Cracked.com: 6-hit-songs-that-destroyed-bands-they-made-famousCracked.com:

[auad]

#5. "Sympathy for the Devil" -- Guns N' Roses

The Rolling Stones' timeless musical tribute to Satan and, presumably, living for 150 years, has long been saddled with a sinister reputation that it may or may not deserve. While it's often wrongly attributed to being the song The Stones were playing at Altamont when a fan was fatally stabbed, it did appear to have a hand in fatally injuring post-glam-metal rock band Guns N' Roses after they covered it for the Interview With the Vampire soundtrack.

 

http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-hit-songs-that-destroyed-bands-they-made-famous/?utm_source=rollingstone.com&utm_medium=linkexchange&utm_campaign=rollingstone

 

[IncitingChaos]

It was likely a breaking point for Slash who was just looking for a reason to leave. I wouldn't say it destroyed the band, but it most definitely didn't help sustain a band on life support. 

[Crazyman]

Sympathy for the Devil didn't make GnR famous, so it really shouldn't be included in that list, even though I think cracked is awesome. Also this article is from Jan 2015. 

[Glidn]

I clearly remember the shit that G n' Regards copped for this song.. 

For me, I enjoyed it, but it was polar opposites to the crazy grunge scene and all that.. 

It stopped being cool to like them and I think that had more to do with it, as opposed to sympathy being a bad track etc... 

 

[jamillos]

Their rendition is awesome.

[Tadsy]

I agree with incitingchaos - this probably was mire the straw that broke the camels back. It wasnt exactly smooth sailing up until this point haha

And as someone else said.. this song didnt make them famous.. in fact.. outside of hardcore gnr fans.. the average music fan wouldnt have a clue they even did this song.

[Tom-Ass]

I remember this being the first song I didn't like from the band.. Mostly for the vocals in the first half of the song. I feel Axl came off sounding kind of cheesy with all the "Owws", "Laughs" and layered vocals at the beginning.. Not to fond of the way he sings the chorus either. Or the layered screams during the verse.. 

I do like the second half of the song from the solo on. I had no idea Paul Huge had a guitar track on there back then but I don't think it sounds bad. From the solo on, the the song rocks.. Axl just sounds like a bad parody of himself the first half.

 

[ludurigan]

On 10/5/2016 at 4:38 PM, auad said:

#5. "Sympathy for the Devil" -- Guns N' Roses

The Rolling Stones' timeless musical tribute to Satan and, presumably, living for 150 years, has long been saddled with a sinister reputation that it may or may not deserve. While it's often wrongly attributed to being the song The Stones were playing at Altamont when a fan was fatally stabbed, it did appear to have a hand in fatally injuring post-glam-metal rock band Guns N' Roses after they covered it for the Interview With the Vampire soundtrack.

 

http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-hit-songs-that-destroyed-bands-they-made-famous/?utm_source=rollingstone.com&utm_medium=linkexchange&utm_campaign=rollingstone

 

gnr was long over when they recorded this track

the fact that this track sounds awesome is a testament of how great axl can (could) sing

and also a proof of how slash and duff are (were) still able to rock out any material they puut their hands on (like they did with most of the velvet revolver covers), even on a bad situation like they were when they recorded this cover. even the stupid tobias guitar track and the not-so-groovy matt drumming were not enough to fuck with the track

now, what destroyed GNR was whatever made izzy leave

which was, likely, the same reason that made slash and duff leave a few years later

you wanna pick a song that "symbolizes" that?

then you can probably pick november rain

and all the other "epic" (laughs) axl songs

the likely axl agenda to turn gnr into something else than a rock band

and the likely fact that he forced and pushed this agenda into everyone in the band (thus killing the fun of being in a rock band in the process) is likely the main reason for the gnr breakup

if that actually happened, as it seems likely by all the information we possess, then november rain can really symbolize all that crap

[Tadsy]

1 hour ago, ludurigan said:

gnr was long over when they recorded this track

the fact that this track sounds awesome is a testament of how great axl can (could) sing

and also a proof of how slash and duff are (were) still able to rock out any material they puut their hands on (like they did with most of the velvet revolver covers), even on a bad situation like they were when they recorded this cover. even the stupid tobias guitar track and the not-so-groovy matt drumming were not enough to fuck with the track

now, what destroyed GNR was whatever made izzy leave

which was, likely, the same reason that made slash and duff leave a few years later

you wanna pick a song that "symbolizes" that?

then you can probably pick november rain

and all the other "epic" (laughs) axl songs

the likely axl agenda to turn gnr into something else than a rock band

and the likely fact that he forced and pushed this agenda into everyone in the band (thus killing the fun of being in a rock band in the process) is likely the main reason for the gnr breakup

if that actually happened, as it seems likely by all the information we possess, then november rain can really symbolize all that crap

 

I agree 100% with everything you have written in this post.

