Could DJ Ashba be replaced with Vivian Campbell?

[JoePerry954]

You talk about gnr's marketability like there's some grand plan. Guns is a mess. There has been no real musical progress of any kind in years. They couldn't even fulfill the commitment to play 3 new songs in SA. Bumble is in near continuous mutiny over their lack of recording.

On reflection VC would probably turn down the gig. He has money, and self-respect is that much more valuable.

There's been no progress, not just musically, since the dissolution of the original band. That is irrefutable fact.

I have no doubts VC would actually laugh if he was given a legitimate offer. As would any other serious guy out there. That's the corner Axl has pushed NuGNR in.

It's not just coincidence that a guy who doesn't even deem himself a guitarist, and can hardly play his parts, is in fact the lead guitarist of NuGNR.

Edited May 4, 2014 by JoePerry954

[Johnny Drama]

These anti-DJ threads are starting to get boring, and pathetic.

Nobody likes DJ, we get it.

I kinda agree with this. The guy sucks but I'd rather see no Dizzy and Pitman. They're just pointless and would be better as studio/touring musos where the song actually calls for it.

[stella]

In terms of musicianship and skills, yes, Vivian Campbell is a thousand times better than Ashba.

In terms of respect in the music community and music fans who are a little more knowledgable, Vivan rocks.

In terms of popular appeal? Unfortunately that's Ashba. Ashba has a rabid fan base and his swag, and if nothing else, one can concede that he is an incredibly savvy business person and has made a lot of money marketing himself and his image (whether that's put on or genuine). He's also younger than Campbell and perhaps more physically appealing to many women (I'm a woman. I honestly don't think so. But when one considers that most of his fan base seems to be female and he's always getting hit on on his Facebook and Twitter...).

I think the latter unfortunately trumps the former two points in terms of overall marketability. Axl already has two guitarists in GnR who are excellent musicians; I honestly think Ashba is there for the marketing value, not for musicianship or respect in the musical community.

I hear your point of view.

Let's just say you are right and DJ is more marketable/has more popular appeal then say, Vivian.

What is more important to NuGNR? Is it to have someone who can barely play guitar (let alone their parts in GNR properly), who has a broad appeal to South American young girls with clear emotional issues

or

Someone legitimate who can nail his parts and bring a real sense of credibility to NuGNR. This person may not bring the fickle 'blow in' fans fascinated by DJ's "impossible princess" / "Beautiful nightmare" / "I love death" / "Woe is me (in my Las Vegas mansion)" whole angle, but in my opinion, at this point, it is more important to bring REAL credibility back to NuGNR, if Axl wants any shot of being taken serious.

If Ashba is in for the marketability, not musicianship as you say, why not go further and bring in Justin Bieber as lead guitarist for NuGNR? That will bring in some serious fan numbers.

Ashba is doing a lot of damage to GNR. Personally, I'd like to see a REAL guy get brought in, rather than be lumped with Ashba the Jessica Simpson of rock.

Ashba has been in the band for 5+ years and NuGNR can still only do 2-5k seaters in the U.S. I think you're maybe being suckered in to DJ's world of fake followers. He isn't a fraction as 'famous' as he would make out. I don't get the argument that he is so marketable. Does he market the sh*t out of himself in the most distasteful ways possible, yes. Has that correlated to any real U.S success? No. The fact that Ashba is a walking billboard/infomercial hasn't translated to anymore success to the band that I can see. Does he himself have some blow-in fans? yes.

Besides, it's only inevitable that the fickle fans fascinated with Ashba's hair, will eventually move on to an equally mesmerizing momentary fad, such as Yo-Yos or ridiculously short 'short shorts'.

Oh no, I'm not being "suckered in" to anything. I can't stand DJ Ashba, but the fact is that the man has more than 250K fans on Facebook and has been pretty visible in the music scene in a number of different bands. Whether or not they're really into him, when GnR announces a concert and it's on DJ's page, it means that 250K people see it...and those are people who perhaps would be more amenable to NuGNR and not just posting "BRING BACK SLASH! REUNION NOOOOWWW!" comments all the time.

