Paul "Huge" Tobias: Bridge between 'Old' and 'New' GN'Rs?

[Vincent Vega]

The last GN'R song to ever feature Slash, Duff and Matt was Sympathy for the Devil, a cover recorded in the fall of 1994 and released that December.

The lineup on that track was:

Axl

Slash

Paul Huge

Duff

Matt

Dizzy

Albeit being a cover, it is thus the last song of the UYI era GN'R (Axl, Slash, Duff, Matt, Dizzy). And Paul Huge is on the track as rhythm guitarist. Although this caused a lot of trouble at the time, he continued to work with GN'R from 1994 onward. In this time, GN'R evolved slowly, behind the scenes:

Fall 1994-October 1996:

Axl

Slash

Paul Huge

Duff

Matt

Dizzy

October 1996-January 1997:

Axl

Paul Huge

Duff

Matt

Dizzy

January 1997-April 1997:

Axl

Robin

Paul Huge

Duff

Matt

Dizzy

April 1997-August 1997:

Axl

Robin

Paul Huge

Duff

Josh Freese

Dizzy

Paul is thus the only member besides Dizzy Reed who played in both Slash/Duff/Matt era Guns. He played on the last GN'R song ever released with Slash and Duff, and yet also continued on to become one of the principal songwriters for post Slash Guns N' Roses, having his hand in writing most of CD's tracks. While he resigned from touring with Guns in 2002, he apparently still works with GN'R in the studio as a writer...As such I would say Paul in an odd sort of way is like the bridge between the Slash era GN'R, and the post Slash era GN'R.

And then you have Dizzy, who came in as an addition to the AFD era lineup while Steven was still in the band, several months before Steven was fired...So technically he was at first a member added to the AFD lineup. He didn't replace anyone and played with the original 5.

Some bands decide just to break up--for example Led Zeppelin or The Beatles, who jointly announced they had mutually decided to break up. Other bands, like Black Sabbath, just evolve over time and I would argue that "GN'R" never broke up in the true sense, it just slowly evolved a period of 7 years into "New" GN'R. The partnership between Axl/Slash/Izzy/Duff/Steven became in 1990 the partnership between Axl/Slash/Izzy/Duff, and then it became legally Axl/Slash/Duff, then Axl/Duff, then Axl--slowly from 1990 to 1997. There was never any formal decision to break up, nothing of the sort, members just gradually left and were replaced.

Edited May 25, 2012 by Clark Gable

[blackrose87]

According to most he was also a complete douchebag too

[Nosaj Thing]

And?

[volcano62]

The band sounded great on Sympathy. I love Paul's solo.

[moreblack]

He was more like the wedge between the old band and new. Decent writer, but had no business being on a stage at GNR's level.

[ZoSoRose]

The band sounded great on Sympathy. I love Paul's solo.

you mean Slash's

[Georgy Zhukov]

Paul was the only dude who looked out of place at Rio in 2001.

[hudsonsaul]

Us gnr geeks know that the lineups slowly evolved like you've listed. However the general music listening public don't, as nothing was delivered during all those phases. Even CD's lineup isn't about anymore. If somewhere during thoe lineups you've listed SOMETHING was released, an EP length album or something, then I reckon shit wouldn't have ended up so bad n' bitter.

[Patience 4 Axl]

Paul was the only dude who looked out of place at Rio in 2001.

As opposed to Bucket and Finck who looked liked they fit right in.

[Guest Satanisk_Slakt]

Paul was the only dude who looked out of place at Rio in 2001.

As opposed to Bucket and Finck who looked liked they fit right in.

[Damn_Smooth]

Paul was the only dude who looked out of place at Rio in 2001.

As opposed to Bucket and Finck who looked liked they fit right in.

[HisRoyalSweetness]

can you imagine how hilarious a paul huge solo cd would be? can you imagine how insecure axl must have been that he wanted a guy like that around? it's the same kind of thinking that leads to a housekeeper becoming a manager.

