Alja

27 minutes ago, Ratam said:

yes true, but Duff idols and friends die already 5 , and them was relatively youngs 

We should also ask how many of his fiends and idols are already dead form the pool of friends and idols Duff has. Rockstars and people around bands tend to have shorter lifespan than national average, to say. 

It was nice from Axl to call him and say he's sorry.

18 hours ago, Ratam said:

My conclusion is: Duff bring bad luck 

My conclusion: your friends and idols eventually die. 

3 hours ago, GingerHair said:

From all reports I have seen (from friends and antagonists), Axl was only an occasional user of heavy drugs. I think he was (or still is, Idk) more into alcohol and weed but not an addicted anyway.

In an old interview Beta says that Axl was out of drugs and that he had even stopped smoking. Beta is not the most reliable source but this is very consistent with what everyone ever said about Axl & drugs.

 

 

When I was talking with people even about hard drugs, even people mostly occasionally use stuff like weed or acid, there are occasional users of all kinds of stuff. Axl wasn't seen with cigarettes for years, I see Beta reliable because it fits with everything else, I think she said he even avoids having smokers around now. Apart from rest of the band, Axl can have a beer or two until this day  

***

And happy birthday to Izzy!

*did I tell you that I love Izzy's eyes? The shape is perfect and I am totally into that dark circle around the iris.

10 hours ago, MaskingApathy said:

I think he used a little bit here and there, but he didn't become addicted like the others and he kept it quiet, out of the public knowledge. 

This is what I got, actually, you go through all that drug prevention programs as a student (some extra if you get leadership courses for working with kids) and they all tell you that once you try heroin you are lost. You believe it until you meet unfitting pegs, people who didn't fail into addiction despite high accessibility of drugs and even doing them occasionally, people who tell you that heroin is either bullshit or it frightened them... That drugs and people couple, they pick them really like actual medication, and, first, they use it alike. Axl talked drugs by the beginning of nineties his opinions are unorthodox, ain't no "Kids don't try it" but rather "stay safe and don't build up an addiction, problems float on heroin anyway". I went through that interviews, because he described it well, like... he rather used drugs, mostly psychedelics, for "research", "artistic" purposes. Maybe he gets privately high on shrooms or whatever fits him until now.

Thing is that Axl, apart from suicidal attempts (pills, searching for dope to OD until he found friends and they had Christmas together in early nineties), didn't feel the urge to escape his head, that's why people use drugs, even weed, if excessively. And yes, it's even more interesting if you take in count how massive psychological problems he faced. Many of those alike tried to drown their issues in drugs. Sometimes, when you just aren't neruotypical, people assume that you have to be on some kind of drugs, when it's just how you are and you cannot go normie just because someone asks for it. It's also hard to find the way when you are different, then usual ways just doesn't work. Again, I cannot explain this rationally, but the moment I saw actual Axl Rose two-three meters near I somehow got why he got stuck with New Age. Sometimes people take a path just to find out that it doesn't work as a whole, but they keep findings from that route anyway through their life. If Axl believes in soul-traveling, reincarnation and stuff, it also might have been a thing which kept him from pulling the trigger. If you believe that you will be born again and again until your issues will be solved, suicide really doesn't make sense. Although you are having self-doubts in extent you can't see your existence as worthy.  

19 hours ago, Padme said:

In the begining Axl was the frontman and lead singer. All of them were the driving force. All of them were behind their sound, lyrics and loud music. Izzy didn't diminish. He just left when he couldn't take it anymore. Only Adler diminished. 

It is not a matter of normal singer. We will never know what could have been without Axl in the early days. But for sure we know what happened to GN'R when Izzy, Slash and Duff left. 

Like... you cannot argue the crucial importance of Bonzo and Jonesy for Zeppelin sound, but still, Page is the mastermind behind. 

Izzy as a leading force in the band was diminishing for long before he definitely left - look at the way he contributed on Illusion... If you read how they composed songs, it was usually they were throwing out noodles until Axl caught something worthy and eventually polished it into the song... or he made them to play the idea until it gave proper feeling (Appetite) Izzy and Duff eventually with Adler constructed the backbone of the song, Slash added lead guitar and Axl made it to a whole song. This continued for other albums, but also the band members were becoming more and more estranged, not making it together but rather separately. There are different stories and points of view about that...

