Best & Worst New Guns moment?

[Facekicker]

I'm not saying that Rio was anything special vocally. I'm just saying it was better than today.

I agree it was a freakshow in Rio but there was an energy to the performance that is badly missing these days.

[Nosaj Thing]

The options are very shit. Also, we have had this thread before.

[Sixes]

I'm not saying that Rio was anything special vocally. I'm just saying it was better than today.

I agree it was a freakshow in Rio but there was an energy to the performance that is badly missing these days.

the energy was incredible from start to finish at rio 01 and the energy alone can make an ok show memorable

now it seems as if it's a going thru the motions type of thing at shows

[Damn_Smooth]

Rio 2001 should be on the worst list.

Watch pretty much any part of that show again and then look at where we are today. That line-up makes the current one look stale and boring as fuck.

Nope, can't stand the freakshow. Bucket had the talent to redeem himself, but Finck sucked complete ass in every way possible. Axl's voice sucked every bit as bad as it does now if not worse. No sign of this imaginary power that people claim he had in '01. What the fuck was Pittman going for anyway? He sucks no matter what, but he sucked worse then. Fortus is way better than Paul live and the band was nowhere near as cohesive. Brain was better than Frank and there were new songs. That's all I can think of for positives.

Every song seems like they were in a race to get to the end and Axl had no power. He did gain power back in 2002, but at Rio, he had none. And it was the first sign of the now patented out of breath routine he does on a nightly basis now

Which '02 shows showcase this power? I remember it being pretty evenly horrible throughout the whole failed tour. I saw them in November of '02 and the bootleg I have of the show is horrible.

the show i saw at msg..axl had power...no rasp(that fucking term is a nuisance)...was in tune and not out of breath

but he def had power....now he's got nothing

the asian shows he was fine...i've not heard a boot from that tour when he didn't have power behind his voice...some nights, he was "off" but power was never the issue...at least, in the shows i went to or have heard

Just watched as much of MSG '02 on YouTube as I care to and other than stage energy from Axl I saw nothing there that I miss now. Especially not in the vocals.

[WhazUp]

Best: Either the release of CD or Rio 2001 with the return of Axl and at the time the feeling he really wanted to take the band somewhere. Oh and the 2010 show with Duff, along with select 2006 shows like Rock Am Ring and Hammerstein

Worst: Rio 2011. That show was the thing that seperates the two recent eras of GNR - the 2009/2010 shows that had Axl at a fantastic point and the 2011-onward Axl that is still on a decline vocally with a band that isn't being taken anywhere

Edited April 25, 2014 by WhazUp

[RandallFlagg]

Chinese Democracy was glorious, demented, narcissistic, jumbled, passionate and somewhat pretentious. Rio was fucking horrendous except for that raincoat and Estranged and it signaled the downward peak, stagnation and regression of post-CD era GNR.

[Conor]

2006 was the tits. Axl was on good form, the band looked and sounded the part, there was a good positive vibe in the media about them as well. Late 2006 was a missed opportunity, that was when the album should've come out, 2008 should've been a follow-up or short EP with the Bumble/Finck lineup. The June 2008 leaks were pretty great too, and Chinese finally coming out was cool. The album hasn't aged well in the last five years, let alone the damage that'd been done prior to that.

Rio's gott'a stand out as a low point, but I really think not dropping the album in 2006 was as much of an issue.

[Cuddy]

The 2002 and 2006 lineups were excitng. You never knew what was going to happen. Axl was still a rock star, now....unfortunately I look at this band the same way I look at the current Motley Crue....

[gunnari]

The 2002 and 2006 lineups were excitng. You never knew what was going to happen. Axl was still a rock star, now....unfortunately I look at this band the same way I look at the current Motley Crue....

This band literally goes from top to the bottom

[Yesterdays-Civil-War]

Best: I voted for CD finally coming out. Although, every time something new leaked I started flipping out, it was so exhilarating. It still got the same feeling with Going Down and the CD remixes.

Worst: Bridge School was atrocious, the worst moment not just in nuGN'R history but GN'R history in general. I don't think many of us were expecting something amazing with Bridge School though.

As far as disappointing goes, HV said it with Rio IV. I remember that night, and staying up the entire night to watch it. I was pissed at the delay, only for GN'R would it rain that hard. I was devastated when I heard Mickey. I got pumped right before "Sorry" as I thought we were getting a new song then and I got so excited when Axl said, "Let's do something new," before Estranged. (Although the fact that they played Estranged was incredible at that time). I held on hope for the entire night that we would hear a brand new song...after the disasters that were November Rain and Patience happened I knew that the chances of that happening were gone. In hindsight 2011 was a really good year, but at the time it was so disappointing. We got Estranged, Civil War, the Dolphin Bomb, (if I remember correctly) Duff and Baz opening during the tour, Axl still had moves...in 2014, 2011 was a feelgood year.

