Axl Rose interview released tomorrow (Edit: full interview)

[BOSSY78]

1 hour ago, killuridols said:

I know... but I think what he was missing there was the understanding that Guns N' Roses were made of special people, and you can go get the best guitarist on earth, but they will not be Slash. What Axl didn't understand was that the essence of the band was in the individual human beings and not so much in a "formula" that you can replicate by placing one similar guy in the spot of someone else. Neither Slash, Duff, Izzy or Steven were or are perfect musicians. The coolness of them was their imperfections, even their clueless state at times. Back in the day, GN'R was a lifestyle, an attitude, that's what the fans liked about them.

Well, clearly millions of dollars do not get you the replica of Slash et al

Again, you keep saying things that I did not say so I don't know how to explain this to you again.... I never said that Axl was trying to revolutionize music. There was a bubbling feeling that if he had gone lengths to replace the whole band and keep working on that project for so many years, then the project had to be some sort of masterpiece. No one puts on so much effort, money and time just to throw it all away, but maybe in Axl's world, wasting millions of money on replicating a band he had before, it is a normal thing

The man could have used all that effort and time trying to fix the relationship with those guys and have a reunion 10 years ago. But obviously, he had serious issues to overcome before this happened. I think the whole CD saga is the tale of a madman.

I don't know what other people understand... I know there are many different fans with many different opinions on CD... which is not the same as saying they like it or not. Liking an album or not is more a subjective thing and here we are talking about the process of making that album.

It's not difficult for me to talk about the music in CD but that's not what we were talking about in first place This thread is not a CD discussion thread, it just derives from you telling me that I think the new album is going to fail because of some weird interpretation you've made of my words.

If you want to talk about CD from a musical point of view then tell me what we should talk about and I will try to respond. But maybe that should be a different thread.

OMG

You did not read ANYTHING of what I said before so I don't know how to explain anymore

If there ever is a new GN'R album, I hope Axl learned his lessons and he shuts the fuck up this time and only announces it when they are certain it is coming out.

Part of what ruined CD back in the day was that he talked a lot about it, he went on touring the shit several years prior to its release! and not to mention, the LEAKS.... I think thats what completely ruined it for me once the album came out.

Because Im gonna be honest here... I got all the leaks when they came out.... and I listened to them and wore them out... so much that when CD came out I was like MEH. Plus, I didn't like some of the new versions, they were different from what was in the leaks and they sounded not so good in my ears.

I have the hope that a new GN'R album with at least Slash and Duff on it will not become the monster CD was and will not suffer from all the delays and obstacles and hopefully, no leaks! Because here I agree with all artists that are against them..... leaks ruin the work of the artist and the surprise factor for the fans.... Its just so awful.

 

I just wanted to touch on the part about leaks. I agree. I may be one of the few fans who try to stay away from leaks no matter the temptation.

I can't say I haven't heard a few snippets of things but generally by accident.

Another thing to consider is artists can change songs because of leaks. I've heard of artists doing it. It could work out different ways. It could put the control back in the artists hands but it could also make the song better or worse in various people's eyes.

I imagine an artist perfecting a song and changing it due to a huge leak. Could it take away from the artists original point? Could it be a change that is forced rapidly maybe making the final product not up to the artists standards? Could it actually add something better or more catchy? Absolutely to all.

My points aren't really using GnR as an example just leaks and artists in general if that makes sense.

I do keep up on titles of GnR leaks etc just don't listen to them.

[BOSSY78]

I also want to add I remember after CD Axl coming on this forum and asking if anyone knew about the percent or something of another of people who may have gotten the music for free ie torrents illegal downloads etc.

I don't recall anyone actually answering the question he asked. Of course, many of the questions he tried to ask didn't get answered.

The part above and this next part are a general response to other posts.

I feel many fans rather they admit it or not didn't give CD a fair shake because Slash and others weren't on it.

I hear so many people who claimed the songs weren't good from CD or were average yet changed their opinion once the reunited versions were heard. 

