China Exchange: 60 Minutes with Axl Rose

[RONIN]

Only issue I have with Axl calling Slash's story "lies" is something called HISTORY. Axl has a proven track record of being obsessed with industrial and grunge bands around this period and wanting to jam with Dave Navarro and Dave Grohl. 

He recorded My World on UYI 2 and had NIN, Soundgarden, and FNM on tour with GnR. He tried to recruit Dave Navarro multiple times and eventually got him to record Oh My God (an industrial track) which according to him, Duff and Matt refused to work on.

For someone who wants to do a straightforward rock record, he sure was fixated on industrial and alternative. They recruited Robin Finck into the band when Duff and Matt were still there -- Finck ofcourse being the guitarist for Nine Inch Nails !

It's very difficult to believe Axl's side of the story based on all this. 

MATT SORUM: Axl was well-versed in what was new and happening: He was the first person to play me Nine Inch Nails: He said, "They're gonna be huge."

GILBY CLARKE: Basically, Axl said, "I want to change the sound of the band. I want to use more industrial type things." He was really into bands like Nine Inch Nails.

CHRIS VRENNA: Axl was always a big Nails fan. I was in Nine Inch Nails for ten years so I went from [playing with] Trent Reznor to Billy Corgan to Axl Rose.

LARS ULRICH: I remember late one night Axl was sitting there telling me about this band called Nine Inch Nails: He was saying, "This is the coolest thing I've ever heard:" And we were all sitting there going, "What the fuck are you talking about?" He had Nine Inch Nails support Guns N' Roses in Europe, and I remember hearing how they got booed off the stage. But he was there when the rest of us were still listening to fucking Judas Priest.

And then ofcourse, there's this jem from the 1992 tour with Faith No More:

One of Axl's minders has told Patton that Axl really likes Mr. Bungle. The minder says Axl wants to get into something heavier, more industrial. "Industrial," laughs Patton maniacally, banging the table. "That's sick!" 
 

Edited June 12, 2016 by RONIN

[RONIN]

Slash not wanting to work hard is basically Axl's way of saying that Slash did not want to pro-tool the shit out of their songs. Slash wanted it to be raw and organic - spontaneous, like a live recording.

Around this time, Axl became obsessed with pro tools and learning about new recording technology (Josh Freese has mentioned in interviews about the state of the art equipment in Axl's studio and recruiting Billy Howerdell and that idiot Pitman). This was around the time he brought in Moby, remember? He essentially became a producer. Slash doesn't want to work on pro-tools for months to add in synthesizer and beeps/samples on songs -- hard to blame the guy. He didn't want to do it on November Rain and he sure as hell wasn't going to do it on "Oh My God". Hence, the 14 year wait for a bloated, overproduced follow-up.

"They're using some modern technology. Axl's really excited about sampling. He loves the DJ Shadow record and Nine Inch Nails." (Moby, Icon Magazine, 10/97)

According to Rose, part of the delay in building the new model of Guns n' Roses has been "educating myself" about the technology that's come to define rock in the Nineties: "It's like from scratch, learning how to work with something, and not wanting it just to be something you did on a computer." At least one of his former band mates didn't really want any part of that process – "Slash told me, 'I don't want to work that hard,' " Rose recalls.

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/axl-speaks-20000203#ixzz4BL1e0iuv 
 

Edited June 12, 2016 by RONIN

[wasted]

I think it really is stubbornness on Slash's part not to do Axl's ballads. Axl used Tobias to do that because Slash wouldn't collab. Axl was willing to use Slash's material but not just completely as Slash wanted. I think his quote about PJ crap is just not meant to be literal but it's some idea why Axl rejected it. Slash maybe could see what Axl might do to his songs. That's been Slash's and even Izzy's thing from the start. Working hard means following Axl's vision to the point where he's happy with the record. But when Axl offers to do the bluse rock record, Slash pulls out. 

So I think Slash just wanted out. Like Izzy. Not just about recording but also Axl live shows and money spending maybe even Axl himself annoyed them. 

To me it's slmost like there was too much talent in GNR and too maybe disagreements about direction. On AFD they crammed it all into one record, but still Axl wanted to do Nov Rain type stuff. 

I think Izzy probably thinks AFD is overproduced. Slash is probably bored by Patience or doing ballads live. Axl has his material that no one wants to deal with. 

