Janis

It's weird that Chidem had to be forced out. After 13 years I mean really when does something have to be ready for Axl! If after 13 years you're still not happy one just has to accept that it's not going to be perfect. Have previous memners and collegues of Axl mentioned that he would hold up release of albums when the original band was together or did he just develop this in last 20 years?

Not bad

He sounded in powerful voice on "never wanted you to be so full of anger" etc..

I think the problem is that Axl is not the same wild and angry guy on stage he was 20 years ago, he seems more mature and mellow now but he has to keep singing and preforming his old songs in his old nergy filled style even though his heart is not in it. I think he has outgrown this performance style and the songs but he still has to keep on coz the nostalgia act sells and it's his only source of income. He would suit a more mellow piano/guitar acoustic style now. He would be som much more interesting as a solo artist and would sound so much better if he would just perform naturally to the way he is now if ya now know what I mean instead of trying sing and perform like Axl Rose from 20 years ago. Maybe he's like that now from what ppl said of yesterday's concert but when I saw him live 2 years ago he had great stage presence and sincerity altho his vocals were buried in the mix quite a bit you could still hear the powere in his voice when he scraemed! His stage charisma alone carried the performance. He was amazing!

Coz the questions are terrible! In the 90s he was asked interesting q's bout his childhood, songwriting and the struggles in his life. A lot of trunk interview was ass kidding and kimmel was also superficial and light. I enjoyed watching them both coz it was Axl but a few thoughtful questions added in would have made all the difference. Even in the trunk interview Axl volunteered personal stuff like the Abu Dhabi thing with problems in band and touring when he didn't want to but Trunk and others were so stupid not to follow it up and just asked about MTV like who cares what Axl thinks about MTV!

I'd like to get hopes up and think Axl is definitely going to this and he probably is planning to at the moment but if anything goes wrong or he's not happy with what the organisers are planning to do then he'll pull out last min. Same with rock hall he was possibly negotiating and going til they said he couldn't play with the current band. I just think he'll be usual unpredictable Axl. It'll be such a mistake if he doesn't go as he's getting an individual award and the audience are fans of his all rock/metal fans.

Haha Axl so crazy and funny! He's a lil obsessed tho! I see this as a good sign, maybe more tv interviews.

Axl was great. He was like a hero to me, watching him as a kid, listening to his songs... Same for Slash. Now that Im old I stopped thinking about who is the best, who is the worst, who is the most skilled, who is the fastest.... I only care about a nice melody and songs that enter through my mind and make my day better. Its more about the music, not who is playing it and how it is being played... Axl will always be one of my heroes. His old songs will always bring me memories. For the current state of his band, voice and mental health.... All I can say is Im sorry for the guy, more than anything.

But his current state is what he's always been. He's never been in the pubic eye much when not performing. He never did the promo. if Axl had been head of Gnr in the 80s and 90s without Slash and Duff we never would have heard of them and they would've faded away. As another poster said before - Slash, Duff and Matt were the public face of the band and did all the promo. When Slash and Duff left Axl just carried on being his normal private reclusive self who doesn't go to events or do promo. That's why the band is not as succesful coz there's no interviews of them all together as a band, little promo, no photoshoots and more imprtantly no new record from all the lastest members to soldify them as a band. So they're just seen as a nostalgia act. There's not one clip online of him at an award show, red carpet etc.. Not saying there;s anything wrong wiht that I respect he's not into the fame and good for him for that also! But Go on youtube and there's countless interviews and award show appearances of Slash and Duff during their time in the band. Axl was always reclusive and gave only a few select interviews in 6 years and most of them were short clips you see online except for the 2 longer Kurt Loder interviews. Haha rant over but seriously that poster shed so much light on it by saying that how do you expect a media shy recluse to have a successful band. Either that or they hire someone to promote or accept they need to but Axl either doesn't want that kind of big success again and he's just happy with the nostalgia touring.

This poster Alterreality on Gunsnfnroses has hit the nail on the head why things have happened way they did. It seems obvious when you read it but it was like a lightbulb moment for me. When you look back at it in 80s and 90s Axl was reclusive then and only did occasional interviews same as now. It was Slash, Duff who kept the band in public eye, did interviews, after awards presss onnferences, picked up awards at ceremonies for the band. Axl with the way he is needed these guys to do the promo . When they went there was no one who to fill that role sadly and his flaws in this area have been highlighted as a result the last 20 years. Axl's never been media fan friendly. He needs personalities like Slash and Duff who are able to do that side of things. It's sad and explains nearly everything that hapened. He needed these guys to push him to do things. I know it's prob been said before but it's a good post nonetheless form this poster!