I sat next to a Grandma and her grandson. Grandma loved Original GnR grandson became a fan during NuGnr. He was so excited to hear Slash do some of the CD songs as he also became a huge fan of that lineup and respected them. In the end both found they had respect for both versions and grandma said she didn't think Slash did as well on TIL. Her words were "too much noodling". 

I've talked to a mother son pairing who had similar stories once.

Me personally I love hearing their take on CD just like I want to hear Axl's take on Slither live.

There are so many fans outside this forum and others. These forums only really represent a tiny chunk in the GnR world. So many of them don't really even do internet which is weird to me but to each their own.

I think we will get new music. It just won't be as fast as many want.

[Lies They Tell]

3 hours ago, killuridols said:

I know... but I think what he was missing there was the understanding that Guns N' Roses were made of special people, and you can go get the best guitarist on earth, but they will not be Slash. What Axl didn't understand was that the essence of the band was in the individual human beings and not so much in a "formula" that you can replicate by placing one similar guy in the spot of someone else. Neither Slash, Duff, Izzy or Steven were or are perfect musicians. The coolness of them was their imperfections, even their clueless state at times. Back in the day, GN'R was a lifestyle, an attitude, that's what the fans liked about them.

Well, clearly millions of dollars do not get you the replica of Slash et al

Again, you keep saying things that I did not say so I don't know how to explain this to you again.... I never said that Axl was trying to revolutionize music. There was a bubbling feeling that if he had gone lengths to replace the whole band and keep working on that project for so many years, then the project had to be some sort of masterpiece. No one puts on so much effort, money and time just to throw it all away, but maybe in Axl's world, wasting millions of money on replicating a band he had before, it is a normal thing

The man could have used all that effort and time trying to fix the relationship with those guys and have a reunion 10 years ago. But obviously, he had serious issues to overcome before this happened. I think the whole CD saga is the tale of a madman.

I don't know what other people understand... I know there are many different fans with many different opinions on CD... which is not the same as saying they like it or not. Liking an album or not is more a subjective thing and here we are talking about the process of making that album.

It's not difficult for me to talk about the music in CD but that's not what we were talking about in first place This thread is not a CD discussion thread, it just derives from you telling me that I think the new album is going to fail because of some weird interpretation you've made of my words.

If you want to talk about CD from a musical point of view then tell me what we should talk about and I will try to respond. But maybe that should be a different thread.

OMG

You did not read ANYTHING of what I said before so I don't know how to explain anymore

If there ever is a new GN'R album, I hope Axl learned his lessons and he shuts the fuck up this time and only announces it when they are certain it is coming out.

Part of what ruined CD back in the day was that he talked a lot about it, he went on touring the shit several years prior to its release! and not to mention, the LEAKS.... I think thats what completely ruined it for me once the album came out.

Because Im gonna be honest here... I got all the leaks when they came out.... and I listened to them and wore them out... so much that when CD came out I was like MEH. Plus, I didn't like some of the new versions, they were different from what was in the leaks and they sounded not so good in my ears.

I have the hope that a new GN'R album with at least Slash and Duff on it will not become the monster CD was and will not suffer from all the delays and obstacles and hopefully, no leaks! Because here I agree with all artists that are against them..... leaks ruin the work of the artist and the surprise factor for the fans.... Its just so awful.

 

Well I guess we both have better things to do than to argue about these things, so let's try to wrap this up now. I really wanted to understand your point of view and although I understand you better now there's still many things about your point of view that sound weird to me. But that's life. We can always respectfully disagree.

For example the whole "looking up to other artists and drawing inspiration from them" I guess we fundamentally disagree on that part. You think artists should be inspired by other artists around them only when the're young. I think ideal would be to continue being inspired by other artists around you throughout your whole life.

I asked you in what way you consider Chinese Democracy to be a failure. You answered and I thank you for that. I still think that it's a bit unfair to say that it's a failure cause it didn't revolutionize anything, when it was never even supposed to. I'm also sorry that the leaks ruined CD for you.

