Towelie Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 (edited) Listening to the new Sixx:Am album two things struck me: 1. James Michael is a really good vocalist with mostly average material and 2. Dj is much better playing his own solos than covering other peoples. It got me thinking, is Dj a better guitarist than we've given him credit for in the past? He is an easy target with the whole emo boy image, and the fact that he is playing in a band that once featured the likes of Buckethead and Slash doesn't help. But putting all of that aside for one minute, he isn't half as bad on the guitar as some of you make out, and perhaps he'd really come into his own if given the opportunity to create his own solos on a future GNR album. Not everybody is like Ron or Bucket where they can literally play anything. Listen to Slash butcher EVH's Beat It solo on YouTube for an example of a great guitar player struggling to play another guitarists work. Edited January 1, 2015 by Towelie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumblerose Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 James Michael and dj are good in the studio but shit live in my opinion. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Dazey Posted January 1, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted January 1, 2015 Good or bad I think less people would give a shit if he wasn't such a wanker. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magisme Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Everything about DJ sucks, making him possibly the most suck person in the history of the music industry. DJ is not a good guitarist at all, but we exaggerate beyond that because his overall suck is so monumental. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satanisk_Slakt Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 DJ wasn't bad live the first years. I'm not sure when it changed, but the way he has been playing lately with the Patience solo mess up and all never happened in the beginning more than the first times he played TIL. He has gotten far more shit than he deserves. I wish he'd go back into playing things as close to note by note as he can. I think the problem began when he tried to improvise live. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rovim Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 (edited) I hate his phrasing, don't really care for his tone, and his bends are fuckin' horrid. On top of that, he's kind of a douche and he looks like a joke.His Ballad Of Death is nice, shows he is quite melodic as a car salesman. Gn'R deserves better. At least Fortus and Bumble can really play. Edited January 1, 2015 by Rovim 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DR DOOM Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 I don't think he cops enough shit, personally. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Towelie Posted January 1, 2015 Author Share Posted January 1, 2015 I hate his phrasing, don't really care for his tone, and his bends are fuckin' horrid. On top of that, he's kind of a douche and he looks like a joke.His Ballad Of Death is nice, shows he is quite melodic as a car salesman. Gn'R deserves better. At least Fortus and Bumble can really play.Bends are often hit and miss live, even for the best guitarists. I've seen both Bucket and Fortus butcher the NR solo with bad bends. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dando Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 I don't think he's that bad ! It's his emo image that needs to go . He looks way better with sixx am , doesn't look 15 years old Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IncitingChaos Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 If he can produce in the studio then he can suck all he wants to live. GNR needs a big album, and if DJ's on board for whatever might come next then I pray that he isn't as bad as we think he is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rovim Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 (edited) I hate his phrasing, don't really care for his tone, and his bends are fuckin' horrid. On top of that, he's kind of a douche and he looks like a joke.His Ballad Of Death is nice, shows he is quite melodic as a car salesman. Gn'R deserves better. At least Fortus and Bumble can really play.Bends are often hit and miss live, even for the best guitarists. I've seen both Bucket and Fortus butcher the NR solo with bad bends.They weren't often hit and miss live for Slash which is who DJ is attempting to replace.Slash's playing was surprisingly consistent in Guns and he was fucked up a lot of the time.And please...how many shitty bends have Bumble and Fortus played compared to DJ? This I love solo, Patience solo. That's where you can really understand how shit he really is as a guitar player.I wanna witness DJ attempting to play one of Bumble's fretless guitars. Edited January 1, 2015 by Rovim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvH Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 I love the first Sixx AM album. The second one was a mixed bag, and the third sucks.DJ is great for Sixx AM, not for GNR. I also hate how he's plastered all over Saints of LA, his wall of guitars drowning poor Mick Mars. Mars is an amazing guitarist, sooo much underrated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axlskAmpf Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 (edited) There's posts here dating back to 06, and earlier but that's when I showed up, saying this about Robin, Bumblefoot, and DJ. Here's why, it's not so much do they match strides with Slash, the comparison unfortunately would be to Buckethead. No one plays like that guy so it's impossible to match up for anyone, including Slash. Unfortunately Buckethead had chicken on the brain.DJ is a very good guitarist, but ya know who I've been impressed with is seeing some live gigs on screen of late, Fortus! The guy can play some licks! Edited January 1, 2015 by axlskAmpf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rovim Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 (edited) There's posts here dating back to 06, and earlier but that's when I showed up, saying this about Robin, Bumblefoot, and DJ. Here's why, it's not so much do they match strides with Slash, the comparison unfortunately would be to Buckethead. No one plays like that guy so it's impossible to match up for anyone, including Slash. Unfortunately Buckethead had chicken on the brain.DJ is a very good guitarist, but ya know who I've been impressed with is seeing some live gigs on screen of late, Fortus! The guy can play some licks!What makes you think DJ is a very good guitarist? is he even a good guitarist? isn't he a horrid one? at least some of the time, there is something shocking about just how shitty he sounds.Some