I guess the best they could do is just kick up production rate. Put out records all the time. Here's Slash's record, here's my industrial crap record, here's my punk Sticky fingers, here's another blues rock album. Motely did that and released all sorts of garbage. Some times you hit, sometimes you miss. 

But Izzy left after UYI so he wasn't subjected to trying to make a record. I just think the band changed and Axl was the king playing Nov Rain and getting plaudits and basically the badasses were bored. 

The songs that did well money wise from UYI were YCBM, DC, NR, Estranged, Civil War, Yesterdays, Heaven's door and Live n Let Die. And those are the songs that people go to the shows to see not Garden of Eden and Don't Damn Me. At the time that hands a lot of power to Axl and steers the band away from sleazy rock n roll. 

Maybe bombing with Snakepit would have been good for them. They would still be touring the hits. Slash didn't really get serious until about 2004 with VR. 

[RONIN]

^^Agreed. I think had that '96 album come out and Axl had his way, they would have gone further into a prog-rock/pearl jam direction (which would have been awesome) and more into industrial/NIN territory (not so good). I think it would have been far superior to whatever the band released in 2008 with Chinese Democracy though. A real missed opportunity -- I wish they could have made it work. Use Your Illusion 2 is my favorite GnR album and it would have been cool to see them evolve that sound. Too bad Slash was so obsessed with his southern rock -- but it's hard to blame the guy.

There's even crazier shit in Axl's post-CD interviews where he talks about Slash not even liking AFD much and how he wanted to take over the band by imposing his snakepit songs on the band. I think Slash was probably taking a stand since he felt he had compromised so much with the illusion albums (the videos, the ballads, tracy and roberta, etc). Like I said, It's hard to blame the guy for jumping ship but they could have made a really cool record in '96. That being said, I don't think Axl had any intention of releasing anything -- he never sang on a single song in the mid 90's like Zakk Wylde said and seemed more interested in just tinkering in the studio endlessly. That's what drove Duff out of the band, the inactivity. So, even if the band had stayed together, a new album would have only been ready by '99 or '00 I imagine. What a clusterfuck of a band.

[Blackstar]

1 hour ago, RONIN said:

Only issue I have with Axl calling Slash's story "lies" is something called HISTORY. Axl has a proven track record of being obsessed with industrial and grunge bands around this period and wanting to jam with Dave Navarro and Dave Grohl. 

He recorded My World on UYI 2 and had NIN, Soundgarden, and FNM on tour with GnR. He tried to recruit Dave Navarro multiple times and eventually got him to record Oh My God (an industrial track) which according to him, Duff and Matt refused to work on.

For someone who wants to do a straightforward rock record, he sure was fixated on industrial and alternative. They recruited Robin Finck into the band when Duff and Matt were still there -- Finck ofcourse being the guitarist for Nine Inch Nails !

It's very difficult to believe Axl's side of the story based on all this. 

 

 

Axl doesn't deny that he liked grunge and NIN too much. It seems that he was planning to do a side project in that direction, kind of a prime "NuGuns" thing, with Trent Reznor, Navarro, etc (and then do a GnR album), but probably they weren't available or eager to work with him. He claims, though, that he didn't try or insist to do something like this with GnR, at least while Slash was still in the band. After Slash left, he went all the way for it, although Duff and Matt were still there. His reasoning for that is he couldn't do a "traditional" album anymore, without Slash, so he had to do something else. He'd brought Pro Tools and all that stuff before Slash left, but, on the other hand, the Zakk Wylde argument is strong; I don't think Wylde would go there to do an industrial influenced record.

I'm not taking sides. After all, only they know what happened (as much as their memory serves them, of course, because they weren't in good state of mind for different reasons each) and it doesn't matter, they are together now; and I don't think that any inaccuracies in Slash's book are conscious.

I don't blame Slash at all for not wanting to do TIL and other similar Axl stuff and for leaving the band (as well as Duff). I must say, though, that I don't like that he was mocking Axl about it in public.

Edited June 12, 2016 by Blackstar

[3rd Wheel]

There was so much mudslinging during the 1993-1997 era of Guns 'N Roses. The press had a field day with Axl and Slash.

Would GNR have survived if Axl and Duff agreed to do Snakepit as Slash wrote it and then the industrial-sounding record right after, even though both albums would've bombed? Would releasing those two have allowed Guns to reach a middle ground and create a more blues-based rock album for 2002-2004? Sometimes you have to make concessions to keep people happy.

