Alan Niven, "I cannot digest is that he states that he is Guns N' Roses because on his own – he is not.”

[jmapelian]

At least he's got it right saying Slash couldn't pen a great song to save his life.

See Slash fans, Slash didnt do shit.

To be fair, no one else could have come up with those amazing solos of his.

Except for Buckethead or Bumblefoot or Guthrie Govan or any other guitarist that's more talented than he.

well, let's see in 20 years if any of the the solo's from Chinese Democracy are spoken about, written about, or even remembered the way SCOM, WTTJ, PC, NR still are to this day and are always in the top whatever of all time.

The only thing Chinese Democracy is going to be remembered for is the 15 years it took to be released, none of the playing on the record as the two singles did absolutely nothing.

[Fun n' Games]

Yeah, reminds me of this :

Not that I love jumping into that crucial debate every now and then myself :xmasssanta:

This is hillarious!

Yeah, I don't know why we even give a shit about the opinion of people we don't really know.

[mendosa]

Alan niven is a prick

all is said

sincermy,

your commander in chief

[Fun n' Games]

When was music EVER about technique? It's strange, isn't it, that 10-year-olds across the world can play Mozart and Beethoven on the piano? But then again, Mozart and Beethoven were lesser musicians than Bucket and Bumble.

Exactly, many people don't get that writing it is the difficult and valuable part and playing it is the easy part. Creators are always mixed up with interpreters.

Same thing with movies: "Have you seen Brad Pitt's new movie?" - Jeeez, he is just acting in it, it's the writers and the directors movie. Acting well is a skill a lot more common than writing well. But people always look at the surface, whom they see they think is completely responsible for the outcome: "Oh look, Bumble is playing all these guitar parts better, so he is better than Slash!"

PS: Not judging their playing skills here, I don't know enough about music to be able to do that. In regards to playing I like them all.

[tange]

When was music EVER about technique? It's strange, isn't it, that 10-year-olds across the world can play Mozart and Beethoven on the piano? But then again, Mozart and Beethoven were lesser musicians than Bucket and Bumble.

Exactly, many people don't get that writing it is the difficult and valuable part and playing it is the easy part. Creators are always mixed up with interpreters.

Same thing with movies: "Have you seen Brad Pitt's new movie?" - Jeeez, he is just acting in it, it's the writers and the directors movie. Acting well is a skill a lot more common than writing well. But people always look at the surface, whom they see they think is completely responsible for the outcome: "Oh look, Bumble is playing all these guitar parts better, so he is better than Slash!"

PS: Not judging their playing skills here, I don't know enough about music to be able to do that. In regards to playing I like them all.

The thing for me is look at the riffs guys like Slash, Izzy, Angus, etc. come up with. Its simple but powerful stuff. The guys like Buckethead and Bumble are bored with that kind of stuff (at least in their solo music). So they write these technically beautiful compositions which are great but don't have larger appeal.

Its like old metallica. They took a step back in many ways with the black album but the music was more a collaboration and built on riffs.

Making stuff up is much harder than redoing it. Could i come up with Algebra? No. Can I work most of the problems now? Yes. Creativity is the shortest supplied good in the world.

[Fun n' Games]

When was music EVER about technique? It's strange, isn't it, that 10-year-olds across the world can play Mozart and Beethoven on the piano? But then again, Mozart and Beethoven were lesser musicians than Bucket and Bumble.

Exactly, many people don't get that writing it is the difficult and valuable part and playing it is the easy part. Creators are always mixed up with interpreters.

Same thing with movies: "Have you seen Brad Pitt's new movie?" - Jeeez, he is just acting in it, it's the writers and the directors movie. Acting well is a skill a lot more common than writing well. But people always look at the surface, whom they see they think is completely responsible for the outcome: "Oh look, Bumble is playing all these guitar parts better, so he is better than Slash!"

PS: Not judging their playing skills here, I don't know enough about music to be able to do that. In regards to playing I like them all.

The thing for me is look at the riffs guys like Slash, Izzy, Angus, etc. come up with. Its simple but powerful stuff. The guys like Buckethead and Bumble are bored with that kind of stuff (at least in their solo music). So they write these technically beautiful compositions which are great but don't have larger appeal.

Its like old metallica. They took a step back in many ways with the black album but the music was more a collaboration and built on riffs.

Making stuff up is much harder than redoing it. Could i come up with Algebra? No. Can I work most of the problems now? Yes. Creativity is the shortest supplied good in the world.

To me Slash's and Izzy's stuff doesn't sound too simple (much of Angus' stuff does).

Anyway, Axl always knew exactly which musicians he had to pick to collaborate with, back in the 80's as well as today.