Slash in GNR was as much liked and recognized by the public as Axl and at the same time he was on the same level of authority in the band as Axl. He was a person Axl trusted with everything that had to do with band business. So Axl could stay elusive, hidden, unpredictable, whatever, whatever and still the promotion, the press, all the necessary shit that kept it rolling was being done. Anything that was happening was being explained. Axl was being costantly explained and excused for.

Slash definitely kept it all going. Axl is not able to handle the pressure and the obligations related to running a band alone. He had Slash to help him and more than often to do it for him.

Also Slash pushed him. Slash forced him to record, to tour and so on. Maybe that caused many arguments but it also caused some albums and some tours to happen. Axl, on his own, is likely to find excuses not to do things or to do them in an unforseable future. With Slash, if he didn't want to lose him he had to do it and he did it.

Axl's best performances particularly in the 80s to 91 definitely rank him as the best performer up there with Joplin, Hendrix and Morrison At his best he has no match. The 88 Mtv special he was unreal and committed to every movement and note. It was liking watching Janis Joplin it was that intense.

Happy Bday Axl!!

I believe there wouldn't be half as much hate if he released more than one album in 20 years and keep touring the same album for 10 years. If he did reg interviews, photoshoots and released music the public would take the band seriously coz all the fans and general public see is one album and he hasn't really taken the band forward.. Instead he's just reembered for htat one Chidem album and all the fuss. It was a great album but he should still be making music. The constant recluse things doesn't help his image. He's a great performer and amazing charisma it's just a pity he is so musically uncreative these last 8 years coz I always see Axl as someone amazingly talented but just can't get a new album together continuously year after year for some unknown reason. The band have all expressed frustrations of why no new album. He is the biggest waste of potential and talent I've ever seen. I think he could be doing so much more than just touring the same thing year after year.

I know it's been said a million times but I just wonder why he completely disappears from public sight for such long periods. You would think in a year he'd be photographed somewhere once. I know he mentioned before he doesn't go to high profile places but you would think that a pap would be waiting near his house or follow him when he leaves? Or is Axl not considered a big celeb anymore that paps wait for? I just mentioned it coz it said on E news that paps wait outside Britney Spears or Bieber's house. He takes being a recluse to a another level. It's part of why there's so many misconceptions about him coz he never is out there regularly but then again he prob doesn't care.

I found the article itself quite funny...

That said, I find it bizarre that he has a fanbase whose fans are starved for real updates, yet he takes the time to put this piece together. Strange.

This. It's getting ridiculous. It kinda sucks being a fan of Axl these last few years as nothing happening. I hardly post coz there's literally zero to talk about. Then again it's hard to keep talking about a rock star who is a virtual recluse when he's not performing. I respect he likes privacy but it'd be nice if he did an on camera interview at least once a year as he's really interesting and fun to listen to. It's been 6 years since ChiDem it's just plain weird there's no new album even in the works. Wish he'd take the time to go in the studio with the band instead of writing articles, although funny!

The bottom line is that Axl doesn't know what he is doing half of the time. I love the guy, I really do, but he should not be the one in charge. As long as "team Brazil" is the "management" then its going to be exactly what Axl wants to do. While that might sound good to Axl, I think he needs someone pushing him. It's not suprising that gnr faired better when Alan Niven or even Goldsteen were running the show, especially Niven. Band members aside, nugnr would be a lot more successful if a guy like Niven was the manager again. Axl is a great frontman, singer, artist, etc. But he is a terrible leader. He needs someone pushing him, even if it pisses him off from time to time. Atleast it gets him motivated. Right now he has absolutly no motivation to do anything. I'm not talking about the holidays, but in general. Take the holidays off, thats fine. But are you really gonna sit around until next summer? Work on some new music at least. I'm sorry but Team Brazil just caters to him, which means nothing is gonna happen for a long time. Sad but true folks. Maybe a tour next summer, prolly SA, but don't count on much other than that. It's just gonna be a let down.

This!

If this is true bout Ron not hearing from Axl for 2 weeks then Axl lives in a complete bubble or is somehere where he can't be contacted but you can't do that when you have employees. You have to make yourself available. He can't expect his bandmates to wait around til Axl Rose gets his shit together! It's incredibly selfish but then he's always been selfish. That's the main reason why he's where is is today. He would just walk off stage or keep his band waiting because he felt like it and no thought for anyone else. I really like Axl. When I saw him perform he was sincere, gave everything on stage and had great presence but he needs to get out new music and not leave his bandmates in the dark. It's inexcusable.

