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

[Voodoochild]

And?

this

plus Paul Tobias is a terrible live player

based on what?

[Angeles_]

I really love Paul and his work in Chinese .. and of course in early 80' with Axl and Izzy (Back off bitch and shadow of your love) .. but sometimes it's interesting to read what the actors say about their own history ...

hope this interview will be useful

Regarding Paul Tobias, Axl said:

"The public gets a different story from the other guys -- Slash, Duff, Matt -- who have their own agendas. The original intentions between Paul and myself were that Paul was going to help me for as long as it took to get this thing together in whatever capacity that he could help me in. So when he first was brought into this, he was brought in as a writer to work with Slash. At the time those guys never suggested one name. Nobody else. Ever.

“Paul was one of the best people we knew who was both available and capable of complimenting Slash's style. You could bring in a better guitar player than Paul. You could bring in a monster. I tried putting Zakk Wylde with Slash and that didn't work. It brought out some interesting things in Slash but it was a different approach that ended up being overpowering and didn't bring out the best in Slash. It brought out some interesting things and it would've worked to do some songs. But Paul was only interested in complimenting Slash, laying down a foundation of a riff or something. That would accent or encourage slash's lead playing. Now whether or not Paul was going to be officially on the album or on the tour that really wasn't an actual consideration at the time. It was in the air as a possibility but Paul was a friend trying to help us and he had a huge respect for Slash. He is and this is the bottom line a good man and that's the reality behind things. That doesn't change what took place with old Guns. I feel that some of the recordings we did in that limited amount of time had some of the best playing that Slash had done at least since Illusions. I was there. I know what I heard and it was pretty exciting."

On Richard Fortus replacing Paul Tobias:

"Paul helped us a lot in the writing and the recording of this record and to me was a vital part of not only the band but also my life. The world tour really wasn't his cup of tea whereas he's much more comfortable in a studio setting. We're fortunate to have found Richard who has this vibe kind of like Izzy, but with amazing feel. The first thing I heard Richard play was the beginning of "Stray Cat Blues" by the Stones and he did it with the right feel. Richard likes to play rhythm. He's an amazing lead player and very technically skilled. He really likes the pocket that Brain sets and the two of them click with Tommy, so we finally have the real deal rhythm section, as Richard is a proven professional. Basically, Richard's the guy that we always were looking for. I think that we'll go on to write some very interesting things with Richard and he's already done some rhythm work and some leads on the album."

http://www.knac.com/article.asp?ArticleID=1250

[dalsh327]

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).

Has Izzy ever talked about Paul? He was prob. annoying to have in the room because he backed Axl up, and it came off as a dividing force, but he was also around before GnR existed. It wasn't like he was new to the band!

[Crash Diet]

And?

this

plus Paul Tobias is a terrible live player

based on what?

Based on the 2001 bootlegs. If i can hear him play, he plays shitty.

Is it a good answer for you?

[grigori]

Did Buckethead like Paul?

Can anyone imagine if Paul provided an "answer" copy guitar solo at the end of There Was a Time to Buckethead?

[Crash Diet]

feel that some of the recordings we did in that limited amount of time had some of the best playing that Slash had done at least since Illusions. I was there. I know what I heard and it was pretty exciting."

Wow, i wanna hear that recordings....

Also, Tobias is shit live, but i like his studio work on CD and another plus point is: Back Off Bitch, Shadow of Your Love

[Voodoochild]

I really love Paul and his work in Chinese .. and of course in early 80' with Axl and Izzy (Back off bitch and shadow of your love) .. but sometimes it's interesting to read what the actors say about their own history ...

hope this interview will be useful

Regarding Paul Tobias, Axl said:

"The public gets a different story from the other guys -- Slash, Duff, Matt -- who have their own agendas. The original intentions between Paul and myself were that Paul was going to help me for as long as it took to get this thing together in whatever capacity that he could help me in. So when he first was brought into this, he was brought in as a writer to work with Slash. At the time those guys never suggested one name. Nobody else. Ever.