Edited June 12, 2016 by 3rd Wheel

[RONIN]

26 minutes ago, Blackstar said:

 

Axl doesn't deny that he liked grunge and NIN too much. It seems that he was planning to do a side project in that direction, kind of a prime "NuGuns" thing, with Trent Reznor, Navarro, etc (and then do a GnR album), but probably they weren't available or eager to work with him. He claims, though, that he didn't try or insist to do something like this with GnR, at least while Slash was still in the band. After Slash left, he went all the way for it, although Duff and Matt were still there. His reasoning for that is he couldn't do a "traditional" album anymore, without Slash, so he had to do something else. He'd brought Pro Tools and all that stuff before Slash left, but, on the other hand, the Zakk Wylde argument is strong; I don't think Wylde would go there to do an industrial influenced record.

I'm not taking sides. After all, only they know what happened (as much as their memory serves them, of course, because they weren't in good state of mind for different reasons each) and it doesn't matter, they are together now; and I don't think that any inaccuracies in Slash's book are conscious.

I don't blame Slash at all for not wanting to do TIL and other similar Axl stuff and for leaving the band (as well as Duff). I must say, though, that I don't like that he was mocking Axl about it in public.

Great post. I don't agree with Slash badmouthing Axl back then either but I guess the guy was really frustrated and feeling like he was alienated from his own band. 

I do remember from Slash's interviews in 1995 that he mentioned Axl had decided not to do a solo record and was going to incorporate it into the next GnR album -- I think the real trouble probably started at that point. 

"Then [Axl] decided his solo-project he could do with Guns, which I was like, after doing all those videos and this and that and the other, I was like: "No". [laughs] No, I don't wanna get involved in any kind of Stephanie Seymour ballads or any of that shit." (Slash, Canadian Radio, 04/20/95)

 

Edited June 12, 2016 by RONIN

[wasted]

They would have become just a normal band. Most 90s bands have a record which no one cares about. 

[wasted]

But if the did that they wouldn't be doing this huge reunion. 

[Blackstar]

2 hours ago, wasted said:

I guess the best they could do is just kick up production rate. Put out records all the time. Here's Slash's record, here's my industrial crap record, here's my punk Sticky fingers, here's another blues rock album. Motely did that and released all sorts of garbage. Some times you hit, sometimes you miss. 

I'd go further and say that they could all have their side projects to do their own thing and have fun, and make a GnR album every, say, 5-6 years with songs they all liked and agreed on how to do them. It has worked with other bands. Had Axl managed to do that solo album he was thinking about in 1994, things might have taken a different course. Even UYI could have been, instead of two GnR albums, a GnR album and an Axl solo project. Maybe I'll write more about this in the Should the UYIs have come out later in GN'R's career? thread.

[wasted]

Faith No More and Blur are like that. In Blur they sort of just went with Albarn songs, which is what it kind of was until Coxon got a bit uppity. Patton has done a lot of side projects. Josh Homme also has done side projects. 

Perdonally I prefer the one band thing, because it starts to feel like the cash in day job. To me big rock albums aren't some sell out thing you do for the money. But I think people get perspective from doing side projects and it makes them humble about selling zillions of records with the big band name. That sounds like a bad idea to me. Axl Rose is a rock singer of a big band, that's kind of his role. Maybe he could do a album of Elton John songs that might be cool. Diamond Dave's solo band failed basically. Eat em and smile was a successful but after that it was no success story. I love Ozzy solo stuff but in the end Sabbath will be revered. Maybe same with GNR. They can do solo albums all they want but only AFD, UYI and CD count long term.

[Blackstar]

3 hours ago, RONIN said:

There's even crazier shit in Axl's post-CD interviews where he talks about Slash not even liking AFD much and how he wanted to take over the band by imposing his snakepit songs on the band. I think Slash was probably taking a stand since he felt he had compromised so much with the illusion albums (the videos, the ballads, tracy and roberta, etc). Like I said, It's hard to blame the guy for jumping ship but they could have made a really cool record in '96. That being said, I don't think Axl had any intention of releasing anything -- he never sang on a single song in the mid 90's like Zakk Wylde said and seemed more interested in just tinkering in the studio endlessly. That's what drove Duff out of the band, the inactivity. So, even if the band had stayed together, a new album would have only been ready by '99 or '00 I imagine. What a clusterfuck of a band.

 

Since I read those interviews, I'd been trying to figure out what the hell could Axl mean by that; his exact words are that Slash back then hated some of the influences on AFD.

