mECHsLAVE

Been There Lately

Great post Marc. 30 years flies by, crazy

Slash sounds amazing, and he plays this riff with the fatness it deserves, and the tone on the solo was beautiful. Both of those are things new Guns often lack when they play it.

For the most part, Myles' vocals on Guns stuff is horrific, too high pitched and with just a bland flat tone to the high notes, and this performance of RQ is no exception. The vocals are just off and generic sounding, he flattens out the melody and leaches the soul from them. I've never heard Alter Bridge stuff, and he may be an awesome vocalist Guns tunes notwithstanding. To be fair, there aren't many who could really pull off RQ live in the correct pitch and tone throughout. Sort of a no win situation for Myles, nevertheless his vocals are painful to listen to.

Yes, in fact Axl told a story somewhere that he was just chilling at home one day and got a random call from Tom Petty, and after chatting for a few minutes Axl realized the purpose of the call was for Tom to ask Axl if George Harrison could call him. Then George called...

Yes, the comments about CD, and all the smug commentary in the promotion of VR (not to mention the actual name of VR being a play on GNR name) Slash and Duff were so full of themselves and so smug about answering the questions "Yeah, now we actually have a singer that shows up and works hard..." and stuff like that, while everyone knew they were basically saying a junkie-diva was preferable to Axl.

Axl was of course going to be livid, and the fact that they piggy-backed onto the GH release, so that Contraband and GNR GH were literally beside each other on the New Release shelf of music stores. Slash and Duff basically believed they had created the new GNR, and during that time where they believed that they both made some terrible references and implications towards Axl. It's when they realized VR's music wasn't what it should've been, was not adored by the fans, then they both collectively back-tracked on all the anti-Axl comments, but it was too late by then. Well at least for Slash....

I think if Slash had gone to see Axl without Perla and without being intoxicated, on Axl's turf, they might've worked it out. But alcoholism was a major factor in the lack of communication between Axl and Slash during the breakup, so for Slash to show up drunk off his ass when he goes to make peace with Axl was incredibly stupid, and worked against him and led to the two different versions of that story. Bringing Perla was stupid too, just have a car take you, and be a man and go by yourself.

Izzy made up with Axl in that same way, going to see him at his house on his turf, his terms, alone and sober. They eventually worked it out. Slash, now several years sober if you believe him, has never really tried that, or maybe he just doesn't want to anymore? Or maybe the window for trying it may be closed anyway for now.

Good stuff Marc!

Good question! Troubadour 86 is my guess

Marc can correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as the kilt goes, I remember Axl saying one of the girlfriends of the punk band 'Exploited' gave him the kilt and told him to wear it onstage back in the early club days.

It's really too bad that Axl wouldn't help with the book at all. Izzy, too. One plug by Axl on TMS or Kimmel, or even at a concert or something, and the rest of the books would've been sold, and they'd probably be handing you a contract for a 2nd printing.

I understand, maybe, that he couldn't promote the Reckless Road book at the same time as the release of Chinese Democracy, because it's like inviting the ex-wife to the next wedding. But CD has been out so long now, and obviously the original band is now cemented in history and no chance of being confused with the current GNR. Axl should embrace those roots, because that music is still a big part of his show every night he plays with the current Guns, and neither are any danger to the other.

Slash and Duff were often not aware of what country they were currently in during the UYI tour. So it's not surprising their story regarding this is all over the place. Documents have proven they were actually off-tour when they initialed it.

A lot of dysfunction within the band as the UYI tour went on, with Slash and Duff consuming insane amounts of alcohol and cocaine constantly. They were also marrying starlets and crackheads, which Axl would've become partners with had he not assumed control of the band name. It didn't affect their royalties or rights, just the final control over decisions made regarding the band. Axl had every right to do that, and considering both Slash and Duff quickly divorced, I think it actually worked out to their benefit in the long run that Axl did that. These weren't guys up to normal partying, remember. Slash's heart became so weakened he had to have a pacemaker at 30. Duff's pancreas exploded around the same age. This is extreme, decadent behavior of individuals who have sunk deep into addiction. As I said, if I were Axl, I would've done the same thing.

