'Not in this Lifetime' Selects - Overview

[ZoSoRose]

9 minutes ago, WhazUp said:

I disagree, the shows in 2016 I caught Slash was the MVP of the band IMO - he was on fire

Agreed, and 2017 was even more impressive guitar wise

[DK6]

1 hour ago, RussTCB said:

Personally, I don't want Slash to play just like the record but there's some stuff that just doesn't sound right at all to me. Taking Chinese Democracy songs out of the argument, look at Slash's recent renditions of his own Yesterdays solo. Just awful IMO. It's not that it doesn't sound like the record, it's that Slash doesn't sound like he gives a remote shit. Just my opinion 

Yeah fair enough.

I guess it is quite a subjective thing also.

Some will love an improvised version - others won't. 

I love Slash's TWAT and TIL (2016 at least) whereas others on this site have been apalled by them.

We all will have our own opinions (just that I'm right and evryone else is wrong )

 

[RussTCB]

2 minutes ago, DK6 said:

Yeah fair enough.

I guess it is quite a subjective thing also.

Some will love an improvised version - others won't. 

I love Slash's TWAT and TIL (2016 at least) whereas others on this site have been apalled by them.

We all will have our own opinions (just that I'm right and evryone else is wrong )

 

Haha, I think a lot of us feel exactly the same as your last point. 

For the record, I really liked what Slash did with TIL in 2016 too. After that, not so much. 

[DK6]

I must say Slash's solo from the latest release was very disappointing.

Just shredding like crazy with no melody.

And people say its Frank's fault the band plays too fast!

 

 

[Live Like a Suicide]

3 hours ago, Blackstar said:

This one?

Slash: [...] The other side of it was figuring out what my version of The Chinese Democracy stuff would be like, because that was a whole different Guns N’ Roses animal in terms of the musicians involved. A lot of it I thought was really cool, like Buckethead did some cool shit so I would stick to that but do it in my own way so it didn’t feel too foreign or like I was squeezing a round peg into a square hole. That was interesting and fun… more fun than it was intimidating.

Q: On the song Better, instead of trying to play like Robin Finck trying to play like you - as per the recorded version - you chose to do your own thing…

Slash:  Some of the stuff I won’t do note-for-note because it doesn’t have a serious melodic significance to the song. It sounded like they were making it up...

Because Slash's improvised noodling is so much more melodic, lol.

[Free Bird]

6 hours ago, Gordon Comstock said:

I always laugh when I read shit like "Slash just plays the solos his own way". When Robin and Bucket played the old solos "their way", they got nothing but shit from most fans. But Slash gets away with it because he's Slash.

There's a difference between fucking up the classics or playing so called "GNR songs" in a more "classic era style". That's got nothing to do with double standards  lol.

[valengf]

Yo this has been the best GNR Selects so far. Appreciate it

Edited July 12, 2021 by valengf

[adamsapple]

14 hours ago, Rovim said:

...live it was messy cause he probably didn't want to sit and learn all the parts. Why would he do it for Twat if he didn't do it for his own work.

Because it's his job to play guitar properly and he gets paid millions of dollars to do it.

[Tom2112]

21 hours ago, circusboy666 said:

So glad I refunded my tickets for this upcoming tour and didn’t buy new ones after covid. Straight up Axl hasn’t sounded good in almost a decade, an embarrassing shell of himself and personally the band just isn’t gritty anymore. It’s over polished.

Ah... well, the last decade hasn't been kind, but there have been points where he was on point. Like 2012 when everyone was saying "His voice is shit" you listen to it now and you go 'not as good as 2006 or the early days and it's a bit too clean in spots' but the overall concert experience was held together because he could still nail Jungle, Rocket Queen etc. I think had they could have once again went through the archives of 2016 and found much better versions of each of these songs. 

As for skipping these upcoming shows, that seems sensible to me right now for somebody who sounds as burnt out as you. If things take a turn for the positive I'd definitely recommend going because you just don't know how long that will last.

[El Guapo]

9 minutes ago, Nesret said:

Keeping in mind that this is a guy who's work-ethics have been praised countless times, it makes it even less understandable for me. 

