Matt Sorum's Autobiography

[NachoLZ]

2 minutes ago, DieselDaisy said:

He emerges much better than Slash or Duff in this book. Sorum only really slags Rose off over two items, the lateness/riot issues and the Tobias thing. 

On the subject of the Tobias thing, that is probably the one thing that unites Slash's, Duff's and Sorum's books: they all loath Tobias. 

Can you quote the Slash and Duff hating Tobias sections of their books pls? 

[rocknroll41]

3 minutes ago, NachoLZ said:

Can you quote the Slash and Duff hating Tobias sections of their books pls? 

In Slash’s book he says he hated Tobias so much to the point where he couldn’t even “share a beer” with him.

Ive never read Duff’s book, but I recall an interview from like 2000 where Duff said “the guy can’t play” when asked about him.

I think the fact that all three of them disliked him so much is pretty telling. That being said, Tobias has writing credits on OMG (which I love), along with some of my favorite songs from CD. So what do I know?

[Drexl]

It must suck donkey ass being Matt. Basically, nobody likes him, unless he's got some good dope. What a loser.

P.S. Axl, you really wanted to marry that whore? Damn...

[James Bond]

43 minutes ago, Blackstar said:

Matt had talked a bit about the UYI songs and his playing on them in this interview from 1991:

https://www.a-4-d.com/t4740-1991-06-dd-modern-drummer-matt-sorum-guns-n-roses-new-stickman

He said then that his favourites were Coma and Locomotive:

My favorite is probably a song called "Coma." The song is about ten minutes long and has a lot of different kinds of parts. It starts out real heavy, almost like Metallica or something, and then it breaks down into a Pink Floyd thing. I overdubbed some timpani over it, and I used a gong on it. I warmed up the gong with a Superball, which makes a really eerie sound, like you’re under water. I have some really eerie effects in the middle where I use triangles and shakers and stuff.
There’s a song called "Locomotive" that I like a lot, which is about eight minutes long. It has kind of a funky groove on it, sort of like "Welcome To The Jungle." At the end it goes into something that almost sounds like "Layla." It goes out with a lot of Phil Collins-type tom stuff. I did timbale overdubs on the end fills.

What he says about the same songs in the book:

Then there were the tracks like “Coma,” which I just didn’t get at all. I mean, a ten minute rock song? [...] Something else I quickly noticed was that the songs varied hugely in length. Some were only three minutes or so—an ideal length, in my opinion—whereas others seemed never to end. “Locomotive” was one of those songs. It lasted over eight minutes, and though I was new behind the drums, I couldn’t help but ask, “Does this song really need to be so long?” Slash looked at me, a cigarette hanging out of his mouth like usual, and said, “Yeah, man, it’s cool.”

I guess it's not surprising considering Matt's "I thought this was a rock band... what's with the piano?" comment in the old Behind the Music documentary from 2004. Always seemed to be a silly and ignorant comment, but nevertheless he doesn't reflect too fondly on the longer songs.

[Blackstar]

4 minutes ago, James Bond said:

I guess it's not surprising considering Matt's "I thought this was a rock band... what's with the piano?" comment in the old Behind the Music documentary from 2004. Always seemed to be a silly and ignorant comment, but nevertheless he doesn't reflect too fondly on the longer songs.

Yeah, after he was out of the band he only bashed Axl's piano songs. Now he bashes Slash's songs, which he had praised back in the day, I guess because Slash was his buddy then. 

[WhazUp]

57 minutes ago, Blackstar said:

Matt had talked a bit about the UYI songs and his playing on them in this interview from 1991:

https://www.a-4-d.com/t4740-1991-06-dd-modern-drummer-matt-sorum-guns-n-roses-new-stickman

He said then that his favourites were Coma and Locomotive:

My favorite is probably a song called "Coma." The song is about ten minutes long and has a lot of different kinds of parts. It starts out real heavy, almost like Metallica or something, and then it breaks down into a Pink Floyd thing. I overdubbed some timpani over it, and I used a gong on it. I warmed up the gong with a Superball, which makes a really eerie sound, like you’re under water. I have some really eerie effects in the middle where I use triangles and shakers and stuff.
There’s a song called "Locomotive" that I like a lot, which is about eight minutes long. It has kind of a funky groove on it, sort of like "Welcome To The Jungle." At the end it goes into something that almost sounds like "Layla." It goes out with a lot of Phil Collins-type tom stuff. I did timbale overdubs on the end fills.

What he says about the same songs in the book:

Then there were the tracks like “Coma,” which I just didn’t get at all. I mean, a ten minute rock song? [...] Something else I quickly noticed was that the songs varied hugely in length. Some were only three minutes or so—an ideal length, in my opinion—whereas others seemed never to end. “Locomotive” was one of those songs. It lasted over eight minutes, and though I was new behind the drums, I couldn’t help but ask, “Does this song really need to be so long?” Slash looked at me, a cigarette hanging out of his mouth like usual, and said, “Yeah, man, it’s cool.”

