alfierose

Just wondering what thoughts are on his involvement and opinions. I read this article earlier which I haven't seen before (I'm sure plenty have read it).

http://archive.classicrockmagazine.com/view/march-2009/33/alan-niven-was-the-sixth-silent-member-of-gnr-says

It makes very interesting reading on the back of Axl's interview (strange typos but still makes sense). His take on the Slash/Axl power struggle is that Slash wasn't capable of running a bath at the time never mind a band but later goes on to say he deliberately gave Axl the cold shoulder on stage sometimes and was in his opinion very sharp.

He does seem most critical towards Axl. Is this a fair opinion? He does seem to hold Axl responsible for the loss of a lot of personal money so I imagine a degree of bias.

Any thoughts? I haven't read much about him other than in the Slash/Duff books.

I doubt he will subject himself to internet forums again. I kind of don't blame him, I wouldn't want to read this forum if it was about me. If I ever get famous overnight I will definitely find myself a Jarmo in order to keep my sanity.

Fair enough. But it's not the topic here. Post your questions to Axl.

Okay.

In the event of a three minute nuclear warning who would you phone and why?

I doubt he will subject himself to internet forums again. I kind of don't blame him, I wouldn't want to read this forum if it was about me. If I ever get famous overnight I will definitely find myself a Jarmo in order to keep my sanity.

i love my life and still think axl jumped the dolphin .

I suppose we should be grateful he became a rockstar rather than a surgeon or suchlike.

'Dr Rose, emergency in theatre one, can you attend?'

'I will definitely maybe be there, if not soon is the word'

'Matron call the morgue, I think we have another one for them'

I jest of course but realistically there aren't many jobs he could have succeeded at bless him. Waiting for a new album is probably the safest place we could be with Axl!

I think Izzy might already had some type of conversation with Axl about a reunion and he probably isn't interested, or maybe he's just interested in doing a reunion tour and Axl wants to release more material with a band, no matter what band it is.

I think they talked after the Rock Hall announcement, and Izzy let Axl know he wasn't going.

Izzy's talked about doing a reunion tour or a one off before, he was down for it. Izzy, Duff, and Slash showed up at the Key Club for Adler's 20th celebration of AFD, and Slash wouldn't play.

I also think Duff said he wanted to write more with Izzy. Who knows. I want to see Tommy and Duff write a song, and if Izzy's a part of it, cool. That's not a "reunion", just a contribution.

Why wouldn't Slash play? Was he not on good terms with Steven at that time?

The impression I get from Slash and Duff's books is that they like to work and move forward consistently, I believe Marc Canter has also said that Slash worked very hard at promotion in the early days before the band was signed. Axl on the other hand whilst very creative and talented was inconsistent at best, according to Duff he would be full of outlandish plans one day then disappear for a week or sleep for three days in a row he also decided to become nocturnal at some point. It's not hard to see why keeping the band together became difficult especially when all the substance abuse is added on top. The managers and associates could probably have done a lot more at this point to help rather than furthering their own agendas, this I think is something that Slash, Duff and Axl have agreed on in the past.

The overriding thing that stands out in Axl's recent interviews is that he seems hurt that nobody cared in a way he hopes for, Axl was the only one to visit Steven and Duff when they were hospitalised which is suggestive of someone who cares a lot and maybe expects the same from others. He perhaps has never come to terms with the inherently selfish nature of addicts who cannot see beyond themselves when in the grip of addiction.

The feuds and fallouts all boil down to different perspectives and lack of empathy (not sympathy) on all sides combined with some self serving middlemen.

It's sad really, the Guns story never reached a satisfying conclusion on any side unlike the Stones, Aerosmith etc.. they were cut off in their prime, it's like the difference between the death of a child and a pensioner in his nineties. One is much easier to come to terms with than the other.

He is right about not considering a reunion at this point, it would be a horrid thing to do to the current band who have worked hard to build on something. I don't get why people would think a reunion would be a good option. I agree with Axl that they are usually subpar. Old Guns was a moment in time that captured something, a zeitgeist that can't be repeated.

