evilfacelessturtle

Many here seem to think so. But there are also overdubs on UYI tracks, so Axl had to have recorded vocals specifically for Live Era as well.

Because he has literally said it himself that he only makes albums so he can tour. I'm not reading into anything. "The only reason I make records is so I can go out and tour. Because as a guitar player, I love playing guitar - I don't love being in the studio, I don't love sitting around my house playing the guitar - I like playing live." https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/slash_this_is_the_only_reason_why_i_make_records.html

I wouldn't say he's lying, I'm saying that people always paint a rosy picture for social media, or just put on a public persona that doesn't really reflect how they feel inside all the time. Like I said, you can read interviews with Slash in the 1990s talking about how GNR was as tight a band of brothers as always. And again, I'm not even staking a claim on one side or the other here. Just pointing out that nobody really knows how they feel. Never mind people with connections, even Meegan may not know how Slash really feels about the project. I don't really care to argue the point that much, but you seem to be leaning a lot on touring. Slash has always and will always love touring. My opinion is that he's not as inspired when it comes to writing with SMKC as he used to be. I'm not the guy suggesting the blues album means SMKC is finished, that's just wild speculation.

That's 2nd hand. Frank Sidoris is not Slash, last I checked. And you're choosing to take his statement at face value, which is also a subjective decision you're making. Further, you pointed to your impression of their passion based on live videos. That's extremely speculative.

You're speculating just as much as anyone else.

Lots of people remark on how Slash doesn't jump around or move much while playing with GNR. Does that mean it's "obvious" Slash's heart isn't in GNR? That's just your opinion. Disagreeing with your subjective opinion isn't "not knowing what you're talking about". Also, every band on earth says they're the happiest they've ever been in the moment. You can find interviews of Slash in 1993 talking about how GNR is such a tight knit band of brothers. You can watch him having a blast onstage with Snakepit in 2001, later calling all those guys "junkies" in his book. It's not until after the fact that anyone admits they weren't satisfied. Now I'm not the guy saying SMKC is gonna split, but I do think Slash is a lot less inspired with the project than pre-2016, and I judge that based on the creativity of the writing. Like I said, it could be that Slash is now saving the best stuff for Guns, and he still enjoys SMKC as a side project regardless. I've lost interest in it though.

You quoted "From the last two albums, only Fill My World has a good riff. The rest is completely forgettable." Do I need to qualify every opinion with "in my opinion" just for you? Nowhere in that quote do I declare this to be a fact. Why does "anyone who says that his heart is no longer in SMKC [have] no idea what they're talking about"? What information are they missing?

Why?

Hasn't he said that his heart wasn't in it on the Libertad tour, or something to that effect? It was also true after he nearly died on tour with Snakepit. That made him reassess his life and realize he couldn't be around such hard partying bandmates, but he finished the tour anyway.

Like which?

BREAKING NEWS! Axl farted in the foyer and Beta unknowingly walked through the cloud.

I agree, there is only one song from the last two albums I added to my playlist (or even listened to more than once), and that's Fill My World. I just really hope this is due to the good material being saved for GNR.

How am I doing that?

LOL this is my favorite kind of response; attack the messenger, avoid the message. You obviously care, or you wouldn't have replied. I guess that means you can't criticize Justin Bieber because he's more successful than you. You must accept that he is a good musician! Pretty funny considering I was being accused of telling people they can't criticize without knowing music theory. Now I can't criticize without being famous? Has Slash been nursing a bad case of jet lag since 2004?

Not just arrangement, but also writing. Lange is known for helping write. He actually assembled a lot of the solos on Back in Black from bits of different takes, turning improvised ideas into a cohesive melodic narrative. That's something Slash could really use. In fact, he had it on the song No More Heroes. He said that the producer pushed him to re-write the song and flesh it out more. And the result shows, it's one of the best songs on that album with a solo that has a real sense of direction, actually feels like it was written and not improvised. Myles is a secondary problem for me. I think Myles would be more inspired if Slash was giving him better songs to work with. From the last two albums, only Fill My World has a good riff. The rest is completely forgettable. You can't ignore that there was hype around this due to the singers of AC/DC and Aerosmith being involved. That kind of thing gets it posted all over the place whereas "oh, another song by this band you've already heard" doesn't. The AC/DC forums have been abuzz over the song as well. So you have two entire fanbases as a built-in audience.

I went through his albums and counted only the original songs written by Izzy. You are counting covers and b-sides. I did the same for Slash, no covers or b-sides were counted.