No one of them made shiny solo - or as a contributor - career comparable to their original band after the breakup. How many times Slash wished for normal, hard working band like Metallica, instead of dealing with idiosyncrasies of crazy lead singer... It's a package deal, Axl differed them from the pack on Sunset strip and what he actually did is unique, yet he can be major pain in the ass (but maybe he behaves now ). 

***

19 hours ago, vikute91 said:

Now to the Courtney/Axl altercation at the VMAs. It's not like he came to insult her out of the blue. According to witnesses, the tone in which she spoke to him was clearly meant to taunt and mock him. The role of a conflict instigator shouldn't be downplayed. If you want to be treated like a decent person - act like one.

Courtney has reputation which makes Yoko Ono nice lady. For me she's plain vulgar and as far as I know, apart from Kurt, nobody liked her presence. In the story... Axl literally didn't want to smash her mouth so he asked Kurt to shut her up as far as she didn't understand that she crossed the line (you are really not obligate to bear extensive amount of sh*t), so he asked Kurt to do something so she won't continue... Is there Axl's part of the story or here we go again, bad, bad Axl? 

19 hours ago, Sydney Fan said:

I really never beleived axl did hard drugs. Pot yes, heroin and cocaine no. Cocaine he didnt do because it screwed up his throat.

I had some vague information about GNR back then... I didn't care much until I got more interested. Last year when I took some extra shifts to get money for tickets, I was like I was here because I was gonna see Guns'n'Roses and colleagues were like: "Axl Rose? That fat junkie?" Me: "Say it once more and you lie on the ground with tube down your throat." I honestly didn't have much of an opinion before, it's something you have to dive into to get it and I found it interesting. Axl's "not using cocaine because of throat" is alike Kurt excusing his heroin habit by stomach ache. Both are rooted somewhere else. Axl has this unusual perception based on overall feeling and being conscious, which is easily compromised by substances, so one thing is to get high in safe, controlled environment (with psychedelics) and other thing is to be in a state when you need the substance for your daily functioning. 

11 hours ago, Padme said:

The worst part about that comment is that it seems Axl did it all by himself  Five guys made the band, not just one. Besides a lot of people help them one way or another, everyone from Marc Canter to David Geffen. Things didn't take shape just because Axl performed some kind of magic trick

Axl was the driving force, the catalyst. Since the beginning of the band. And, at the end, a mastermind behind the band as Izzy started to diminish. He ain't no solo artist, of course  I am pretty sure that if they had more "normal" lead singer, the band wouldn't take the course they did. 

11 hours ago, vikute91 said:

???

So you can't be more of a masculine guy and be sensitive at the same time? I disagree. In fact I never even perceived Axl as a very macho man. All I see is a highly emotional and moody person who has anger management issues and is easy to pick a fight with.

Axl is insecure and vulnerable. It makes him a kind of performer he is. On the other side, he, since being small, fragile built child in hostile environment, learned to protect that with aggression. Family should learn children to understand and regulate their emotions, but, if a child lives in constant threat, where adults aren't capable of self-control, it inevitably becomes hypersensitive even without being highly emotional by nature. If it's a boy, it's even harder, because for a boy is hard to find a role-model and boys are forced man up, to be stoic and unemotional. Other thing is that with hypersensitive nature, "skinlessness", a person like that can be overwhelmed by inner or outer stimuli, which are, for most people, not even on their radar. He ain't no macho, he is quiet opposite of that for me. Axl always loved to be with children.

***

Being an owner of a pussy is not a thing which deserves respect itself. So goes for age. If you behave like a bitch, you are treated as one, even if a women sitting next to you being classy is usually treated like a lady. It's bullshit to ask for respect because of sex, age, if you meet harsh honest person, even your social status doesn't matter, you are treated as you ask for. 

Drug abuse during pregnancy and breastfeeding puts a child under higher risk of developmental, psychological and health problems, they have higher mortality than normal. Keith Richards' and Anita Pallenberg's kids are also mostly normal adults, only one of their sons  died on sudden infant death syndrome, which is more common in addict mother's children. Growing up in addicts environment puts abnormal pressure on kids. Children of some stars and groupies died because their parents were high on drugs and the child was left unsupervised... They all knew the stories. Like, imagine there is this beautiful child and it's parents are constantly out of their heads and there's nothing which can eventually call them for responsibility...

