Why didn't Axl hire someone known?

[Vincent Vega]

When forming this new band, or even through it's lineup changes, why hasn't Axl ever hired someone who was also a star? For example, in 1991 when Izzy left, Axl's first choice was Dave Navarro to replace him, but Dave declined joining because of his Heroin addiction. Throughout the '90s, Axl often said how he wanted to get Dave working with him, or to get Dave to work with Slash. He also wanted Nirvana's drummer at one point on a project. Why did Axl always choose unknowns instead of well established people? If he had done so, the new GN'R could've been a supergroup of sorts.

Edited October 26, 2010 by Indigo Child

[Spoon87]

Tommy Stinson an unknown? Josh Freese an unknown?

[Vincent Vega]

Tommy Stinson an unknown? Josh Freese an unknown?

In all honesty, does anyone outside of Replacements fans or Guns' fans now know of Tommy?

And Josh is a session guy.

I'm talking about a STAR. Someone like Dave Navarro, or Brian May, or Jimmy Page, or Zakk Wylde. You get the idea.

Edited October 26, 2010 by Indigo Child

[SunnyDRE]

** Not a flame**

I think Axl may have tried, but I think his rep precedes him. From my knowledge, professional musicians are pretty tight knit group, everyone knows everybody, and I think Axl's rep may have stop many established people from working with him.

If I'm already known, why would I want to work with a "perceived" asshole.

Edited October 26, 2010 by SunnyDRE

[Vincent Vega]

** Not a flame**

I think Axl may have tried, but I think his rep precedes him. From my knowledge, professional musicians are pretty tight knit group, everyone knows everybody, and I think Axl's rep may have stop many established people from working with him.

If I'm already known, why would I want to work with a "perceived" asshole.

Most 'big' people in Hollywood are assholes to some degree. They all have egos.

[SunnyDRE]

** Not a flame**

I think Axl may have tried, but I think his rep precedes him. From my knowledge, professional musicians are pretty tight knit group, everyone knows everybody, and I think Axl's rep may have stop many established people from working with him.

If I'm already known, why would I want to work with a "perceived" asshole.

Most 'big' people in Hollywood are assholes to some degree. They all have egos.

Absolutely, but why would you want to work with the biggest one?

You're already known, why take his shit?

Seriously, you think Jimmy Page or Brian May would put up with Axl's "perceived" shit?

Fuck no..

Edited October 26, 2010 by SunnyDRE

[Spoon87]

Yeah well, he wanted to have Dave and he wanted to have Zakk. Doesn't that kinda answer your own question? They didn't want to be hired...

As if Brian May or Jimmy Page would want to join Guns N Roses, why should they?

And yeah, I really think people who aren't Replacements and Guns fans know Stinson, the same goes for Freese, he's probably even more known, I don't really get why "he's a session guy" should negate my point.

Edited October 26, 2010 by Spoon87

[SunnyDRE]

Yeah well, he wanted to have Dave and he wanted to have Zakk. Doesn't that kinda answer your own question? They didn't want to be hired...

And yeah, I really think people who aren't Replacements and Guns fans know Stinson, the same goes for Freese, he's probably even more known, I don't really get why "he's a session guy" should negate my point.

MF is right, in the 90's those guys weren't known. The Replacements aren't as known as people on this board like to think, and neither is Freese.

[Spoon87]

Yeah well, he wanted to have Dave and he wanted to have Zakk. Doesn't that kinda answer your own question? They didn't want to be hired...

And yeah, I really think people who aren't Replacements and Guns fans know Stinson, the same goes for Freese, he's probably even more known, I don't really get why "he's a session guy" should negate my point.

MF is right, in the 90's those guys weren't known. The Replacements aren't as known as people on this board like to think, and neither is Freese.

Then why do I know of Josh Freese? Definitely not because of the Oh my god demo or because he wrote the drum track to CD... And I'm absolutely not into any prog rock stuff... He IS known. More than Tommy, maybe, ok..

[SunnyDRE]

Yeah well, he wanted to have Dave and he wanted to have Zakk. Doesn't that kinda answer your own question? They didn't want to be hired...

And yeah, I really think people who aren't Replacements and Guns fans know Stinson, the same goes for Freese, he's probably even more known, I don't really get why "he's a session guy" should negate my point.