Then I read this, from the radio interview they did together in 1994:

Quote

Steve Downs - The first song we're gonna play tonight is "Hair Of The Dog", which I guess was a part of the early GN'R repertoire, right?

Slash - Actually, that goes back to Hollywood Rose.

Axl - Yeah, we played it only a few times a very long time ago. When we were in the studio, finishing up the recording of the song, Slash is going: "This is cool!". 'Cause he's the one that brought it to our attention to do it for this album and Duff reminded him'¦ He goes: "Remember the old days? This was cool." Duff reminds him: "You hated this song".

Slash - [laughs]

Axl - Slash goes: "Oh, yeah". Which was very strange when he brought it to us: "We gotta do this song." I was like: "You hated it". I was confused for months.

Slash - [laughs]

And this, from Slash's 2000 interview:

Quote

The difference with when I was in GN'R? Well, all band members had wide scattered stylistic likings, but basically for every one of us, these leaded back to our musical roots, which lead us to be musicians. Izzy for example was into the Rolling Stones and Mott The Hoople, while Duff was totally into punk rock. Steven on the other hand loved Kiss and good pop songs. "When your feet tap and your hands clap to the rhytme, it's all good" was his motto. I on the other hand am mainly influenced by boogie-guitar stuff and really hard riffs. And last but not least there was Axl with his piano-shit, the gospel songs and a lot of Rose Tattoo, AC/DC and Nazareth. From these bands he also had the rage in his vocals.

So Axl says this because Slash didn't like Nazareth at that time? Who knows... From his book I got the impression that he isn't much of an AC DC and Angus fan, either. He says good things about Malcolm, though.

Regarding Axl, I think his vocals and performance were hard rock as well as punk influenced. It was this combination in the GnR sound that attracted me in the first place.

Edited June 12, 2016 by Blackstar

[wasted]

2 hours ago, Blackstar said:

 

Since I read those interviews, I'd been trying to figure out what the hell could Axl mean by that; his exact words are that Slash back then hated some of the influences on AFD.

Then I read this, from the radio interview they did together in 1994:

And this, from Slash's 2000 interview:

So Axl says this because Slash didn't like Nazareth at that time? Who knows... From his book I got the impression that he isn't much of an AC DC and Angus fan, either. He says good things about Malcolm, though.

Regarding Axl, I think his vocals and performance were hard rock as well as punk influenced. It was this combination in the GnR sound that attracted me in the first place.

Slash has a hardcore musical personality. He Slash yo. There were bits and pieces on AFD he didn't like. Keyboards on PC er Scom was a gay ballad, he's over it, right? I think maybe he disliked UYI more. Not the songs just the final product. It suits Nov Rain, YCBM, DC, Estranged perfect but I think Slash just wants to do Exile meets Rocks. 

"Everybody wants someone's crazy dream"

Edited June 12, 2016 by wasted
Crazy yo

[James Bond]

On ‎2016‎-‎06‎-‎09 at 7:05 PM, TeeJay410 said:

The way Axl spoke about a new Guns N' Roses album felt really weird, as if there is a possibility Slash wouldn't play on new Guns N' Roses material. It's like when divorced parents start dating again, but they have to temper the kid's expectations. 

 

It it can be heard as dictator Axl maintaining his control over GNR, but very possibly he isn't presuming Slash's involvement in anything and speaking for Slash to get anyone's hopes up unnecessarily. Like the child of those parents, we woke up with Mom and Dad in the kitchen drinking coffee and sharing coquettish smiles, wondering how long the dream lasts.

I took that to mean it's up to Slash as to what "Chinese Leftovers" he wants to use and/or record parts for, and then he'd also like to write new stuff with the guys. I gather that a potential new album would be a mix of stuff Axl's been working on for a hundred years plus a few brand new songs.

[IncitingChaos]

The way I look at it now is Axl is afraid of committing to a GNR album with Slash bc he's afraid Slash won't be happy in GNR and leave him again. So putting all this hope out there sets up a let down and with the sensitivity in this relationship I think Axl is going one step at a time. 

He doesn't want to speak for Slash either. 

[Iron MikeyJ]

They NEED to do one more album though, IMO. It doesn't have to be Appetite 2, but something would be great. Even if it's not the greatest album ever, I bet us hardcore fans would like some or most of it. I don't think they need to worry about meeting certain expectations, they just need to make music. Let the music speak for itself, that's pretty much what they have been doing so far anyways. 