[ColdHeartBreaker]

The raincoat was the best GnR moment ever.

[Iron MikeyJ]

Best: CD coming out.

Worst: RIO 11', people like to talk about the Bridge school shows, but Axl was sick, so I give him a pass. Rio on the other hand was just a bad night.

[TeeJay410]

The Better leak was probably a peak. It was a sort of "oh shit this is real, and holy fuck it might actually be good." I remember the media even getting behind it at that point, no one could deny that Better is a strong track.

The worst could be the 2002 cancelation, but I feel like they're a a strong case for 2010-now. It's become pretty obvious Axl has packed it in and has no serious intention of releasing music, which is what we all want.

The silence between 2007-2008 was extremely disappointing too, considering all the steam Axl had behind him from the strong touring and the response to the leaks.

[Iron MikeyJ]

I'm not saying that Rio was anything special vocally. I'm just saying it was better than today.

I agree it was a freakshow in Rio but there was an energy to the performance that is badly missing these days.

I hate it when people say BS like this. I see your 2002 line up and raise you classic guns. I could argue their hasn't been any "energy" or "fire" since 1993. Sure he came back to prove his old band wrong, but what energy did he have in 2002 that he doesn't have now? I say none, he lost his fire the day Slash quit, sad but true.

[RandallFlagg]

I think we all agree regardless of Buckethead's bizarre antics and way of existence, the guy had some fucking phenomenal aptitude and appetite for the ol' guitar, who the hell woulda thought him and Axl rose could hit it off for some songs and create phenomenal pieces of music? It's so bizarre yet so natural, he might've recorded from inside a frigging chicken coop but it seems right to record from there, Axl had the right guy and it would be an injustice to tinker with anything left over, release five BH/Finck songs then add 6 more current line up songs you fiddling fool!

[Yesterdays-Civil-War]

I'm not saying that Rio was anything special vocally. I'm just saying it was better than today.

I agree it was a freakshow in Rio but there was an energy to the performance that is badly missing these days.

I hate it when people say BS like this. I see your 2002 line up and raise you classic guns. I could argue their hasn't been any "energy" or "fire" since 1993. Sure he came back to prove his old band wrong, but what energy did he have in 2002 that he doesn't have now? I say none, he lost his fire the day Slash quit, sad but true.

"I didn't fucking come all the way to fucking England to be told to go back fucking home."

"[slash and Duff] can suck my dick."

"He's in my ass, that's where Slash is."

The dude was pissed off. He had fire in his eyes, he had something to prove to the world.

[Johnny Drama]

CD coming out/Rock Am Ring 06 were the shit. For a guy that became a fan in 2006, I never did and never have considered this post-96 to be GN'R but to see this Axl Rose guy who had apparently fucked off for years and come out a couple years back, fuck it up and sod off again only to pop back up and start kicking it everywhere was fucking awesome. Within a couple months I was already a massive fan but I promised that except for IRS which I had, I wasn't touching any of the other demos so when CD hit, it was fuckin huge. That month before CD came out I just remember playing Chinese Democracy, the song, non stop I was that excited.

That's why it pisses me off to no end when I see the difference between then and now. Axl wasn't the man of his 20's and early 30's but he had determination written all over his face and then to lose Robin and Brain who ended up being a big part of CD, to go fuck up his voice, to still then not rehearse, to put on a shit load of weight, to hiring an emo Slash imitator, to Team Brazil taking over, to playing the same sets devoid of new material and CD songs, it's really disheartening to see your favourite singer constantly fuck things up when shit could be even better ie. like Slash and The Conspirators. And I've never been as excited about anything from Slash as I was about Chinese but at least he delivers good music and fantastic gigs on a regular basis.

[gunsfanoldie]

2006 was the best because he was back (again) and sounded really good. And he held together for the tour. It was important that they finished that tour. I'm still kicking myself that a friend offered me a ticket to see the NJ show and I said no because at the time I only knew Appetite and I said "he'll probably play a bunch from that double album and its not worth it to go if I don't know most of the songs". I'm a fucking idiot.

Worst was probably VMAs since that was just a massive blow and probably the most famous. He probably sounded the worst at Bridge School though. Don't care whether he was sick or not, that was fucking pathetic. He's had so many public lows since resurfacing it really is abysmal. He totally fucked it up with each passing year Chinese didn't come out. Every subsequent year was just another nail in the coffin. But VMAs was the time that anyone that cared about him was watching and he just screwed it up massively.

Chinese Democracy finally coming out was actually another low IMO. No one cared, it got terrible reviews and was embarrassing to all the fans because they couldn't really defend that against all the people that said we were crazy.

[DR DOOM]

Out of the options presented I voted RAR 2006 as the highlight and DJ joining as the low.

KROQ, RAR and the leaks go hand in hand for me as the highlight of my new GNR fandom.