“Paul was one of the best people we knew who was both available and capable of complimenting Slash's style. You could bring in a better guitar player than Paul. You could bring in a monster. I tried putting Zakk Wylde with Slash and that didn't work. It brought out some interesting things in Slash but it was a different approach that ended up being overpowering and didn't bring out the best in Slash. It brought out some interesting things and it would've worked to do some songs. But Paul was only interested in complimenting Slash, laying down a foundation of a riff or something. That would accent or encourage slash's lead playing. Now whether or not Paul was going to be officially on the album or on the tour that really wasn't an actual consideration at the time. It was in the air as a possibility but Paul was a friend trying to help us and he had a huge respect for Slash. He is and this is the bottom line a good man and that's the reality behind things. That doesn't change what took place with old Guns. I feel that some of the recordings we did in that limited amount of time had some of the best playing that Slash had done at least since Illusions. I was there. I know what I heard and it was pretty exciting."

On Richard Fortus replacing Paul Tobias:

"Paul helped us a lot in the writing and the recording of this record and to me was a vital part of not only the band but also my life. The world tour really wasn't his cup of tea whereas he's much more comfortable in a studio setting. We're fortunate to have found Richard who has this vibe kind of like Izzy, but with amazing feel. The first thing I heard Richard play was the beginning of "Stray Cat Blues" by the Stones and he did it with the right feel. Richard likes to play rhythm. He's an amazing lead player and very technically skilled. He really likes the pocket that Brain sets and the two of them click with Tommy, so we finally have the real deal rhythm section, as Richard is a proven professional. Basically, Richard's the guy that we always were looking for. I think that we'll go on to write some very interesting things with Richard and he's already done some rhythm work and some leads on the album."

http://www.knac.com/article.asp?ArticleID=1250

Great stuff there Angeles, thanks!

Has Izzy ever talked about Paul? He was prob. annoying to have in the room because he backed Axl up, and it came off as a dividing force, but he was also around before GnR existed. It wasn't like he was new to the band!

Don't know, but its highly probable that Izzy and Paul got togheter at studio sometime in the late 90s.

And?

this

plus Paul Tobias is a terrible live player

based on what?

Based on the 2001 bootlegs. If i can hear him play, he plays shitty.

Is it a good answer for you?

No, because I have those same bootlegs and while I have a pretty good ear to notice those things, there's not much to properly tell it's indeed his playing. Even in those things that it's easy to tell, didn't hear anything terrible wrong, specially on Vegas 01. He didn't fuck up as much as, say, Ashba and Robin (which is my favorite guitar player, btw).

Also, two shows with high level of stress isn't the best thing to explain why someone is a "terrible live player". I really think it is unfair to call him a bad guitarist and I still doubt it is because of his actual performance skills.

[hudsonsaul]

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. Personally I don't always agree with some of the stuff you write & do,... but this post is spot on imo and is pretty much exactly how I interpret things as well.

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.

Thanks SoulMonster.

RE: SYmpathy for the Devil solo - I can understand Slash thinking the call / response thing done to his solo as being rude (especially if he was never made light of it until release)....but quite frankly it sounds awesome. The whole song is an upgrade on the original too, and I'd say the solo adds to this. TBH it would have been a lazy sounding solo otherwise as well. Always dug GnR's version of this track.

[RandallFlagg]

If Paul Huge was the bridge, he's like one of those shitty bridges made of worn out ropes and the occasional wooden step.

[Voodoochild]

RE: SYmpathy for the Devil solo - I can understand Slash thinking the call / response thing done to his solo as being rude (especially if he was never made light of it until release)....but quite frankly it sounds awesome. The whole song is an upgrade on the original too, and I'd say the solo adds to this. TBH it would have been a lazy sounding solo otherwise as well. Always dug GnR's version of this track.

Agreed. I mean, the song is awesome IMHO, including Slash original solo. But Paul's guitar work is one of the things that stands out and make it more unique and current.

[bran]

RE: SYmpathy for the Devil solo - I can understand Slash thinking the call / response thing done to his solo as being rude (especially if he was never made light of it until release)....but quite frankly it sounds awesome. The whole song is an upgrade on the original too, and I'd say the solo adds to this. TBH it would have been a lazy sounding solo otherwise as well. Always dug GnR's version of this track.