 

I have no doubt that a new album would be better than Van Halen's ADKOT, AC/DC Black Ice and Rock or Bust, anything Metallica has done in the last 15 years, etc. I think that's all we, and them can hope for. Trying to out do Appetite or even the Illusions is a mistake at this point, IMO. 

Edited June 12, 2016 by Iron MikeyJ

[Top-Hatted One]

No question it will be better then those other bands. Slash has not lost any of his creative juices as evident by VR and SMKC

[star]

On 6/7/2016 at 6:29 PM, santiago-gnr said:

Prudential Series: 60 Minutes with Axl Rose

Info:

TUE 7 JUN
Axl Rose, lead singer of Guns n’ Roses and current guest vocalist on the AC/DC tour, has been an icon of rock since GnR first emerged in the mid-1980’s. His vocal talent – mixing a distinctive falsetto with hard rock vocal traditions – defined the bands first album, Appetite for Destruction, which at over 18 million copies sold, is the most popular debut album in US history. The record is regularly ranked by critics as one of the the greatest hard rock albums of all time. 
When AC/DC’s Brian Johnson had to pull out of the band’s 2016 tour, Axl was invited to take his place. Performing with a broken foot, Axl has received excellent reviews for this 2016 pairing of rock legends.

 

About:

China Exchange was created by Sir David Tang who has the vision for a dynamic centre promoting
excellence in Chinatown. Housed in the former BT Telephone Exchange and following an extensive
renovation China Exchange serves as a home for ideas, discussion, and creative expression that
stimulate greater understanding of and curiosity about China’s impact on the world.

Our “60 Minutes with…” Prudential series features accomplished – often very well-known – guests selected by Sir David as speakers on the basis of their extraordinary lives and achievements. With a low ticket price, the events make excellence accessible in London and online and serve to attract people who may not otherwise visit London’s Chinatown or attend a China-related event.

Like that shot, Axl giving a look a look like 'what the fuck you on?'

[wasted]

14 hours ago, James Bond said:

I took that to mean it's up to Slash as to what "Chinese Leftovers" he wants to use and/or record parts for, and then he'd also like to write new stuff with the guys. I gather that a potential new album would be a mix of stuff Axl's been working on for a hundred years plus a few brand new songs.

I think there's an element of this is my band and we have a record, but he can't get a full committment from Slash. Remember Slash left GNR. Hopefully Slash can help Axl get CD II released by adding parts and solos at least. Just Slash being attached and having writing credits will oil the wheels of the industry. 

Then maybe after that they can start to think of a new record. On World on Fire I feel like Slash is in that UYI zone again. Even the production of it is kind of how I imagine a new GNR album. 

Maybe by the end of this stadium tour Izzy and Steven with get it together to join and they can do the real reunion record. 

[Rovim]

4 hours ago, wasted said:

I think there's an element of this is my band and we have a record, but he can't get a full committment from Slash. Remember Slash left GNR. Hopefully Slash can help Axl get CD II released by adding parts and solos at least. Just Slash being attached and having writing credits will oil the wheels of the industry. 

Then maybe after that they can start to think of a new record. On World on Fire I feel like Slash is in that UYI zone again. Even the production of it is kind of how I imagine a new GNR album. 

Maybe by the end of this stadium tour Izzy and Steven with get it together to join and they can do the real reunion record. 

Going by what Axl said in the interview, it seems the goal is to do something that is logical. Use the existing material that Slash and Duff are willing to work on, come up with some new shit so everyone can pitch in.

Izzy and Steven are always a possibility, but maybe the next Guns album will feature only the people that are in the current Guns line up, or for the most part I expect the direction of the album to be dictated by Axl, Slash, and Duff.

Feels like it's important enough to compromise. Axl has his AC/DC thing and a Guns album is still a big deal for him probably. He may have more confidence with Slash and Duff in his side and a strong line up, but I expect it to take a few years.

I guess if the album is strong enough, Axl will pull the trigger eventually but until it is I don't think he'll do it. Not if it's not the right album, which is ideal really, someone needs to care about that sort of shit but 2020 suddenly seems like a good guess to me.

Edited June 13, 2016 by Rovim

[xBrownstonex]

I asked them on fb when the vid will be posted on youtube

Quote

Thanks for your email. We usually post our Prudential Series videos online within 48 hours on our YouTube channel however Axl's event is taking longer and we hope to have it up by end of this week. Thanks.