 

However, the songs that Axl pushed to take the band in his direction are some of the most epic songs in GNR's catalogue. I mean.. if we are talking about the trilogy of Dont Cry, November Rain and Estrainged.. then surely he made some correct decisions in terms of his vision for what he wanted... I mean.. ill play devils advocate here for a second (not trying to start an argument).. but its possible that perhaps Duff and slash (mainly slash) could have been more open to Axl's vision around 94-96??  setting aside all his other bullshit and being hard to work with (and the other .. and in terms of just the music.. perhaps they could have tried to meet axl half way? I dunno.. none of us were there. And i guess CD (which is dog shit imo) is the vindication that Axl's long term vision was ultimately floored.. or.. could have been what he wanted had slash and diff stuck around? I dunno.. we will never know.

 

There was a myriad of issues as to why they broke up, and i guess some of the creative issues and the songs that are still epic were still contributing factors to it at the end of the day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ludurigan]

17 hours ago, Tadsy said:

 

I agree 100% with everything you have written in this post.

 

However, the songs that Axl pushed to take the band in his direction are some of the most epic songs in GNR's catalogue. I mean.. if we are talking about the trilogy of Dont Cry, November Rain and Estrainged.. then surely he made some correct decisions in terms of his vision for what he wanted... I mean.. ill play devils advocate here for a second (not trying to start an argument).. but its possible that perhaps Duff and slash (mainly slash) could have been more open to Axl's vision around 94-96??  setting aside all his other bullshit and being hard to work with (and the other .. and in terms of just the music.. perhaps they could have tried to meet axl half way? I dunno.. none of us were there. And i guess CD (which is dog shit imo) is the vindication that Axl's long term vision was ultimately floored.. or.. could have been what he wanted had slash and diff stuck around? I dunno.. we will never know.

 

There was a myriad of issues as to why they broke up, and i guess some of the creative issues and the songs that are still epic were still contributing factors to it at the end of the day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

at that time (94-96) i didnt have a very clear idea of how izzy was important to the band so, yes, all i was hoping back then is that axl, slash and duff would just write songs and release a record!

thats what they should have done (and thats probably what they would have done if they were not the biggest band in the world and if they hadnt gone power-mad)

it should be fun to see what kind of record these 3 guys would have created then. BUT then again you have the snakepit album which we know are the songs slash (and gilby) wrote to guns n roses and axl rejected. there is good stuff in there but at the same time it all sounds somehow flat when compared to GNR material. why is that?

20-plus years later, with the hindsight benefit, and after listening to the millions of izzy solo albums (and also to everything that slash did and the dog shit axl solo album), its pretty clear that izzy is missing really bad on those songs. and axl of course. I am really sure that if Izzy was around to help Slash with those (snakepit/GNR) songs they would be really better and if axl wanted to sing them, he could take them to another level -- and they could be magic.

about duff and slash being more open to Axl's vision around 94-96? i dont think it would be of much use since izzy wasnt there.

they could (they can) make good rock songs, but not much more than that. there are some good tracks here and there on slash solo/VR material (i think some of the strongest material on VR seems to have weiland and kushner input or otherwise it would sound flat like most of slash solo stuff)

the sad fact is that nearly everything that axl, duff and slash did post GNR doesnt FLOW (the notable exception is Neurotic Outsiders, probably thanks to Steve Jones, another master rhythm guitar player). Chinese Democracy is the ultimate turd, the ultimate example of music that doesnt FLOW and doesnt feel right.

on the other hand you have izzy solo albums. you can say whatever you want about izzys solo stuff, you can say its simple, its basic, its repetitive at times, you can say that the lyrics are also simple (or whatever word you choose) but nearly everything flows, grooves... it just plain fucking rocks! three chord magic, rock n roll.

i believe that if we have izzy, slash, duff and axl, anytime, writing together, we will always have great songs

but to this day, axl still seems to think that he is GNR and the other guys are "his" band

a lot of people -- and apparently the vast majority of gnr fans -- seem to agree with that (pathetic) notion

yes, axl is the frontman, he is the face and the voice of the band

but we will never have GNR back until he notices that he is not GNR 

 

[Tadsy]

9 hours ago, ludurigan said:

at that time (94-96) i didnt have a very clear idea of how izzy was important to the band so, yes, all i was hoping back then is that axl, slash and duff would just write songs and release a record!

thats what they should have done (and thats probably what they would have done if they were not the biggest band in the world and if they hadnt gone power-mad)

it should be fun to see what kind of record these 3 guys would have created then. BUT then again you have the snakepit album which we know are the songs slash (and gilby) wrote to guns n roses and axl rejected. there is good stuff in there but at the same time it all sounds somehow flat when compared to GNR material. why is that?

