themadcaplaughs

2 hours ago, Gracii Guns said:

Three things I'd like Matt to explain in his book:

How he filled his time when the regular band members started flaking away from GN'R. Daytime TV? Antiques? 

A description of the incident he must have had with a dolphin to inspire his constant tweeting fundraising for the species.

The perm. Why have it? Why no longer? 

 

If he answers the perm question, I will donate $10,000 to the animal charity of his choice. 

And the crowd goes mild....

I am a huge Jeff Beck fan, so I've read in multiple sources that his tinnitus has been a huge problem for him and actually caused him to cancel tours in the past. 

As others pointed out, I'm sure being an opening band for Guns N' Roses anytime from 1991-2013 was not fun (they started being better about time in 2014). That being said, I feel most bands would have known what they were signing up for opening for GN'R in 2006. This came right after the aborted 2002 tour. 

17 hours ago, BlueJean Baby said:

Yes, this show

 

Learn something new every day...

Did the band ever open a show with "Right Next Door to Hell," or was that just a possibility someone threw out? I dug "Welcome to the Jungle" and "Chinese Democracy." "It's So Easy" was cool in 2016, but I agree it fits in as a better second song (probably from listening to AfD so many times). If I were to choose another song, other than what was listed, I would pick "Better." 

I remember how profoundly weird it was hearing the band open with "You Could Be Mine" at that show in 2014. I feel that song's energy requires a band to build up before performing it. 

Too cool. Between this and Matt playing on Izzy's song a few years ago, it seems like they have renewed their friendship. 

Probably my least favorite song off Chinese Democracy, but still a good (even "very good") song. I know this song, like all the others on the album, resulted from a variety of different vocal and instrumental takes, but unlike the other songs on the album, it manages to convey the impression of a band hanging out in a room together jamming. We do not really hear that in many of the other songs (the only one I could see having a similar quality would be "Better."). When I saw the final track list for Chinese Democracy, I remember being legitimately surprised they put this song on the finished product, since we had not heard anything about it in so long. 

Others suggested that the song would not work live, and the few live performances from 2001/2002 bear that out. For whatever reason, no live performances of that song ever clicked. Nothing was technically "off," but it just sounded like the band did not jive well. I had the pleasure of seeing the band in Vegas on January 1, 2001, and the majority of the new songs ("Oh My God," "The Blues," and "Chinese Democracy") received as big a response as any of the old stuff. "Riad n' the Bedouins" and "Silkworms" fell completely flat; as in the most I remembered hearing was some obligatory clapping at the end of the song. "Silkworms," at least according to Axl, was meant to challenge fans, so you can argue that a muted response was probably expected. At one point, however, I have to think Axl felt "Riad" was one of the album's big hitters. 

Even if Axl truly wanted to play with DJ again in the Guns N' Roses context, it is not going to happen. The band has made too much money with the current lineup, and the public now expects Slash and Duff as the norm. the 2001-2014 lineups only got the acceptance they did because many people (begrudgingly) felt it was the only way to see Axl sing the songs. Slash coming back in the fold seemed like a literal impossibility. Fans have become acclimated to seeing Slash again, and if DJ took his place, the band would be playing county fairs and tiny clubs. I can guarandamntee you that Slash would never share a stage with DJ Ashba, for anyone who thinks that might be a possibility. 

Ignoring the fact that DJ was the worst musician to ever be in the band, he made his decision to take Sixx A.M. over Guns N' Roses. He made the wrong choice, as Sixx seems to have abandoned that band. Maybe a GN'R cover band needs a new guitarist...

-Seeing, over the evolution of the tour, that Axl and Slash actually seemed to be enjoying each others' company. We saw Axl tickle Slash, the video of Axl and Slash hugging and giving the "thumbs up" after a show, and Axl and Slash hanging out and talking in the seats at the venue.

-Steven joining the band. I am not a "drum" guy, and usually cannot tell a lot of the differences and subtelties between drummers, but hearing Adler bash out "Out Ta Get Me" was night and day above Frank (and I really have no beef with Frank's playing). 

Not saying he lied about anything. I'm sure everything he said remains 100% accurate. i just think it seems kind of sad he continues to essentially live off of stuff that happened almost three decades ago. 

This dude...spends more than twenty years making fun of Axl, obsessing over his two second mention in one song, and then publishes a book that, while entirely true, makes Wall look like more of a sad loser than Axl. When it looks like his last little bit of spotlight dries up, he suddenly starts talking about how he "moved on," "loves Axl," and fully supports the band. 

I am usually not one of those dudes who says anyone who publishes something bad about GN'R is evil, but this dude is a parasite pure and simple. 

