Matt Sorum's Autobiography

[Blackstar]

^

He said something like Frank "got it" at rehearsals and works great now. I guess it wasn't like that in the beginning

Edited September 16, 2021 by Blackstar

[agustingloger]

So Matt did want to join the band! And Duff not telling Axl he wanted Matt because he already signed the deal.... I think sadly they are hired guns now more than ever

[Blackstar]

12 minutes ago, agustingloger said:

So Matt did want to join the band!

This is not news. We have known it for a long time now.

Quote

And Duff not telling Axl he wanted Matt because he already signed the deal....

Duff and Slash could have told Axl (and insist) before they signed the deal. Apparently it wasn't that important to them, or at least not as important as it was for Axl to keep Frank.

Quote

I think sadly they are hired guns now more than ever

No.

Edited September 16, 2021 by Blackstar

[agustingloger]

8 minutes ago, Blackstar said:

This is not news. We have known it for a long time now.

Duff and Slash could have told Axl (and insist) before they signed the deal. Apparently it wasn't that important to them, or at least not as important as it was for Axl to keep Frank.

No.

Ok owner of the truth! Not arguing with people like You. 

[Blackstar]

12 minutes ago, agustingloger said:

Ok owner of the truth! Not arguing with people like You. 

I'm not "owner of the truth". I just have an educated opinion based on what has been known - and common sense.

If Slash and Duff wanted Matt so much, they could have insisted on it before they signed the deal. There were two negotiating parties there.

[agustingloger]

14 minutes ago, Blackstar said:

I'm not "owner of the truth". I just have an educated opinion based on what has been known - and common sense.

If Slash and Duff wanted Matt so much, they could have insisted on it before they signed the deal. There were two negotiating parties there.

My Guess is they didn't want to put pressure on Axl or anything like it... It's impossible that they were OK with a shittie drumer now that they were back in the band. It's GUNS N' ROSES what we are talking about . Like the Ashba thing ... If he would Say yes You think they would be ok with that? Or the fact it took 5 years to release something only just to release Silkworms? I don't think they have vote on Anything. Just My opinion

[SoulMonster]

9 minutes ago, agustingloger said:

My Guess is they didn't want to put pressure on Axl or anything like it... It's impossible that they were OK with a shittie drumer now that they were back in the band. It's GUNS N' ROSES what we are talking about . Like the Ashba thing ... If he would Say yes You think they would be ok with that? Or the fact it took 5 years to release something only just to release Silkworms? I don't think they have vote on Anything. Just My opinion

I think some fans take "Guns N' Roses" a lot more seriously than some band members.

[Blackstar]

13 minutes ago, agustingloger said:

My Guess is they didn't want to put pressure on Axl or anything like it... It's impossible that they were OK with a shittie drumer now that they were back in the band. It's GUNS N' ROSES what we are talking about . Like the Ashba thing ... If he would Say yes You think they would be ok with that? Or the fact it took 5 years to release something only just to release Silkworms? I don't think they have vote on Anything. Just My opinion

The Ashba thing, most likely, wasn't even real. Regardless of what Ashba said, It doesn't seem he was ever part of the reunion conversation. And no, if it had really been part of the conversation, I don't think Slash and Duff would've been on board with it.

As for new music, they - Slash at least - probably didn't even expect the reunion would last that long, so they weren't thinking about that so much. Slash's thoughts probably were on when the GnR tour would end or take a break so that he would release the last SMKC album that he had ready since 2015.

Edited September 16, 2021 by Blackstar

[Sweersa]

Is Frank really even that bad? I'm no drummer, and would prefer Brain, but just wondering if Frank really is as bad as some imply, from a technical standpoint. He sounds good on the 2008 album, and good enough at the live shows I've attended. 

[jekylhyde]

2 minutes ago, Sweersa said:

Is Frank really even that bad? I'm no drummer, and would prefer Brain, but just wondering if Frank really is as bad as some imply, from a technical standpoint. He sounds good on the 2008 album, and good enough at the live shows I've attended. 

