What exactly slash told the media that pissed Axl so much?

[RONIN]

What always confused me about Axl's anger towards Slash/Duff was his rant about the ex-members trying to profit from Guns and whoring out their association to the band by riding around with snoop dogg and jamming with Space Ghost. It sounded like he resented them using the fame of GnR for their solo careers/branding? Which seems bizarre because Slash and Duff were there from the beginning. Maybe I"m getting the context of the rant wrong perhaps. This was the Albany 2002 rant I think, the one where he says that "Slash may sound like the De La Hoya but he's the fuckin Vargas" 

Edited July 24, 2018 by RONIN

[BOSSY78]

4 minutes ago, RONIN said:

What always confused me about Axl's anger at Slash/Duff was his rant about the ex-members trying to profit from Guns and whoring out their association to the band by riding around with snoop dogg and jamming with Space Ghost. It sounded like he resented them using the fame of GnR for their solo careers/branding? Which seems bizarre because Slash and Duff were there from the beginning. Maybe I"m getting the context of the rant wrong perhaps. This was the Albany 2002 rant I think, the one where he says that "Slash may sound like the De La Hoya but he's the fuckin Vargas" before an audience member yells "Homo" at him. 

It's been a while and I don't remember the full context of that rant.

I could see where he may be leery on what is associated with Guns due to another member but not sure this applies here.

As far as profiting from well, at the time they weren't Guns per their own choices. Who knows what Axl was thinking. Again we don't know the behind the scenes things that went on. 

I know many may not agree with one side or the other honestly we may never know the facts of everything. I don't expect to. Out of all the bands I follow I've never heard of band members coming on forums talking to fans or their management. I think it's awesome that they have.

Of course, I'm not really a member of other bands forums either just going by what others have said or the times I've went to forums of other bands to read or look something up. Outside of AC/DC of course.

I'm glad they've reconciled and are moving on now.

 

[RONIN]

"Now I was uh, perusing. I was reading all about my integrity, 'cause that's what I'm known for I guess - selling out my integrity. That's why I'm here with you tonight because I just don't give a fuck I guess. Yeah, that's why we worked real hard at this. That's why these guys worked real hard at being in a band that they can get abused for "because they're the guys in the way of stopping the old band from getting together." That's horseshit.

I'm not trying to bum anybody out, but, you know, I was thinking about it. I'm pretty blunt so people get real pissed. And I haven't done a lot of talking on this tour. I'll shut up real soon don't worry. You know, I've tried acting nice and that just ends up fucking me right up the ass. They take advantage of that. "Well, you see Axl said something nice, so how can we use that to our advantage?" ... The truth is they didn't want to be here for you at this level and they don't want to take it farther. I mean, that's their business right? But not at my expense or yours. You've been played. You've been lied to. You've been used. You've been manipulated so that they can ride around in limos and jam with Snoop Dogg or whoever the fuck. I don't care. That's their business, but they shouldn't really do it at your expense or mine.

Now as soon as I say this it'll be on an MP3, someone will transcribe it , and the next person will say "'Can you believe Axl said that? I mean my god. I mean he hasn't put out a record. I don't know why he would say that. I mean who does he think he is? That's not very nice. The other guys, they have gotten over it and they're his friend now and they're willing to be his friend and he just needs to grow up." .. I'm sorry. I'm a little bit more blunt. I mean, Slash may sound like a De La Hoya, but he's the fucking Vargas. That's just how it is. And just because you've got a bunch of guys agreeing doesn't mean shit. The truth is that they're a bunch of bad cops and I'm the fuckin Serpico and they can "suck my dick!"

"You know without Axl and Slash we wouldn't have November Rain and Estranged" .. Well you don't know what the fuck I went through to get that guy to play those songs. You don't know about the argument we had at A&M studios, because Duff and Slash came to me going "We're not gonna do that song Axl, we're not gonna do this song, no, no, we're just not gonna do it." .. But I wanna do it. We'll do it right now. This song is called 'patience'."

Albany 2002.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=b49_v52OGNg

[RONIN]

He clearly believes there was some effort inside the band to destroy him, one born partly of the jealousy that followed fame singling him out. “When we were in airports and people are ignoring Duff and asking for my autograph, that didn’t go over so well,” Rose recalls. “The guys would say, you know, ‘What am I? Linoleum? What am I? Wood?’ ” Things became progressively uglier. “There was an effort to bring me down,” he says. “It was a king-of-the-mountain thing.”

Even when it came to picking tracks for the recent Live Era ’87-’93 retrospective, Rose and Slash – whom Rose describes as “negatively seductive” – communicated their song selections only through intermediaries. “I never said that I was bitter,” Rose explains, characteristically concerned with making fine distinctions. “Hurt, yeah. Disappointed. I mean, with Slash, I remember crying about all kinds of things in my life, but I had never felt hot, burning tears … hot, burning tears of anger. Basically, to me, it was because I am watching this guy and I don’t understand it. Playing with everyone from Space Ghost to Michael Jackson. I don’t get it. I wanted the world to love and respect him. I just watched him throw it away.”