Axl was forced on tour, then when it went wrong nobody said oh, maybe we shouldn't have done that. Slash has said being late was for no good reason. If Axl was in therapy, or say he was on the same drugs they were for example to get them on stage (he wasnt but its an example). It wasnt for no good reason, he had issues or some kind of problem around that time. Ok, they made a mistake, but they could have said sorry later. OR at least tried to help him out. but it's more like here's a bus, oh here's another coming along, oh and another. I don't really understand that.

Axl seems like he has to be in top shape and well prepared to do his job, but you can be high and play guitar or hungover.

I think in his book Slash did acknowledge that being the front guy is a particular kind of pressure and Duff has often said that he understood Axl had his own ways of dealing with pressure in the same way he used alcohol. I think they did understand to some extent but when you are at the helm of a multi million pound business which Guns was at that time then the show must go on.It's ruthless but then I guess that industry is.

There are many reasons why things went wrong at that point but to lay the blame at Slash's door is as bonkers as blaming only Axl, just my opinion but I think it would be healthier if he could take a more balanced view of things which I think would lead to better band/business decisions in the long term.

I think on that tour that keeps coming up that Axl shouldn't have been on, Slash and Duff were probably also a mess. Is it the tour Axl found out about his abuse, he was in therapy at some point going from couch to stage. From what I can make out, Axl feels he was forced out on that tour and it was worse, I don't think he's saying he's not late on other occasions, but that tour is where it became a disaster and Axl got branded as late.

You get the idea though, that these shows are stressful and if there's disharmony in a band it will get exposed. From no ones book do I get the impression they were enjoying it. Only Matt seemed to be having a blast. The rest were blasted.

I agree, I think it's taking it too far though to think that Slash was trying to break his mind. It's not unreasonable to think that Slash wasn't sympathetic enough to how Axl was feeling, the guy was a junkie at this point but I doubt it was deliberate, just thoughtless or selfish maybe.

But hasn't he worked past or gotten thru or has dealt with,found a way to cope with those issues?

So why is he late now?

Because he can get away with it? I can't think of another plausible reason that doesn't stray into the realms of mental health issues.

Duff mentions a Stones concert in his book where Axl showed up with minutes to go and even Mick was getting his freak on about it.

It seems like he started off early in his career cutting it fine then descended into all out lateness once he was top dog.

It's funny, in the beginning, it's just a few sentence answers that make sense.

Than, when we get to the late starts, Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame, and Slash, it's complete nonsense. Seriously, I really don't understand half the stuff he's talking about. He blames Slash for wanting to tour, like that's not what Rock bands do. I don't understand where he's coming from with some of the stuff he's talking about.

The "definite maybe," is a good sign though. I jus wish he would go more in detail about it like he did with the late starts and other stuff.

I don't think 'maybe' is a good sign particularly. It's my word of choice when my kids hassle me about something I don't really intend doing i.e. 'Mum can we have some sweets?'....'Maybe' (more often than not means no but I don't want to discuss this now so I'm saying maybe to stall you and get you off my case.)

Also see 'soon' and 'later'.

Just reread the piece again.

The first half of the interview read very well but once the lateness and Slash was brought up it went a bit weird. It's interesting that Axl (to the best of my knowledge) never seems to attempt to understand Slash's motivations in a way that Slash (and Duff) have attempted to understand Axl's. Slash's motivation for doing the UYI tour, quitting the band and forging his own career to me seem to be based in a desire to remain productive, move forward and more recently probably stay sober and provide for his family, the same could be said of Duff.

It's as if Axl takes a very egocentric view of everything and doesn't quite get that people might have personal feelings and desires that are not connected to or derived from wanting to hurt him. As another poster said Slash will have wanted to tour in 91 because they were riding high on a wave of popularity and wanted to make the most of that yet to Axl he was an evil Svengali who wanted to break his mind, no offence to Slash but I don't think he is that clever.

It's great that he obviously has a lot of affection for the current band, I wish he would do them the honour of releasing something with them. Maybe if as he says he has limited interest in social media he doesn't realise how much this is needed to concrete the band in public. Explains though how BBF gets away with his rants, I bet they are never brought to Axl's attention.

Alright, I love Axl as much as the next GNR fan, but how in the fuck can anybody take this guy seriously?