MF is right, in the 90's those guys weren't known. The Replacements aren't as known as people on this board like to think, and neither is Freese.

Then why do I know of Josh Freese? Definitely not because of the Oh my god demo or because he wrote the drum track to CD... And I'm absolutely not into any prog rock stuff... He IS known. More than Tommy, maybe, ok..

In the 90's when Axl was trying to put this band of gypsies together, Freese wasn't known. Perfect Circle was known, but the lead singer was the only guy anyone cared about.

I grew up in the era. He wasn't known, and Replacements were known, like how the arcade fire are known now.

Edited October 26, 2010 by SunnyDRE

[Vincent Vega]

Yeah well, he wanted to have Dave and he wanted to have Zakk. Doesn't that kinda answer your own question? They didn't want to be hired...

As if Brian May or Jimmy Page would want to join Guns N Roses, why should they?

And yeah, I really think people who aren't Replacements and Guns fans know Stinson, the same goes for Freese, he's probably even more known, I don't really get why "he's a session guy" should negate my point.

He wanted Zakk and Dave when he was working with Slash. I'm talking about after Slash left, to replace Slash. Zakk didn't turn Axl down, Zakk was actually in favor of joining, but it came down to a money issue and the issue of Zak wanting a separate tour bus.

Why not? Brian and Jimmy weren't really doing anything big in the mid-late 90s.

Besides they're not the only 'big names' out there. I was just using their names as examples in comparison to the likes of Tommy and Josh.

Tommy I really don't have a problem with, Bass Guitar doesn't seem to be a feature of this band anyway (it's buried in the mix on CD, for example) and the whole band didn't have to be 'known' people-I'm mainly talking about the guitars.

I just don't see why Axl insists on hiring generally unknown guys for the guitar spot.

Edited October 26, 2010 by Indigo Child

[Orsys]

You want the right type of player that works with your music and the rest of your band, not just a name. So it takes a lot of work to try out a lot of guys (known and unknown) to come up with that. I don't know of too many musicians that would settle for someone that might not be the right fit simply because he's more widely known.

It's not as if anyone he has had playing with him wasn't known to anyone. All of them had already been performing to some extent. Maybe GnR fans hadn't heard so much about them.

And he did bring DJ on, who was known to quite a few people. I remember a lot of comments were made on this board when he first came on board.

[tange]

Yeah well, he wanted to have Dave and he wanted to have Zakk. Doesn't that kinda answer your own question? They didn't want to be hired...

As if Brian May or Jimmy Page would want to join Guns N Roses, why should they?

And yeah, I really think people who aren't Replacements and Guns fans know Stinson, the same goes for Freese, he's probably even more known, I don't really get why "he's a session guy" should negate my point.

He wanted Zakk and Dave when he was working with Slash. I'm talking about after Slash left, to replace Slash. Zakk didn't turn Axl down, Zakk was actually in favor of joining, but it came down to a money issue and the issue of Zak wanting a separate tour bus.

Why not? Brian and Jimmy weren't really doing anything big in the mid-late 90s.

Besides they're not the only 'big names' out there. I was just using their names as examples in comparison to the likes of Tommy and Josh.

Tommy I really don't have a problem with, Bass Guitar doesn't seem to be a feature of this band anyway (it's buried in the mix on CD, for example) and the whole band didn't have to be 'known' people-I'm mainly talking about the guitars.

I just don't see why Axl insists on hiring generally unknown guys for the guitar spot.

Page and May both have said several times that they are not interested in being in a full time band. May was happy to work with Axl but didn't want to be a member. He gladly came a jammed on a few songs. Not something you'd do if Axl was such an asshole as some are saying.

I think he wanted new blood.

Why did Ozzy hire Randy Rhoads or Zakk Wylde when no one knew who they were?

[Todo Poderoso Timão]

The old line up has fall apart because "in Axl's mind, GNR is his solo project", as we know....

So why hire a big and famous name? It only would cause ego-conflict....

[JesseGoudge]

Dave Grohl would of been awesome..... But he definitely doesnt fit in the band in any of the line ups.

Plus, we wouldnt have the Foo Fighters whom are awesome.

[Axl_morris]

Big name, could mean a bigger slice of the pie? A big name, means big ego's, which could lead to them trying to control the band. I don't know.