23 minutes ago, janrichmond said:

 Do you think this ^ was a good thing??

There is no accessible parallel reality (at least for me) in which GNR hoked on Appetite sound and kept with its image also staying in five original members, so I cannot say exactly.

At the end, Axl got lost in all that so he couldn't hear himself, they ended UYI nibbled away to bare minimum, and it still worked. It happened to many bands... The only available alternative is what they created through the time, take it or let be.

I started my dive into GNR world figuring out why Kurt is dead and Axl alive (2015). Found out that despite the reputation, Axl was a non-junkie, occasional user, which is something I still find utterly fascinating. Getting more information about people from drugs oozed environments, talks with junkies and observations inspired by this I found out many interesting things, I was even having a tribute lecture on drug use for national congress based on my findings. Not being substance-dependent is always good. 

2 hours ago, vikute91 said:

Totally agree. I've always felt that Kurt was being undeservedly mean towards Axl, whose intentions, I believe, were genuine. If he'd decided to dislike Axl after meeting him, I could understand, but in this case too much prejudice was at play. He hated Axl not for who he was, but for what Kurt thought he represented.

I don't know if it was an artsy persona that he had put on or if he was actually like that. Dave Grohl, on the other hand, have always come off as playing a part to me. Never came to like the guy. All this animosity towards the established bands during Nirvana years, yet now acting as everybody's best buddy. Hypocrite much? Wonder if Kurt was alive today, would he be on friendly terms with Axl now? Possible    

It would be good, if it was Beatles - Stones kind of animosity, which was basically for media to create fuss and contrast around those two bands. They actually loved and respected each other since ever and coordinated things like publishing to get maximum out of it. Now they are just genuine friends also publicly. This is the way good guy Dave Grohl can be friends with people now also in public. He was a drummer in Nirvana, who cares about drummer's opinion?

Most band members of both Nirvana and GNR were high as kites on drugs. Junkies are always morons with narrowed point of view. No exclusions, ask them. Axl was a non-junkie oddball in this pack. He turned GNR from sleazy club band to monstrous stadium act with horn section, backup singers, you name it, million dress changes, complex, elaborated songs... It's actually kind of normal in many acts as they explore music and get fame and possibilities. Kurt wanted to keep Nirvana shabby pack doing rather simple music based on loud-quiet dynamics, yet it seemed to him that band is evolving, selling stadiums and stuff, him becoming the poster boy, Kurt somehow didn't want to adapt to that and Axl was impersonation of it. Axl as a persona, a guy in tiny lycra shorts and his stage antics... Kurt seems like taking it all too much personally and also being unable to bear demons he created. If you ask recovery junkies, they will tell you that looking back they see many people trying to help them, they just weren't able to grasp the safe rope. Kurt is dead, he shot his head high on heroin.

There is Axl for those who read OIAM lyrics to the end and those who not. Remember when all were almost shitting their pants how will end up Freddie's tribute concert and meeting of Axl and Elton John?

I don't say Axl was never violent and/or dangerous, he is just quiet different from your average misogynist Joe. Courtney had nasty reputation back then to say at least. She was doing heroin while pregnant and continued while raising the infant, which Axl couldn't bear. So don't cherrypick the tip of an iceberg.

Axl cares, if he decides to. Also is mentioned by everyone as harshly honest and authentic and genuine and abnormally responsive to the way he is treated. If you go through the bios, you see that Axl genuinely cares, but also way too many times his efforts turned to a complete fiasco and deepened the abyss between him and others. 

Not for all shows that happens, but the eyeliner works for cameras and photos, just the balance must be set delicately, on one show I've been to it was really good and other he had quiet light lines, so with that pale skin, bright lights, ginger lashes and light colored eyes without remarkable darker circle around iris it asks for a bit post-production to get nice results. But thin brown line looks okay (he used brown one for the recent tour). Axl has hooded eyes, now even more, in this situation any thicker line just blurs all over your eyelids when you wink and you end up like a panda. They wear lots of powder because they sweat like horses, then it goes down them the like a pancake dough  Mascara is a solution if you are a lady  

Stage lights are more often than not extremely strong daylight white ones, it makes face flat, mainly if they are directed horizontally. 