Look man, it might not be obvious to you, but it's pretty clear that the man has his own way of thinking , behavior and probably, issues to deal with - it is so obvious that his brain really works differently and for many on the outside, it probably looks like he is crazy or not worth taking seriously. But, that's just not true - the more I see of Axl, the more certain I am that he is different in a way that probably accounts for his creativity and talent as well as out of the norm behavior. He may be bipolar or he may have ADHD - either or both of those would account for the inability to stick to schedules/mood swings/insane amounts of creatiity/verbosity etc. Of course, this is just speculation. Whether or not this hypothesis is true however, it is both tragic and appalling to see that Axl's 'fans' just don't appreciate that he IS different and that much of his behavior is not intentional or designed to upset them or anyone else - its just the way he is.

Oh it's painfully obvious.

I just don't see it as simply "being different", I see a paranoid man who can't accept responsibility for anything, we've known that about Axl for years though.

None of it has anything to do with his creativity, its the way he carries himself which is the unfortunate product of his early life before GNR, dealing with the spotlight and being in one of the worlds most popular bands, and eventually being surrounded by yes men. All that said there's still no excuse for being as paranoid and apparently out of touch with reality as he is.

This is just how I see it, I haven't walked a mile in the mans shoes, but he really believes everyone was out to get him and its pretty sad

I think if he has anything he has this..

Schizoid personality disorder

...researchers had hypothesized that unloving, neglectful, or excessively perfectionist parenting could play a role.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizoid_personality_disorder

Interesting. Human psychology is fascinating. He could have any number of things, criterion is often similar and overlapping to the point where even professionals can't accurately diagnose someone. It is fairly clear however that he has an atypical mindset whatever the root cause.

JMO

What a bunch of bollocks. Every artist in the fucking world can get to play in time, why he can't ? Why is everything so difficult with him ?

Several people, I think including Niven, have suggested that major stage fright is part of it, and it's not something he's gonna be open about.

On top of that he's been very open about his childhood trauma and various mental problems. Stick all that together and you've got a guy who can't cope with going on stage until he's mentally ready and to be fair, like he says, he's been a shit-tonne better in the last 3 years than any time before.

So every other artists gets on stage on time. But Axl frankly has more issues than just about any other artist, simple as.

I got over the late thing long ago. If you wanna be down the front then, sure, it's a knackering wait. But if, like most people, you've got seats or are cool standing in the GA wherever then it's actually kinda cool, i've found. Go for a meal have a few drinks, have half a night out and get well oiled, maybe see Baz if you're arsed or just rock up at about 10 with some more bevvies and you ain't got long to wait.

I have worked with kids who have this disorder- pathological demand avoidance http://www.autism.org.uk/about-autism/related-conditions/pda-pathological-demand-avoidance-syndrome.aspx

Obviously nobody can internet diagnose anyone but I have often thought there were similarities with Axl's mindset. It would explain the late starts better than stage fright. Interestingly a key thing with these kids was a lack of awareness of time, theirs or anyone elses, you just could not get them to do stuff (eg. getting ready for school) on a timescale other than their own no matter what the consequences. The physical passage of time meant nothing.

Just some food for thought but if Axl does have something like this he really can't help it and it probably is I his personal best interest to have a full time guardian (Beta) even though to the outside world it doesn't seem like a good idea.

I think I have read somewhere before it was because he was in a bad way because his relationship with Erin had broken down and he had found out stuff about his Dad and was trying to have therapy to deal with everything.

Don't quote me on this though.

I thought that was a good interview, better than any he's done in a while, maybe email interviews are the way forward. It gives a good idea what his autobiography would sound like if he ever felt there was a point to it.

Strange that he hasn't read Duff's book. He should, it's better than Slash's.

The interviewer should have asked him why BBF is always complaining rather than reunion questions.

He seemed to be suggesting that Slash was trying to push him into some kind of mental breakdown by pushing him into the illusions tour. I struggle to imagine that was his intention even if it felt like that to Axl. Maybe this is where the devil/cancer stuff comes from.