Earlier I wanted to talk about CD from a strictly musical point of view. I was thinking that CD sounded in many ways like what you were hoping that the next GNR album will sound like. Only you of course want Slash's and Duff's input on it and you want less industrial influences. But like I said CD is in many ways an evolution of the UYI sound. At this point you answered "no it's not cause there's no Slash, Duff etc..." Maybe I would have liked to talk about it from a musical point of view, but oh well. What ever.

I think it's funny how even in the dark times people complained that Axl didn't give any news concerning CD and even today people are angry cause the band is so silent. At the same time you're saying that Axl ruined CD back in the day cause he talked too much about it. And you're one of the few people who hopes that Axl stays silent concerning the state of the next GNR album as well. All I can say is, it aint easy being a front man of a band like GNR. What ever you do, you're always doing it wrong according to some people. You can never please everyone, but that's just life I guess.

Anyway, thanks for this discussion. It's been a long time since I've had these kind of arguments, so it was fun.

[Nikki_Sixx]

15 hours ago, ironmt said:

So by your own admission Axl toured for 13 years. Regardless of whether it was 10 , 20 or 30 years, how does that change the facts presented In the post? Were the tours before the Chinese Democracy album successful? How about after the album but before the reunion?

Successful ?  The '02 tour was selling poorly and cancelled half-way ...  '06 and '07 were successful, yet the promise of an album turned out to be a lie, and the public quickly returned to their negative stance toward fake GNR.

After the release of the album they toured succesfully in '10 and '11, by '12/'13 they were downsizing the venues in the US due to lack of interest, still trying to ride on name alone elsewhere ...  It all ended with mere Vegas residencies by '14 ...

I think you have a VERY optimistic view of Axl's solo success !

[zombux]

19 minutes ago, Nikki_Sixx said:

After the release of the album they toured succesfully in '10 and '11, by '12/'13 they were downsizing the venues in the US due to lack of interest, still trying to ride on name alone elsewhere ...  It all ended with mere Vegas residencies by '14 ...

I think you have a VERY optimistic view of Axl's solo success !

especially the 2013-14 were totally running on fumes. not even the bootleggers bothered to record those shows and with the exception of the miserable Revolver Golden Gods Awards performance and to some extent South American Tour 2014, those years are largely forgotten even by the most hardcore fans.

[Jw224]

I feel like anyone saying that the leaks ruined CD for them have themselves to blame. 

[WhazUp]

8 minutes ago, Jw224 said:

I feel like anyone saying that the leaks ruined CD for them have themselves to blame. 

If it was any other band and any other album that didn't take from the mid 90's to 2008 to put out, I would agree lol

But let's put it this way - going back to how it was in 2006 - for years and years there is seemingly dwindling chances that Axl will actually ever put Chinese out and it has become a running joke.  Cue to the leaks, the first studio material since TSI?, I cannot blame people for listening at that point at all

[zombux]

16 minutes ago, WhazUp said:

Cue to the leaks, the first studio material since TSI?, I cannot blame people for listening at that point at all

not true - see Sympathy For The Devil, Oh My God, to some extent also SCOM from Big Daddy and ok, also the snippets from Boston/Albany 2002 promo.

[WhazUp]

5 minutes ago, zombux said:

not true - see Sympathy For The Devil, Oh My God, to some extent also SCOM from Big Daddy and ok, also the snippets from Boston/Albany 2002 promo.

True, good point I missed those in a posting brainfart lol. I should amend that to say including Sympathy and OMG and 2 minutes of a re-recorded old GNR tune.  But still, my point stands - one cover from 1994, one commercial dud from 1999, a low-key re-record that barely did anything, and a promo video that barely anyone knows about.  I don't blame anyone for quenching their thirst with leaks in that time period at all

To me the fans did not shoot ourselves in the foot for listening to leaks, it is the band that waited so long to put anything out that inspired us to soak up any music that came out way on the internet. 