20-plus years later, with the hindsight benefit, and after listening to the millions of izzy solo albums (and also to everything that slash did and the dog shit axl solo album), its pretty clear that izzy is missing really bad on those songs. and axl of course. I am really sure that if Izzy was around to help Slash with those (snakepit/GNR) songs they would be really better and if axl wanted to sing them, he could take them to another level -- and they could be magic.

about duff and slash being more open to Axl's vision around 94-96? i dont think it would be of much use since izzy wasnt there.

they could (they can) make good rock songs, but not much more than that. there are some good tracks here and there on slash solo/VR material (i think some of the strongest material on VR seems to have weiland and kushner input or otherwise it would sound flat like most of slash solo stuff)

the sad fact is that nearly everything that axl, duff and slash did post GNR doesnt FLOW (the notable exception is Neurotic Outsiders, probably thanks to Steve Jones, another master rhythm guitar player). Chinese Democracy is the ultimate turd, the ultimate example of music that doesnt FLOW and doesnt feel right.

on the other hand you have izzy solo albums. you can say whatever you want about izzys solo stuff, you can say its simple, its basic, its repetitive at times, you can say that the lyrics are also simple (or whatever word you choose) but nearly everything flows, grooves... it just plain fucking rocks! three chord magic, rock n roll.

i believe that if we have izzy, slash, duff and axl, anytime, writing together, we will always have great songs

but to this day, axl still seems to think that he is GNR and the other guys are "his" band

a lot of people -- and apparently the vast majority of gnr fans -- seem to agree with that (pathetic) notion

yes, axl is the frontman, he is the face and the voice of the band

but we will never have GNR back until he notices that he is not GNR 

 

 

Pretty much cant fault anything here at all. I remember seeing Axl & his version of gnr in 2013 in australia and Axl was much better that night than i expected, but i remember walking away from that gig thinking 2 things.

1. The amount of time lost by Axl and (Slash/Duff/Izzy) and i guess Steven ( or Sorum) in the 20 years preceding.

2. Axls hired musicians that night just werent on the same level. I remember Ashba screwing up on paradise city and i think Sweet Child that night..

 

Then, fast forward to Jan 2015 i saw Slask MKC in Sydney, and my over-riding feeling after walking away from that gig was similar.. except in reverse... Slash was way out in front of the rest of his band and that if only these guys could get their act together and get back together.

I agree with you on snakepit... had Axl agreed to those songs.. then GNR in that time period probably stay together and those snakepit songs are totally enhanced from what they ended up with some of Izzys helps and Axl's vocals.. its a shame really. Even Slither years later with Velvet Revolver is a song that all of us saw on that alt list and would die to see Axl have a crack at.. im really hopeful they unleash that in south america or australia so we can have a look. There was definietely an awesome albums worth of ideas between these guys post 93, its a deadset shame that Axl let that disagreement roll into what it became.. which was the end of the band.

 

In terms of the writing, it's obvious that Izzy is needed in my opinion... I suppose of Axl wants to sing songs that are about feelings close to his heart, he would want to write lyrics that suit him, but Izzy could still be the guy to pull those lyrics together in a fashion that as you say.. makes the song flow. 3 chords.. bang.. you have your song... Is Axl actually prepared to go back to that? I have grave doubts.

The main hurdle we have now in anything that may come along in the future regarding Izzy is.. he looks further apart from this band than at any time since 1991, which is really sad considering Slash and Axl are back together and now we have Izzy estranged

 

I have grave reservations about any music EVER being released from these guys... i mean... other than axl saying he showed Slash and Duff some of his ideas.. and they were receptive.. whats happened? We dont know... but unless axl sent them both away with home work to do while he was out with ac/dc.. does anyone realistically believe that Slash has written any music to go with these supposed lyrics of Axls? I highly doubt it... thats just me. He would probably be more inclined to write something for Miles??? I dunno...

 

I just hope we dont get slash and duff on chinese leftovers.. if thats what Axl has showed them.. then id be highly disapointed. and as a purist.. i really hope we dont get more and more of this multi layered bullshit that was CD...