I don't think BBF will get fired. Axl hasn't fired that many people to my knowledge, most of them quit. The money is in touring these days and because GNR constantly have shows booked it would be very inconvenient to replace him, BBF probably knows this so he would have to say some real shit to lose his job.

I sometimes wonder if maybe Axl gets a kick out of withholding the opportunity for them to be involved in a new album-the more they want it the more he holds off. A bit like people who withhold sex and affection from their partners as a power and control game.

I could see withholding affection, but sex? That's crazy.

Ha ha, it's probably more of a female power play...but not always, I had an ex like that.

Foo Fighters, Avenged Sevenfold, AC/DC, Metallica, Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Van Halen, Wolfmother, Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead, Coldplay.

It doesn't mean they're better. There's no such thing as better band. Taste is relative. It's a choice that only belongs to you. But i can guarantee you can expect more from any of those bands then the current form of GNR we have.

Foo Fighters keep releasing albums, Avenged Sevenfold is an exciting "new" band, their last 3 albums are awesome!, AC/DC... Whenever they don't release a new album, which they have, they will have a new dvd out or a new live cd out...sometimes even both. Bon Jovi releases plenty of albums. Almost every year there's a new album, and considering today's music, their music is awesome, Bruce Springsteen releases a lot of music as well, he's always on tour. Van Halen have released a great new album, they tour all over the World (i guess this is the closest you can have to GNR, but still Van Halen have released more albums then GNR and have had more exciting things then GNR), Wolfmother is another exciting "new" band.

Marilyn Manson: Well, his music hasn't been exciting for awhile now. In my opinion Hollywood was the last great album from Manson, but they do release an album in every year to 2 years span.

Nine Inch Nails: They're back, and we all know what they can do. For those that like it... it's a good choice. I love their marketing strategy. The one for Year Zero was absolutely phenomenal and it surely got me enough interested to buy some of their albums. The music is different but great too. The last album was phenomenal. And that rehearsal dvd with Robin and Josh in the band is phenomenal.

Radiohead: Don't have any cds from them. Only know them as a casual fan who listened to the singles. I heard they're albums are pretty good even though they're not really my style.

Coldplay: For some people they're too mainstream, but i find them to be a very cool band. Very nice albums! And they're very active as well most of the times.

Radiohead - Ok Computer is a brilliant album, everyone should have a copy IMO.

I used to work for a politician (a rare one with integrity, she was totally shafted in the end but that's another story) I asked her why she got into politics and she said 'because the best way to change something is from the inside'.

I think this is why BBF doesn't quit because he must still think he has a chance of making a difference. Maybe Axl makes all the right noises but then when it comes down to it...

That seems a little dramatic. He's obviously frustrated that people keep asking him the same questions about something he has zero power over, even when he's made that clear over and over for the past 3 years.

Not really, he has spoke about his desire to make music with GNR often. He's not going to get to do that from outside the band.

There are lots of better bands in terms of consistent output, fan friendly, good live shows but it is really dependent on whether you enjoy their music or not. Green Day springs to mind as a band that have been going as long as Axl and have remained intact and released very regularly, however I prefer GNR's music on the whole (possibly with the exception of Dookie).

I don't think BBF will get fired. Axl hasn't fired that many people to my knowledge, most of them quit. The money is in touring these days and because GNR constantly have shows booked it would be very inconvenient to replace him, BBF probably knows this so he would have to say some real shit to lose his job.

I sometimes wonder if maybe Axl gets a kick out of withholding the opportunity for them to be involved in a new album-the more they want it the more he holds off. A bit like people who withhold sex and affection from their partners as a power and control game.

I used to work for a politician (a rare one with integrity, she was totally shafted in the end but that's another story) I asked her why she got into politics and she said 'because the best way to change something is from the inside'.

I think this is why BBF doesn't quit because he must still think he has a chance of making a difference. Maybe Axl makes all the right noises but then when it comes down to it...

Who runs @gunsnrosesnews ? Is it an official twitter account? I don't think I've seen it on the mygnr twitter feed.

On an unrelated note they have just tweeted about Axl and Justin Bieber. Obviously saw the humour in it too!

If an agreement about content was made then broken then in my opinion that is shit. Although we obviously don't know exactly what the agreement was.