Edited July 28, 2018 by WhazUp

[Jw224]

1 hour ago, WhazUp said:

If it was any other band and any other album that didn't take from the mid 90's to 2008 to put out, I would agree lol

But let's put it this way - going back to how it was in 2006 - for years and years there is seemingly dwindling chances that Axl will actually ever put Chinese out and it has become a running joke.  Cue to the leaks, the first studio material since TSI?, I cannot blame people for listening at that point at all

I don't think you can really listen to leaked material by choice and then blame said material for your dislike of the album. 

[killuridols]

3 hours ago, Jw224 said:

I feel like anyone saying that the leaks ruined CD for them have themselves to blame. 

I feel anyone saying this BS was not a fan during the dark years.

[Jw224]

22 minutes ago, killuridols said:

I feel anyone saying this BS was not a fan during the dark years.

I'm sorry but the fact you listened to leaks is nothing to do with the musical content of the album. To suggest that hearing it early somehow made you dislike the music in a way that hearing it later would not is a bit of a logical fallacy. To somehow project the fact you listened to leaks onto the album itself is pretty silly. 

[Towelie]

At this stage, with Slash returning to Myles and Axl off on yet another hiatus with still no sign of any new material on the horizon, you have to wonder what the hell Axl's ultimate gameplan is with all of this. If he has no intention of releasing a new album, then why is he even bothering with Guns at all? Surely it can't be for the money, I mean, how much money does one man need? Granted, his lifestyle is costly, considering his entire "family" are all on the payroll, but he must have enough money for several lifetimes now and to look after the Lebeis clan and their great-grandchildren.

Maybe he enjoys touring, although Christ knows why, when he struggles to get through half of the shows without making a total hash of many of the songs.

I just don't understand why Axl is carrying on at this stage. He clearly has no artistic motivations behind being in GNR and he doesn't need the money. Perhaps it's just that GNR is all he's ever known? He doesn't have a wife or kids and I guess we all need a reason to get out of bed in the morning, so maybe that's the reason....

Edited July 28, 2018 by Towelie

[zombux]

13 minutes ago, Towelie said:

At this stage, with Slash returning to Myles and Axl off on yet another hiatus with still no sign of any new material on the horizon, you have to wonder what the hell Axl's ultimate gameplan is with all of this. If he has no intention of releasing a new album, then why is he even bothering with Guns at all? Surely it can't be for the money, I mean, how much money does one man need? Granted, his lifestyle is costly, considering his entire "family" are all on the payroll, but he must have enough money for several lifetimes now and to look after the Lebeis clan and their great-grandchildren.

Maybe he enjoys touring, although Christ knows why, when he struggles to get through half of the shows without making a total hash of many of the songs.

I just don't understand why Axl is carrying on at this stage. He clearly has no artistic motivations behind being in GNR and he doesn't need the money. Perhaps it's just that GNR is all he's ever known? He doesn't have a wife or kids and I guess we all need a reason to get out of bed in the morning, so maybe that's the reason....

really, really valid point here. he definitely seems absolutely uninspired since 2010 (when at some point the label supposedly rejected his CD2 or whatever he offered) and vocals-wise he's absolutely struggling beyond the point of still being enjoyable.

[killuridols]

3 hours ago, Jw224 said:

I'm sorry but the fact you listened to leaks is nothing to do with the musical content of the album. To suggest that hearing it early somehow made you dislike the music in a way that hearing it later would not is a bit of a logical fallacy. To somehow project the fact you listened to leaks onto the album itself is pretty silly. 

Silly is that you don't understand what I'm saying..... I'm talking about the surprise factor, because most of the leaks were finally included in the album, so by the time the album came out, I had already listened to at least half of it.

[ironmt]

8 hours ago, Nikki_Sixx said:

Successful ?  The '02 tour was selling poorly and cancelled half-way ...  '06 and '07 were successful, yet the promise of an album turned out to be a lie, and the public quickly returned to their negative stance toward fake GNR.

After the release of the album they toured succesfully in '10 and '11, by '12/'13 they were downsizing the venues in the US due to lack of interest, still trying to ride on name alone elsewhere ...  It all ended with mere Vegas residencies by '14 ...