Just my opinion.

This is a good thread. There's no doubt that Axl is kept isolated and (slightly) manipulated by Team Brazil. I think that they absolutely have his best interests in mind, and love him and only want the best for him. But they also seem to be at least part of the reason that certain relationships stay fractured. I'm sure you are right in that he never knew about you picking up any gift for them or owing you cash. Seems like if Axl is kept isolated, which is how he wants it, and Team Brazil handles everything. Filtering the outside world is beneficial (job security) for them.

Marc you should just shoot Ax an email one day, or give him a call, and ask him to go out for dinner. You might be surprised. This is a good time of year for making amends, and it also seems from what we know that Axl chills this time of year and becomes introspective. This is exactly the time of year when he spent those few nights on the forums in 2008, getting a lot of stuff off his chest and interacting with everyone.

Good luck!

Perla would probably love for Slash to work with Axl again. When she says stuff like this it's out of frustration and feeling dissed. That's my guess. Marc has said that it was Perla's idea for her and Slash to make that late night drive to Axl's house to work things out.

Wow! I'm guessing Team Brazil is going to be registering as a bidder for these auctions.

Why would Erin keep all this stuff for so long and then now decide to pull it all out, organize it and auction it? I wouldn't think she'd need the money. These auctions are really in poor taste. I thought the Michelle Young ebay auctions of 1999 were bad (Axl clothes, gifts, pizza box with My Michelle lyrics, etc) but this is a whole nother level! Almost psychotic.

To me, this shows how much Axl cared for Erin, and how thoughtful and sincere he was, more than anything. Nothing that Axl should be ashamed of. And the public release of all this speaks to Erin's lack of character and respect. She should be ashamed of herself. Sad.

It will be an entertaining read, I'm sure, but we will have to remember how hazy her memory is. For instance, she has already claimed several times to be the person who introduced Slash to Axl, which we know from Canter is not true. So there will be a lot of that, I'm sure. Things which Vicki recalls, which are very interesting, but not exactly true.

Marc, were Slash to drive to Axl's house today, sober and by himself, and ask to chat, what would Axl do?

I know a sober Slash is unlikely to do that. I'm just wondering if the problem with the previous drive to Axl's for a makeup was 1) Perla being there too 2) Slash being wasted 3) Beta interception of Slash ....or was it just that it was Slash and nothing's ever going to change that now ?

Not really. The night he when to Axl's house he was drunk so that doesn't count as serious and also it was not he idea to go , Perla made him. He has said in the interviews many times that he would love to do some gigs with the old band or that Axl would be able to sing well on some of the songs that he was working on. Thats about it.

Slash was a terrible alcoholic when the band broke up, and for the 2 years leading up to it. Communicating with someone who is a functional drunk is maddening and difficult. We can only imagine what might've been if Slash had cleaned up sooner (93-94) or if he'd been sober (and without Perla) when he went to visit Axl that infamous night.

If I recall Izzy's story of how he reconciled with Axl, it was similar.... he just drove up to his house, by himself, long since sober of course, and talked with Axl man to man. Going with your wife, both drunk off their ass, is it any wonder that Axl refused to talk to him? Seems like that would've just reenforced his decision to not work with Slash, to me.

By the way, what I believe happened that night is a mixture of Slash and Axl's versions. I think Slash never actually spoke to Axl directly, but that he was met at the door or right outside by Beta and vented all those things to Beta, about Duff being spineless, etc. I think he said all those things that Axl claims, but as Slash claims, he never said them to Axl. Just my opinion.

If Marc has an opinion on what actually happened that night (since Axl and Slash both say different things, and it is the closest they've come to reconciling to meeting again) I'd like to hear it...

It's Rosie. It doesn't appear that way in the scan for whatever reason, but all you have to do is look at the book to see it's clearly Rosie and Rapidfire on the same night.

LOL Nice job Marc!

Slash being drunk when he went probably didn't help. It obviously angered Axl immensely for him to release the statement he did. There's no doubt that Slash said all those things, and all of VR knew it. That band never really seemed cohesive after that, just seemed like they were going to finish the album and go through the motions.