[Anahzul]

¨I think Slash is one of the best guitar players that has ever lived. I love his soul. I love his note selection. I love the way he plays - but he’s not a great songwriter. Duff won’t appreciate me saying this, but on his own, Duff, is not a great songwriter - brilliant at bass parts and drum structure but not a great songwriter.¨

Alan Niven has bashed everyone.

Edited September 21, 2010 by Anahzul

[dalsh327]

¨I think Slash is one of the best guitar players that has ever lived. I love his soul. I love his note selection. I love the way he plays - but he’s not a great songwriter. Duff won’t appreciate me saying this, but on his own, Duff, is not a great songwriter - brilliant at bass parts and drum structure but not a great songwriter.¨

Alan Niven has bashed everyone.

He creates record companies and promotes bands that have generated a buzz in the clubs. He's not thrilled with GNR because Axl let him go. He's going to be a little bitter, even though he got millions out of them. But the whole "being ripped off by record company and managers" when they gladly take the advance money which is essentially a loan, and wind up being held over a barrel, don't own their masters, and get little in royalties. If you've seen "Cadillac Records", Leonard Chess gave the artists cars instead of money, and threw it in their face later when they argued over money. I think when GNR had signed with Geffen, David Geffen was still overseeing it. But when someone writes a check too big to turn down, they're going to take the money and run, and a lot of times, a lot of bands are thrown under the bus because of it.

[Steamboat]

Bitch about names all you like, but in the end all I care about its the amazing music he makes/performs. Why do people care so much about a NAME?

It's honestly a HUGE waste of time, and people who bring it up in the media instantly come across as desperate for a attention to me.

[Nintari]

Jeez Niven, bitter much?

GNR WAS IZZY

Yes, Axl is the greatest front man of all time, but those songs...........were from IZZY. Without the songs....

IZZY was the pixie dust.....we can all write music......IZZY wrote classics.

Well, he didn't come up with many memorable songs after he left Axl. So not sure if he was an island of talent.

Maybe Axl was Izzy's muse?

And Lennon and McArtney never produced anything as brilliant separate as they did together. But they are still great writers.

Imagine and Working Class Hero say you're wrong.

Edited September 21, 2010 by Nintari

[Granny]

@classiccrawker: It's is not important, whether Duff or Izzy think Guns n' Roses is still Guns n' Roses with only Axl left of the AFD line-up. Important is this:

Do I as a fan still find what Guns n' Roses was to me in what the band is now? And yes, I do.

HOWEVER - I don't claim this to be the universal truth everybody has to agree to or I call him names. I can easily live with you guys jumping up and down insisting that this is not Guns n' Roses. I don't even feel I need to quote some authorities' opinions to support my own.

Actually it is quite funny how you try and spoil it for the ones that don't have a problem with the current GNR line-up. 'I don't like this toy anymore, but don't you dare to play with it instead of me and be happier than I!' That's what it comes across like to me.

Well then, I'm done in this thread. Enjoy yourselves. rock2

[Mastodonny]

Jeez Niven, bitter much?

GNR WAS IZZY

Yes, Axl is the greatest front man of all time, but those songs...........were from IZZY. Without the songs....

IZZY was the pixie dust.....we can all write music......IZZY wrote classics.

Well, he didn't come up with many memorable songs after he left Axl. So not sure if he was an island of talent.

Maybe Axl was Izzy's muse?

And Lennon and McArtney never produced anything as brilliant separate as they did together. But they are still great writers.

Imagine and Working Class Hero say you're wrong.

Just think if those 2 songs would have gotten the whole Beatles treatment. Anyway, my point was that the sum is greater than the parts.

[star]

..stated that he is ‘last man standing’ and that he alone represents the idea of Guns N' Roses and, by the way, Guns N' Roses doesn’t exist as far as I’m concerned. Guns N' Roses as far as I’m concerned played their last show on April 7th 1990 in Indianapolis which was the last show live show at Farm Aid that the original line-up played. That’s my personal and particular viewpoint.

Absolutely 100% correct.

It isn't Guns N'Roses, it's Nu-GN'R (aka Axl & Co.)

[sergiodefenders]

I agree it is NOT Guns n' Roses, I respect them when they play Chinese songs but when they perform classic songs, they become such as tribute band.

Edited September 21, 2010 by sergiodefenders

[iftheworld]

To me Izzy is overrated as a musician.As a lyricist, pretty amazing.

Speaking of playing old songs and being a tribute band, Slash has been playing a lot of old GNR classics with that shitty Kennedy kid. So it goes both ways.

It's pretty hard for GNR to be a tribute band when they are still making masterpieces like Catcher,Twat,ITW,TIL,&SOD. To be honest I could care less if they play an oldy ever again. GIVE ME MORE TWAT!!!!

