mystery

9 hours ago, invisible_rose said:

And yet hugely influential.

They had some half decent tunes, but it's hard to take them seriously as a band, rather than a brand. 

Massively influential to rock, hard rock, metal, and even death metal bands. They've had good albums and songs throughout their history and are open about being a brand as much as a band. I say that while not even being that into them.

Guns N' Roses is more jarring because they've become such a bland corporate brand which clashes with their classic years. You see it with their social media posts which seem designed to appeal to everyone because they're really a family friendly band now.

9 hours ago, Gordon Comstock said:

I hate that "they're in their 60s" has become the standard excuse for their lackluster shows and Axl's vocals. It's such a ridiculously lazy excuse that has nothing to do with the actual criticisms.

I thought this about Rob Halford and Judas Priest as there was a period he really couldn't hit the high notes on a lot of his songs. The past 5 years he's managed to hit those high, screeching notes though not the same way as his prime. They've managed to play songs throughout their history including live debuts and songs not played in 30-40 years. 

There's a few interesting ones I've talked about in the Wilderness Years thread regarding sightings of Axl in 1998-99. One of them was about meeting him outside the gate of his house that wound up actually being true. It was posted in October 1998 but the pictures didn't come out until 2018:

Meeting Axl July 3, 1998 :

I was so nervous to ring his doorbell but i did it anyways and his housekeeper
talked to us for a little while saying that he was in the middle of working
out, and she said that since my girlfriend and I had traveled for 4 hours
looking for his house she would ask if Axl Would say hello, and sure enough he
came down the drive way, (same one in the Estranged Video)and opened the gate.
He was so nice, he had his trainer with him, and he answered any and all
questions i had on the news of GNR. I got a photo with him and he signed my Use
your illusion 2 cover. He had a bandana on, but his hair was short. He has
gained weight!!! Muscle, not fat!!! He looks good and healthy.
He said GNR hopes to have something out by this coming summer!!

https://groups.google.com/g/alt.rock-n-roll.metal.gnr/c/5SMa6H7cxsQ/m/d_N0W35_2RwJ

Gonna post just the links of the other 2 so its not an endless post:

Axl at Universal October 30, 1999:

https://groups.google.com/g/alt.rock-n-roll.metal.gnr/c/zel4fpEmP40/m/AnOdY9U2IdQJ

Axl at Houston's restaurant December 26, 1998:

https://groups.google.com/g/alt.rock-n-roll.metal.gnr/c/IDelN4-by5A/m/T_EvlVo2NlQJ

35 minutes ago, 2020_Intensions said:

Yeah but the casual fans rip him apart for not sounding like he used to anyways! 

I think people will gladly take the lower register than the strained Mickey voice if he can save some rasp for important parts of songs.

2022 and Slash is being asked about recording parts over songs originally recorded in 2000, truly absurd. 

On 3/13/2023 at 7:11 PM, Gordon Comstock said:

 

The only times in the last few years I've chose to listen to SCOM was live versions - the 1986 debut performance that leaked, the Ritz/Vegas ones when I listened to the full shows, and the Carrie Underwood performances if those count.

I've said before that I think it's overrated and a bunch of people here tried to tell me I meant 'overplayed' lol. It's both. It's their most famous song, but it's not even one of the best songs on AFD and nowhere near the best in their catalogue...

This scene from Step Brothers highlights how sappy SCOM is where you'd think it was from a pop artist if you were unaware of Guns N' Roses. Patience has the same vibe which is why I rarely listen to that one as well:

17 minutes ago, Billy Cundy said:

Me 

Its a monkey's paw wish of Axl sounding like he did in 1987 but needing to have Avril Lavigne and Rihanna as guest stars.

8 minutes ago, axlslash said:

Also a cooler sense of sounding good at all :p

Could Axl go through a whole concert singing well if you just put random pop stars as guest singers? Who wouldn't want to see Axl and Harry Styles on My Michelle or Axl and the Weeknd on Coma?

3 hours ago, Karice said:

Thank you for that. I don't follow Chris Brown, so to the best of my knowledge, his Career was OVER after he beat up Rihanna. His Career was better than I thought. 

Chris Brown surprisingly recovered but he still apparently assaults women. Axl could've easily been that guy but he eventually grew up. 

Jon Bon Jovi, Vince Neil, Bret Michaels 

I found these 2 pictures of Axl wearing a shirt with Elvis on it, thought it was relevant here. 

Also a more modern one from 2013:

57 minutes ago, WhazUp said:

For me I am mostly referring to just the act of Axl going up there with other artists and doing cameos, he didn't really do much of that during the 2000-2015 era compared 80s/90s and 2016 onwards.  It is like he regained a former confidence in he didn't have when he was trying to get out there with the Chinese era stuff - to me it is a nice thing to see.