[saber_]

True gnr fans know Locomotive is the bridge between old and new gnr.

[grigori]

This is the worst use of a bridge metaphor I have ever read. Matt Sorum would have been a better example with his introduction of Robin Finck. But to call that person a "Bridge"? Terrible choice of words. There is no bridge.

[Johnny Drama]

This is the worst use of a bridge metaphor I have ever read. Matt Sorum would have been a better example with his introduction of Robin Finck. But to call that person a "Bridge"? Terrible choice of words. There is no bridge.

That's exactly what I was gonna say. If Paul Huge was the bridge, he's like one of those shitty bridges made of worn out ropes and the occasional wooden step. The guy had zero personality even in the new band. That being said I'll give him credit for helping write some of the best tunes on CD and I'd definitely call him THE rhythm guitarist of nu-GN'R as opposed to Richard.

[hudsonsaul]

Great points by Clark and it's that evolution that still makes it GNR and not a solo project in my opinion. I think there are a lot of fans who mistakenly believe that Axl kicked everyone out of the band and then started over from scratch (while managing to "steal" the name along the way). The truth is very different from that common misconception. When people say to me, "It's not really GNR," I always ask them when it stopped being GNR and very rarely are they able to give me any sort of logical answer.

I think as a fan who followed the band very closely from 1988 until now, it never felt like Axl simply re-appeared with a totally different lineup. If Axl/Duff/Dizzy/Paul/Robin/Matt was GNR, I really saw no reason why Axl/Dizzy/Paul/Robin/Tommy/Brain/Bucket/Pitman wasn't GNR either. The band has slowly evolved over time, with each lineup having strong connections to the lineup before it.

Good points. But the linesup never delivered anything for the public to see, and thats one of the main reasons imo why there is such a high volume of "its not really GNR" & "axl stole name kicking everyone out".

Does anyone have an interviews or any detail about Paul Tobias? - lots of ppl bash him, but I personally dont know shit about him (apart fact he was mates with Axl and his relation with GNR over the years). Only crap I've heard about him is from Slash and Matt mentioning him in interviews (slashing saying he doesn't like him: bedroom guitarist. Matt saying he called him Yoko Ono or something).

I'd be keen to read something more about him tbh, even in this thread there are lots of ppl giving him shit so there must be more info on him out there then I'm aware of.

[AIC04]

While i dont know a ton about him, I've never had an issue with him. If the credits are correct in cd, he added alot to it.I would like to hear more stuff he recorded in his time with him. Correct me if im wrong but doesnt he have a role similar to Brains now, that he will be used in the studio?

[WhazUp]

Hudson -

Yes, you are dead on. Because those lineups operated quietly and never released anything, it's not really the public's fault for feeling like Axl Rose returned one day with a bunch of new guys that had no ties to GNR's lineage. From a PR perspective, it was handled very poorly on GNR's part. At the time though, it seemed like PR was the least of Axl's concerns. It certainly has had long lasting effects.

I think people give Paul a lot of shit because they don't know much about him and former members have certainly painted a picture that Paul's presence caused the band to fall apart. In some ways that may be true, although certainly not through any fault of Paul's.

Once Izzy leaves the band, the struggle for power between Axl and Slash, with Duff stuck in the middle, ultimately was going to end that version of the band eventually regardless of any other factors. It's another situation where I find both sides to be understandable. Axl and Izzy had always been the band's primary songwriters. Slash's amazing lead playing was obviously a huge part of the band's success, but with Izzy gone, Axl wanted to bring someone in that could help with songwriting. Enter, Paul.

So, Axl wanting to replace Izzy (essentially, really it's Gilby being replaced) with another friend he'd be comfortable writing with (Paul) certainly seems reasonable.

But it's just as reasonable for Slash and others to be upset and resentful that Axl would think it's okay to arbitrarily replace Gilby without input or consent from the others.

And whether Paul was a good songwriter or not, the circumstances that led to him joining the group, obviously he's not going to be very well liked.