Lol that is great 

Ultimately the thing with writing books way after the fact is that you can try and paint or re-write any smallest narrative such as this.  Which sucks when it comes down to actually uncovering the full story of the rise and demise of GNR 

Edited June 6, 2020 by WhazUp

[Ant]

3 hours ago, Gordon Comstock said:

Duff really does come off as "spineless" in this book...

I wanna live in the timeline where Slash got buzzed in and the reunion happened in 2006. 

[Ant]

3 hours ago, GnR Chris said:

 

Anyway, Duff had wanted back into gnr for years before finally returning when Stinson’s spot opened up. I don’t believe for a minute Duff has a problem with Frank. Now maybe he did disparage Frank when talking with Matt. But if he did, it’s more likely cause Duff was afraid to tell him, “Sorry, bro. We already have a drummer and it ain’t you.” 
 

It's easy to see how it could have been a conciliatory... "Oh man he's not you, of course..." kinda fluff statement. Which Matt took completely literally and put in a book. Doesn't seem like these guys have really deep conversations... all seems very high-school. 

Edited June 6, 2020 by Ant

[James Bond]

Does Matt say anything about the Hollywood Vampires in the book? It seems he was also quietly shown the door and replaced with a session veteran (Glen Sobel) so I'd be curious about his thoughts there. My hunch is that he wanted to be a full member and not just a hired gun, but Alice, Johnny, and Joe didn't feel the same way.

[WhazUp]

8 minutes ago, Ant said:

Doesn't seem like these guys have really deep conversations... all seems very high-school. 

That is I think reflective too in the depth of content in these books.  Matt's book, Scott Weiland's book and Steven Adler's book are all kind of like surface level "I did that, then I went and did that, and then this happened" types of stories that don't have a real sense of depth to them and no emotional moment is really elaborated on that much

Duff's book was by far the best IMO in that sense, and Slash's has at least more of that content than the other ones.  

[Kranich]

10 minutes ago, WhazUp said:

That is I think reflective too in the depth of content in these books.  Matt's book, Scott Weiland's book and Steven Adler's book are all kind of like surface level "I did that, then I went and did that, and then this happened" types of stories that don't have a real sense of depth to them and no emotional moment is really elaborated on that much

Duff's book was by far the best IMO in that sense, and Slash's has at least more of that content than the other ones.  

Duff's book is very inspirational and motivating. Helped me lose 15 kg.

Slash's bio has far more facts and content than other books.  

[Draguns]

1 hour ago, Blackstar said:

Matt had talked a bit about the UYI songs and his playing on them in this interview from 1991:

https://www.a-4-d.com/t4740-1991-06-dd-modern-drummer-matt-sorum-guns-n-roses-new-stickman

He said then that his favourites were Coma and Locomotive:

My favorite is probably a song called "Coma." The song is about ten minutes long and has a lot of different kinds of parts. It starts out real heavy, almost like Metallica or something, and then it breaks down into a Pink Floyd thing. I overdubbed some timpani over it, and I used a gong on it. I warmed up the gong with a Superball, which makes a really eerie sound, like you’re under water. I have some really eerie effects in the middle where I use triangles and shakers and stuff.
There’s a song called "Locomotive" that I like a lot, which is about eight minutes long. It has kind of a funky groove on it, sort of like "Welcome To The Jungle." At the end it goes into something that almost sounds like "Layla." It goes out with a lot of Phil Collins-type tom stuff. I did timbale overdubs on the end fills.

What he says about the same songs in the book:

Then there were the tracks like “Coma,” which I just didn’t get at all. I mean, a ten minute rock song? [...] Something else I quickly noticed was that the songs varied hugely in length. Some were only three minutes or so—an ideal length, in my opinion—whereas others seemed never to end. “Locomotive” was one of those songs. It lasted over eight minutes, and though I was new behind the drums, I couldn’t help but ask, “Does this song really need to be so long?” Slash looked at me, a cigarette hanging out of his mouth like usual, and said, “Yeah, man, it’s cool.”

I'm a bit confused by Matt's reaction to Coma and Locomotive.  He's contradicting himself  in regards to his thoughts. To me, it just puts up some red flags about the book. 

[Blackstar]

1 hour ago, WhazUp said:

Lol that is great 

Ultimately the thing with writing books way after the fact is that you can try and paint or re-write any smallest narrative such as this.  Which sucks when it comes down to actually uncovering the full story of the rise and demise of GNR 

Yeah, these guys have said a million things over the years (sometimes contradicting themselves). Sometimes accounts close to the events are more reliable or honest, other times it is the opposite. Narratives change as agendas and/or sentiments change, so, having this in mind, the best approach to come to a conclusion that is closer to the truth is to read all the accounts by each person, compare them and then compare them with other sources.

But usually the books and a handful of well known articles is what most people read and shape their opinions from. 