Edited September 21, 2010 by iftheworld

[tange]

Making stuff up is much harder than redoing it. Could i come up with Algebra? No. Can I work most of the problems now? Yes. Creativity is the shortest supplied good in the world.

Yeah well, in the end, creativity is only copying from others and mixing it up.

agree to disagree. though i do see your point.

To me Izzy is overrated as a musician.As a lyricist, pretty amazing.

Speaking of playing old songs and being a tribute band, Slash has been playing a lot of old GNR classics with that shitty Kennedy kid. So it goes both ways.

It's pretty hard for GNR to be a tribute band when they are still making masterpieces like Catcher,Twat,ITW,TIL,&SOD. To be honest I could care less if they play an oldy ever again. GIVE ME MORE TWAT!!!!

see for me izzy isn't a great writer, but a great composer. All lyrics were written by Axl and Izzy, but Izzy wrote the structure for YCBM, Nighttrain, and Don't cry. If those were his only songs he'd still be a badass.

However, lyrics wise Izzy has been lacking on his last five or so albums.

Edited September 21, 2010 by tange

[The Archer]

The Thin Lizzy analogy is bollocks.

If Phil Lynott was alive and the only original guy in the band,everyone including Niven would be lapping it up.

So true...

R.I.P. Phil.

[dimitrisaxl]

..stated that he is ‘last man standing’ and that he alone represents the idea of Guns N' Roses and, by the way, Guns N' Roses doesn’t exist as far as I’m concerned. Guns N' Roses as far as I’m concerned played their last show on April 7th 1990 in Indianapolis which was the last show live show at Farm Aid that the original line-up played. That’s my personal and particular viewpoint.

Absolutely 100% correct.

It isn't Guns N'Roses, it's Nu-GN'R (aka Axl & Co.)

If gnr played their last show on April 7th 1990, what was the name of the band after that date??

[sweetness]

Not much you can really say, the man is right

Still, not everybody here is going to care, because they don't care about Guns N' Roses. They say they do, but really, they only care about Axl and whoever he has around him.

Axl and whoever he has around him are not Guns N' Roses. It may say that somewhere on some legal document, but legal documents don't define rock bands, I'd hate to see a world where they do. The musicians that make up every piece defines a band, you cant dispute this, unless you're a fanatical retard desperate to believe the band you just saw on this tour was actually GNR

well, the rest of us are LAUGHING OUR ASSES OFF AT YOU

Edited September 21, 2010 by sweetness

[star]

I agree it is NOT Guns n' Roses, I respect them when they play Chinese songs but when they perform classic songs, they become such as tribute band.

..how many other tribute bands can boast having the original lead singer on board

[dario27]

Speaking of playing old songs and being a tribute band, Slash has been playing a lot of old GNR classics with that shitty Kennedy kid. So it goes both ways.

you completely missed the point m8, Slash is not touring as Guns N' Roses... he's simply "Slash"

as far as i'm corncerned Axl can do whatever the fuck he wants with the name, take it to the top or sunk it to the bottom!, for me i know what lineup i'm talking about when i mention Guns N Roses, that doesn't mean i don't listen to the New guys or respect them

[moreblack]

I agree it is NOT Guns n' Roses, I respect them when they play Chinese songs but when they perform classic songs, they become such as tribute band.

..how many other tribute bands can boast having the original lead singer on board

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sN16fdzdMg

[Guns n' Swedes]

What a bitter man. He got fired so obviously he's bitter. GNR is not the same now and nobody is saying that. What matters is that it kicks ASS!

[Casual]

I just want to say that the two best songs on Slash's album was the song with Izzy and the song with Steven. I also think ppl would respect Axl so much more if he had released Chinese Democracy as a solo album. I think he could have been among the likes of Elton John, and ppl wouldn't have the "it's not GNR" thing to bitch about, plus Axl could still play all the old songs. The guys in the band are basically session musicians anyways. And Richard is a complete Izzy look-a-like, and Ashba does copy Slash's image and is jumping off the risers just like Slash. And yes, even Tommy is a blonde bassist with a punk rock stage presence IE Duff(not to take away from Tommy as I do believe he is a big part of the band and the "anchor"). That being said, I still respect Axl and would go to a GNR show, but more for the songs than because of who is in the band. It is Axl's vision, but I can see how some ppl would see it as stubborn and it does show a bit of a lack of respect for the original band. But, the same is true if VR tries to carry on without Scott Weiland.

I do get Axl wanting the name, cuz I'm sure if Duff and Slash could take the name GNR, that they would.

Edited September 21, 2010 by Casual

[moreblack]

I just want to say that the two best songs on Slash's album was the song with Izzy and the song with Steven.

Baby Can't Drive is NOT one of the best songs on that album.