Rose confesses to being stung by skeptics who doubt what he can do. “There is the desire definitely to do it, to get over some of the hump of the people that are trying to keep you in the past,” he says. “There are people that I thought I was friends with who are all of a sudden in the magazines, going, ‘They’ll never get anywhere without Slash.’ Thanks a lot. Like I made this happen, you know. I basically figured out a way to save my own ass. There was only one way out, and I found it. Otherwise, you know, I believe my career was just going down the toilet. I figured out how to save my ass and then tried to bring everybody with me.”

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/axl-speaks-238599/

[Uncle Bob]

He probably said that he wanted to penetrate Iceland

[BOSSY78]

Well my opinion based off what you posted. It actually goes with part of my post earlier.

It's a well known fact that most of the band was against the ballads. As I said earlier they were the most popular songs that fans always wanted to hear at concerts on the radio etc.

Still to this day Steven talks badly about them.

It seems he had to fight to get those songs on the record. Many have said Axl was trying to take the band in a different direction. What is the truth there I can't say but his vision on the ballads were not off. 

Me personally if I was working with someone whoms vision has proved many times to be great I'd want to put more trust in that vision.

It's not to say others visions aren't great or shouldn't be honed and allowed to show.

I think perhaps it was a question as to what was so bad about his vision and how he basically wanted to take the band to higher limits. Those songs did. When he mentions him with Michael Jackson or any other artist it seems like he's wondering why he would play with them and not him. I can't  say for sure.

The media and many fans have put everything on Axl no matter what he has done or said. I think that was a part of what he was saying. He felt smeared by his at the time ex band members some fans and the media. 

I mean being honest those guys that played with GnR couldn't even do an interview without being asked about the original lineup most of the time. The media and many fans had already decided this or that. People can say what they want but I think much  of that swayed them on their opinion on the NuGnr lineup at the time. 

It's like getting a divorce and getting into another relationship and everyone constantly asks about your ex to your new Signif other and you even after decades have passed.

As I said before Axl kept the name alive rather it was from touring or whatever over the years. I'd like to think if more people were more receptive and not forming opinions off facts we don't know there might have been more music.

I'm happy that the band has healed and mostly back together. 

I mean look at this forum even today fans ask questions about the past. It's another reason why interviews may not be done as often as we like.

Fans always want to know more and it's not to say there's anything wrong with that but some things are best left in the past. Whatever their issues and misundsrstandings were, and I imagine it was many from different angles inside and outside of the band they've moved on.

 

 

[D..]

11 hours ago, Free Bird said:

You are entitled to your opinion. It's totally ok to love GNR because of Axl. But that doesn't change the fact that Axl isn't GNR. Guns were more than that and since Axl took control it was straight downhill from there.

Axl proofed for 2 decades that he is NOT GNR

There are no facts, just opinions ; ) Axl is GN'R to me, the AFD5 are GN'R to you. That's fine.

"Chinese Democracy" came out within those two decades, and it's my favorite GN'R album. The only thing that went downhill was the public perception and the sales, but most people are very close-minded. Those two decades proved Axl's integrity, commitment, passion, and talent. 

 

@Rodin : it's easy to understand why Axl felt disappointed towards the ex-members. One thing between a lot of other things: Guitar Hero III signing with Slash for the promotion of the GN'R songs. Slash had left the band for 10 years already. Things like this are completely unacceptable. I didn't remember this Snoop Dog & co comment, but again, I totally understand him. 

[Kula2006]

It will definitly be interesting to see slash going on tour with The Conspirators in 2019 and the cycle from 20 years ago will start again and he will be asked more GnR related questions than his solo career - and every single word of him will be overanalyzed. Or he will decide to not talk about GnR at all in the coming 2 years.

Edited July 24, 2018 by Kula2006

[Free Bird]

1 hour ago, D.. said:

There are no facts, just opinions ; ) Axl is GN'R to me, the AFD5 are GN'R to you. That's fine.

"Chinese Democracy" came out within those two decades, and it's my favorite GN'R album. The only thing that went downhill was the public perception and the sales, but most people are very close-minded. Those two decades proved Axl's integrity, commitment, passion, and talent. 

 

@Rodin : it's easy to understand why Axl felt disappointed towards the ex-members. One thing between a lot of other things: Guitar Hero III signing with Slash for the promotion of the GN'R songs. Slash had left the band for 10 years already. Things like this are completely unacceptable. I didn't remember this Snoop Dog & co comment, but again, I totally understand him. 