 

[SoulMonster]

Uh oh, is Axl's team having second thought about having it published?

[wasted]

24 minutes ago, Rovim said:

Going by what Axl said in the interview, it seems to goal is to do something that is close to what is logical. Use the existing material that Slash and Duff are willing to work on, come up with some new shit so everyone can pitch in.

Izzy and Steven are always a possibility, but maybe the next Guns album will feature only the people that are in the current Guns line up, or for the most part I expect the direction of the album to be dictated by Axl, Slash, and Duff.

Feels like it's important enough to compromise. Axl has his AC/DC thing and a Guns album is still a big deal for Axl. He may have more confidence with Slash and Duff in his side and a strong line up, but I expect it to take a few years.

I guess if the album is strong enough, Axl will pull the trigger eventually but until it is I don't think he'll do it. Not if it's not the right album, which is ideal really, someone needs to care about that sort of shit but 2020 suddenly seems like a good guess to me.

I don't think we will get a new record until after they headline Rock in Rio.

But I guess Axl doing interviews at the China Exchange suggests CD era isn't really over as I thought. 

It does seem like it was a round about way of saying I hope Slash will play on this album. In a strange way he put it in Slash and  Duff's court. I just can't see them putting out a Slashless record while touring with Slash. That would take gusto. 

 

[Rovim]

1 hour ago, wasted said:

I don't think we will get a new record until after they headline Rock in Rio.

But I guess Axl doing interviews at the China Exchange suggests CD era isn't really over as I thought. 

It does seem like it was a round about way of saying I hope Slash will play on this album. In a strange way he put it in Slash and  Duff's court. I just can't see them putting out a Slashless record while touring with Slash. That would take gusto. 

 

There is no way Axl won't use Slash. I agree the tour must be completed, just tour all over the world and make some money, perhaps even play more deep cuts. Rock In Rio could be with Izzy and/or Steven.

I think Axl was never going to abandon the shit in the vault that he's attached to. CD ll in it's completed form got there in the first place only because Axl believed in those songs.

Now Slash and Duff are willing to work on stuff Axl has played them already. He is willing to work on new ideas along side it which is not surprising to me.

Axl is also you know... willing to go in a studio with Angus and the rest of the band and do an album. I think I can see what he wants to do now, that interview shed light on the plan.

It's still just the first steps and they are all busy. This is not for right now. The tour is actually a good idea. Let them get used to one another again, Slash and Duff have an idea of what Axl songs sound like. They're all Gunners, it's not really an issue of them coming up with good ideas for Axl's tunes. Slash already proved he can inject himself, Duff will do his thing.

We're gonna need a lot of patience, but it's still a go. Best of both worlds is the plan. I think Axl will wait on a Guns album for Angus. AC/DC can decide they need Axl in 3 years from now, so the timeline is still undecided.

1. AC/DC and Guns tour

2. AC/DC album will be first priority for Axl imo

3. work on a Guns album begins.

Edited June 13, 2016 by Rovim

[Frey]

On 12.6.2016 at 6:11 AM, Blackstar said:

He's said he'd written some songs during and after the UYI tour which were rejected and called "crap" by Slash and Duff: "... anything I had written I felt was in similar directions [with AFD] then, during and after the 'Illusions' tour was more than rejected by both Slash and Duff at a time". (2009), "To those three [Slash, Duff and Stephanie Seymour], it was all crap. It beat me down so much. At the time of the (Use Your Illusion) tours, Slash and Duff said, 'You're an idiot, you're a loser.' " (2012). ¹

Great post. But I've never really understood the part above.

Why would Stephanie Seymour care so much about GnRs musical direction or the quality of Axl's song writing output? It's not like she was in the band or a musician herself or anything like that. And even if it really wasn't any good, I'd never straight up say that to my fiance in such a way and call it "crap".

Similarly, I also just can't picture Slash and especially Duff just walking up to Axl and calling him an indiot and a loser to his face. WTF?? Doesnt sound at all like them.

I really dont know what to think about this. If Axl isn't just making this up, then it probably shows his very skewed perception if reality. Probably Slash and Duff (and maybe even Steph) did make some remarks about how they didn't like something or disagreed with him about something, and in his mind it turned into "They think its's all crap. They think I'm an idiot and a loser!" He was always prone to exaggeration.

Edited June 13, 2016 by Frey