3 minutes ago, Lillie said:

@Alja about smokey eyes...I stopped using make up many years ago, it was in fashion a decade before,most women in university, in work, used to use basic stuff like powder or compact or the wet foundation thing and blusher at nights... Smokey eyes was a must trend back then,tutorials over tutorials in magazines for the big day of new year's eve etc.. i have seriously no idea what hooded eyes is,Uh...but i'm not seeing many heavily "painted" faces around now or in FB/PINTEREST fashion pages wordwide...

Hooded eyes is when your eyelid is covered - it's either inborn or it happens/worsens with aging. Axl's right eye is hooded on this picture and it's tricky to do even an eyeline on eyes like these. Any advise is a good one

@LillieStill, I have to agree that Axl could do far more complex make-up than I ever did myself.

Bring back eyeliner tips for hooded eyes, please!

(desperately need 'em)

18 minutes ago, Oldest Goat said:

I had to fake it once in order to get the heck out of there. I'll spare you the details but basically it became clear to me very suddenly she was an insane satanist lol

10 minutes ago, Oldest Goat said:

One does not simply fake a male orgasm.

That's why only 15% do it

2 hours ago, Lillie said:

GNR legacy is timeless,we've said it many times   Yes,for me it's a waste to have such a great ability feeling n creativity n get stuck to an AFD a CD and a UYI...I've seen IRON MAIDEN 3times in my life...They still playing the big hits like Number of the Beast,Fear of the dark,The Trooper,Hallowed be thy name.cause an important amount of the crowd goes to hear only those...People expect hits. .But within years they've released great albums,others had a high commercial success,others less...They too sell their guts under the big brand,but you have a big amount of really good songs to listen to,from those talented guys.  Not only the number of the Beast or die...They also change playlist 

Every year....They add,they remove,in the last tour,Legacy of the Beast,they've included songs not that famous,some,performed first from another singer and Dickinson nailed them..He gave a brilliant performance...The man is 60,he's been through cancer,thank God he is healthy and sound,when they were off for Bruce's therapy,the band created a new album...The book of souls....Bruce lately released his own autobiography..... Maiden never dropped quality and Bruce has said that if my voice goes fuck up due to health problem,I'll stop the other day,cause I hate making a fool of my crowd....

You'll say that I compare and it's unfair to compare cause each one is unique...Yes,not all fingers are the same,and I always stand up for respect in differences...

I'll clarify myself..  With all the love I have for Axl and the admiration to the whole Axl phenomenon,for me,as a fan.and I guess for many others is a loss that we don't have much from him cause we know he can create far more better....When Maiden parted ways with Bruce,the guy created a bunch of top A quality albums....I love quality,by my own sense,cause it's an objective thing,especially in art...And just because I think that Axl is an A class artist,I'd like to have the honour in this life to have heard more from him...His peace  of mind and whole health comes first of course,same we've said when we heard that Bruce was sick...

But such perfectionism as you put it,is a noose,in my little opinion...And no,I don't like bands who repeat themselves,same patterns in order to release new,they rather been left known for the first big hit,over mixing same riffs,but Axl it's not that case...The way the guy plays piano is like an ocean...How come he stayed in still waters?I'd prefer trials n experiments than nothing...Not because I think he owns shit to fans,No! Just because we need guys like him,with both verbal and singing and musical ability...

For me?Meh...When I feel like I put my AFD on,and each time seems like the first!But then, I say again,too many bands for the crowds...

About punk...I didn't say anything about punk cause that scene was never my cup of tea...Apart from some Sex Pistols and Rammones,I have zero relation...The guy told that,I think meant sth else,but it wasn't me! I wouldn't although call Axl classy cause I don't think he either gives 2shits to be classy...The guy doesn't even own costumes...Axl had a musical culture,from church n shit,He has a wide range of listenings..I can hear him saying"From Black Sabbath to Bananarama " I think that Axl as a rebel was more like punk,as a persona..Unconventional n shit...

