Billy Cundy

Ooh interesting. I could argue you one further and say it’s actually in G major… the ol’ Sweet Home Alabama debate…. and the solo/outro is just in the relative minor! The only fly in the ointment with your D mixolydian argument is slash’ liberal use of harmonic E minor scale in his solo (that classical sounding D# leading tone). But I could totally be convinced! Maybe a new thread is brewing haha. Btw - i am loathe to call SCOM and Sweet home Alabama G major .. it’s never felt right to me to call it that. I agree D major mixolydian makes a lot more sense. Though I’m compelled by the harmonic content of slash’ solo to call the outro a true key change. Happy to be proved wrong though, it’s six of one and half a dozen of the other!

Led Zeppelin dealt with it beautifully. For the o2 reunion, they pretty much dropped everything a whole tone, and tuned to D. As @Powderfinger said, the GNR equivalent would be dropping to C#, a particularly flappy stringed endeavour. And let’s be honest, tuning to D standard (one semitone below where they are now) isn’t going to do Axl a tremendous amount of good. im sat at my piano playing SCOM - reaching the opening Ab in my mickey falsetto in the key of Db (where axl sings it) … ouch, what a brutal starting note. But then I’m transposing up to F natural (a whole 4th up), and starting on a C natural in my full voice. And I’m not at all singing in my boots like Barry White. Makes a lot more sense to sing. However… as I mentioned… Getting old rock dudes like slash and duff to transpose and essentially relearn the songs they’ve been playing since they were 20 year old isn’t really gonna fly.. so… yeah.. ultimately I agree with @Powderfinger… nowhere to go 🤷‍♂️

So it’s not always a case of tuning down. All music can be transposed to a different key without ‘tuning down’. You could even go up a few keys and have axl sing an octave lower, in a higher key that achieves a middle ground where he’s still in his upper range but in full voice. Very common for jazz/pop etc. Western music is equal temperament so any arrangement can be played in any key and still sound like that song. However, because guitar rock and riffs get a lot of their ‘sound’ from where it’s played on the neck of a guitar, and those songs are drilled into everyone’s psyches, keys and all.. it’s not easy for rock bands to do. Imagine telling slash to start playing sweet child o’ mine in F? It’s totally possible, but he’d laugh you out of the room. That’s the trouble with riff-rock. D major (though technically C#major but in D position) sounds and feels great on a lespaul. And then the key change to E means they can play those girthy open bottom strings in the outro. for example, billy joel could probably rely on his band to transpose New York State of Mind from C to Ab 10 mins before a gig and no one has to tune down or even bat an eyelid. But GNR? Less likely.

Sweet Sour by Band of Skulls is a great modern rock album.

Now they come out around whenever. they used to come out on time. etc.

Check Liam’s twitter. Reunion hopes dashed… unless they’re acting to throw us off the scent… if they are acting, they deserve Oscars. or at least a bafta.

I too succumbed to a parka and desert boot phase! I would’ve loved the courage to have a bandana and assless chap phase, but I’d agree… harder to pull off… totally agree with your points btw, in the UK, Oasis are a ubiquitous property, baked into culture at this point.

Also very well put, totally agree. Glad I’m not the only one who has equated the two!

Interesting, are you saying they’re defo bigger than Guns here? arms park or CIA? Would love to time travel and see Cardiff in 97.

Interesting! What great gigs to attend. Jealous!

Whilst I find most of the music bland and pedestrian, the hits have endured. There’s no denying cuts like ‘Times Like These’ or ‘My Hero’. With regards to comparing them to GNR… Dave Grohl has always been an absolute content warrior. He’s consistently churned out documentaries, interviews, podcast appearances, albums… comparing any act to Dave would be unfair. I’ve seen World War II documentaries where Dave Grohl pops in to give his version of events. He’s mad for it. Sadly, for me, I think Taylor was the spark in the Foos I was most drawn too. His Coattail Riders album was far more interesting to me than anything Dave has ever done. It pulls from Queen, Van Halen, The Police, Supertramp, Jane’s Addiction… it’s just far more experimental and nuanced (and up my street) than Foo Fighters. He had a lot more opportunity to groove and stretch out musically. A real loss. Josh Freese is a miraculous musician. He’s pretty much the Jeff Porcaro of Gen X - someone who is not only technically superb, but also has tremendous taste, feel, and has had his fingerprints all over some of the biggest pop/rock hits (and tours) of the 90s and 00s. Is that conducive to the ‘live for the band die for the band’ camaraderie the Foo Fighters pride themselves on? I know they’ve always had side projects but Josh is a bonafide hired gun… who knows.

