Why was Snakepit never bigger than it was?

[Free Bird]

The question should be, "why was Snakepit bigger than it actually was?"

Because they were a cool band which made great music, especially compared to everything else around them at the time. 

There was barely anything new to enjoy for me. Never liked Soundgarden, Nirvana or Pearl Jam

The only other new music I loved around the time were Tito&Tarantula and Californication from the Chili Peppers. Fortunately there was a lot of old music to discover but the mid 90s and early 00s were extremely poor for my taste.

 

 

[Blackstar]

Gilby offers his explanation (from a new interview):

---------

During a conversation with '80s Metal Recycle Bin, guitarist Gilby Clarke talked about the impact of grunge during his 1991-1994 tenure in Guns N' Roses.

Gilby commented:

"There was a lot of talk of the climate changing - a lot of it. Axl [Rose] was always on top of that stuff. He loved Nirvana, he loved Soundgarden; he loved Pearl Jam.

"He liked a lot of those bands a lot more than, I would say, myself, Slash and Duff [McKagan]. We were a little slower to the change.

"I think when we really noticed the big change is when we got off the road.

"I had made a solo record; Slash had made a solo record. We were playing stadiums one year, and next year we were playing clubs - Theaters sometimes and stuff.

"But two or three years earlier, and Slash's solo band would have been playing in an arena. So we could definitely tell the climate had changed at that point.

"I remember one thing that stuck with Slash and I when we were coming out of the Rainbow one time. And this was around probably '92, '93.

"And somebody saw Slash and goes, 'Oh, my God. Look, it's Slash.' But they were laughing - like he was a cartoon character, not Slash from Guns N' Roses, which, three or four years before that, was the coolest motherfucker on the planet.

"So that was a couple of things that we could kind of tell that things were changing a little bit. Some bands were starting to be a little cartoonish rather than having the musical credibility."

https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/gnr_guitarist_explains_what_axl_thought_about_nirvana__grunge_recalls_fans_ridiculing_slash.html

 

[SoulMonster]

Too little, too late. 

[The Dissident]

On 1/8/2021 at 11:25 AM, ssiscool said:

So Snaepit was formed as we know if '95. Not too long after the culmination of the UYI Tour. Slash was Riding high. But Snakepit never really took off. It could of easily been a huge band, but always seemed to lack something. What do you guys think is missing?

From what I read in Slash's book the record label was only willing to let him do a tiny tour for the first album and then said they wouldn't do anything else until a new GNR record came out, soon after Slash quit. I don't recall if the two snakepit albums were on the same label so that might have played a role and as others have said rock was on the decline.

[Chester 524]

5 hours ago, The Dissident said:

From what I read in Slash's book the record label was only willing to let him do a tiny tour for the first album and then said they wouldn't do anything else until a new GNR record came out, soon after Slash quit. I don't recall if the two snakepit albums were on the same label so that might have played a role and as others have said rock was on the decline.

they were not on the same label.  snakepit 2 was on Koch records which did a terrible job promoting the band.

snakepit 1 would have been bigger with a better singer in 1990.  by 95 everyone was unti grunge balls and gangsta rap.

[Gordon Comstock]

Honestly, they just weren't that good. Of course there's some good riffs and ideas in those 2 albums, but to me they're like slightly better SMKC albums, and neither singer was going to bring the band up to an arena level.

I hope he does another "Slash & Friends" album one day. That was easily his best solo album and it would be a nice change of pace from the stuff with Myles.

[Free Bird]

Snakepit 1 is an Island album for me easily. The lyrics could have been better but I like the singers voice and the music's just great. Beggars, Soma City Ward, Dime Store Rock, Neither Can I, Back and Forth, Jizz Da Pit... record's full of awesome tunes with Slash at the top of his game.

[estrangedtwat]

Shitty, shitty singer.  That's it. 

[ToonGuns]

4 hours ago, estrangedtwat said:

Shitty, shitty singer.  That's it. 

Which one?

[PatrickS77]

On 1/8/2021 at 8:25 PM, ssiscool said:

So Snaepit was formed as we know if '95. Not too long after the culmination of the UYI Tour. Slash was Riding high. But Snakepit never really took off. It could of easily been a huge band, but always seemed to lack something. What do you guys think is missing?

Easy, Axl. If anything, people were interested in new GNR (at least the ones still interested in that sort of thing). Not Slash and an uknown singer. I think he was great though and liked the album quite a lot.