Axl doesn't belong in any Category....Is Axl Rose!End of story...Like Kurt,Morrison,Sid Vicious,Michael Jackson...And btw touch wood!!! All his real fans want him alive n kicking! 

I don't find intimidating being punk...There was a time,there was an era...Sid was true and authentic AF but I can't say more cause I know little....

For me, classy is a feeling someone gives. It's never about clothes, a redneck can wear finest clothes and still have, as it's said, straws pointing out of his shoes. Axl, even with his crazy-ass early wardrobe and not giving a flying f*ck about being classy is naturally classy, a gem in a waste rock regarding his upbringing (all the bios of people around him tell so and I swear on it, too). Like Stones, those dinosaur vagabonds with their antics are just classy. On the local scene I've seen too many acts and people missing this quality, that's how I found how much I value it! Punks usually miss this classy vibe, at least that bottom feeder noisy gutter rats who consider themselves punk, who never made it out of the local scene. Of course, créme de la créme has some class, because it comes from intelligence and talent, and of course, are a category of their own.

I would like to know how Axl sees himself in things like abilities and talent, songwriting, what he actually values on himself and what he sees as his actual talent and success, what he wants to share with the world as his most precious gift. It may be a real surprise, as far as we see him as a musician, but he is pretty much more complex. Maybe he finds satisfying to play piano to his cats and is perfectly content with his furry audience. Putting songs out to public always means that your precious spiritual children will be harshly judged and those voices will be loud... Even if you put it out to that lost shy kid in the corner with headphones to keep his spirits up. 

Even around me, I know many people who could put out more, yet they don't, for many reasons, like, they have no clue how amazing they actually are, or they way more often than not have some mental problems-challenges (ADHD, borderline personality, depression, addiction...) Or they are for some reason cut away from the source of their creativity and they just can't, even they were amazing n the past. Some musicians, too, are hard-workers (Slash is one, too) and would craft the song from scratch, others are rather intuitive and less predictable. 

11 minutes ago, Lillie said:

How exactly can a man fake orgasm?

There can be mechanical erection without pleasure. Or maybe men fake an orgasm when someone goes back door?

12 hours ago, Lillie said:

It's pitty for Axl himself to go waste such a "talend"... Many bands around..

Then you take bands which put out an album more frequent, if you distill it, you get amount of good music which really made impact comparable to GNR with their few pieces. It's Axl's approach, perfection or nothing. I don't blame him, to say. Is it wasting? My approach in wasting talent is quiet liberal, happiness and peace of mind over half-assed work put out to be put out. There are artists who are dead for decades and their impact was never blunted by any band. There were ones who shone very intensely and very quickly and their legacy is alive and well...

Never ever underestimate quality over quantity, sometimes like few minutes of talk, a touch, presence, anything seemingly small can change someone's life 

And never let anyone juice you more than you can give just because it's pleasant to the others. 

Axl ain't punk, he might be wild and reckless, but he is, he's always been too noble, classy, and giving too many f*cks to be a punk. 

Artist in some people's life can be death serious, because artist are people thanks to whom sometimes someone makes it through the night when everything else is gone and broken. I bet Axl did save some lives (I've met at least one alike) with his lyrics, his attitude, his presence... When your soul is so sick you hold knife on your chest, and if someone convinces you that you can put it down and move on... A doctor can make your body to survive a lot, but with all the modern methods and everything, saving a life is not about that at the end. Saving life is about giving the person hope that there's light at the end, there are people who made it through hard times and you can make it, too. Artists have their spots in people's hearts for many different reasons... 

We all need heroes, some wear capes, some tattoos and save lives with music. Their personalities and lives and attitude are extraordinary and you can pick bits of it for yourself. I really don't need to pull Axl down by foot to feel better or whatever or repeat myself that he makes identical poop like every other human... or feel  his work less respect worth and his legacy smaller because he went recluse or doesn't put out an album every few years. Many of that extraordinary dough belong to Club 27 and this guy is aging, vital and rocking. 

People come as package deal and extreme people have extreme package. Also those who go through extreme experiences can have extraordinary points.

If someone inspires me to do things better, to improve as a person, I am forever grateful. Or sometimes it may be just a nice memory of for example live show or a period of my life or whatever to keep me happy... Nothing he would eventually do in his life can change my gratefulness for that.