Agreed. I mean, the song is awesome IMHO, including Slash original solo. But Paul's guitar work is one of the things that stands out and make it more unique and current.

yeah i love paul's and slash's work on that song i think its better than the stones version (which was already great) its a shame really i think tobias + slash could have been like izzy + slash just sucks it ended so soon afterwards

[shotgunblues1978]

Here are my thoughts on Paul Huge and why the old band disliked him/his presence:

Guys in the band (Duff and Slash) did not like the fact that Axl forced Paul upon them. What I find interesting is that even though they say that Axl forced Paul into the band, and that they hated it, none of them have ever mentioned any viable alternatives or people they wanted in the band in place of Paul. And before anyone mentions Gilby Clarke, he was not a viable alternative as a songwriter. So Axl brought Zakk Wylde to the table, didn't work, Paul Huge to the table, didn't work. But did Slash and Duff ever suggest anybody else to Axl? He says they did not and neither of them have ever claimed that they did.

To be honest, I don't think Slash wanted/wants to work with a rhythm guitarist that has any sort of voice or say in the songwriting process. This is evident from all of his post-GnR releases. The rhythm guitar on all of them is incredibly boring and nondescript. I'm not sure if it's a power thing, an ego thing, or what, but none of the 6 albums he's released since then have had a rhythm guitarist that had any personality or songwriting chops (with the exception of the one song he did with Izzy on his first solo album).

Edited May 26, 2012 by shotgunblues1978

[Voodoochild]

Here are my thoughts on Paul Huge and why the old band disliked him/his presence:

Guys in the band (Duff and Slash) did not like the fact that Axl forced Paul upon them. What I find interesting is that even though they say that Axl forced Paul into the band, and that they hated it, none of them have ever mentioned any viable alternatives or people they wanted in the band in place of Paul. And before anyone mentions Gilby Clarke, he was not a viable alternative as a songwriter. So Axl brought Zakk Wylde to the table, didn't work, Paul Huge to the table, didn't work. But did Slash and Duff ever suggest anybody else to Axl? He says they did not and neither of them have ever claimed that they did.

To be honest, I don't think Slash wanted/wants to work with a rhythm guitarist that has any sort of voice or say in the songwriting process. This is evident from all of his post-GnR releases. The rhythm guitar on all of them is incredibly boring and nondescript. I'm not sure if it's a power thing, an ego thing, or what, but none of the 6 albums he's released since then have had a rhythm guitarist that had any personality or songwriting chops (with the exception of the one song he did with Izzy on his first solo album).

This. And he even said he didn't like Izzy's style (or something like that, someone maybe could help me out on this quote) on rhythm, which was pretty much what Paul brought back.

[bran]

Here are my thoughts on Paul Huge and why the old band disliked him/his presence:

Guys in the band (Duff and Slash) did not like the fact that Axl forced Paul upon them. What I find interesting is that even though they say that Axl forced Paul into the band, and that they hated it, none of them have ever mentioned any viable alternatives or people they wanted in the band in place of Paul. And before anyone mentions Gilby Clarke, he was not a viable alternative as a songwriter. So Axl brought Zakk Wylde to the table, didn't work, Paul Huge to the table, didn't work. But did Slash and Duff ever suggest anybody else to Axl? He says they did not and neither of them have ever claimed that they did.

To be honest, I don't think Slash wanted/wants to work with a rhythm guitarist that has any sort of voice or say in the songwriting process. This is evident from all of his post-GnR releases. The rhythm guitar on all of them is incredibly boring and nondescript. I'm not sure if it's a power thing, an ego thing, or what, but none of the 6 albums he's released since then have had a rhythm guitarist that had any personality or songwriting chops (with the exception of the one song he did with Izzy on his first solo album).

This. And he even said he didn't like Izzy's style (or something like that, someone maybe could help me out on this quote) on rhythm, which was pretty much what Paul brought back.

yeah and thats what really sucks is with tobias and slash it would have been that kick ass guitar sound that AFD had

[WhazUp]

I don't really have enough info or audio to really make an opinion on Paul one way or another, he is just kinda there... obviously he is important to Axl, but at the same time I have heard less than complimentry things from Slash, Duff, and Matt.

[The Sandman]

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.