I think you have a VERY optimistic view of Axl's solo success !

Really? You better do some simple math and compare the shows that were played In 2002 that you claim was canceled due to poor ticket sales to the 2006-2007 run in the U.S. that you claim was successful. How do the numbers compare?

So Axl started his solo career(Chinese Democracy Tour) In 2001 and the tour went on and off for 10 years until 2011, but was unsuccessful? Is that what you are saying? Do you think that Axl and the band made a profit from 2001-2011?

 

 

 

[killuridols]

10 hours ago, Lies They Tell said:

For example the whole "looking up to other artists and drawing inspiration from them" I guess we fundamentally disagree on that part. You think artists should be inspired by other artists around them only when the're young. I think ideal would be to continue being inspired by other artists around you throughout your whole life.

There are many artists who would disagree with you as well, because listening too much to others sometimes it's a disadvantage when it comes to creativity. It can condition you to sound like someone else.

I know some artists who've said they don't listen to anything because they don't want to be influenced by others and just let their creativity flow naturally.

Besides, in order to get inspiration, as a musician you don't necessarily have to be listening to other stuff. Inspiration can also come from movies, books, flavors, memories, mental images, etc.

10 hours ago, Lies They Tell said:

I still think that it's a bit unfair to say that it's a failure cause it didn't revolutionize anything, when it was never even supposed to.

I didn't say that, please red again.

10 hours ago, Lies They Tell said:

Earlier I wanted to talk about CD from a strictly musical point of view. I was thinking that CD sounded in many ways like what you were hoping that the next GNR album will sound like. Only you of course want Slash's and Duff's input on it and you want less industrial influences. But like I said CD is in many ways an evolution of the UYI sound. At this point you answered "no it's not cause there's no Slash, Duff etc..."

The logic is this: UYI is made of Axl, Slash, Duff, Izzy ideas..... so how can CD be an evolution of it if the only person from the original band in CD is Axl?

And Axl is not responsible for the whole sound of UYI. The Slash solo in November Rain or Estranged got nothing to do with Finck's solos or Buckethead solos. They are different people, so the music cannot evolve from a different source. In that case, we are talking about something new, something different, not an evolution.

10 hours ago, Lies They Tell said:

I think it's funny how even in the dark times people complained that Axl didn't give any news concerning CD and even today people are angry cause the band is so silent. At the same time you're saying that Axl ruined CD back in the day cause he talked too much about it. And you're one of the few people who hopes that Axl stays silent concerning the state of the next GNR album as well. All I can say is, it aint easy being a front man of a band like GNR. What ever you do, you're always doing it wrong according to some people. You can never please everyone, but that's just life I guess.

Oh, poor Axl... His life is so miserable! 

Why you have to be so melodramatic about this whole thing? Aside from taking it all from a black or white perspective, changing what I say to fit your narrative of victim Axl.

As said before, what ruined CD was a combination of too many bad decisions, and one of them was anticipating the album when it was not ready to come out. Also touring something that did not exist.

The only reason why I don't want them to talk about a new album if there is none is because I don't want to go through another CD type of dark times. Had we not known there was an album in the making, we would have lowered our expectations.

[Jw224]

58 minutes ago, killuridols said:

Silly is that you don't understand what I'm saying..... I'm talking about the surprise factor, because most of the leaks were finally included in the album, so by the time the album came out, I had already listened to at least half of it.

How did that ruin the songs for you? You chose to listen to them . I guess we'll just agree to disagree. 

[killuridols]

Just now, Jw224 said:

How did that ruin the songs for you? You chose to listen to them . I guess we'll just agree to disagree. 

I know I did but this is because we thought the album was never coming out!

And back then, I didn't even know what a leak meant.... I thought they were the songs stolen from a real album, not that they were "versions". Actually, I have no idea if what came out on CD is something that was re-worked because of the leaks or there was an original intention to keep versioning the songs 

I'm saying it was ruined because I had gotten used to listening to the leaks versions. Some of the album versions did not appeal to my taste, I thought the leaked versions sounded better.