I'm not sure what NuGNR's plan is, in all honesty. The thing is, though, whatever anyone else can say about Axl, up until Ashba he's had a track record of picking decent musicians for the band. Finck might have been sloppy, but he could still play circles around Ashba, and I don't think anyone would doubt the musicianship of Bumblefoot, Buckethead, etc. The only exception to that might have been Paul Tobias and that was a personal friend of Axl's so it was a different story.

So with Ashba I think we have several possibilties:

1. He's a personal friend of Axl's, just as Tobias was (not as likely)

2. He's the best guitarist Axl could find who was willing to join the band. I don't buy this one; there are a lot of talented guitarists out there that nobody knows about, and I think that if one of them were offered a salary to join Guns N' Roses and tour the world, they'd do it.

3. He's the best FAMOUS guitarist that Axl could find who was willing to join the band. This one's more possible, and if Axl or TB were looking specifically for a known guitarist that had at least some fan following, it brings us back to the point that they may have been hoping to draw on that fan base.

2. He's in the band for some reason other than his amazing guitar skills (sarcasm there, folks). Design? Marketing? Some business savvy? The only other reason I could really think of is that Axl thinks, wrong or right, that Ashba is going to bring in a younger, hipper crowd or port over his enthusiastic fans...fans who, again, might not be as tied to the old GnR. I don't know if this thinking is necessarily spot on and I can't pretend that I know what's on Axl's mind or TB's mind. It's an idea, though. Is he doing damage to the band? I'd wager that's true. Ashba probably has inspired more violently negative reactions than any other member in the band in decades. On the other hand, as Oscar Wilde said, ""There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about."

If we wanted to take a really grim view of this, we could also look at the fact that GnR's concerts haven't exactly sold out in the USA in a while, excepting a few major markets. It could be argued that Ashba and his fan base are helping sustain the numbers where they are instead of dropping them further. If that's the case it's pretty damn sad, but it's possible.

Edited May 4, 2014 by stella

[DR DOOM]

If GNR needs DJ Ashba and his fans to sell tickets or stay relevant, it's time to pack it in.

[liers]

Vivian Campbell would be an unbelievable addition to NuGNR and give the most credibility to the band it's had for a very long time.. it would never happen though.

Axl isn't into doing what is right for the band such as giving it cred. He would rather employ guys with KFC buckets on their heads, 40 year olds that dress like 15 year old emos (and by their own admissions aren't even guitarists) or guys that make their guitars sound like old dial up modems with names relating to rare animal illnesses. You cannot make this sh*t up with NuGNR.

As if Viv, or any other serious guy would be interested at this point. There's a reason Axl is scraping the bottom of the barrel with guys like DJ, who after what? 5 years? can't even play SCOM right bahahahahaha. The stock standard song every teenage bedroom guitarist knows back to front.

It's all good and well to think of suitable replacements for the DJ Ashba disaster, but even if Axl did want a legitimate guy now, NuGNR is a laughing stock and unfortunately through his own mismanagement is now stuck with guys like the Swag master Ashba, who would rather sell Ashba air fresheners then learn how to play his parts.

Ashba, Finck, and Buckethead all are well known in music. Really the only nobodies in the band were Brain, Pitman, Frank, Bumblefoot, Fortus, and Paul.

[Young_Gun]

Ashba will be replaced by Michael Romeo :

You heard it first here guys

[OmarBradley]

I respect Viv too much to be okay with him becoming part of Axl's circus.

[Val22]

Why would Vivian ever leave Def Leppard?

He's a good fit for DL, so I doubt he would join GNR.

[star]

Dj could be replaced by any one for all i care. There's only one Slash, and Robin and Buckethead are damn good!