"General Musings" " Thread for all of "Thoughts On" all GnR things in the universe.

[DTJ80]

4 minutes ago, Voodoochild said:

I worry about two things:

- Just because it's "out there", it doesn't mean it will leak soon. It happened before with the Vegas DVD. 

- If it leaks, I would be hugely disappointed if it's a version with Ashba all over it. That would fucking sucks.

I’ll take it all - regardless of who plays on it. Can’t have too much material!!

Re Ashba - what’s all he hate for? Genuinely don’t know - substandard playing or ‘douche’ behaviour? I know he is pretty much dismissed on here - just never really understood why?

[Voodoochild]

1 minute ago, DTJ80 said:

I’ll take it all - regardless of who plays on it. Can’t have too much material!!

Re Ashba - what’s all he hate for? Genuinely don’t know - substandard playing or ‘douche’ behaviour? I know he is pretty much dismissed on here - just never really understood why?

To me at least - he's not a good guitar player, his writing is uninspired and very amateur, and his taste is horrifying (I mean, the notes he chooses and his tone). On stage he is a douche, but I actually met him and he was very nice in person. 

[DTJ80]

21 minutes ago, Voodoochild said:

To me at least - he's not a good guitar player, his writing is uninspired and very amateur, and his taste is horrifying (I mean, the notes he chooses and his tone). On stage he is a douche, but I actually met him and he was very nice in person. 

Fair doos. As I say - never heard anything specifically so wasn’t sure.

[bassplayer1993]

I'm a hardcore fan who still strongly believes in this band.

 

But any further leaks? I doubt we'll see them any time soon. Look how long it took for Hard School, and how much we got... I'm guessing 2032 is when CD II will leak, and I'm not being sarcastic or an asshole. Just believe we got way more than we ever could've wished for and I doubt another thing like this will happen any time soon... or ever.

[DurhamGirl]

On 04/03/2020 at 2:24 PM, DTJ80 said:

I’ll take it all - regardless of who plays on it. Can’t have too much material!!

Re Ashba - what’s all he hate for? Genuinely don’t know - substandard playing or ‘douche’ behaviour? I know he is pretty much dismissed on here - just never really understood why?

I dont understand all the hate for Ashba too,?

[Stay.Of.Execution]

2 hours ago, DurhamGirl said:

I dont understand all the hate for Ashba too,?

Just look at the guy. 

[WhazUp]

2 hours ago, DurhamGirl said:

I dont understand all the hate for Ashba too,?

He took quite a few shortcuts technically in order to play some of Slash's solos, and as a player not that he is like terrible IMO however nothing that your typical bar-band guitarist couldn't do  - when you look at his solo pieces like Ballad of Death there really wasn't anything melodically or technically that wowed me

I will say though, I appreciated his enthusiasm for the band and even though the Hulk Hogan hands and Slash-esque top hat and posing was a bit cringey - when I saw them in 2011 DJ during Nightrain was playing guitar while running through the crowd and got everyone hyped up which was cool to watch.  

 

But man he on multiple occasions completely botched the Patience outro solo and I have no idea why lol it just seemed like he was always fishing for ideas that never fully took flight

[DTJ80]

2 minutes ago, WhazUp said:

He took quite a few shortcuts technically in order to play some of Slash's solos, and as a player not that he is like terrible IMO however nothing that your typical bar-band guitarist couldn't do  - when you look at his solo pieces like Ballad of Death there really wasn't anything melodically or technically that wowed me

I will say though, I appreciated his enthusiasm for the band and even though the Hulk Hogan hands and Slash-esque top hat and posing was a bit cringey - when I saw them in 2011 DJ during Nightrain was playing guitar while running through the crowd and got everyone hyped up which was cool to watch.  

 

But man he on multiple occasions completely botched the Patience outro solo and I have no idea why lol it just seemed like he was always fishing for ideas that never fully took flight

The top-hat was pretty ill advised IMO.  Can’t say I have noticed to many shortcuts although that’s more likely due to me being a complete novice on the guitar. 😂

[Sydney Fan]

2 minutes ago, DTJ80 said:

The top-hat was pretty ill advised IMO.  Can’t say I have noticed to many shortcuts although that’s more likely due to me being a complete novice on the guitar. 😂

The top hat, elf ears, he just looked to emo try hard. His look and style may be appropriate for side bands, but not gnr. His guitar playing wasnt that interesting. Being lead guitarist in gnr was always a tough act with people always wanting to compare to slash and the top hat didnt warm him to fans. There was a video on youtube since taken down of an extremely bad into of SCOM.