Taste is taste. Whoever thinks it sounds better the way he plays it, more power to them. But the apologies that are being made for Slash are really a bit ridiculous in my opinion. To me it sounds a bit like:

"Of course it sounds like shit, but you have to understand, he doesn't care"

"That's understandable when he is bored by these songs"

"He doesn't learn his own songs sometimes, why should he learn GnR's"

Or we are presented interviews in which he talks down the guitar-work done by his replacements, used as a base of justification as to why he didn't even have to bother to sit down and learn the songs and solos properly. I still maintain the opinion that his approach is lazy, careless and also - even if unintentionally - arrogant. But so is Axl's.

I agree. He doesn't care and that's it.

[DefinitelyInThisLifetime]

Slash could show up, drop his guitar, smash it and continue to play out of tune and everyone would jizz all over it. A lot of us aren’t blinded by ZOMG SLASH IS DA BESTEST!!! He sounded like shit on a lot of songs, he doesn’t care about Chinese Democracy and he’s just in it for the money.

[Stay.Of.Execution]

6 minutes ago, DefinitelyInThisLifetime said:

Slash could show up, drop his guitar, smash it and continue to play out of tune and everyone would jizz all over it. A lot of us aren’t blinded by ZOMG SLASH IS DA BESTEST!!! He sounded like shit on a lot of songs, he doesn’t care about Chinese Democracy and he’s just in it for the money.

Good thing You know everything and can tell us. That way we have to stop wondering.

[Rovim]

1 hour ago, Nesret said:

Keeping in mind that this is a guy who's work-ethics have been praised countless times, it makes it even less understandable for me. 

Taste is taste. Whoever thinks it sounds better the way he plays it, more power to them. But the apologies that are being made for Slash are really a bit ridiculous in my opinion. To me it sounds a bit like:

"Of course it sounds like shit, but you have to understand, he doesn't care"

"That's understandable when he is bored by these songs"

"He doesn't learn his own songs sometimes, why should he learn GnR's"

Or we are presented interviews in which he talks down the guitar-work done by his replacements, used as a base of justification as to why he didn't even have to bother to sit down and learn the songs and solos properly. I still maintain the opinion that his approach is lazy, careless and also - even if unintentionally - arrogant. But so is Axl's.

you're saying "taste is taste" and then you proceed to say that excuses are being made for it sounding like shit and that he didn't learn the solos properly.

no one is making excuses, even bored, Slash is arguably the star of the show and I honestly think his renditions of the Chinese material are pretty cool. I prefer the studio versions but I don't think labeling him as lazy reflects what I believe is the reason for his approach.

Slash never really focused too much on making sure it sounds as close to the studio versions as possible, not even with his own material and I think it is partly cause he actually likes to improvise live, and relies on what he can do during the performance. This could be a big part of what he likes about playing live imo.

Robin did something very similar with the Gn'R material. Richard chose to keep it pretty much the same with the solos he was given to play. (NR for example in the previous lineups)

even Jimmy Page did the same thing with his live solos but I guess he was also just too lazy/high/drunk to do the work.

Edited July 12, 2021 by Rovim

[Gackt]

The simple answer is that Slash doesn't care about the quality of his performances and bettering himself, he's already got your money.  

[Rovim]

6 minutes ago, Nesret said:

I thought that distinction was made pretty clear. If you read again you'll see that I'm not talking about those genuinely liking his approach. I even said "more power to them", Jesus Christ 😂

so who are the people who do make excuses for Slash sounding like shit and being lazy? I'd appreciate it if you'll point me to those posts but maybe no one was making excuses and every poster that was positive about it actually likes Slash's renditions of the Chinese material?

Edited July 12, 2021 by Rovim

[Tom2112]

18 minutes ago, Rovim said:

you're saying "taste is taste" and then you proceed to say that excuses are being made for it sounding like shit and that he didn't learn the solos properly.

no one is making excuses, even bored, Slash is arguably the star of the show and I honestly think his renditions of the Chinese material are pretty cool. I prefer the studio versions but I don't think labeling him as lazy reflects what I believe is the reason for his approach.

