Axl's 30s

[Vincent Vega]

Axl will be 50 in just two short years--Sad but true. He released CD in '08 at 46, and let's be frank: Despite the fact that it didn't live up to the hype, it was a damn good album for a 46 year old. Look at the Stones' records from when they were in their mid '40s--Still trying to be the bad boys they were in the 60s and early 70s and kind of seeming false with it. CD, even with the mixing flaws, does have a sort of intensity, lyrically and musically--Still has a fire to it. It has an integrity. It's not a 40 year old trying to be a 20 year old punk still--It's mature, yet fiery. But how many more of those really amazing, experimental, out of the box songs does Axl have left in him? Could he write another TWAT, another Catcher in the Rye, another Shackler's Revenge at 50?

But anyway...Axl's going to be 50 in two years. We got to see Axl from age 23 (1985) to 32 (1994) and then he suddenly just disappeared off the map. He put out his last album of original material for the next decade and a half at age 29--Usually the age (late 20s-early 30s) when musicians hit their creative peak. Outside of an arrest, some shows and Oh My God, Axl pretty much spent the better part of his 30s out of the public eye--Years where a musician is still full of energy, both physically and creatively. I just feel it's a damn shame that the world was robbed of Axl Rose's talent for so many of those vital, youthful years. His career essentially came to a brief end right when it should have been reaching it's heights.

Yes, we have him now, and I'm VERY glad for it--But he's a middle aged man now. He's no longer the youthful, energetic, idealistic guy with big dreams and awesome world view. And he seemed a lot more open, a lot more ''chill', laid back and willing to open up with people, even with the media. Now he seems very cautious, cynical, reserved unless you catch him in a really good mood.

I mean papers in '91, '92, they wanted to know EVERYTHING about him--What was his childhood like? What music does he like? What books does he read? It's because he was young, and he was kind of a teen idol...The papers won't ask these questions now, because who wants to know what a rock star in gray middle age reads or listens to? You know?

I mean look at stuff like Coma, Estranged; Look at the piano solos he played during the UYI tour, look at Oh My God and his inspirations for CD and the direction he wanted to take in the mid 90s--The guy was getting deeper and more experimental as 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, etc rolled on, and sadly we never got to see any of that. He could've perhaps even outdone the UYI's had he been actively making music then.

Edited December 8, 2010 by Indigo Child

[Skulls]

He allegedly created some killer tracks while in his 30s - he just refuses to release the rest of them

[GeorgeGlass]

In another post, this is what I was talking about when I said it 'is a shame'. That this band couldn't continue their creative arc throughout the 90's. There was so much promise after UYI and then just like that it died.

I love to look at a band like Metallica and how their 25+ year career is shaped, both lyrically and musically. With Guns it was the early stages of an arc, then nothing else. You could see how the band was evolving then nothing. By the time CD was released, nobody cared, and it wasn't viewed as the continuation of a legacy...it was simply Axl's lone vision come to fruition WELL after anyone cared and all the band members had left. I sometimes think of CD if it were released in '96-'97, what it would've been like.

Edited December 8, 2010 by GeorgeGlass

[Vincent Vega]

In another post, this is what I was talking about when I said it 'is a shame'. That this band couldn't continue their creative arc throughout the 90's. There was so much promise after UYI and then just like that it died.

I love to look at a band like Metallica and how their 25+ year career is shaped, both lyrically and musically. With Guns it was the early stages of an arc, then nothing else. You could see how the band was evolving then nothing. By the time CD was released, nobody cared, and it wasn't viewed as the continuation of a legacy...it was simply Axl's lone vision come to fruition WELL after anyone cared and all the band members had left. I sometimes think of CD if it were released in '96-'97, what it would've been like.

Guns should have went the Load route.

Slash complained once that Axl wanted to be like Pearl Jam, musically.

Metallica kind of went the Grunge-Pearl Jam route with Load..and yeah, the critics savaged it but that's because it wasn't thrash metal, IMO it's an awesome, deep sort of album.

Instead of bashing Pearl Jam, if Slash had went along for taking Guns in a grungy direction it could've produced some masterpieces.

[Lose Your Illusions]

Meh. I think he is enjoying life from what I've seen but likes to keep out of the public eye (nothing wrong with that)

But thats not intresting enough is it? We have to put a big spin on everything.

[JAC185]

Meh. I think he is enjoying life from what I've seen but likes to keep out of the public eye (nothing wrong with that)

But thats not intresting enough is it? We have to put a big spin on everything.

Exactly. I always find it funny when people, like Salinger for example, shun the limelight, and then to the public this actually makes them 'weird' when if anything they are just being more normal than we want them to be.

[Spoon87]

It's probably a bit insulting to say that, but I've always felt that way, too, that Axl wasted his best years by "hiding" from the public.

To think of all the stuff that could've happened in those years...

[Nick85]

It's probably a bit insulting to say that, but I've always felt that way, too, that Axl wasted his best years by "hiding" from the public.

To think of all the stuff that could've happened in those years...

I have to agree.

However, CD2/The next album may be the light at the end of the tunnel as far as getting the rest of the songs that he wrote in his 30s during the 'Chinese Democracy' sessions. Let's just hope he gets them out sooner than later.