Ashba joining definitely killed pretty much all enthusiasm I had for Axl's GNR, but sixes made a very good point that the cancelled tour in 02 was very, very bad and putting aside my dislike of Ashba was probably worse.

[Smokin' Cigarettes]

2011 Rio gets a lot of heat and rightfully deserved I guess, but the VMA performance was my low. Taking in to consideration that it was live tv in front of the music world where they had a chance to make a statement again, it really fell flat.

Axl's vocals were weak and finck thought it would be great to have his worst look ever.

[robin2002]

Answered based on the poll questions (which I agree aren't that great - although obviously post 2001) - would be -

Hightlights - Rio 2001 - The big comeback, new band, new songs, was a big deal, I was delighted :-) - the leaks - hearing Better, TWAT, Catcher - I actually thought this was gonna be the masterpiece the myth deserved, and that I had hoped for.

Worst - all of the above, hard to seperate -

VMAs, just a week after seeing them at Leeds I thought they were ready to make that comeback to the mainstream, Axl blew it though - as he did with Philly :-( which I guess led to Bucket leaving.. Robin eventually leaves then DJ joins, for me it's all downhill from there am afraid...

Edited April 26, 2014 by robin2002

[maxpax]

I'm not saying that Rio was anything special vocally. I'm just saying it was better than today.

I agree it was a freakshow in Rio but there was an energy to the performance that is badly missing these days.

the energy was incredible from start to finish at rio 01 and the energy alone can make an ok show memorable

now it seems as if it's a going thru the motions type of thing at shows

well, a lot of this energy came from the audience. and a lot of people there thought that bucket was slash in disguise (axl said so in a radio interview back then). but i agree that axl and the band were more powerful there. i remember that i really hated the band's look...it had nothing to do with gnr...it was a freakshow.

[bacardimayne]

In the 2001-02 era he was eager to prove what he could do without Slash. I imagine Buckethead was a large part of that. He felt that Bucket was a strong enough artistic force to enhance his work.

Losing Bucket was a huge blow, but I think the improved voice he had in 2006 gave him the same confidence Buckethead gave him, but in a different way. This carried on until 2010. In 2010 the band fired on all cylinders in a way that no NuGNR lineup ever did before. Axl was near perfect and the band provided a great backing for him.

We haven't seen that confidence in Axl since 2010. It disappeared with Rio.

[Apollo]

I'm not saying that Rio was anything special vocally. I'm just saying it was better than today.

I agree it was a freakshow in Rio but there was an energy to the performance that is badly missing these days.

I hate it when people say BS like this. I see your 2002 line up and raise you classic guns. I could argue their hasn't been any "energy" or "fire" since 1993. Sure he came back to prove his old band wrong, but what energy did he have in 2002 that he doesn't have now? I say none, he lost his fire the day Slash quit, sad but true.

Seriously?

I can answer this one from personal experience. I saw the band in 2002 and in 2011. To say that there is no difference is just silly. I can only assume you haven't seen the band live?

I loved the 2011 show. But the 2002 show blew it out of the water. Axl was about 50 pounds lighter, was screaming his lungs out, and had that infamous "rasp" that people love to talk about.

That band in 2002 looked and felt dangerous, exciting and like something really special was going to happen.

Love the current band and Axl, but this group is entirely different. This group is like a well-oiled professional band full of paid musicians. That 2002 line-up brought almost the same intensity and excitement to the stage as the original group. Ashba doing hulk Hogan ears and the same "dance" moves at the same exact moments of songs at every show......just not the same.

[OmarBradley]

I'm not saying that Rio was anything special vocally. I'm just saying it was better than today.

I agree it was a freakshow in Rio but there was an energy to the performance that is badly missing these days.

I hate it when people say BS like this. I see your 2002 line up and raise you classic guns. I could argue their hasn't been any "energy" or "fire" since 1993. Sure he came back to prove his old band wrong, but what energy did he have in 2002 that he doesn't have now? I say none, he lost his fire the day Slash quit, sad but true.

Seriously?

I can answer this one from personal experience. I saw the band in 2002 and in 2011. To say that there is no difference is just silly. I can only assume you haven't seen the band live?

I loved the 2011 show. But the 2002 show blew it out of the water. Axl was about 50 pounds lighter, was screaming his lungs out, and had that infamous "rasp" that people love to talk about.

That band in 2002 looked and felt dangerous, exciting and like something really special was going to happen.

Love the current band and Axl, but this group is entirely different. This group is like a well-oiled professional band full of paid musicians. That 2002 line-up brought almost the same intensity and excitement to the stage as the original group. Ashba doing hulk Hogan ears and the same "dance" moves at the same exact moments of songs at every show......just not the same.

Axl isn't Axl anymore, he's become a shell of his former self, age has caught up to him I think. If you watch videos of the 90's, or even early 2000's, hell even in 2006, there's an energy that's just not been present since. It's sad, it really is, and I don't mean in a condescending way, but genuinely.