Not to mention the fact that with Izzy gone, Slash probably felt like he should be the one stepping up to fill that void. Why is an outsider being brought in to fill the creative hole left by Izzy instead of Slash taking on a larger role in regards to songwriting?

To me, it's always been very sad to see so many fans arguing and fighting all these years later over a situation that really has no hero or villain, just a lot of shades of gray.

Great post! This is something that I really believe to be true: the fact that there is no hero or villan. It still baffles me how some people here paint Axl or Slash as the "evil" and diabolical person who is the complete singular problem. And I agree regarding your analysis of the whole Paul thing.

[SoulMonster]

Does anyone have an interviews or any detail about Paul Tobias?

I have never seen an interview with him, but I have collected some quotes on him: http://www.a-4-d.com/t140-paul-tobias#158

EDIT: And great post by MSL above.

Edited May 26, 2012 by SoulMonster

[Liquor & Whores]

I would love to read an interview with Paul about those times and his current status with GNR

[grigori]

This is the worst use of a bridge metaphor I have ever read. Matt Sorum would have been a better example with his introduction of Robin Finck. But to call that person a "Bridge"? Terrible choice of words. There is no bridge.

That's exactly what I was gonna say. If Paul Huge was the bridge, he's like one of those shitty bridges made of worn out ropes and the occasional wooden step. The guy had zero personality even in the new band. That being said I'll give him credit for helping write some of the best tunes on CD and I'd definitely call him THE rhythm guitarist of nu-GN'R as opposed to Richard.

Glad I'm not the only one. I think Paul was the North Korean demilitarized zone between 'Old' and 'New' GN'Rs. No turning back.

[Voodoochild]

Most people who badmouth Paul Tobias do it for two reasons: one fucked up solo (RQ @ RIR 2001, which IMO wasn't even that bad) and what Slash said about him. Don't think those two are enough to hate the guy, honestly. He really was the most Izzy-like thing to ever happen to Guns N' Roses in its history. He even brought back live the elaborate rhythm guitar work from Izzy - very noticeble on Rocket Queen, by the way.

In studio, he also made some good stuff. His crunchy guitar was all over Chinese (Street of Dreams and TWAT are the best examples of well written rhythm) and his work on Symphathy For The Devil is good IMHO and did not "replace" Slash's solo or neither was louder than him (again, another misconcept brought by Slash).

[Vincent Vega]

This is the worst use of a bridge metaphor I have ever read. Matt Sorum would have been a better example with his introduction of Robin Finck. But to call that person a "Bridge"? Terrible choice of words. There is no bridge.

That's exactly what I was gonna say. If Paul Huge was the bridge, he's like one of those shitty bridges made of worn out ropes and the occasional wooden step. The guy had zero personality even in the new band. That being said I'll give him credit for helping write some of the best tunes on CD and I'd definitely call him THE rhythm guitarist of nu-GN'R as opposed to Richard.

Glad I'm not the only one. I think Paul was the North Korean demilitarized zone between 'Old' and 'New' GN'Rs. No turning back.

So Sympathy for the Devil = the first New GN'R recording?

[Crash Diet]

And?

this

plus Paul Tobias is a terrible live player

[Crash Diet]

This is the worst use of a bridge metaphor I have ever read. Matt Sorum would have been a better example with his introduction of Robin Finck. But to call that person a "Bridge"? Terrible choice of words. There is no bridge.

That's exactly what I was gonna say. If Paul Huge was the bridge, he's like one of those shitty bridges made of worn out ropes and the occasional wooden step. The guy had zero personality even in the new band. That being said I'll give him credit for helping write some of the best tunes on CD and I'd definitely call him THE rhythm guitarist of nu-GN'R as opposed to Richard.

Glad I'm not the only one. I think Paul was the North Korean demilitarized zone between 'Old' and 'New' GN'Rs. No turning back.

So Sympathy for the Devil = the first New GN'R recording?

nope

You may know, they write some stuff after the SFTD cover...