The Guitarists in Guns have the ability of the big named guitarists you have mentioned, so, at the end of the day, does it really matter?

[sascha]

I'm talking about a STAR. Someone like Dave Navarro, or Brian May, or Jimmy Page, or Zakk Wylde. You get the idea.

Skills are one thing, chemistry is another. And just because someone is popular doesn't mean he's the right choice for a project.

[GNRfan2008]

Big name, could mean a bigger slice of the pie? A big name, means big ego's, which could lead to them trying to control the band. I don't know.

Control is the name of the game. It's also the big reason a reunion is likely never to occur. Slash/Duff/Izzy will not work for Axl as contract employees and Axl will not give back their rights as original partners in the band. They were fools to sign their rights over to him.

[Vincent Vega]

Big name, could mean a bigger slice of the pie? A big name, means big ego's, which could lead to them trying to control the band. I don't know.

Control is the name of the game. It's also the big reason a reunion is likely never to occur. Slash/Duff/Izzy will not work for Axl as contract employees and Axl will not give back their rights as original partners in the band. They were fools to sign their rights over to him.

They did work for him as contract employees from 1995-1997.

Effective 12/31/1995, Slash and Duff were contract employees of Axl.

On that date, Axl quit the original partnership of Guns, which had been formed in September 1992 and was composed equally of Axl, Slash and Duff, with Axl owning the name. He wrote them a letter in August 1995 saying he was dissolving the Guns legal partnership with the intention of forming a new group and partnership called Guns N' Roses. Slash and Duff signed and were hired under this new contract for a trial period.

Slash still stuck around for nearly another year and Duff for nearly 2.

Edited October 26, 2010 by Indigo Child

[GNRfan2008]

Big name, could mean a bigger slice of the pie? A big name, means big ego's, which could lead to them trying to control the band. I don't know.

Control is the name of the game. It's also the big reason a reunion is likely never to occur. Slash/Duff/Izzy will not work for Axl as contract employees and Axl will not give back their rights as original partners in the band. They were fools to sign their rights over to him.

They did work for him as contract employees from 1995-1997.

Effective 12/31/1995, Slash and Duff were contract employees of Axl.

Slash still stuck around for another year and Duff for nearly 2.

And you think they'd be willing to do that again?

[Cdlove]

Well, they weren't "unknown" per say. Bumble and Bucket both had pretty solid fan bases before GnR, and I was part of them before they even joined. And besides, no big name guitarists are as good as Bumble or Bucket.

[spunko12345]

Established musicians dont feel as in awe of the "GNR name".

For example DJ Ashba mightl put up with most shows on a tour being late but try telling Ronnie Wood or Pete Townsend that they cant go onstage when everything is ready to go.

[Vincent Vega]

Big name, could mean a bigger slice of the pie? A big name, means big ego's, which could lead to them trying to control the band. I don't know.

Control is the name of the game. It's also the big reason a reunion is likely never to occur. Slash/Duff/Izzy will not work for Axl as contract employees and Axl will not give back their rights as original partners in the band. They were fools to sign their rights over to him.

They did work for him as contract employees from 1995-1997.

Effective 12/31/1995, Slash and Duff were contract employees of Axl.

Slash still stuck around for another year and Duff for nearly 2.

And you think they'd be willing to do that again?

Depends on the circumstances.

From interviews, it seems Slash's biggest problem with working with Axl again is Axl going onstage late.

Duff left because he was getting bored with the band doing nothing, he was tired of waiting for a band to come together and because Axl had hired Paul without asking anyone else for their opinion. He'd probably only come back if Slash did too. But he still stuck around after Slash was gone almost a year.

I don't think they really care about the legal details, at least not Duff.

Edited October 26, 2010 by Indigo Child

[GNRfan2008]

I don't think they really care about the legal details, at least not Duff.

They would have only as much creative input as Axl allows. Axl said the guys who worked on CD had a lot of input, which I'm sure they did. But at the end of the day, he still called all the shots. If it's just a nostalgia act, then it'd be fine. But if they wanted to actually create new music, that's where the control issues come into play.

[axlslash]

People who are already superstars don't want to undercut their stardom to be part of a revolving-door and often ridiculed band. If I were Axl, I'd be glad people like Brian and Zakk even wanted to guest on CD sessions.