Having said this if it was a case of axl ending gnr or bringing in ashba axl should have put gnr on a hiatus if there was a feeling for axl to put feelers out in reuniting with slash. The ashba era was the extreme low point of the name "Guns N' Roses".

 

[Voodoochild]

On 07/03/2020 at 8:12 PM, WhazUp said:

He took quite a few shortcuts technically in order to play some of Slash's solos, and as a player not that he is like terrible IMO however nothing that your typical bar-band guitarist couldn't do  - when you look at his solo pieces like Ballad of Death there really wasn't anything melodically or technically that wowed me

He did a lot of shortcuts. He even left the hard part of SCOM outro solo to Bumblefoot. He had to rework This I Love's solo because he was clearly unable to hit the right note in the fist bend. He fucked up too often, more than Robin and Slash ever did.

It's not like he was really into getting his own take of some of those solos from the start. His goal was always to try to emulate Slash as close as he could, and I guess that's why a lot of people was OK with him back then. I guess he really disliked Robin's solos, tho. But IMO, the changes were always for the worse by far.

And then you have his guitar tone. It was over the top, with too much distortion/overdrive, the complete opposite of what is needed for GNR. 

At the end of the day, the problem is that you can find A LOT of better guitar players on YouTube and Instagram. And I'm not talking just about covering Slash note for note. 

[Gordon Comstock]

4 hours ago, Voodoochild said:

He had to rework This I Love's solo because he was clearly unable to hit the right note in the fist bend. He fucked up too often, more than Robin and Slash ever did.

 

Who else remembers when he did that Haunted Mansion™ chat thing on his website? It was before the 2009 shows, and he said his favourite song to play during the rehearsals was This I Love. I remember being excited to hear his solo on that since he'd specifically mentioned it.

In hindsight, that kinda summed up his persona - he was always a better salesman than guitar player.

[RussTCB]

5 hours ago, Voodoochild said:

He had to rework This I Love's solo because he was clearly unable to hit the right note in the fist bend. 

He told my wife that at one of the 2011 shows. My wife flat out asked why he plays it so different and his answer was more or less "because I can't play the album version right" 

[lame ass security]

2 hours ago, RussTCB said:

He told my wife that at one of the 2011 shows. My wife flat out asked why he plays it so different and his answer was more or less "because I can't play the album version right" 

At least he was honest. 

[Voodoochild]

11 hours ago, Gordon Comstock said:

 

Who else remembers when he did that Haunted Mansion™ chat thing on his website? It was before the 2009 shows, and he said his favourite song to play during the rehearsals was This I Love. I remember being excited to hear his solo on that since he'd specifically mentioned it.

In hindsight, that kinda summed up his persona - he was always a better salesman than guitar player.

Cant remember that, but I do remember that rehearsal video (actually, just the audio in the background) with the staff from the tour a couple of months before it started. It was clearly Ashba playing the SCOM solo and it was fucking awful. No wonder Bumble had to take it over in the actual tour. 

11 hours ago, RussTCB said:

He told my wife that at one of the 2011 shows. My wife flat out asked why he plays it so different and his answer was more or less "because I can't play the album version right" 

I remember when you said that before. Frankly, to me that says a lot. It's not a difficult solo to play at all. It's obviously hard to get the original feel from Robin's performance right, but still..

[DTJ80]

3 hours ago, Voodoochild said:

Cant remember that, but I do remember that rehearsal video (actually, just the audio in the background) with the staff from the tour a couple of months before it started. It was clearly Ashba playing the SCOM solo and it was fucking awful. No wonder Bumble had to take it over in the actual tour. 

I remember when you said that before. Frankly, to me that says a lot. It's not a difficult solo to play at all. It's obviously hard to get the original feel from Robin's performance right, but still..

Which begs the question - if he was lacking the required skills, how did he get the gig??