Slash never really focused too much on making sure it sounds as close to the studio versions as possible, not even with his own material and I think it is partly cause he actually likes to improvise live, and relies on what he can do during the performance. This could be a big part of what he likes about playing live imo.

Robin did something very similar with the Gn'R material. Richard chose to keep it pretty much the same with the solos he was given to play. (NR for example in the previous lineups)

even Jimmy Page did the same thing with his live solos but I guess he was also just too lazy/high/drunk to do the work.

I'm all for improvising, I love listening to the old versions and hearing where he takes the solo... but I don't want to hear him improvise when it's so loose it sounds like noodling, and to my ears there's a lot of noodles going on.

Outside of the CD material which I think he has largely mishandled (my opinion), he has unquestionably ruined his solo in Yesterdays and Dead horse. There is a time and place for "I'm just going to feel it" and there's a time where you need to say "what I improvise is not as good as what's written, I better sit down and (re)learn some of these parts". Good is subjective, but when you hear the studio version of Yesterdays and the 2017 live version it's hard to argue for the 2017 version... outside of that Slash is playing how Slash wants to play.

[Rovim]

7 minutes ago, Tom2112 said:

I'm all for improvising, I love listening to the old versions and hearing where he takes the solo... but I don't want to hear him improvise when it's so loose it sounds like noodling, and to my ears there's a lot of noodles going on.

Outside of the CD material which I think he has largely mishandled (my opinion), he has unquestionably ruined his solo in Yesterdays and Dead horse. There is a time and place for "I'm just going to feel it" and there's a time where you need to say "what I improvise is not as good as what's written, I better sit down and (re)learn some of these parts". Good is subjective, but when you hear the studio version of Yesterdays and the 2017 live version it's hard to argue for the 2017 version... outside of that Slash is playing how Slash wants to play.

 do you recall Bumble's shredding on 14 years? this is a guy who works super hard. It sounded terrible to me. I think every player brings their own personality into the music. This means the way they tackle the material, their tone, etc. I don't like every Slash rendition of a Chinese solo or what he did in Yesterdays and Dead Horse. I think in recent years his tendency to overplay has grew and some tunes suffer for it but I also believe this is his way of 1. not getting bored/even more bored with playing the same shit over and over 2. actually expanding the ideas from their studio form (sometimes) and 3. Slash probably doesn't enjoy sitting and going through the material meticulously until it is just right.

you can be upset (not you specifically) about Slash's approach but his approach is also what makes him great. The spontaneity and his drive to explore without the safety net of just delivering the studio versions.

I guess he could come more prepared, like other band members in Gn'R, but I can't fault him for being the kind of player he is cause maybe just like he said he wanted to "kill" his producer during the making of World On Fire cause he kept making him record many takes of a solo idea cause he thought it could be better, maybe the way Slash got to where he is as a guitar player is doing it his way which basically means more freedom to do what he wants with the material live.

I choose to take the good with the bad with Slash cause I think it's important for him to enjoy the process for most of it to be good or something I enjoy. He's just doing his thing with his preferred method imo.

 

[Tom-Ass]

10 hours ago, WhazUp said:

I disagree, the shows in 2016 I caught Slash was the MVP of the band IMO - he was on fire

100%. That seems to be the consensus I hear from people. I new a lot of people that went to those first two Stadium shows in Foxboro.. He still carries the shows. Also the only one on stage the whole show and pretty sure the only one who doesn't change his outfits the whole show.. Just rips... I still don't think he plays as good with the NITL lineup as he does in some guest spots and with SMKC  but he is still the rock up there.

[DefinitelyInThisLifetime]

2 hours ago, StayofExecution2020 said:

Good thing You know everything and can tell us. That way we have to stop wondering.

The “give a fuck?” look on his playing, slack jawed and wanky tells anyone all they need to know. One of the largest grossing tours, so cash cow. If he cared he’d be pushing guns to make new material. For the minute he can go out, play the hits and get paid. He doesn’t give a fuck and most of us can see it. 
 