I don't think he is bad, but from what I understand he plays (or played) differently than what Duff and Slash were used to and maybe vice verse. I guess the band does sound a bit more cohesive and swagger-y now with slower tempos compared to pre-Covid tour 

[Beto 22]

I personally think that if UYI was a single album it would be as big or bigger than Appetite. 

If a real producer could choose the right tracklist it would be a massive album for all kinds of audiences.

It would be a more ballad album with Don't Cry, November Rain Civil War and Estranged but it would still have a pretty hard rock album for 1991

 

[Beto 22]

4 hours ago, estrangeder said:

Theres some Frank bash in the end by Duff, ”He cant even play the drums” ”I must talk to Axl I cant play with this guy” We gotta rehearse again cause YOU dont play the drums!” 
 

bullshit or not Frank and Duff seem to like each other, training together and stuff..

I think Duff said that just to save face to Matt since Duff had signed the deal already.

It's "for me it would be you, but there's nothing I can do about it"

The old habit of Duff and Slash to blame the lead singer for not stsnding up for themselves

[drlaban]

1 hour ago, Beto 22 said:

I personally think that if UYI was a single album it would be as big or bigger than Appetite. 

If a real producer could choose the right tracklist it would be a massive album for all kinds of audiences.

It would be a more ballad album with Don't Cry, November Rain Civil War and Estranged but it would still have a pretty hard rock album for 1991

 

The good thing with CD is that you can hit skip on songs you don’t like. 

[estrangeder]

Funny thing if hes ”bad” hes probably drummed those songs More years than anyone before. And Axl is probably picky, if he sucked he would be gone long time ago.

[MaskingApathy]

7 hours ago, estrangeder said:

Theres some Frank bash in the end by Duff, ”He cant even play the drums” ”I must talk to Axl I cant play with this guy” We gotta rehearse again cause YOU dont play the drums!” 
 

bullshit or not Frank and Duff seem to like each other, training together and stuff..

I think now Frank and Duff work together well, but not so much back then. Duff knew that if it was Matt there instead they wouldn't need to rehearse in depth so much because they would fall back into the old rhythm, plus they had been playing some GnR material already in Kings of Chaos.

7 hours ago, Blackstar said:

Duff was on a bass themed podcast recently (didn't say anything about new GnR music, only that he wrote a new solo album during lockdown and doesn't know when he'll release it). When asked about his favourite drummers, he said Frank "is evolving" in the last five years. Starts around 37:16 minute mark:

http://lifestyle.jimdunlop.com/bass-freqs-ep17-duff-mckagan/

Listening now

7 hours ago, Blackstar said:

^

He said something like Frank "got it" at rehearsals and works great now. I guess it wasn't like that in the beginning

Yeah exactly, and Slash has alluded to that also.

6 hours ago, Blackstar said:

I'm not "owner of the truth". I just have an educated opinion based on what has been known - and common sense.

If Slash and Duff wanted Matt so much, they could have insisted on it before they signed the deal. There were two negotiating parties there.

Someone had said earlier on that Slash/Duff asked about Matt and Axl/TB told them that Matt wasn't an option, if they brought it up again they weren't going to negotiate any more. So I think they really had no other choice and Slash especially wasn't happy about it (especially after playing with Fitzy). 

5 hours ago, Sweersa said:

Is Frank really even that bad? I'm no drummer, and would prefer Brain, but just wondering if Frank really is as bad as some imply, from a technical standpoint. He sounds good on the 2008 album, and good enough at the live shows I've attended. 

He's fine on a technical level, the problem is how he plays the old songs. It's not so bad now that they're doing the songs closer to the album tempos, the feel and groove is more like how it was back in the day, but earlier most of the songs were too fast and kind of sloppy in a bad way. I think the problem is that he came into GnR doing the songs in his own way and then having to relearn them the original way is a little difficult when he's been playing it another way for the past 10+ years. That's why Locomotive sounded pretty good when they did it because he had to learn it from scratch from the record.

[agustingloger]

I don't think he is a Bad drummer otherwise he wouldn't be there. But his Style and sound doesn't fit too much with GNR I think

[Sweersa]

2 minutes ago, MaskingApathy said:

He's fine on a technical level, the problem is how he plays the old songs. It's not so bad now that they're doing the songs closer to the album tempos, the feel and groove is more like how it was back in the day, but earlier most of the songs were too fast and kind of sloppy in a bad way. I think the problem is that he came into GnR doing the songs in his own way and then having to relearn them the original way is a little difficult when he's been playing it another way for the past 10+ years. That's why Locomotive sounded pretty good when they did it because he had to learn it from scratch from the record.