There’s been some rumblings regarding the (inevitable) Oasis reunion - Noel has prompted Liam to ‘give him a call’ in so many words. What does this have to do with GN’R? Well.. Noel has recently divorced from his wife Sara McDonald. As we’ve seen with the mighty Slash, nothing seems to spur a reunion on like an absolutely devastatingly costly rockstar divorce settlement. I also understand there was animosity between Perla and Axl, as there is between Sara and Liam G. Are we seeing what we saw with GNR in 2015/16, or will the scallywag Gallagher’s continue to bitch and antagonise one another via RadioX and equally underwhelming solo efforts? I’ve always thought there were a fair few parallels between Oasis and GNR. Both were considered ‘dangerous’ and comprised of ‘bad boys’; not in a contrived showbiz way either - Liam and Axl were legitimate headcases who might actually smack you then knick your bike. Both bands also had a knack for repurposing and recycling the best 60s and 70s rock, wearing their influences on their sleeves and writing universally accessible rock n’ roll, loved by millions. They share some musical common ground too, both bands owing a lot to the Rolling Stones, The Who, and The Sex Pistols. I could be overthinking it - but Oasis/GNR music was nasty rock n’ roll written by nasty boys, paying tribute to the giants of the generation that preceded them and delivering it with ferocity and arrogance for a 90s audience. Volatile controversial frontmen, substance abuse, revolving line ups, strained inter-band relationships (particularly between the hotheaded lead singers and the softer spoken more introverted guitarists)… and now a costly divorce potentially resulting in a long-coming Uber-profitable reunion? all rock n roll cliches, yes… but certainly parallels to be drawn. will we be seeing the Oasis equivalent of ‘NITL’? If we do, will it last and trudge on like GNR seem to be destined to do? Seems unlikely but the same may have been said about axl n co prior to 2012? Will there be new music? The Gallaghers have pumped out far more than GNR have over the years…. Are these bands even comparable, or am I way off? Let me know your thoughts.

There’s been some lively and spirited debate on the ‘Complaints, Complaint, Complaints’ thread as to whether or not Duff beer, which made its debut on Episode #1 of the Simpsons in 1989, was named after Mr. McKagan. As we are all well aware, Duff claimed this was the case in his autobiography in 2011. I’ve always believed this to be a ludicrous notion, as I can’t even begin to imagine why some of the finest comedy writers and satirists of the 20th century would look to the bass player of an (at that time) popular, but still up and coming rock band for inspiration. Especially within a show satirising representations of small town American families on TV. Those with more faith in Duff’s recollections have pointed out that it may be in the Simpsons’ writers best interest to avoid admitting that Duff beer was inspired by the musician as it would leave them open to potential litigation.. a fair argument, however the fact that Mike Reiss (the showrunner who refuted the claims in Time magazine -https://time.com/5310066/duff-beer-origin/?amp=true) hasn’t had any association with Fox/Disney since 2007, and that Duff’s name was not trademarked at the time, you must concede the argument falls apart a bit. It also goes against the very spirit of the simpsons, who never once shied away from poking fun at and lampooning celebrities, with or without their consent/go-ahead. Nor have they been shy about giving credit where credit’s due. However, not once has Duff McKagan ever been alluded to in the show, let alone with regards to the beer. Ask yourself what the comedy value of naming the beer after Duff is? The fact axl introduced him as the ‘king of beers’? It’s hardly Emmy winning satire is it? Did it open the door to parody or stories about rock bands in the same way every other element of the show did for one facet of American life or another? Not once. It was entirely their gateway to write about alcoholism and drinking culture… never once bassists or rock music. Anyway… in the Series 4 DVD commentary, Al Jean (the showrunner to this day) confirmed Series 1 writer Jay Kogen came up with the name Duff. As I expected, in the commentary, there is no mention of GNR. Learning this, I decided to take a punt and message Jay on instagram. I said I wanted to know out of interest as the debate was ongoing, and that I had personally assumed Duff beer was a parody of the monosyllabic, typically working class beer brands like ‘bud’, ‘coors’, ‘Busch’ and ‘schlitz’. Jay just happened to respond this evening - https://imgur.com/a/RKMv9jZ Jay hasn’t worked for the show for some time, and therefore isn’t too concerned about Disney’s liability for legal recourse, of which there wouldn’t be any, due to the fact - a. Duff McKagan not trademarking his name til much later, and B. Duff just being a noun, like any other. To those who may question the fact Jay isn’t a verified user, I have supplied some screenshots of his followers below to clarify some validity of the source. Bill Oakley, one of the more famous ‘golden era’ writers of the simpsons follows the account that responded to me. https://imgur.com/a/FLSnLzV the lovely Lisa kudrow also follows Jay (he has done a lot of writing for many sitcoms over the years) https://imgur.com/a/4BfcUf6 Let me be clear. I love Duff McKagan. He inspired me to learn the bass, something I ended up doing professionally and to this day is my life long passion and hobby. He also seems like, by all accounts, a lovely bloke and a decent upstanding man. I’m not calling him a liar, or trying to besmirch his good name. I just assume due to the transience and chaos of his and his band mates’ lives in the 80s and 90s, coupled with his (and his entourages’) chemical intakes, memories of jokes and conversations may have morphed into myths. Maybe whilst watching the simpsons, a hanger on/manager said in jest ‘hey, you should get a few bucks out of this’, and over the years, wires get crossed and recollections become shaky.