 

if Axl has ideas.. i really hope they arent his left over "ideas" from 2008.

 

just start a fresh... FFS

 

 

 

Edited October 14, 2016 by Tadsy

[auad]

On Thursday, October 13, 2016 at 4:02 AM, ludurigan said:

at that time (94-96) i didnt have a very clear idea of how izzy was important to the band so, yes, all i was hoping back then is that axl, slash and duff would just write songs and release a record!

thats what they should have done (and thats probably what they would have done if they were not the biggest band in the world and if they hadnt gone power-mad)

it should be fun to see what kind of record these 3 guys would have created then. BUT then again you have the snakepit album which we know are the songs slash (and gilby) wrote to guns n roses and axl rejected. there is good stuff in there but at the same time it all sounds somehow flat when compared to GNR material. why is that?

20-plus years later, with the hindsight benefit, and after listening to the millions of izzy solo albums (and also to everything that slash did and the dog shit axl solo album), its pretty clear that izzy is missing really bad on those songs. and axl of course. I am really sure that if Izzy was around to help Slash with those (snakepit/GNR) songs they would be really better and if axl wanted to sing them, he could take them to another level -- and they could be magic.

about duff and slash being more open to Axl's vision around 94-96? i dont think it would be of much use since izzy wasnt there.

they could (they can) make good rock songs, but not much more than that. there are some good tracks here and there on slash solo/VR material (i think some of the strongest material on VR seems to have weiland and kushner input or otherwise it would sound flat like most of slash solo stuff)

the sad fact is that nearly everything that axl, duff and slash did post GNR doesnt FLOW (the notable exception is Neurotic Outsiders, probably thanks to Steve Jones, another master rhythm guitar player). Chinese Democracy is the ultimate turd, the ultimate example of music that doesnt FLOW and doesnt feel right.

on the other hand you have izzy solo albums. you can say whatever you want about izzys solo stuff, you can say its simple, its basic, its repetitive at times, you can say that the lyrics are also simple (or whatever word you choose) but nearly everything flows, grooves... it just plain fucking rocks! three chord magic, rock n roll.

i believe that if we have izzy, slash, duff and axl, anytime, writing together, we will always have great songs

but to this day, axl still seems to think that he is GNR and the other guys are "his" band

a lot of people -- and apparently the vast majority of gnr fans -- seem to agree with that (pathetic) notion

yes, axl is the frontman, he is the face and the voice of the band

but we will never have GNR back until he notices that he is not GNR 

 

This.

[ludurigan]

On 10/13/2016 at 10:23 PM, Tadsy said:

 

Pretty much cant fault anything here at all. I remember seeing Axl & his version of gnr in 2013 in australia and Axl was much better that night than i expected, but i remember walking away from that gig thinking 2 things.

1. The amount of time lost by Axl and (Slash/Duff/Izzy) and i guess Steven ( or Sorum) in the 20 years preceding.

2. Axls hired musicians that night just werent on the same level. I remember Ashba screwing up on paradise city and i think Sweet Child that night..

 

Then, fast forward to Jan 2015 i saw Slask MKC in Sydney, and my over-riding feeling after walking away from that gig was similar.. except in reverse... Slash was way out in front of the rest of his band and that if only these guys could get their act together and get back together.

I agree with you on snakepit... had Axl agreed to those songs.. then GNR in that time period probably stay together and those snakepit songs are totally enhanced from what they ended up with some of Izzys helps and Axl's vocals.. its a shame really. Even Slither years later with Velvet Revolver is a song that all of us saw on that alt list and would die to see Axl have a crack at.. im really hopeful they unleash that in south america or australia so we can have a look. There was definietely an awesome albums worth of ideas between these guys post 93, its a deadset shame that Axl let that disagreement roll into what it became.. which was the end of the band.

 

In terms of the writing, it's obvious that Izzy is needed in my opinion... I suppose of Axl wants to sing songs that are about feelings close to his heart, he would want to write lyrics that suit him, but Izzy could still be the guy to pull those lyrics together in a fashion that as you say.. makes the song flow. 3 chords.. bang.. you have your song... Is Axl actually prepared to go back to that? I have grave doubts.

The main hurdle we have now in anything that may come along in the future regarding Izzy is.. he looks further apart from this band than at any time since 1991, which is really sad considering Slash and Axl are back together and now we have Izzy estranged

 

I have grave reservations about any music EVER being released from these guys... i mean... other than axl saying he showed Slash and Duff some of his ideas.. and they were receptive.. whats happened? We dont know... but unless axl sent them both away with home work to do while he was out with ac/dc.. does anyone realistically believe that Slash has written any music to go with these supposed lyrics of Axls? I highly doubt it... thats just me. He would probably be more inclined to write something for Miles??? I dunno...