guitar players make their guitar sing, scream, and weep. DJ makes his take a noisy shit. Edited January 1, 2015 by Rovim 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axlskAmpf Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 (edited) I didn't say great, but certainly better than Robin who's propensity for slop was startling. Edited January 1, 2015 by axlskAmpf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post TeeJay410 Posted January 1, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted January 1, 2015 (edited) Robin is sloppy. DJ is incompetent. There is a difference. Most guitar players on the forum are more technically capable than DJ. The fact he is such a douchenozzle makes the shittiness of his playing all the more jarring. It would be one thing if he were nice, handsome, or intelligent, but he dresses like a Jar Jar Binks equivalent from an unreleased Nightmare Before Christmas reboot and tries to behave like Nikki Sixx did when he was a heroin addict. He's a copy of a parody of a copy who sucks at guitar. Edited January 1, 2015 by TeeJay410 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axlskAmpf Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Robin is sloppy. DJ is incompetent. There is a difference.Most guitar players on the forum are more technically capable than DJ. The fact he is such a douchenozzle makes the shittiness of his playing all the more jarring. It would be one thing if he were nice, handsome, or intelligent, but he dresses like a Jar Jar Binks equivalent from an unreleased Nightmare Before Christmas reboot and tries to behave like Nikki Sixx did when he was a heroin addict.He's a copy of a parody of a copy who sucks at guitar. Yeah I've been playing for 35 years so I know what ya mean, all I'm saying is he's not nearly as bad as folks make him out to be, so he got a very good in that regard. My only question is if someone calls him a dipshit, and you call him a douchenozzle, would this product help? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BatVin Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 It does not matter how many notes per second you can play or if you screw up every now and than, technical perfection does not make a good guitar player. Robin was great. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strange Broue Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 I hate his phrasing, don't really care for his tone, and his bends are fuckin' horrid. On top of that, he's kind of a douche and he looks like a joke.His Ballad Of Death is nice, shows he is quite melodic as a car salesman. Gn'R deserves better. At least Fortus and Bumble can really play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jekylhyde Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 He's really good with his own material, but when he covers someone elses work, it is a hit-or-miss. I guess, he is closer to being a songwriter and above average multi-instrumentalist, than a guitar hero. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themadcaplaughs Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 I have always maintained that DJ has talent on the guitar, and I would even qualify him as a "very good" guitar player. A band like Guns N' Roses, however, requires something more than a "very good" guitarist. It requires an exceptional guitarist with a unique sound and identity. DJ just does not offer that. In DJ's defense, I will wholeheartedly agree that my opinion could be very different if we actually had music DJ had a hand in writing and recording. I am not a fan of Beautiful Creatures of Sixx A.M. but I can definitely understand his guitar playing sounds better because he is playing to his own strengths rather than Slash's or Robin Finck's. Until we hear new Guns n' Roses songs with DJ playing, all we have to judge him by is how he plays the songs released by Guns N' Roses before he joined the band; and for the most part he does an extremely underwhelming job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandallFlagg Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Of course many folk here go to absurd extremes, the guy is able to play to a decent enough level, he can play the bare minimum to be a viable member of the band but he's not brilliant, heck I don't even think he's a 'good' guitarist, he can come up with some cool pieces though, which gives me hope even if he gets on a record it can work out if he is restricted to a few solos and a lesser member of the songwriting. Livewise he is pretty weak but can get through the shows and shows enthusiasm even though it half the time seems too contrived and attention seeking, I'd rather he improved his playing first then focused on being a wrestler-like over the top caricature. In short, he can play geetahr okay but it's not really the greatest asset to have a guy who is just about at the 'decent' plateau ya know? This is ignoring the rest of the carnival he got going on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Facekicker Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 He's worse than Ebola. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seb91 Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 (edited) DJ's a decent guitar player in that he gets the job done (mostly). The thing is for me though that the guy just doesn't seem to have an original bone in his body. I mean Robin was sloppy as hell live but he's a really original player, nobody really plays like he does. When Ashba joined the band I was pretty positive about him. I thought it was cool he wrote his own solo. I liked Saints Of Los Angeles and the first Sixx A.M. record but it seems to be diminishing returns with him; the second Sixx A.M. record was passable and the latest one I don't really like at all. He completely butchered Better in his remix of it and his This I Love solo isn't a patch on Robin's (and the solo is the best part of that song IMO). I'm not a big fan of his image and he really doesn't do himself any favours wearing that hat. It seems DJ's main talent is writing/producing songs that get radio play and make their way into the mainstream. I figured that may be why he was brought on board as nowadays it seems a hit song or two is what it takes to reignite interest in a band/artist. I think that ship has sailed though. His endless promotion of his products can get rather tiresome as well. So all in all Ashba isn't as bad as some people make out but hes's hardly a great artist or a master guitar player. Edited January 1, 2015 by BassistSeb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RussTCB Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 There's simply no way to exaggerate how bad DJ is at playing GNR songs. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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