The moment I've seen Axl-Slash dynamics onstage, it got me. They are complete, complete opposites. Axl is abnormally aware about what's happening around, he pays attention, he perceives details, the crowd and moods in it and reacts immediately, you feel it as presence. Really not many people give this impression of presence, even major stars cannot this magic. (It was more evident when I was in the side of the stage, he is more easy going there). On the other side, Slash is most of the time more or less unconscious to the outside world, navigated by some kind of autopilot or what it is (or Ratatouille kind of rat in the hat?), he is completely absorbed by music when he plays solos, the way the music pours flawless through him got me. Slash is distant, untouchable, with that detached gaze looking to other universes, he's high on guitar, with that piece of wood and strings being just an antenna to transform that universes to be audible to us, mere mortals. Even if Slash has open eyes, mostly he is "looking" at things not in this world. Music comes from there. He doesn't go body talk emotional like Axl does, Slash has guitar to do it all. Since ever.

Slash's wide smile is rare and heartwarming, to say. I think he is plainly happy to get onstage to play and to get connected with people musically. Still, he said, Axl's presence onstage was always something special for him... That guy went to meet and hug Keith Richards, because Keith was true about it back in the 90s.

Cost/gain of SKMC for me was that I didn't go... What I love is interaction and you will almost not get any with Slash onstage as a fan...and... SKMC and Myles are kind of flat and lacking emotional versatility for me. I cannot stand Myles, I keep my bucks. 

Also it's fun twist how Slash offstage is sociable and Axl a recluse. 

On 13. 2. 2019 at 2:26 AM, Andy14 said:

Another "new" pic 

This is my favorite Duff pic, I love that vivid, mischievous smile. It always comes to me when I see those ones from times when Duff was alcoholic, the difference is breathtaking. 

20 minutes ago, Sydney Fan said:

I thought in 89 they were still wearing leathers all the time. Nice to see a different side to axl.

Still, the coat looks like it belongs to someone twice Axl's size. Maybe he borrowed suits from same man. 

1 hour ago, Sekh-met said:

 

 same here, and wtf is this part?:

looks like he is wearing a bloody dragon as a sleeve 


Axl of course seems to be adoringly staring at it  

I don't know what's that, but Slash would like the shape and Axl the glint.

4 hours ago, SerenityScorp said:

Unexpected post from Tommy Lee

 

I think I just got eargasm from Axl's speaking voice

My good friend's mom was mom to all of us kids around, and also to her husband. They both loved it, she provided him with love and care and he was kind of dependent on her to organize his life, so he was always with her and loved her like no other woman. He had a lot of time to do some science stuff, too (he got money from patents, fair enough). She died, he is lost without her even after many years. There are women like this and Beta looks exactly like one of them. It's mom vibe which attracts children of any age to them.

Axl ain't normal. He is one of the adults with most childlike soul I've ever seen, and that's what makes his presence and performance so outstanding. Most people loose this magic when growing up, when they reach puberty or so. They excel in schedules and repetitive stuff. They can't do magic anymore, to pull the things out of the blue. Many normies actually like to care about magic people, because magic people can do magic then. With their presence, with their wit and sharpness, it's nurturing itself, even without shitload of money, luxury house and traveling... I don't think Axl couldn't take care of himself, he most probably can do all the chores, but there's always someone to do that for him. Axl's mind works different, it's unorganized and I bet he hates repetition, so there are always people around who are better in this. You cannot switch your unorganized, creative mind to some "normal" operating mode just because it would be better for next three hours and then go back to creative, funny, witty unusual critter to do the things normal people cannot do and perceive what they don't. Package deal. 

I still insist on Beta actually saving Axl during his recluse/depression years by the way of care she could give him, the missing mother care, solid point, unconditional love he craved for when he was two. Normal woman couldn't give that to him, Beta didn't kiss him passionately, she kissed him goodnight. Basically, Axl is a default child, Beta is a default mom, they met each other and clicked. Rest are details. They might get married like many pairs with mom-child dynamics, yet they left it in this friends/family state, maybe to avoid sexual tension in this particular relationship, they know, me not. I've seen adults around me in so ridiculous relationships that it's not much weird to me. Axl is stable and happy, anything else?