The amount of records he putted out since Slash and Duff left the band proved his inability to lead a band. And please stop with that integrity bullshit. Integrity by taking the name and fuck up the best band in the world? Get over your ego and solve the problems you have with the bandmates who brought you there were you are. That would be integrity. Not to save the name and run the whole system downhill

[Blackstar]

9 hours ago, RONIN said:

What always confused me about Axl's anger towards Slash/Duff was his rant about the ex-members trying to profit from Guns and whoring out their association to the band by riding around with snoop dogg and jamming with Space Ghost. It sounded like he resented them using the fame of GnR for their solo careers/branding? Which seems bizarre because Slash and Duff were there from the beginning. Maybe I"m getting the context of the rant wrong perhaps. This was the Albany 2002 rant I think, the one where he says that "Slash may sound like the De La Hoya but he's the fuckin Vargas" 

8 hours ago, RONIN said:

"Now I was uh, perusing. I was reading all about my integrity, 'cause that's what I'm known for I guess - selling out my integrity. That's why I'm here with you tonight because I just don't give a fuck I guess. Yeah, that's why we worked real hard at this. That's why these guys worked real hard at being in a band that they can get abused for "because they're the guys in the way of stopping the old band from getting together." That's horseshit.

I'm not trying to bum anybody out, but, you know, I was thinking about it. I'm pretty blunt so people get real pissed. And I haven't done a lot of talking on this tour. I'll shut up real soon don't worry. You know, I've tried acting nice and that just ends up fucking me right up the ass. They take advantage of that. "Well, you see Axl said something nice, so how can we use that to our advantage?" ... The truth is they didn't want to be here for you at this level and they don't want to take it farther. I mean, that's their business right? But not at my expense or yours. You've been played. You've been lied to. You've been used. You've been manipulated so that they can ride around in limos and jam with Snoop Dogg or whoever the fuck. I don't care. That's their business, but they shouldn't really do it at your expense or mine.

Now as soon as I say this it'll be on an MP3, someone will transcribe it , and the next person will say "'Can you believe Axl said that? I mean my god. I mean he hasn't put out a record. I don't know why he would say that. I mean who does he think he is? That's not very nice. The other guys, they have gotten over it and they're his friend now and they're willing to be his friend and he just needs to grow up." .. I'm sorry. I'm a little bit more blunt. I mean, Slash may sound like a De La Hoya, but he's the fucking Vargas. That's just how it is. And just because you've got a bunch of guys agreeing doesn't mean shit. The truth is that they're a bunch of bad cops and I'm the fuckin Serpico and they can "suck my dick!"

"You know without Axl and Slash we wouldn't have November Rain and Estranged" .. Well you don't know what the fuck I went through to get that guy to play those songs. You don't know about the argument we had at A&M studios, because Duff and Slash came to me going "We're not gonna do that song Axl, we're not gonna do this song, no, no, we're just not gonna do it." .. But I wanna do it. We'll do it right now. This song is called 'patience'."

Albany 2002.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=b49_v52OGNg

Yes, it is bizarre, they way Axl worded it and what he chose to focus on. And when you watch it on the video is even more bizarre.

The first paragraph, about integrity, was probably in reply to Slash's comment that many people would call what Axl was doing a sacrilege, but Axl "didn't give a fuck".

The rest of it, I guess, was along the lines of what he had said in the Detroit radio interview of the same year: that Slash and Duff (and Izzy) didn't want the "big show", never wanted the band to be big the way Axl wanted it, on the epic November Rain level and the stadium shows. Yet, from Axl's POV, they still enjoyed the benefits of that achievement (although they had been against it) by playing with other superstars even to the level of doing it with "no integrity", i.e. playing with "everyone" (I guess he meant Slash specifically); and Slash, although he sounded like he was right about what the band should be, he wasn't, so he was "Vargas" (if I get this part right, because I had to google the De La Hoya-Vargas thing).

Maybe it was also about Slash and Duff not leaving the partnership, hence still having rights to the band, although they didn't want to be in it anymore.

Edited July 24, 2018 by Blackstar

[GnR Chris]

23 hours ago, Tom-Ass said:

Axl had the vision?  What was that vision? Chinese Democracy? lol I get some people like it but if his vision was to disband the most popular rock band in the world to release an album like Chinese Democracy 10 years later, that vision is flawed lol..

 

 

Slash wanted to keep doing AFD-style songs. Axl wanted to be more grandiose and was writing songs like "Estranged" and "November Rain." Elton John inspired masterpieces, truly. Slash helped elevate those songs with his amazing solos and overall guitar work, yet he still reportedly wanted no part in a "soft" rock and roll band that utilized a piano. You can see Conspirators is more Slash's style. I think overall it was a matter of each guy having significant star power and wanting different things out of Guns N' Roses. Axl wanted to evolve and try new styles and Slash wanted to keep status quo. It isn't necessarily "chasing trends" if Axl had gotten into industrial metal or grunge or whatever it was. A song like "Chinese Democracy" was a grunge rocker that was eventually dolled up in its studio form and became a traditional GNR banger. 

Edited July 24, 2018 by GnR Chris

[YourMother'sDruthers]

I think most people know that the initial argument between Axl and Slash that caused the downfall of the original lineup was over a classic Rick Moranis film, Honey I Shrunk The Kids. Slash preferred Honey I Shrunk The Kids, while Axl's taste for Rick Moranis classics had evolved to Honey I BLEW UP The Kids. The in studio fights over which film to play in the background during rehearsals reached a boiling point, eventually leading to the big "BLOW UP" (No pun intended) of the original lineup.