what both guitarists sound like, I think knowing Ron is fretless is a good start now I just need to spot a fretless

The fretless sound is very distinct. Listen to Ron's Nightrain solo from RIR and compare to the Nightrain solo he did in LA (I'm talking about the Live Stream - he played half of his Nightrain solo on a fretted guitar...) and you'll notice, or the Pink Panther theme... when he uses the wah wah in the fastest part of the song (right after the Estranged snippet...) he plays a fretless and then when he switches to the fretted neck it sounds different. Also you should notice that the playing is different - there's no bends on the fretless, but slides that sound like bends. They don't sound the same and you'll get used to it. So yeah, I recognize a fretless mainly because of the different playing and the bluesier tone.

Btw it's not hard to recognize Bucket or Ron - Ron's bending is really different and he bends way more notes than Bucket does... Bucket, on the other hand, does sound more robotic (even his tone sounds kinda robotic to me), uses way more effects (Ron usually plugs his amp into a marshall and that's pretty much it) and follows a lot his own patterns constantly - Paul Gilbert's lick, "minigame tapping", some delay effects, Shawn Lane-like notes, etc.

From now on notice Bucket's playing (especially live!) and you'll hear the same licks being played countless times over and over.

Listen to Bucket's Nightrain solo. Now his Better solo. Now a few more solos like I.R.S., It's So Easy, Rocket Queen, Prostitute, some Maddy live performances, etc.

And I could go on...

Can't believe I need to explain that to somebody on a Guns N' Roses fan forum, what a joke.

You said something that Slash (or even Axl!) wasn't so I was curious.

this performance is so classic. from axl disappearing, to slash's confused look, to axl just not doing the ending. the cigarette lighting and the microphone throw at the end make me lol each time.

Axl's comeback was in 1988?

:rofl-lol: :rofl-lol: :rofl-lol:

So listen to his Sixx:A.M. work and the Vegas or the LA show. There's some good/great (and awful) moments but none of them outstanding though.

See what i mean, even the people reccomending him say he's not all that. But hey, i'll give Sixx:A.M. a bash

I'm not his biggest fan though. I'm not even his fan... lol. Actually I don't even like him in studio and as a composer - live he used to be a bit (not much) more consistent but now he's fucking things up constantly...

He's not lip syncing Shackler's anymore - I can't listen to any pre-recorded tracks anyway. He's actually singing the low bits or his voice is much higher in the mix than the backing track *IF THERE'S ANY*

How can you judge guitar players if you don't even want to listen to them playing?

I didn't judge his guitar playing though, i was basically saying that there is nothing in his image or in anything anyones mentioned that makes me want to hear him fulfilling the role he does now in GnR, the Robin Finck role for want of a better name for it.

he pretty much plays Slash's solos note for note, but I like his tone better and he's (at times) more consistent than Slash...

Tone is a matter of opinion, as pretty much everything being discussed here...to me, Slash's current tone OWNS any guitar tone in new GNR, when hearing AFD songs...if in doubt, listen to the "live in stoke" slash CD or any of the soundboard live shows from last year after he got his AFD100 amp...no one's coming close unless you're making the right mods and very few have actually achieved that (check metroamp forum)...

Actually I like his current tone better, indeed, but I was talking about his 80/90's tone. No, I don't think his tone owns any guitar tone in new GNR, but that's a matter of opinion like you said.

doubt he's lip syncing, but the acoustic intro, is straight from the UYI2 album. Probably just plays the isolated track from the master recording....

Because Richard Fortus isn't there playing this part so they need a recording straight from the illusions.

It's very suspicious how the rasp is barely existent recently but on that it's like THERE then gone

Bull-fucking-shit. He's singing with his raspy voice in every Civil War performance - some of them even don't sound right because he sings with too much rasp. Also you should take notice that he sings the "and please remember how I felt inside..." bit with rasp in Dont Cry and then the rasp is gone. Lipsync or the way he wants to sing it? Yes, very suspicious.

Might as well compare Jungle and Estranged performances... some of the words he sang on these sounded exactly like lipsyncing! Wait... add Sweet Child. And Don't Cry.