 

I just hope we dont get slash and duff on chinese leftovers.. if thats what Axl has showed them.. then id be highly disapointed. and as a purist.. i really hope we dont get more and more of this multi layered bullshit that was CD...

 

if Axl has ideas.. i really hope they arent his left over "ideas" from 2008.

 

just start a fresh... FFS

 

 

 

 

exactly, its very sad that the best band ever couldnt find a way to remain together writing, recording and releasing albums and touring. they could do that so easily

on Slither -- i share your opinion that it should get improved by axls vocals, but the song is already written and finished, so there is actually very little room for improvement. If that song was still a demo, or an unfinished idea, i am sure that izzy and axl would be able to re-shape it and make it really better

Is Axl actually prepared to do 3-chords songs? I have no idea. i actually dont care how many chords a song has, all i care is if it sounds good!

yeah i also have no idea if axl, slash and duff will release any music. Slash and duff have released a lot of music on the last 20 years. the one who seems unable to write, record and release music is axl.

then again you have axl saying that he listens to angus young play one note and he feels like writing songs with him. so that allows you to think that axl gets inspired by angus -- and doesnt really gets inspired by slash!

seriously, all it takes for new GNR album is to get axl, izzy, slash, duff and a drummer (hopefully steven) in a room and let them write music

its that simple   

 

[Tadsy]

2 minutes ago, ludurigan said:

 

exactly, its very sad that the best band ever couldnt find a way to remain together writing, recording and releasing albums and touring. they could do that so easily

on Slither -- i share your opinion that it should get improved by axls vocals, but the song is already written and finished, so there is actually very little room for improvement. If that song was still a demo, or an unfinished idea, i am sure that izzy and axl would be able to re-shape it and make it really better

Is Axl actually prepared to do 3-chords songs? I have no idea. i actually dont care how many chords a song has, all i care is if it sounds good!

yeah i also have no idea if axl, slash and duff will release any music. Slash and duff have released a lot of music on the last 20 years. the one who seems unable to write, record and release music is axl.

then again you have axl saying that he listens to angus young play one note and he feels like writing songs with him. so that allows you to think that axl gets inspired by angus -- and doesnt really gets inspired by slash!

seriously, all it takes for new GNR album is to get axl, izzy, slash, duff and a drummer (hopefully steven) in a room and let them write music

its that simple   

 

 

Well, lets face it.. the only real road-block in this is Axl. Whether its his motivation or these guys agreeing on creative direction... its going to come down to Axl. Slash and Duff (as you say) have released a lot of music in decent time. I'm not sure if thats going to be possible with Axl driving the bus. I could be proven wrong, but when it comes to new music.. does anyone here believe that the old issues in terms of which direction to go have been solved? Is Axl prepared to go back to some straight up 3 chord rockers? Is Slash prepared to sit down with Axl on some intricate songs that require more time? Is slash prepared to go down Axl's route and entertain more ideas he may have in regards to ballads?

 

My personal opinion is this... GNR is a combination of both. AFD still had SCOM on it and it wouldnt have looked out of place on UYI and something like right next door to hell put in its place on AFD or YCBM (im just using examples to make my point that even AFD did have some variation), which was different to the songs... UYI speaks for itself.. some people think those 2 albums are a mess but that is GNR in nutshell for me.. so i definitely think there is room for a record that suits ALL these guys if they do have creative differences.. they could still make good rockers.. they could still make good ballads and to me. .that would still be a real GNR record.

As long as its not CD leftovers... or heaven forbid, some sort of techno fucking re-make of CD or whatever dog shit idea Axl was toying with 5 years ago... im ok with it

 

Whether we ever get to see another real album or not... I dont know. Thats the 50 million dollar question.

 

 

[ludurigan]

4 minutes ago, Tadsy said:

so i definitely think there is room for a record that suits ALL these guys if they do have creative differences.. they could still make good rockers.. they could still make good ballads and to me. .that would still be a real GNR record

exactly!

you get axl, izzy, slash and duff, they are all songwriters

the easiest thing to do is get these guys in a room, pick 2 or 3 or 4 initial ideas by each one of them, and make fucking music!

axl wants to do a ballad? lets do it

izzy wants to do a simple stonesy rocker? lets do it

slash wants to do a heavier riff-infested song? lets do it

its that fucking simple

they could write an album in two weeks!