The one person who comes to mind is Sebastian Bach and people who were ex-members like Duff (at the time) and Izzy. I'm sure someone else can name more but its cool that he's doing it. 

21 minutes ago, megaguns1982 said:

Was Axl actually proven guilty?

It was quietly settled but just because someone isn't convicted and sent to prison doesn't mean things didn't happen. I find it hard to believe his ex-wife and girlfriend decided to sue him out of the blue.

He's likely a completely different person now but its still interesting how a younger generation of famous women seem to idolize him.

24 minutes ago, allwaystired said:

I've never really listened to them. What song would you recommend as a good example of what they're like now? 

Bat Country might be their signature song along with Seize the Day. Hail to the King,  Welcome to the Family, Nightmare, Beast and the Harlot, and Almost Easy are good songs.

The Stage was their most recent album and the highlight for me was Exist which is a really long but good mostly instrumental song about space featuring Neil deGrasse Tyson. The title track and Roman Sky are also good songs.

I'll be honest that their stuff can get repetitive but they've made enough music to have good songs even if some albums might be a slog. M. Shadows is cool but its hard to listen to a full album of his vocals as they can be grating. Their guitarists have always been legit though.

Just now, allwaystired said:

Yeah I got that, just those set of headliners with GNR in seemed a bit odd. I've no idea how popular they are in the US though. 

Avenged Sevenfold are popular enough but they never quite got to Guns N' Roses level. They're one of the few mainstream rock bands that started in the 2000s that have sustained success.

Avenged Sevenfold are odd though because their early sound is nothing like what they became. They went from metalcore to more standard hard rock/heavy metal. They're also rumored to be releasing a new album so a festival is timely for them.

21 minutes ago, allwaystired said:

GNR are the same level now as Avenged Sevenfold and Korn? 

Not sure if they're bigger in the US but both those bands would struggle to do Arenas here unless it was part of some package tour. 

It's organized by date, they're on the last day and seem to be the headliners. It just looks kind of off because they're below those other bands. I like Avenged Sevenfold as their Guns influence has been obvious from City of Evil on. M. Shadows also has also hung out with Axl and likes Chinese Democracy.

I wonder how many of the female artists who perform with Axl are aware of his past with Stephanie Seymour and Erin Everly? Its controversial to bring up and probably off-topic to this but I wouldn't be surprised if people like Carrie Underwood or Pink had no idea of it. There's famous people where allegations way further back would be dug up but Axl is so low-key its as if it never happened.

16 minutes ago, DoMw94 said:

Of course it's low. He's an older guy who sings in a way that can't be good for you.

He'll never sound like he did in the '80s, but compared to recent years, yes he was indeed good here

People would gladly take how he sounded in 2016-17 but it feels like that vanished and isn't coming back.

9 minutes ago, Karice said:

It's the "Dress wild in your house, but dress GOOD when visiting other People's houses," thing. 😏

The same kind of applies when he went harder vocally with AC/DC and seemed more inspired with those guys.

14 minutes ago, Subtle Signs said:

You'd think the late 90's-early 2000's never ended when you look at the headliners.

Axl has a cooler sense of fashion when he's playing with other people than in his own band

2 minutes ago, Karice said:

There is a song that has lyrics something like,"Same as it ever was, same as it ever was." Maybe this applies to Welcome To The Jungle too? 🤔 Maybe Axl sings Welcome To The Jungle so much that it's become monotonous and stale now and the songs he doesn't sing as much such as Shadow Of Your Love and Reckless life sound better and fresher? 🤔

Talking Heads-Once in a Lifetime is the song you're thinking about.

Tired: Carrie Underwood and Axl singing WTTJ

Wired: Carrie Underwood and Axl singing 14 Years

On 3/11/2023 at 5:43 AM, Karice said:

About People criticizing Axl's looks, he mostly looks good, decent, okay for the most part. There is only ONE completely awful picture of him , one where he looks fat and  is staring at the camera with a menacing look. Axl himself has begged the internet to delete that picture of him , and the internet refuses to delete that picture. But at least one fan said the ragging and dragging he got over that awful picture was the catalyst for him to get into shape and try to look good so it's a blessing in disguise. 😀

I'm a fan of Axl but there's lots of pictures where he doesn't look good and pretty much all of them are from 2001-present. He had model looks that aged from 1994-2000 and whatever he's done to preserve his hair/try to look younger hurt his looks more than if he just embraced aging. It sucks because he was never going to look like his younger self forever and its an unrealistic standard to be held to.

Biggest news in this thread is Carrie Underwood turning 40, I thought she was 5 or 6 years younger.