I just feel also there's a possibility that the Lebeis family don't tell Axl that Ron or anyone is trying to contact him. Wasn't it said somewhere before by Axl or TB that they shield him from things?

Look guys... this band is far from being a joke. The reality is that the people that are involved in the label are very biased and don't endorse it. Maybe because they want to reunite the old band and don't like the way the new songs sound. They sound very differently from Paradise City, Sweet Child O'Mine etc...So in a way it doesn't sound like the Guns N'Roses band we're used to.

Also there's a lot of people behind the scenes trying their best to not allow stuff to be released.

It's a very very complicated situation. And i'm pretty sure it's very frustrating for Axl in times to get things going again and to even wanting to get to that creative mood.

Who knows if Azoff didn't have a deal with Slash for a reunion and because of it he did what he did to Chinese Democracy. You can't pull the idea of a reunion out of the blue.

It's a possibility that Azoff might have had everything set up for a reunion even before things started to go down. He clearly did everything in his power to get that reunion done, but he wasn't able to because Axl is a very strong and honest man and refuses to give his ass to his former old mates. You gotta respect that!

If Axl had chosen another name for his band, he would be releasing records continuously. Doing it with the name Guns N'Roses is more complicated then what it appears. It involves other people that aren't exactly in the band anymore and that have enough power to stop things from getting released at times. It's all business and sometimes business gets in the way of getting things done.

This was interesting point but can you be more specific. Are you saying Axl needs permission from Old Gnr musicians to put new music out? So Chidem wouldn't have come out if for example Slash or Duff had not approved this?

Solo piano acoustic album. His natural baritone voice is so rich now that he's older and he doesn't use it except on Patience and verses of Don't cry, Gran Torino. It's his strength now and so much potential wasted. He would get great critical reviews and new fans. I'll never undrstand why he can't be productive like every other musician.

Can anyone read the letter from his stepfather? Can't make it out.

This. it's partly covered isn't it unlike the others unfortunately

As someone said Axl is overly sensitive and easily hurt. I hope he's not depressed right now as this could destroy him. Hope he has good people around him to help if he's badly affected. It kinda seemed on last tour and Jimmy Kimmel that he was in best place he's ever been and was moving on. Doncha think this is gonna drag up old memories for him? No matter what he did and it was wrong there's no need to sell this personal letters. If you want to let go of stuff do it privately. It's really vindictive and she's obviusly trying to get at him but why 20 years later? Why now!

Has anyone messaged Marc Canter to ask him his opinion on why she might be doing this now? He would have good insight. He knows her well and has chatted with the fans many times on this board. Marc if you're there please message!

Exactly there's no excuse as to why it's not happening. rock bands are all still releasing records-Black Sabbath, Loaded etc.. Perhaps Axl is in a rut creatively or writer's block but that's a hell of a long time to still have it after last record. It's sad and such a waste of time as he's a true talent.

This is really disappointing. The music industry needs artists like Axl. He's so creative and a real visionary and he's got so many hardcore fans. We get crap like Bieber and Rihanna fed to us constantly while genius like Axl have stopped creating. It's been 5 years since the last record you would think they would at the very least start thinking about the next album. It's the neverending mystery! He needs to stop caring so much as BBF hinted may be the problem!

Would Love to hear Axl singing lead! who is leaking this stuff and why is Tommy on lead and Axl on background? Is this a Tommy solo record? Did Axl write the song and get Tommy to demo it? It's just if this was a song intended for a Gnr record then surely Axl would be singing on it!

http://youtu.be/NIBpylQJ85Q I think this concert proves that Axl was on the same level and way better in my opinion than Plant or Jagger. Love going back to this concert as Axl's voice was at it's best. Of course Ritz 88 was also just as good. He was a true original. He has that extra thing or just more charisma and passion when he sings and performs than they had. Listen to the end of Nightrain he sounds so much like R Plant. It's a pity he couldn't sustain the voice quality he had in 86/87 into the nineties but the fact that he once sounded like this blows any of the current guys away. They'll never be as good as Axl in his prime.

Wait, did the promoter just call Axl an asshole because he demanded to take the stage at 2a.m?

no, its cuz he is mad at him

Wait, did the promoter just call Axl an asshole because he demanded to take the stage at 2a.m?

no, its cuz he is mad at him

Ah yes I see thanks!!

Wait, did the promoter just call Axl an asshole because he demanded to take the stage at 2a.m?