[Tom2112]

Didn't have the songs would be my guess, not they are bad - they are fine but they aren't jaw dropping "I have to listen to that song on repeat" songs. Then the music climate at the time wasn't very receptive of that style of music. I think it also came out on Geffen? who obviously wanted Slash back in GNR, so I doubt they killed themselves working the record, probably just enough not to totally piss off Slash 🤣

[Sisyphus]

Snakepit Mk II reunion would be the most exciting thing ever. Ain't Life Grand is a great record. My favourite GN'R related project alongside Contraband. It's a pity Slash didn't do more with Rod Jackson.

To me ALG is vastly superior to It's Five O'clock Somewhere. Eric Dover was quite boring. The touring for the first record was also cut short due to GN'R supposedly getting back together in the studio, if I remember correctly.

It was a combination of many things. The rise of alternative music, lack of hit singles, very little promotion and exposure, especially with the second record. 

Edited January 25, 2021 by Sisyphus

[EvanG]

Because the band only released two records? I'm not sure about the second record, but the first one sold fairly well. Plus, I remember that they were playing huge festivals around Europe at the time, probably primarily due to Slash's fame, but for a band with only one record out, they weren't exactly playing small places. If Slash had managed to keep the band together and release more records, they would have been able to build a loyal fanbase, and I don't see why they couldn't have become a household name in the rock world.

Edited January 26, 2021 by EvanG

[Sweersa]

I know this is mostly off topic, but I have given both Velvet Revolver albums many listens in my vehicle recently, and I must say I like Libertad much more between the two. It's only missing Messages. If they swapped the weakest song from Libertad for the Messages track, I think it would have been more successful.  Would have made a great single too, it's an emotional song too since it's sung from the perspective of a doomed father in the twin towers on 9/11.

[jamillos]

I like some of the new endeavours, and VR wasn't too bad either, but as a whole album, 5 o' Clock is the best Slash's thing outside Guns to me. The music was so rock n' roll. Haven't heard it in ages, though. 

[Free Bird]

50 minutes ago, jamillos said:

I like some of the new endeavours, and VR wasn't too bad either, but as a whole album, 5 o' Clock is the best Slash's thing outside Guns to me. The music was so rock n' roll. Haven't heard it in ages, though. 

I agree,  it is groovy and with cool jams throughout the whole record.

[Sweersa]

My favorite Slash work outside of GN'R is his 2010 solo album. I imagine what some of the songs would have sounded with Axl on lead vocals. (Nothing against the singers on it, they were fantastic) Josh Freese played drums on a lot of those songs too.

[themadcaplaughs]

On the first album: generic songwriting and an even more generic singer (when a more unique or energetic singer could have brought some of those songs to life) combined with the fact that, per Slash's book, the label essentially viewed the album as a way to let Slash blow off steam before he went to record the next Guns N' Roses record. 

As other have pointed out, I think there were also issues with record label on the second era of Snakepit, but the overwhelming feeling was that it just wasn't what people were listening to in terms of rock music at the beginning of the 2000s. Even when GN'R came back in 2001, the discussion focused more on the new players (who were hand picked from various bands who had gotten famous in the years subsequent to Slash leaving the band) and the supposedly "futuristic" record which would be coming out from that lineup more than the fact that they'd be playing old material. 

[EvanG]

The Snakepit records are the only Slash efforts after GnR that I really got into. I liked both singers too, great rock vocalists.

[North Korean Democracy]

Listened to it recently and for me it's a forgettable album, the only banger is Beggars & Hangers On (which he should play live more often with The Conspirators). More than half the songs I already forgot how they went. The bluesy riffs are cool but not enough to save the album.

Maybe he needed Axl to bring different vocal melodies and contribute to the songs to make them better, although other than the mentioned song I don't remember if there was a riff that was really memorable there.

[Mendez]

Aside from the quality of the songs (which, like GNR, had a couple absolute bangers,but also some duds) not much memorable hooks. Always gotta have a catchy hook for a band to become popular, and I don't remember the hooks being particularly catchy. Good To Be Alive had great verses and prechorus, but the choruas was lacking

 

Times called for different genres

 

also one thing everyone forgets is side projects are almost never popular, or even as popular as bands they came from.

[MaskingApathy]

I disagree, I think both albums are really good, he just couldn't keep a good lineup together plus he had his own problems going on. It wasn't until VR that Slash could get back on top again.

[agustingloger]

Axl was missing. So Slash was missing in Chinese. They are meant to be ... We missed 20 years . I love them but i hate them too

[agustingloger]

I always loved Neither Can I . 

[ShadowOfTheWave]

Dover is a hideous singer, piss poor lyrics and vocal melodies, plus southern blues rock just wasn't "in" in 1995. Rod Jackson is a great singer, and writes great vocal melodies and pretty cool lyrics, but rock n roll was completely dead by 2000.