[Sydney Fan]

9 hours ago, DTJ80 said:

Which begs the question - if he was lacking the required skills, how did he get the gig??

My personal opinion is around this time axl stopped really giving a shit. He was getting dogged by lawsuits , and i remember a poster here mentioning axl said if DJ shows up at the audition hes got the job. I think the band were touring to pay for the lawsuits going on,  not because axl wanted to play to every place on earth so fans could hear the masterpiece entitled Chinese Democracy.

I wonder if there were any other guitarists putting up their hand for the lead guitarist role?.

[RussTCB]

14 hours ago, DTJ80 said:

Which begs the question - if he was lacking the required skills, how did he get the gig??

He brought a couple of things:

1) he was one of the only guitar players within the music industry who was still willing to take a chance on putting up with Axl's shit

2) he brought back end money by way of endorsements (i.e a Monster energy drink stupidly placed on the piano every night) so GN'R didn't loose so much money of arenas that were 1/3 full. 

[El Guapo]

3) He was the only player available who owned a top hat.

[UsedYourIllusion]

12 hours ago, RussTCB said:

He brought a couple of things:

1) he was one of the only guitar players within the music industry who was still willing to take a chance on putting up with Axl's shit

2) he brought back end money by way of endorsements (i.e a Monster energy drink stupidly placed on the piano every night) so GN'R didn't loose so much money of arenas that were 1/3 full. 

Surely Axl Rose.. especially after the successful 2006 tour, and the drop of CD could still draw a major player right? Or do you think he had honestly gone by the wayside at that point?

[James Bond]

It's funny. I don't remember being all that bothered by Ashba in 2010. He just seemed to get progressive sloppier as the tours went on. Bumblefoot to the rescue. By 2014 I couldn't stand him. Simplifying even the most simple of solos (and still botching then half the time), laughable stage antics, and generally more ridiculous on social media. Credit where credit is due though - he wrote some decent stuff with Crue and Sixx AM.

[RussTCB]

41 minutes ago, UsedYourIllusion said:

Surely Axl Rose.. especially after the successful 2006 tour, and the drop of CD could still draw a major player right? Or do you think he had honestly gone by the wayside at that point?

It would appear not. There were tons of much better fits for GNR available when Robin left. Seemingly no one wanted anything to do with it though. 

[Gordon Comstock]

To be fair, he helped write a #1 rock hit just the year before, as well as some stuff on Mötley's album. He was more 'marketable' than other NuGNR guitarists. And he really wasn't bad when I saw Sixx AM live... 

[janrichmond]

10 minutes ago, Gordon Comstock said:

To be fair, he helped write a #1 rock hit just the year before, as well as some stuff on Mötley's album. He was more 'marketable' than other NuGNR guitarists. And he really wasn't bad when I saw Sixx AM live... 

you're trying to yourself feel better ain't you? 

[WhazUp]

58 minutes ago, James Bond said:

It's funny. I don't remember being all that bothered by Ashba in 2010. He just seemed to get progressive sloppier as the tours went on. Bumblefoot to the rescue. By 2014 I couldn't stand him. Simplifying even the most simple of solos (and still botching then half the time), laughable stage antics, and generally more ridiculous on social media. Credit where credit is due though - he wrote some decent stuff with Crue and Sixx AM.

I remember in 2009 and 2010 actually liking DJ too lol but I think a lot of that had to do with the fact that since they hired a new guitarist and Chinese Democracy was relatively a recent official release at that time that it seemed like they were interested in moving forward and it was an exciting time, having the first official tour since CD's release.  DJ's enthusiasm was appreciated

 

However yeah by the time 2011-2014 rolled around and we saw Axl intent on not releasing anything, DJ completely tanking the Patience solo and his playing never truly improving to where he didn't need to take shortcuts - I was less impressed the more time that passed

 

The other things that did not help his case were the Slash top-hat and Les Paul copying, the "hotel fight" story/brag, and the Hulk ears lol

Edited March 11, 2020 by WhazUp

[Gordon Comstock]

2 hours ago, janrichmond said:

you're trying to yourself feel better ain't you? 

 

Honestly I was excited when it was announced that DJ was joining the band. But by 2012-14 his whole 'style' had grown incredibly tiring.

I can see why he was brought into the band, though.