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Alan Niven on Axl, UYI etc...


gunnari

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Really insightful interview..new things about Axl I didn't know before :popcorn:

The middle interviewer says in 50 minute mark that he didn't like the dolphins on Estranged video :lol: I think the dolphins fit perfectly in that video, love that video so much =) and the other interviewer didn't like the Ilusions albums..wtf!!! To me they are still GnR..In my opinion the morphin thing happened when CD was released..now that album sounds so different compared to other albums!!!

Edited by gunnari
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basically he tried to have Axl fired before UYI. Right there shows you. I see what he was saying and from his pov. Izzy was the tunesmith of the band, Axl was just a crazy singer. But Axl really nailed with Nov Rain, Estranged. So he was wrong. There was too much negativity towards Axl, they still had their chance to shine on UYI. It's just wrote Nov Rain and that eclipsed anything the others wrote.

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That James Hetfield lookalike metalhead consevative Appeite- Lover is pissing me off. Guns were a great band because the material was so diverse. Lies was all acoustic. Ever heard that record?

Alan Niven doin' freud- like talking. Always sayin' he ain't no Pychic but always acting like one.

AND WHAT THE FUCK IS HE TALKING ABOUT THE VIDEOS????

November Rain being like the forth video? And saying it's too long.

Man November Rain is the best selling single of the band in Europe. They sold more copies of Illusions in Germany than Appetite. The Video is one THE calssics of all time. Just because it is long, cheesy and over the top.

There is a total of 8 singles off of the Illusions. Huge huge Hits: YCBM, DC, LALD, NR, KOHD only in Europe but one of the biggest Hits ever,) Yesterdy´s, Civil War, Estranged. Niven does not get it.

It is the diversity of GN'R that made them intresting to a lot of people listen to more than real true HardN'Heavy.

Edited by Solari
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Got to agree with the Coma comment... way overcooked and a bit of a snore fest! sorry to any coma fanatics but it's a really bland GnR song when compared to almost any other GnR song (IMO), that's what happens when Slash takes control of the writing process!

As for the other stuff he said, it could certainly be true but! it's also quite biased. Axl did fire this guy, and he also continues to have no contact with him, so Alan has every reason to want to slate him or further lies and misconceptions about Axl... He might be bitter, He might be telling the whole truth and maybe he's telling some of the truth.

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Fact is it was Axl & Izzy who made UYI albums what they were - Right Next Door to Hell, You Could Be Mine,November Rain, Estranged, Don't Cry - those last 4 are easily the biggest hits on those albums and are far ahead in quality over other UYI songs, I used to love Coma but only because that amazing vocal outro, because whole song is much too long and too boring.

Edited by eye2eye
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I thought it was an interesting interview, good insight to how it was for him being the middleman between the record company and the band at that time.

I think because he saw himself as a songwriter, producer, and arranger, he may have tried to place himself in the creative process of the sessions, and Axl didn't want him to be anywhere near that. He also took sides with Izzy and Slash and didn't jump when Axl wanted him to, and that's where Doug came in. He did make Doug seem like an opportunist who took advantage of the situation at the time to make himself indispensable. What pisses the band off is how the signing over the name benefited Doug as much as it did Axl, and that pissed Slash and Duff off in a big way.

The whole Sedona thing (lovely place and all, enjoyed Jerome more) - not sure if Beta's ever talked about it, but that whole thing predates her. You'd have to ask Axl, Del, his sister or Beta whether that whole thing was helpful or a big ripoff. Prince spent millions of his money on videos he never released. To me, it's an indulgent splurge because they're disinterested in drugs, but it's when opinions of "shamen" or gurus that affect a business where everyone's going "WTF ARE YOU DOING".

I don't think Axl knows everything that went on as far as what the people outside the band were doing. I think they sort of kept him in the loop, but he's an artist, not a businessman or a lawyer. Maybe in recent years because it's a smaller team, he's more involved with tour plans and all that. As he said, he's stating an opinion that Alan was all about money, not fact. Alan fired back, and why shouldn't he.

Edited by dalsh327
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He was arguably the most effective GNR manager ever. But while what he says is interesting, he is clearly full of self-worth (which ironically is a much discussed weakness of Axl).

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He was arguably the most effective GNR manager ever. But while what he says is interesting, he is clearly full of self-worth (which ironically is a much discussed weakness of Axl).

He is a rock n roll manager.

Did you listen to his stories of what David Geffen was like? FUCKING LOL! :D You have to be insane to succeed in this business.

And the way he portrayed how he became the manager. He basically said that the band setup was completely insane. and that he liked that. and that he likes a challenge. thats basically saying you are nutter yourself! props to niven. just wish the hosts wouldnt interrupt him all the time like they were doing.

Edited by phaeryen
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Some people aren't going to like UYI, some people are. I don't see what the big deal is.

As for the videos, I can't see anyone saying that they weren't over the top and expect to be taken seriously. However, rock n' roll is meant to be over the top. I look at the UYI videos like I do other over the top things from rocks past: good for the time.

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If you don't like any aspect of UYI, and I intend this as least offensively as possible, fuck right off.

What if it's just not your thing though? I mean, I love roughly 26-27 songs off the albums but I can also see where none of them would appeal to someone.

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gunsnroses-estranged-2.jpg

UYI were the first records I heard and I was around 10 years old like that kid in Terminator 2 :awesomeface: I was born in 1983..It was around -92 or -93 when I first heard GnR cause my mother had bought UYI II and I secretly listened to it while she was at work LOL And I thought this band had so unique and exciting sound and lyrics..It felt like someone had brought a forgotten past back to present day ^_^ After that I was hooked to GnR and now when I'm 30 I still love GnR =)

Edited by gunnari
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Well Estranged and NR have solos and guitar work created by Slash so I wouldn't just dismiss him and the band entirely there. Also Coma and Locomotive are just phenominol songs that showed Axls vocal greatness and Slash guitar sound at its best IMO. Each member was important even in the illusions albums again imo.

Sorry but what guitar work does November Rain has that couldn't be replaced without big dip in quality, NR would a massive hit with whoever on the guitar during solos, maybe those solos would be worse but song would be massive anyway. Do you think that if Buckethead/Vai/Page/Synyster Gates came up with solos it would so much worse it was Axl who wanted solo here and there Slash had nothing to do with writing this song. Estranged is a quite different story but still we don't know how Slash came up with those guitar melodies, did Axl have something in mind and wanted Slash to play this, did Slash come up with this all alone ? We don't know , for sure he isn't listed as songwriter so maybe Axl wanted that some kind of emotional riffs between verses and Slash just played it perfectly.

From time perspective it is clear that Axl pushed Slash out of his zone to do something epic and mindblowing, noone is questioning Slash's brilliant guitar playing on UYI albums, but in the end of the day Axl didn't need Slash to create something magical as much as Slash needed Axl. You Could Be Mine has like zero Slash input it was all about Izzy & Axl and it is my favorite rocker from UYI

and Coma apart from vocal outro does nothing to me it's just a snorefest and Locomotive is even worse.

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Anyone who tries to discount the important of Slash on those records needs a slap. What a moronic thing to say.

It really is incredibly stupid. I'll do what I can to get eye2eye permanently banned, or at least suspended for a few years.

serious?

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