I agree, I think sobriety has played a part. And I agree that you still see flashes of his old self come through these days, it's just frustrating to watch. I just can't comprehend how he doesn't see it himself. Maybe he really wants to have that Jimmy Page style for some reason. It just doesn't jive with his harder, faster music, as compared to Zeppelin.

That varies quite a bit by the album. 5 O Clock Somewhere got very little promotion by Geffen and still sold a million copies. I will grant that Contraband benefitted from promotion and the supergroup hype. But of course, success is not a stand in for quality. I think anyone being honest will admit that Slash had more original riff ideas in his music than Izzy's simplistic chord progressions that have all been done before countless times. Someone can prefer simple chord progressions, but they have to admit Slash's ideas were more original, and in keeping with the type of riffs that made GNR famous. The Snakepit albums in particular have gotten more and more appreciation over the years despite their lack of promotion. Ain't Life Grand in particular, being released by a small label which went out of business just a few years later. While Izzy's name had been built up significantly in the past 10-20 years as this mythical figure, none of his actual music outside Guns seems to get mentioned alongside that.

Let's see, post-1991, Izzy has written 68 songs which failed to make any impact whatsoever, and Axl has written 14 (many written primarily by bandmates though), while Slash has written 119 songs, a platinum album and even had mainstream chart crossover success. It's honestly hilarious at this point to see people try to suggest Izzy was the secret writing genius when it's clear that once they all broke apart, Slash and Axl had the best quality material. Axl just obviously in vastly lower quantity.

That recent Loudwire video where Duff says they wanted Mutt Lange to produce AFD makes me really want to hear him do the next SMKC album. They need his guidance. He had a hand in song arrangement for Back in Black.

Hendrix was loose, Page was sloppy and I am plenty critical of Page for that. To be clear, I am not against imperfections. I like Hendrix, and Slash had a similarly loose style. The key difference is that Hendrix and old Slash never completely lost the beat, were nearly always in the pocket and put melody above speed. The difference is being loose but in the pocket, and being out of pocket completely. "Instead of playing patterns, hear the melody you're going for. It's something that very few guitar players of my generation paid attention to." - Slash Somehow, he's fallen into the very trap he once criticized. I wonder, would those in here disagreeing with me say that Slash is "not rock n roll" or that he's "overanalyzing and making a science out of it" with this quote? Hmm... I suppose Slash never learned any technique... but then how did he know to use the harmonic minor in Sweet Child?

Rock and roll is when you don't know how to play your instrument because you never sat down and analyzed music? Jesus Christ, I can't stand this attitude. There's no reason Slash can't slow down and play with a little more thought. It's not that his ability to play has deteriorated. Did I say that? No. You tried to criticize my technical analysis. If you have no knowledge, don't wade into that discussion. I don't tell my mechanic that the head gasket failing is a "slight technical quibble" and then when he questions my mechanical knowledge, play the victim and say "Oh you think I need an engineering degree to talk about cars?". Give me a break. "MUSIC ISN'T ABOUT TECHNIQUE"! Holy shit, why am I even bothering here? If you actually believe that, you should be listening to punk bands who take pride in not knowing how to play their instruments. Guns N Roses are a very technically adept band, always have been. Congratulations on dodging the point and having no response to my actual argument.

In the '90s, Slash often improved on the studio recordings when playing live. Nowadays, that has flipped. I guess some people enjoy a disaster like Ritz '88, which even the band themselves think was a bad performance, though...

Nonsense. By that logic, any amateur who can barely play is "unique" and "rock and roll". The idea that rock and roll should be sloppy is one of the worst concepts that needs to die. There's nothing unique about being sloppy, that's as common as it gets. There is nothing "slight" or technical about the things I pointed out. Those are some of the most basic foundations; staying on time for fucks sake. He was an entire quarter note early on one of those. That is MASSIVE, not "slight". Do you even play an instrument? Point out the bum notes here, if he was just the same back in the day. Is this "sterile"? I haven't seen a single show since 2001 where he was this smooth and in the pocket. I dare you to compare a recent performance to that.

Yes, he did. The note at 3:51 is early, the bend at 3:52 is flat, a note at 3:53 is behind the beat and then he goes completely out of time at 3:55 before doing that thing he does where he jumps to a note for the next chord way before it comes (in this case that big bend). It really sours what was otherwise a nice solo. I've said it before and I'll say it again, he's sloppier sober than he ever was as a drinker.