Band will continue doing this indefinitely. I doubt they will ever be able to play stadiums again like they did in 2016. Those were "Slash is back" venues. I do think, however, that if the band continues doing this trajectory, they will always be able to keep healthy business going in arenas, and will always be able to get high billing in festivals. I don't think we will ever see the band sink to the depths of the 2009-2014 band (playing arenas that are 1/3 full, playing "Up Close and Personal Tours" where the band practically has to hand out tickets, and playing two week stints in Vegas). 

On 11/29/2017 at 12:43 PM, scooby845 said:

Haha.. And with izzy it wouldnt be guns n roses 2.0?

In all fairness, it seems no one in the band ever felt convinced Izzy's participation would be more than a few weeks. 

Still trying to find the interview. Gilby says he was never entirely sure either, but had two guesses...

1. The band wanted someone who was more of a "rhythm" player. Gilby played rhythm guitar in GN'R when he was asked because he could not turn down the opportunity, but still considered himself a "lead" player at heart. 

2. With Matt, Duff, and Slash already in the band, they may have wanted to avoid further "this is Guns N' Roses part 2" comparisons. 

Some guys on here did an interview with Gilby a few years back (I wanna say 2013) where they specifically asked him about it. He said he was never asked. 

30 minutes ago, AxlRoseCDII said:

No disrespect but one common criticism I see of The Illusions, mostly from the casual-reviewer type, is that Sorum’s drums on the illusion records are too clangy and don’t sound right- in the preference of what I assume people wished was Adler. I disagree though and like Sorum’s drumming. Anything is better than Frank on the drums, which I can’t for the life of me understand why Axl likes him on the kit...he’s not a bad technical drummer but does weird things on the drums and his tone is putrid in my opinion.

In all fairness, I think that interview where Axl called out Matt's drumming on the Use Your Illusion albums led to a lot of the negativity against his drum sound. Before that interview - which was either late 2008 or early 2009 - I would read the occasional audiophile who would point out Matt's drumming on those albums sounded very dated and "off," but the general sentiment was that he fit in as well as Steven did, sounded fine, and probably handled more complex songs that would have been outside Steven's capabilities. It was only after that interview that I remember the whole "Matt was a good drummer, but lacked groove and his tone sounded horrible" point of view became widespread. So, maybe Axl had the final laugh against Matt. 

Although not perfect, his sound on The Spaghetti Incident and "Sympathy for the Devil" was a HUGE improvement, and I would have been interested to see what he could have done with the band moving forward. Nonetheless, he remains my least favorite GN'R drummer. 

1 hour ago, Stress Fracture said:

Smashing Pumpkins reunion will be fascinating. Three of them already played together last year but by all accounts D’arcy ended up in a horrible place and has to be considered more of a liability to herself and her band than Steven would be in GNR.

I hope she and they can pull it off if it does happen next year.

I doubt D'arcy would be as big of liability to herself and others as Stven Adler would be if he toured with Guns N' Roses full time, but she would definitely have a lot of work to do getting to the place where she could keep up with Corgan. His relentless touring, recording, and rehearsing schedule led to her leaving the band in 1999, and by all accounts, Billy only pushes his band mates even harder than he used to. 

Smashing Pumpkins is my all-time favorite band, so that was a cool moment for me. Billy has spoken very kindly of Guns N' Roses and Axl rose over the years, and even mentioned on Twitter a few years ago he would work on a song with Axl (in any capacity) in a heart beat if given the chance. I attended one of the VIP pre-shows for the In Plainsong Tour last year, and during the Q&A, someone asked Corgan if he had seen the new lineup with Slash and Duff or if he had seen any of the 2001-2014 lineups of the band. 

Billy said he had meant to see the band multiple times throughout the years, but never got the chance because whenever they played, he was working on a project or touring. He did say he REALLY wanted to see the newest lineup, so I'm glad he finally got to see them. He said he really liked Chinese Democracy, thought there were some genuinely beautiful moments on the album, and was impressed that he really did feel like it was the album Axl set out to make. 

In all honesty, I could not point out a damn thing Melissa actually played when I saw the band back in 2000, but I did think her vocals added a cool layer to the sound. 

I never saw Steven or Matt in the band. Brain played at my first show, so he holds a soft spot in my memories. I would be thrilled to see him back, but as others pointed out, he seems happy being out of a "big" band and doing his own thing. It was rad seeing him show up on 2012 though! 