Edited June 6, 2020 by Blackstar

[bigpoop]

2 hours ago, Blackstar said:

Matt had talked a bit about the UYI songs and his playing on them in this interview from 1991:

https://www.a-4-d.com/t4740-1991-06-dd-modern-drummer-matt-sorum-guns-n-roses-new-stickman

He said then that his favourites were Coma and Locomotive:

My favorite is probably a song called "Coma." The song is about ten minutes long and has a lot of different kinds of parts. It starts out real heavy, almost like Metallica or something, and then it breaks down into a Pink Floyd thing. I overdubbed some timpani over it, and I used a gong on it. I warmed up the gong with a Superball, which makes a really eerie sound, like you’re under water. I have some really eerie effects in the middle where I use triangles and shakers and stuff.
There’s a song called "Locomotive" that I like a lot, which is about eight minutes long. It has kind of a funky groove on it, sort of like "Welcome To The Jungle." At the end it goes into something that almost sounds like "Layla." It goes out with a lot of Phil Collins-type tom stuff. I did timbale overdubs on the end fills.

What he says about the same songs in the book:

Then there were the tracks like “Coma,” which I just didn’t get at all. I mean, a ten minute rock song? [...] Something else I quickly noticed was that the songs varied hugely in length. Some were only three minutes or so—an ideal length, in my opinion—whereas others seemed never to end. “Locomotive” was one of those songs. It lasted over eight minutes, and though I was new behind the drums, I couldn’t help but ask, “Does this song really need to be so long?” Slash looked at me, a cigarette hanging out of his mouth like usual, and said, “Yeah, man, it’s cool.”

Funny but he wasn't really in a position to not like anything then. Publicly at least. I mean can you imagine if he went in Modern Drummer in 1991 and started slamming Coma or any other song? Bye bye Matt.

[Gordon Comstock]

7 hours ago, KeyserSoze said:

I wonder how much weed axl has smoked, or still smokes? Or is weed a ‘loser drug’ compared to all the crazy shit they were doing back then.. i cant see them smoking it nowadays trying to be clean and what not, no one ever talks about it in GNR land.. theres only that one picture with Axl looking stoned as fuck with a big ass bud during the UYI era

 

Axl picked up at least 3 or 4 joints that were thrown on stage at the Vancouver 2017 show, and put them on his little table thing (with the shakers and cups of water). So he still smokes at least occasionally.

[Blackstar]

4 minutes ago, bigpoop said:

Funny but he wasn't really in a position to not like anything then. Publicly at least. I mean can you imagine if he went in Modern Drummer in 1991 and started slamming Coma or any other song? Bye bye Matt.

He wasn't asked to say which songs he didn't like but which songs were his favourites, so he didn't need to slam anything. He could just have said his "real" favourites (supposing that he tells the truth in the book and he wasn't into Coma and Locomotive) - he must have had a couple that he really liked. 

[marinergtfc]

Where can I get this book then?

[bumcheecksmcghee]

1 hour ago, marinergtfc said:

Where can I get this book then?

Yea i havent quite read it myself 😉

[Nick85]

Next Fernando chat someone should ask him to confirm that it’s true Stephanie Seymour humped the whole band in 92.

[Sydney Fan]

13 hours ago, KeyserSoze said:

My point wasn’t “matt has now blocked GNR from talking completely.” Just that Fernando may have had to deal with putting a stop to this book the last couple of weeks, so thats why theres been radio silence on the bands part 

Cant fernando multitask?

[Sydney Fan]

20 minutes ago, sofine11 said:

Next Fernando chat someone should ask him to confirm that it’s true Stephanie Seymour humped the whole band in 92.

Makes axl look like such a cuck. SS dates axl for 2 years, rubs matts balls tries to get with duff and axl is still writing love songs about her in the 00s. 

[MaskingApathy]

3 hours ago, James Bond said:

Does Matt say anything about the Hollywood Vampires in the book? It seems he was also quietly shown the door and replaced with a session veteran (Glen Sobel) so I'd be curious about his thoughts there. My hunch is that he wanted to be a full member and not just a hired gun, but Alice, Johnny, and Joe didn't feel the same way.

He talks about it but there isn't any mention of him being told to leave. Where did you hear that? I thought he had just left on his own.

[Nick85]

22 minutes ago, Sydney Fan said:

Makes axl look like such a cuck. SS dates axl for 2 years, rubs matts balls tries to get with duff and axl is still writing love songs about her in the 00s. 

It doesn’t make him look particularly bright.

[Sydney Fan]

22 minutes ago, sofine11 said:

It doesn’t make him look particularly bright.

Honestly hes insecure. Guy lives in a huge mansion and could date whoever he wanted, and hes broken over a chick who was no better than the chicks the band used to fuck in their Gardner St days.

 

Edited June 7, 2020 by Sydney Fan

[The Holographic Universe]

I get the feeling Matt was always the Jason Newstead of any band he was in with Slash