You have to wonder if Slash had arrived sober, without Perla, if things might've gone differently...

What I'd love is if Axl would lend vocals to one of Izzy's loose bluesy tracks. I'd guess that they're purposely avoiding that kind of creative collaboration.

I believe the 41% thing was from Axl's phone interview on Howard, circa 1989. That's the only place I've heard it.

To the guys trying to make the points about the solo albums they did, etc: Duff and Slash's solo efforts at that time were nothing close to GNR level writing/recording (parts of Slash's music, without lyrics/melodies, could've been worked into GNR songs...Life's Sweet Drug, Been there Lately, Speed Parade, etc....but the communication wasn't there). Yes, Slash and Duff had become functional musicians with raging addictions, but Axl's trust in their decision making was rightly soured, and basically communication between sober people and full blown addicts is always a struggle that spirals downwards. Everyone heaps it all on Axl (and he deserves some of it, no doubt) but my point was more about Slash and Duff accepting the role their addictions played in Axl's decisions at that time (new contracts, no communication, etc).

I don't even think Axl and Slash know what happened, They both have very different versions of what went wrong. That is why if they really want the answers, they need a good middle man someone that does it for a living that can help both of them know what really went wrong.

But weren't middle men the problem in the first place? I get the impression that there was some sort of communication breakdown between them and part of the reason for that was that they talked to each other through middle men. If they ever are willing to sort it out, wouldn't it be better if they talked it out one-on-one? Face to face?

THANK YOU! This is my point. You cannot communicate with full-blown alcoholic coke addicts. It's impossible. Duff and Slash can't even remember being in certain countries, or having played a show, and we expect them to be able to have coherent conversations with Axl? Communicaton break-down was a problem, but it wasn't just Dougie speaking for Axl, which is all that is ever focused on by Slash and Duff. It's their raging addictions and wasted-around-the-clock state of minds, also, which pulled their relationships with Axl apart, forcing him to restrcuture the band after watching his bandmates (and their decision-making) totally degenerate right in front of him for years.

Not getting into any argument here, but you do realise that the name was signed over during the UYI tour? So what happened after that doesn't matter for what you're arguing for.

The name, yes, towards the end of the tour. But the new contract after the tour ended, during the attempts to record at the complex, seems to be the sticking point according to Slash. Which is exactly what I'm referring to.

Total bullshit mate...neither Slash nor Duff ever missed a show due to their addictions which Axl cannot claim...Axl was weeks late to the UYI writing mission to Chicago...........he would not show up to the recording sessions and the band would have to send tapes to his house for him to listen to.. Axl was continuously late for shows...........If anything Slash and Duff were more reliable then Axl.

Axl did not have to cut the rest of the band out of ownership of the name. If he was worried about having to deal with spouses or family if any of them died the contract could have been written so that the share of the deceased member was split amoungst the living members..

The addiction excuse is just a smokescreen to try to justify Axl's meglomania and cutting his mates out of the picture.............

This is typical Duff/Slash retort: Axl was late to shows, Axl was late in Chicago, etc. Axl is late, yeah we got it. You're bringing up stuff from UYI and before, while I was talking about the state of Slash, Duff, Axl and the band once the UYI tour ended and they began trying to move forward.

Like I said, if you've ever had to try and communicate with full-blown alcoholic drug addicts then you'd understand. It's nauseating, frustrating and completely useless because you're talking to a shell of the person, in a f'd up state of mind, who will only remember pieces of the conversation. Axl had been doing this for nearly three years, so what I'm saying is I don't blame Axl for securing the band name and decision-making later on tour and then afterwards during their recording attempts (when Axl saw the addictions hadn't gotten better, in regards to Slash they got worse). I'd do the same thing.

Slash and Duff were wasted all-day, every day, all day long, all night long, week in, week out, year after year. I understand it takes some thinking out of the box because you've read Duff and Slashs' books, and that Axl-Megalomaniac view point sticks in everyone's heads. But read the pages where they explain their daily intake of 1.5 gallons of vodka (along with god only knows how much coke) while simultaneaously wondering why their communication with Axl became strained.