maynard

Another South American Tour? I'm starting to get it. The guy lost his best years locked inside his house, he wants to tour for those years he spent in his hole. That's the only explanation.

About DJ promoting himself... Nothing new here. It's his style, so be it. I personally don't like it. Reminds me of a song...

"Answer me why I would choose to prostitute myself?"

Man, I need to get some sleep.

The "problem" with Robin is that he has this "imperfect" touch to music in general and solos. It's the problem to some but it's because of that that I love his playing so much. His style is very unique. What some people consider "sloppy" actually was the factor that made NIN sound so great live. That probably doesn't work with the general GNR audience. He makes music from noise, and I love that.

The RIR 3 and 2002 line-up was great. And there are many pictures of the guys hanging together, they were all good friends. You just can't not be a friend of Robin Finck. Read this if you haven't: http://articles.latimes.com/2009/oct/26/opinion/oe-detournay26

Bucket could be a freak, but I'm sure he was never a 'yes man' and that makes me respect him a lot more than dj and ron thal.

Sure thing. It's funny because people who care about GNR's legacy, people who want to see the band moving forward and are not happy with endless touring are the "haters". I love the classics. But the place I live, it's not like I can catch a concert every now and then. The concerts are great, I get that. But they please casual fans. The "haters", the people who actually are not blind and see how bad Axl treats the fans, those are the fans who really care about the "music" side of things.

"Axl is havin fun touring." Great! The other guys... well, I'm sure they would love to show what they got. Show how they can keep GNR relevant with their own creations. Bucket and Robin, probably were more concerned about art and not the pay check and left.

Speaking about relevancy, here, it has some differents meanings. Some people are obssessed with numbers. With GNR being the biggest band in the world.

I don't want that. I want integrity. You can't do that living off the past. You can be relevant making great records and not filling arenas.

If you see my posts you can see how I always use Trent Reznor as an example. I'm a fan, of course. I know his flaws (not a "nutter") but the guy is the master in doing what he wants, being relevant and making the fans happy. Axl could learn a thing or two from him.

"But there are law suits holding back blah blah blah"

So, play new material live, problem solved. The casual fans would hate it, though... and they are the ones giving Axl money, so that's unlikely.

I won't lie. If new leaks surfaced today, I'd download every fucking file I could find. I would be happy to pay for a membership and get the material first but GNR is too rock n' roll to do that. The most dangerous band in the planet can't get nerdy. Fuck the internet, let's release plastic discs, let's make a deal with a big store, that's rock n' roll, baby!

In the end, Axl complicates things, he's probably a weirdo, superstitious man. "He is the last true rock star" Screw that! I'm sure the real fans prefer the "nice guy" Axl, not the "prima dona" one.

New GNR was the Axl and Bucket show as far as I'm concerned. I don't give a fuck about ever hearing a new album written by the current touring lineup. I'd fire the whole band today if it meant that Buckethead would come back.

This ^^^^^^^

After seeing Finck on stage (via youtube/ and photos) it's hard not to want him back and bucket. Maybe its a little nostalgia, but god damn Axl was onto something special 10 years ago.

The thing that Bucket and Robin gave the band was a new direction! They were in my opinion the key to moving out of the shadow of the AFD lineup. Maybe not in terms of commercial success but certainly in creating a new sound distinct enough from the old band to get them recognition as a band in their own right. I like the new guys but they're too close in style and image to the old guys for my liking.

Here's the thing I don't get and I stress with people.. If you want a "new different sound" then go find a different band.. Because axl will always be compared to his past guns n roses.. There is nothing he can do to escape it, if he's still running with the gnr name..

I think that's kinda what I was trying to say but at least with the Bucket/Robin/Brain lineup they were sufficiently different to avoid the glorified cover band tag to a greater extent than today. I think that had we been on our third or even fourth album by the 01/02 lineup by now then there would be a much different attitute to things. I don't think it would have been such an enormous success but I think people would at least have been a little more willing to accept them as a band in their own right. Do I think they should have kept the GnR name? Personally it doesn't really concern me but GnR's always gonna be Axl, Slash, Duff, Steven and Izzy to most people so that's something Axl needs to deal with.

I do think though that it's not the constant lineup changes that have hurt this band, rather the inabiity to maintain a public profile and release music on a fairly regular basis. Let me pose the following question and tell me you opinion? Do you think that had GnR circa 1993 continued to tour and release new music in the years between then and now as the lineup changed that people would be so hostile against Axl for keeping going under the GnR name? I mean if GnR remained in the spotlight constantly as each member left and was replaced one by one I think the attitude would have been vastly different.

The single biggest thing that hurt Axl was to disappear for years as all of this went on behind the scenes and debut a totally different band after years in hiding. I mean by the end of the Illusions tour GnR was effectively Axl, Slash and Duff and you didn't hear people screaming that it wasn't GnR, at least not to the same extent. I'd be willing to go as far as saying people wouldn't have kicked up a fuss if the tour had ended with only Axl and Slash still in the band from the original lineup and I think that had we seen a few hit records released post 04 then even Slash's departure wouldn't have been felt so deeply.

That is exactly it.