From what I remember, most of the Christ Pitman rumors started with MSL, although I had not heard the part about Duff and Slash confronting Chris. I do not doubt it, however. MSL confirmed what was said earlier in this thread. Pitman felt that, after almost 20 years in the band, he deserved a modest raise considering how much more money the band was about to bring in. According to MSL, the band's management and all the other members of the band wanted to "kick Chris' ass." The tour hadn't started yet, and apparently Axl had not signed off on all the final paper work and contracts. People in the band's orbit were legitimately afraid having a band member leave like that might spook Axl and cause him to call off all the plans the band made beyond Coachella. 

As for Chris, his presence made up a lot of the final version of Chinese Democracy, whether you like that or not. Admittedly, he was not utilized too much after 2002, but he seemed to be a good security blanket for Axl much in the same way having a third guitarist seemed to make Axl happy. Also, as we saw from the lawsuit Pitman filed after leaving the band, Axl apparently owed him a good bit of back pay. I have no doubt being a member of Guns N' Roses - particularly from 1996 to 2014 - was a huge test in patience.

I've also heard the rumor that Axl got pissed at Pitman for the "Riad n' the Bedoins" lawsuit, but having worked in music publishing, I do not see how that would have been on Pitman. That would have been an issue the band and label's legal team would have handled. 

2 hours ago, Tom-Ass said:

Not a fan of NuGuns by any means but I have to agree with this.. It has nothing to do with the extended solos either because I loved when SMKC did extended solos and I loved when they did it during the Illusions days too. 

The videos above actually capture the essence, vibe and feel of the original song.. Something which the current lineup just can't do... I personally attribute that to Frank and Fortus... It doesn't stop with Rocket Queen either.

I don't know if Frank or Fortus are the sole problems. I considered "Rocket Queen" one of the highlights when I saw the band in 2011. I have just never enjoyed the over indulgent "Rocket Queen" performances, dating back to 1992. 

I must admit, it genuinely surprised me that so many people do not understand why Duff and Slash agreed to learn Chinese Democracy songs. The simple answer, as a few others pointed out before me, is they knew it would make Axl happy, and they want to keep the cash train rolling. Do not take that as a criticism, Slash and Duff have every right to reap the profits of Guns N' Roses. To them, I'm sure the time and effort it took to learn those songs has been handsomely rewarded during the past year and a half. Also, as others pointed out, the two of them do seem to genuinely enjoy playing the songs. 

As for all the people pointing out that "Slash and Duff left the band in the 1990s because they did not want learn Axl songs" and "Slash and Duff said they would not come back with Axl unless the AFD five played together," well feelings change and times change. Slash left the band over two decades ago, and Duff just a few years later. I'm sure they've had a lot of time to reconsider their opinions, given sobriety, maturity, and the dump truck full of money they'll earn from this tour. Also, regardless of if the current lineup played Chinese Democracy songs, Slash and Duff would still be playing without Izzy and Steven. I'd love to see those two in as well, and it seems like the band considered this at different times, but for whatever reasons, Duff and Slash decided they felt comfortable moving on without Izzy and Steven. Rumors have bounced around since 2009/2010 that both Duff and Slash were interested in rejoining the band, no matter who else played. Hell, Duff pretty much rejoined in 2014 when the only other member left from his time was Dizzy Reed. 

Once more, this is not meant to be a criticism of Duff or Slash. This remains a music business, and I'm sure the two of them knew learning Chinese Democracy would be a great way to make Axl happy, bury the hatchet, and show that they had matured. As others pointed out, Axl even said this encouraged him to play songs like "Coma" which Slash wanted to play. As for why Guns N' Roses do not play Slash's Snakepit or Velvet Revolver songs, well, Axl calls the shots (whether we like that or not). I'm sure he has his reasons for wanting to keep the set list relegated to Guns N' Roses songs (of any era) and covers of artists not related to GN'R. If Slash and Duff feel that strongly about playing those songs, they can play them at their own shows or relaunch Velvet Revolver.  

Even if Duff and Slash absolutely detest playing Chinese Democracy songs (and they do not appear to), I'm sure the thrill of playing to huge audiences and playing classics with Axl singing more than makes up for the 20 to 25 minutes each night playing newer songs. 

On 11/5/2017 at 11:01 AM, Dean said:

Very true, which is a shame in my opinion. I'd love to hear how those tunes were originally, although you could even say that for a lot of the stuff on Chinese too. Another stumbling block would be anything Pitman had a hand in writing to prevent him from getting any royalties.

Did Pitman have any writing credits on Chinese Democracy? Even if he had writing credits, I'm sure any band members who joins Guns N' Roses gives the band contractual permission to release any compositions written for Guns N' Roses with or without the member's permission. Paul Tobias, Josh Freese, Robin Finck, and Buckethead all had writing credits on Chinese Democracy, and the band didn't take their songs off the album.