[WhazUp]

8 hours ago, Jw224 said:

I don't think you can really listen to leaked material by choice and then blame said material for your dislike of the album. 

I don't think anyone is claiming the leaks make them dislike the album though right? Just that by the time the album came out, since there were so many songs already out there that it may have taken the wind out of their sales a bit?

 

All I am saying is, I cannot blame people for jamming out to leaks considering how ridiculous the CD wait was and at that point not even knowing if the album would actually even come out.  The leaks were not the issue, the album wait time was

[Lies They Tell]

33 minutes ago, killuridols said:

There are many artists who would disagree with you as well, because listening too much to others sometimes it's a disadvantage when it comes to creativity. It can condition you to sound like someone else.

I know some artists who've said they don't listen to anything because they don't want to be influenced by others and just let their creativity flow naturally.

Besides, in order to get inspiration, as a musician you don't necessarily have to be listening to other stuff. Inspiration can also come from movies, books, flavors, memories, mental images, etc.

Yes inspiration can work in many different ways. If Axl's inspired by artists from the nineties, then nobody should be telling him that he shouldn't be. But of course GNR is a team effort. I'm not saying that only Axl's inspirations should be taken into consideration. But they all have their own influences and nobody should be telling them what they can use as inspiration and what they can't.

38 minutes ago, killuridols said:

I didn't say that, please red again.

Well you said this: "More than a decade working on something that didn't do anything for the music scene. Many people may like CD but it cannot be considered the best GNR album or revolutionary in any shape or form. CD didn't contribute anything significant for a new generation or for a new genre."

That was part of your explanation for why you consider CD a failure. It didn't live up to those megalomaniac expectations that some idiots developed around it. I might as well create some expectations around you. I'm expecting you to come up with a cure for cancer, if you don't succeed in that then you are a failure.

See how stupid that sounds? You never claimed that you could cure the cancer so how can you be a failure if you don't meet the expectations that some idiots created around you?

46 minutes ago, killuridols said:

The logic is this: UYI is made of Axl, Slash, Duff, Izzy ideas..... so how can CD be an evolution of it if the only person from the original band in CD is Axl?

And Axl is not responsible for the whole sound of UYI. The Slash solo in November Rain or Estranged got nothing to do with Finck's solos or Buckethead solos. They are different people, so the music cannot evolve from a different source. In that case, we are talking about something new, something different, not an evolution.

This is exactly what I mean. You don't seem to be able to talk about CD from a musical point of view. You know people talk about the evolution of rock music for example. Do you understand what that means? It doesn't mean the evolution of just one persons guitar playing skills. It means the change that has happened to the rock music genre throughout the years. Yes, David Bowie is obviously not Chuck Berry, just like Buckethead isn't Slash. But we're talking from a musical point of view here. Of course it's different and of course it's something new, but it can also be described as evolution. But if you'e not capable of talking about these subjects, that's fine by me.

Like I said, we both have better things to do than argue about this anyway. So can we agree to disagree? I feel like this conversation isn't really going anywhere anymore.

[killuridols]

1 hour ago, Lies They Tell said:

Yes inspiration can work in many different ways. If Axl's inspired by artists from the nineties, then nobody should be telling him that he shouldn't be. But of course GNR is a team effort. I'm not saying that only Axl's inspirations should be taken into consideration. But they all have their own influences and nobody should be telling them what they can use as inspiration and what they can't.

Axl hasn't said anything about being inspired by anyone from the 90s recently.

Maybe that's what you made up in your mind from reading his last "interview" where he mentioned liking Björk, but just because he likes her it doesn't mean that he's thinking of her as an inspiration for future music.

1 hour ago, Lies They Tell said:

That was part of your explanation for why you consider CD a failure. It didn't live up to those megalomaniac expectations that some idiots developed around it. I might as well create some expectations around you. I'm expecting you to come up with a cure for cancer, if you don't succeed in that then you are a failure.

See how stupid that sounds? You never claimed that you could cure the cancer so how can you be a failure if you don't meet the expectations that some idiots created around you?