The Nutters bash me for implying that all the time.

As long as it is Axl singing, new music on a consistent basis would have shut up most of the ongoing criticism.

It really is that simple. Then today we would be arguing which album or line up was better, and we would be doing that by comparing the 4 albums that had been released post Slash.

Bruno and a couple others don't think Axl has the artistic ability to put out music every couple of years, but I think he - along with variations of the band - could easily put out 14 songs ever three years without losing their artistic integrity and respect.

But ya Dazey. It really is that simple. Putting out music is Axl's greatest weapon to shut up the criticism. New music and great tours......that is all they have to do.

I agree completely.

Record companies? Fuck them.

No money to make a new record? YEAH RIGHT, lol.

Hell, even playing new songs live would keep the real fans (not the casual ones who just want the classics) happy. It's simple. Axl simply doesn't care about it. He wants to make the people who pay to see him happy. Not the fans who believe in his potential and are always hoping for new music.

This thread made me think how grateful I am. If it wasn't for Axl, it probably would take me some time to know Buckethead's work. (or maybe never get to know it!) He is not that popular to begin with, in Brazil, people simply don't know BH. So, thanks Axl for that. Same thing with Robin. Reading about the new line-up around 2000/01, I started listening to "Axl's influences" and one of them was NIN. I was just a teenager with access to guitar players like Slash, Sambora, the Iron Maiden trio, etc... I had no access to "alternative music"... BH and Robin blew my mind, and still do.

I loved the RIR 3 lineup. I had the show recorded and watched every single day. Specially Robin and Bucket's solos. Today, I'm such an open-minded person towards music, and all of this happenned because of RIR 3 and New GNR. I would probably be listening to some crappy music nowadays if it wasn't for them.

I loved the industrial WTTJ, BH's Maddy solo, Robin playing the CD intro, the Silkworms solo. It wasn't legendary, it was a cool band for a little kid who thought a rock band could be a lot more than guitar-bass-drums. GNR was not glamorous. Axl was wearing Chinese shirts. They had synths. They could become a very respected band. No sold-out arenas though. I really wish that some day we will get to listen that experimental era of GNR.

I agree with everybody who says recording straight forward rock (which seems to be the case with DJ) would be a huge mistake. I know Axl is very open minded, but the way he dresses right now (Glam Rock-ish), the old rock n' roll covers during concerts could be a sign that Axl is maybe looking for a back to basics on the new record (if there is one).

Well, I spoke about a lot of stuff and ended up talking about nothing, after all. That's why I'm not a regular poster.

Must be frustrating... it's the only thing he's allowed to say. I'm sure that in every interview, the interviewer will try to go deeper on the next album issue and DJ probably will have to avoid answering because Axl told him do to so.

It's not like he doesn't want to talk about his songs and recording status. He just can't because the boss doesn't want that. Same thing with Dizzy saying all the same crap, also Tommy, Bumble etc... They CAN'T speak about it.

I'm not a fan of DJ, but in this case, he's not guilty. I'm sure if it was up to him, they would be recording right now (with his production, of course) but, at least, working on a new album. However, I'm not sorry for the guys, Uncle Axl must pay them some huge cash. I would do the same thing.

oh man, robin is great isn't he. i don't really care about dj, i have no problems with him, i'm just a big fan of mr. finck and it feels great to see the guy playing his song on stage. i wonder how it'd feel if it was slash instead. now that would be insane.

if i were axl, i would keep robin around. gnr looks like a large group of people and maybe we could have robin (and even bucket) on future releases.

i don't worry about big or small crowds. i worry about the lack of new material. seriously, enough touring.

cant really see the connection. no, i don't believe in this kind of thing. but i wouldn't doubt its influence on axl, just wanted to see if somebody would agree with me.

There are many stories about how superstitious Axl is and other things like him having a "personal guru" or something to tell his luck and stuff like that.

So, I ask you, how do you think this affect his work? CD, Live Era and TSI, if I'm not wrong were all released on a Nov. 23rd. Just coincidence or a "magic" number for Mr. Rose?

I respect everbody's belief but what if Axl is waiting to move on with his project because some guru told him to do that? Is that acceptable nowadays? We have science on our side and, still, many people choose to give credit to these fortune tellers.

I'm just curious, I'm not attacking Axl, keep that in mind. I've read some things during the years and I see people trying to find reasons to why he's stuck on CD tour for so long...

I keep reading these "no money for recording" comments and seriously.... do you guys believe Axl doesn't have the money to pay for studio time? The guy has money enough to buy his own fucking studio. He can record an album at his house with the greatest engineers and best gear on Earth. Since 2002 they've been touring and touring and what does that generate? More money.

Maybe some tours were part of legal issues, but I hardly believe he needs money. Those 13 million dollars for CD are part of what Axl has in the bank. He's millionaire, for God's sake.

Anyone can make a great sounding record nowadays, for very little money. It's not a problem for Axl, not a reason to keep touring and touring. He just doesn't want to release anything right now. He prefers to play the hits and go with the flow... have a good time, pay his friends and that's it.

I'm sure the other guys would love to play their own songs but, with the money they probably get, they are some happy mofos right now.