Even The Smashing Pumpkins, who’ve had more lineups and roster changes than Guns have put out material semi often, hell, even bands like Jane’s Addiction who are semi-retired, off tour, on tour, doing whatever are more consistent.

[MrSoftie]

TWAT sounded great. Axl actually used the dynamics of his voice properly - it sounds controlled rather than weak.

Not the worst Slash solo but it's just not right, he either needs to full Slash it or learn the Buckethead solo... the half and half just sounds strange.

[ChineseDemocracy2004]

On 7/9/2021 at 9:19 PM, Tom2112 said:

There's been a handful of good TWAT performances, one in 2007 that was on YouTube. It was Almost perfect.

They didn't play TWAT in 2007.

On 7/11/2021 at 12:57 AM, Gordon Comstock said:

Well there is that part in Jordan that (intentionally) sounds like chickens...

I get what you mean, Ron (especially in 2006-07) would end up making bad video game noises at times.

Thinking about playing Jordan hurts my hands.

I think the band could've been more giving to Ron at the time. Joining a week before a show and having to learn the Chinese material through headphones having asked for tabs etc instead couldn't have been easy even for someone as skilled as he is.

2009 onwards if you were to close your eyes you may have thought Buckethead was playing if you didn't notice the differences in tone.

21 hours ago, Beto 22 said:

I think 2010 was a good year, even with Ashba

I think 2010 was a great year. Perhaps the band's best year until 2016.

19 hours ago, Gordon Comstock said:

The first half of 2010 was the peak of nuGNR as a touring band IMO. Varied setlists, lots of new songs, surprise shows... Axl sounded great and looked more like "classic Axl" than he did in 2006.

I miss the tie die jackets.

When did the wheels come off for you; before Abu Dhabi or afterwards?

Edited July 12, 2021 by ChineseDemocracy2004

[adamsapple]

57 minutes ago, MrSoftie said:

Not the worst Slash solo but it's just not right, he either needs to full Slash it or learn the Buckethead solo... the half and half just sounds strange.

I think he just can't really play Buckethead's solo at all - or else he would have shown by now and perhaps even added a cherry on top, like Buckethead did with the Nightrain solo.

Slash doesn't even care to get the timing and the bendings for Robin Finck's solo right. He emulates a kill switch with a wah, chops the melodic flow and structure of the song into bits and pieces and on top of that replaces chromatic tapping with pentatonic noodling. That's not a matter of style, improvisation or taste, that's simply playing the wrong notes because he can't be bothered to really listen to that beautiful song. I've seen bedroom guitarists on YouTube doing this song more justice than him.

Maybe they should just stop playing CD material and go full on nostalgia. Perhaps even replace the November Rain coda with that of Locomotive and then play the SCOM solo in the middle of Jungle. People probably wouldn't mind or even notice, as long as the guitarist is Slash.

[adamsapple]

[doublepost and no delete button sorry]

Edited July 12, 2021 by adamsapple

[SAU3R]

1 minute ago, adamsapple said:

I think he just can't really play Buckethead's solo properly at all - or else he would have shown at least once by now and perhaps even added a cherry on top, like Buckethead did with the Nightrain solo.

Slash doesn't even care to get the timing and the bendings for Robin Finck's solo right. He emulates a kill switch with a wah, chops the melodic flow and structure of the song into bits and pieces and on top of that replaces chromatic tapping with pentatonic noodling. That's not a matter of style, improvisation or taste, that's simply playing the wrong notes because he can't be bothered to really listen to that beautiful song in the first place. I've seen bedroom guitarists on YouTube doing this song more justice than him.

Maybe they should just stop playing CD material and go full on nostalgia. Perhaps even replace the November Rain coda with that of Locomotive and then play the SCOM solo in the middle of Jungle. People probably wouldn't mind or even notice, as long as the guitarist is Slash.

I think he did the solo quite well. He stayed close to the album version but it still sounded like Slash. Also I can't imagine Slash using a killswitch or doing tapping. 

[El Guapo]

Playing it like the record is absolutely not required, imo. The thing is, if you play guitar yourself you just hear that it has not much to do with "adding his own spin", he just doesn't care and does...something to fill the space.