Yeah, go ahead and call us idiots, the fans who have always supported this crazy band. Are you from TB, btw? The mistreatment in your words sounds familiar 

Maybe we were just idiots for believing in Axl's project. He enabled a lot of people to expect that he was making an album worth of having wiped out Slash and the rest. 

I will never blame the fans for standing under the rain. That's what fair weather fans do. Each person knows to which group they belong.

And no, your analogy is flawed. Anyone expecting me to cure cancer and knowing who I am would be an idiot, because I am no doctor, I am no scientist and I have never said to be working on the cure for cancer.

But CD is an album that we knew it was being created by Axl and his new band, not because we imagined it, but because he said so. Not only that! By 1999, there was a fan who was invited to Axl's house and she said Axl made her listen to Madagascar. 

In the late 90s and early 2000s, there were plenty of clues, evidence and facts that demonstrated Chinese Democracy was an actual album in the making. So your analogy is crap, because if you believe in something that you've not seen, then yes, you are an idiot, but when you know from the mouth of the horse that something is real, then no one can call you an idiot for that.

2 hours ago, Lies They Tell said:

Of course it's different and of course it's something new, but it can also be described as evolution. But if you'e not capable of talking about these subjects, that's fine by me.

It looks to me that the only person who can't talk about these subjects is you, because you were not there and it shows.

Bye.

[Draguns]

19 hours ago, killuridols said:

I know... but I think what he was missing there was the understanding that Guns N' Roses were made of special people, and you can go get the best guitarist on earth, but they will not be Slash. What Axl didn't understand was that the essence of the band was in the individual human beings and not so much in a "formula" that you can replicate by placing one similar guy in the spot of someone else. Neither Slash, Duff, Izzy or Steven were or are perfect musicians. The coolness of them was their imperfections, even their clueless state at times. Back in the day, GN'R was a lifestyle, an attitude, that's what the fans liked about them.

The last two sentences really says it all.  GNR was a lifestyle back in the day. Besides the music, the attitude is what got me to become a hardcore fan. 

[D..]

On 25/07/2018 at 2:08 AM, North Korean Democracy said:

The most interesting thing we got from this interview is that Axl likes Björk, that's how low the bar is.

Hahahhaha that was my thought exactly: "At least I learnt he liked Björk!".

I didn't expect anything from this interview honestly.

I'm just surprised Axl hasn't said anything controversial in years. No rant, no mister security man, no profound interview, except the China exchange which was very cool.

He is really the opposite of what he used to be! All calm and nice to everyone! SO SURPRISING!

Or... maybe he was always like that since the beginning but stopped replying to retarded idiots ; )

[D..]

On 24/07/2018 at 10:48 PM, Towelie said:

Ugh. Stop making excuses for Axl. GNR aren’t the only musical act who have 100+ people on the payroll and bring in huge sums of money per show. There are plenty of artists and bands on a similar level to Guns, who manage to put out new albums every couple of years.

Axl simply doesn’t want to.

Perhaps CD made him realise that he can’t do it on his own, and musically, he has little in common with Slash these days, aside from their shared history. So it seems Axl feels he has nothing left to offer, hence the endless touring.

I suspect the only reason we got a reunion was because he couldn’t continue touring with NuGuns without releasing a new record. Whereas he knew if he called Slash, he could tour and never have to release another record for the rest of his life.

Sure but those bands you're talking about aren't as old (except maybe Rolling Stones, Aerosmith and AC/DC but even so I'm not sure they're as big as GN'R has been in the past two years). And please name me the records that those artists put out recently that are really good.

The only artist I can think of is Eminem who is Axl's Doppelgänger artistically. It's incredible that guy is still putting out new music after all the shit he's gone through. But he's younger.

Then there is Trent Reznor but he's nowhere near GN'R in terms of popularity. And he hasn't been very good recently (except live performances which are better than ever).

Maybe Axl doesn't want to put out new music unless it's absolutely awesome. Clearly he hasn't been very inspired lately.