That makes a lot of sense. I appreciate the detailed explanation! 

[MaskingApathy]

Just now, Sweersa said:

That makes a lot of sense. I appreciate the detailed explanation! 

They did that Dio birthday fundraiser livestream this year and Frank and Gilby did a song and he sounded really good on it, so it's not like he can't play. When I saw them a couple weeks ago he wasn't that bad, like it wasn't as offensive as before.

[Blackstar]

3 minutes ago, MaskingApathy said:

Someone had said earlier on that Slash/Duff asked about Matt and Axl/TB told them that Matt wasn't an option, if they brought it up again they weren't going to negotiate any more. So I think they really had no other choice and Slash especially wasn't happy about it (especially after playing with Fitzy). 

If that rumour is true (about Axl saying that it would either be Frank and Steven or end of negotiations, and Matt was out of the question), I guess Slash and Duff could have equally said "it's either Matt or end of negotiations", if it was so crucial for them. But they didn't, so it seems that it wasn't such a big deal to them as it was for Axl to keep Frank.

[MaskingApathy]

24 minutes ago, Blackstar said:

If that rumour is true (about Axl saying that it would either be Frank and Steven or end of negotiations, and Matt was out of the question), I guess Slash and Duff could have equally said "it's either Matt or end of negotiations", if it was so crucial for them. But they didn't, so it seems that it wasn't such a big deal to them as it was for Axl to keep Frank.

Tbh I'm not sure that Steven was seriously considered for anything more than a few guest appearances. 

As far as Slash/Duff saying Matt or nothing, at the time they thought it would just be Coachella and a couple other dates (Troubadour and Vegas) so I guess they figured they could put up with Frank for that, but then a whole tour got booked and by then Frank was in and the contracts had been signed so they were stuck with him. That's my take on it anyway based on what we know. Also we know that they had started rehearsing with Frank earlier on (when they were supposedly waiting for Izzy etc) but it seems that it wasn't decided for certain until closer to the Troubadour show, so I think they were still finalizing the contracts then.

[Beto 22]

3 hours ago, MaskingApathy said:

Tbh I'm not sure that Steven was seriously considered for anything more than a few guest appearances. 

Although I think Adler physically can't put up with touring at this level, his participation would be more like "you play Appetite era songs, Frank will play the rest of the songs" situation.

 

 

[rocknroll41]

Just now, Beto 22 said:

Although I think Adler physically can't put up with touring at this level, his participation would be more like "you play Appetite era songs, Frank will play the rest of the songs" situation.

 

 

Adler claims that that’s how it was gonna be at one point, and then his back injury happened.

[Modano09]

12 hours ago, Blackstar said:

I'm not "owner of the truth". I just have an educated opinion based on what has been known - and common sense.

If Slash and Duff wanted Matt so much, they could have insisted on it before they signed the deal. There were two negotiating parties there.

In general it feels like there's some compromises being made so Axl/Duff/Slash can all get along so my guess is they'd prefer Matt but not enough to insist on it if Axl didn't.

[Modano09]

1 hour ago, rocknroll41 said:

Adler claims that that’s how it was gonna be at one point, and then his back injury happened.

I've said it before but I would be stunned if they were going to introduce a potential timebomb like Alder to what was already a potentially fragile situation starting out.

Guest appearances here and there, okay, but being a regular part of the band on every show seems unlikely. 

[rocknroll41]

5 minutes ago, Modano09 said:

I've said it before but I would be stunned if they were going to introduce a potential timebomb like Alder to what was already a potentially fragile situation starting out.

Guest appearances here and there, okay, but being a regular part of the band on every show seems unlikely. 

Yeah I have a hard time trusting Adler’s words on the situation.

in any case, at least his back healed and he got to play with them a few times and is now doing much better and has a good singer. Happy for him.

Edited September 17, 2021 by rocknroll41