[ManetsBR]

Reading this 1st post and listening to Nine Inch Nails at the same time was really sad.

Edited December 8, 2010 by ManetsBR

[ManetsBR]

I don't think Axl's age has negatively impacted him as much as Axl without Slash has.

[Guest Sleeping Like An Angel]

He became famous when he was quite 'old'. He had a young baby faced and looked about 17 in 1989. That makes it all the more of a mindfuck.

[mrvics]

All this boils down to one word.... Yup, you got that right... REUNION.

[chevelle]

I don't think Axl's age has negatively impacted him as much as Axl without Slash has.

Yeah...even though Slash now fits that exact description of The Rolling Stones in the first post. Playing music like he's 20 and being a "badass rockstar" 45.

[phaeryen]

It has an integrity.

CD doesn't have an integrity. Its main shortcoming is the mish-mashy, something recorded somewhere else in 2001 something added on top in 2007 by different people in a different place -feel.

You simply don't make great records that way. Why? The cohesive feel is lost. Ask a writer if a book could be done that way. Ask a moviemaker if a movie could be done that way.

All great albums ive ever liked in my over 15 years of active music addiction, that have had lasting substance and pleasure to them, they have quite a bit in common, regardless of genre. One of which is that they have ALL been done in a single push of creative motion, more or less and give or take.

That is something that Chinese Democracy lacks and its painfully fricking obvious!!!

In hindsight, they should have just wasted a (small) pile of cash and re-record the album one more time before releasing it. With the people they had, that would have been maybe two to three months of laid back 9-17 working. Do the orchestras with VST plugins on top if need be. I guarantee you it would have left us with a more complete and satisfying album.

[Atlas Shrugged]

I don't think Axl's age has negatively impacted him as much as Axl without Slash has.

Yeah...even though Slash now fits that exact description of The Rolling Stones in the first post. Playing music like he's 20 and being a "badass rockstar" 45.

why bite? you've been here for 5 years and a comment as petty as that warrants your response? you only encourage it by responding.

[ManetsBR]

I don't think Axl's age has negatively impacted him as much as Axl without Slash has.

Yeah...even though Slash now fits that exact description of The Rolling Stones in the first post. Playing music like he's 20 and being a "badass rockstar" 45.

why bite? you've been here for 5 years and a comment as petty as that warrants your response? you only encourage it by responding.

Yeah, don't feed the cupcake.

[JAC185]

In another thread weren't you just bestowing the virtues of the Stones and saying why Slash should have let Guns become like them?

[chevelle]

I don't think Axl's age has negatively impacted him as much as Axl without Slash has.

Yeah...even though Slash now fits that exact description of The Rolling Stones in the first post. Playing music like he's 20 and being a "badass rockstar" 45.

why bite? you've been here for 5 years and a comment as petty as that warrants your response? you only encourage it by responding.

Because these people piss me off beating such a dead horse. Hope against hope, I guess.

[Izzyslash]

I don't think Axl's age has negatively impacted him as much as Axl without Slash has.

This!

[Duro]

Depends how you look at it.

Axl has never released a bad record.

Much of what you hear on CD is from that era, and its unlikely that's all we'll hear...

And to see him live, he is as strong as ever.

[wasted]

I sort of thought that because UYI I and II came out together that I lasted til 94, then UYI II took over. Then there was Spaghetti. I suppose I liked certain songs on Illusions beginning of 90s, by mid-90s I was liking Estranged. But yeah live shows the fans maybe missed that. How many times can a musician tell us what type of ice cream he likes.

[Vincent Vega]

I sort of thought that because UYI I and II came out together that I lasted til 94, then UYI II took over. Then there was Spaghetti. I suppose I liked certain songs on Illusions beginning of 90s, by mid-90s I was liking Estranged. But yeah live shows the fans maybe missed that. How many times can a musician tell us what type of ice cream he likes.

They should've toured until 1995 or '96 like Metallica did.

Restart the tour, this time in support of UYI + TSI in say May 1994, club tour first leg along with an MTV Unplugged performance, then a stadium leg, than an arena leg and finish it up in December 1995. Release next album in May 1996. Appear on the MTV VMAs. Start tour in support of that record in South America in January 1997 (this was actually planned by Guns in real life).

That's how it should have went.

Edited December 9, 2010 by Indigo Child

[Nick83]

Axl did spent his 30's out of the public eye, but I guess we can thank the other band members, specifically Slash, for messing everything up. If they would have followed Axl and his vision, GNR would probably have continued making amazing albums until today.

I don't think Axl had any choice in this situation. What do you do? It seems like a long time folks, but if you look at the time line, it needed to take that long. You can't just come back to the public and not prepare heavily.

And you guys need to stop worrying about his age. People don't magically change as they get older. They are who they are. Axl is the same guy he always was.

He still has the voice, and he's still the best front man around. There's been no decline.

[trqster]

Just be thankful for CD and having him back playing (great) gigs and stop bitchin bout what could have been...

[Chris 55]

Axl did spent his 30's out of the public eye, but I guess we can thank the other band members, specifically Slash, for messing everything up. If they would have followed Axl and his vision, GNR would probably have continued making amazing albums until today.

Would you be in a band that has 1 guy running the show that wants to make music that you don't want to make?