How Different Would Things Be Now If Axl Went Solo?

[Blackstar]

The question in the OP, though, is not "what if" Axl was a different person, a "normal" musician like Dave Grohl etc.. It's "what if" Axl, still being Axl, hadn't kept the name: would there be more music?

Summarizing the different "what if" scenarios in that alternate reality:

1) Axl starts a new project, releases an album sooner (since he doesn't have to "compete" with the old band  and prove that he can reinvent GnR) and continues successfully = more music from Axl than we've had.

2) Axl doesn't do anything and the band reunites in the early 2000s (as it's easier for them to sort out their differences, since Axl hasn't tried to reinvent GnR) = potentially more GnR music.

3) Axl releases a solo album sooner (see point 1) and then the band reunites = more music from both Axl and GnR.

4) Axl releases a solo album at some point, then disappears for whatever reason and the band doesn't manage to reunite but many years later as a touring nostalgia act = the same amount of music that we've had.

5) Axl doesn't do anything, disappears completely for years, the band eventually reunites many years later as a nostalgia act = no new music from Axl or GnR.

So in the 3 out of 5 scenarios, we'd get more music, in 1 we'd get the same, and only in 1 we'd get less.

Edited July 7, 2021 by Blackstar

[RussTCB]

The actual question of the thread is "How Different Would Things Be Now If Axl Went Solo?"

The answer is: things would be the same because Axl is Axl, the GN'R name has nothing to do with that.

[DurhamGirl]

2 hours ago, 19AT5 said:

I'd likely agree with your last point. He fucked it single handedly himself. 

Maybe he couldnt help it...

[CAFC Nick]

On 7/6/2021 at 4:27 PM, BangoSkank said:

Eh, I don't see why he couldn't have headlined. If he played his cards right he could have eventually pulled an Ozzy and made a name for himself as a totally separate act from GNR.

Eventually, maybe, but certainly not the ‘leg up’ that having the GNR name gave him right off the bat.

[alfierose]

I also don't think it will have helped that the majority of ex GNR reconvened into Velvet Revolver and were having commercial success for a while and an acclaimed first album plus a Grammy.

Going solo or forming a new band would have drawn comparisons that I'm certain wouldn't be welcome unless Axl managed to get his stuff out first (very unlikely) and garnered a good amount of recognition and success. It's harder to be the one guy who takes his shot at glory after everyone else if that makes sense. At least by remaining under the GNR moniker he had legacy to fall back on and could retain an illusion of higher rock kudos than VR.

I do think that ultimately CD was a better album than Contraband (others are free to disagree ) but nobody knew if that would be the case in 2004 so the mere existence of VR must have weighed heavy on Axl for a while. 

Spoiler

Until it imploded messily that is! 

 

[DTV88]

2 hours ago, CAFC Nick said:

Eventually, maybe, but certainly not the ‘leg up’ that having the GNR name gave him right off the bat.

I disagree. Until new music is released, it’s hard to take a band seriously no matter how talented the individuals may be. Velvet Revolver released Set Me Free not too long after they were announced as a band. That created excitement and an idea of the direction of the new band.

[Blackstar]

2 hours ago, alfierose said:

I also don't think it will have helped that the majority of ex GNR reconvened into Velvet Revolver and were having commercial success for a while and an acclaimed first album plus a Grammy.

Going solo or forming a new band would have drawn comparisons that I'm certain wouldn't be welcome unless Axl managed to get his stuff out first (very unlikely) and garnered a good amount of recognition and success. It's harder to be the one guy who takes his shot at glory after everyone else if that makes sense. At least by remaining under the GNR moniker he had legacy to fall back on and could retain an illusion of higher rock kudos than VR.

I do think that ultimately CD was a better album than Contraband (others are free to disagree ) but nobody knew if that would be the case in 2004 so the mere existence of VR must have weighed heavy on Axl for a while. 

  Reveal hidden contents

Until it imploded messily that is! 

 

That's a good point with VR, but it could have worked both ways - and the comparison was made anyway.

CD and Contraband sold about the same number of copies in the US in their first week of release - Contraband slightly less but went to #1, apparently because it had less competition that week than CD, which went to #3,  had in its own week. Then the sales of CD dropped and eventually it ended up selling less than Contraband in the US. So, and even though Libertad had rather flopped, it was like, "See, the other guys without the name and with much less money spent managed to release an album that was more successful and won a Grammy," and so on. I see, though, that in the UK it was the reverse, and CD has sold much better than Contraband*.

But if it was the "Axl Band" album Vs VR with the same sales, it could have been an "one guy against three" argument, like, "See, Axl on his own managed to sell almost as well as the 3/5 of GN'R together in the US and more in other countries," etc.

When VR was still the Project looking for a singer, a lot of the press called them "the new Guns N' Roses" - even Sebastian Bach had called them that then. I can only imagine Axl's distress over that.

* Axl said in 2006 that he preferred to tour in Europe because the audiences there were more receptive to the new band than the US audiences. Sometimes I think that Axl's main reason for doing the reunion - as well as  the many NITL shows in the US - was to make the US fans who were hostile to NuGnR hear the CD songs with Slash and shove them down their throats - it was his revenge

Edited July 8, 2021 by Blackstar

[BangoSkank]

Honestly, I have to think we'd have more music and tours. Axl still would have been Axl and fucked things up by being late and delaying things, but he wouldn't have had the resistance from the label and the press. CD would have probably come out in the early 2000s and been labelled Axl's Crazy Solo Project and wouldn't have been met with "It's not Guns N' Roses," "Where's Slash?" "It's shit". 

[CAFC Nick]

18 hours ago, DTV88 said:

I disagree. Until new music is released, it’s hard to take a band seriously no matter how talented the individuals may be. Velvet Revolver released Set Me Free not too long after they were announced as a band. That created excitement and an idea of the direction of the new band.

Not quite sure what you’re disagreeing with tbh. GNR were headlining festivals in Europe before CD had come out, there is just no way an Axl Rose solo is able to do that.

[DTV88]

Maybe I’m thinking more about here in the US. I don’t recall NuGnR playing anything larger than an arena on their tours here. 

[CAFC Nick]

5 minutes ago, DTV88 said:

Maybe I’m thinking more about here in the US. I don’t recall NuGnR playing anything larger than an arena on their tours here. 

In Europe it was festivals. Biggest one coming to mind is Download. Even in 2006 download was a huge deal. Metallica GNR and Tool headlining.

Edit: to give even better context, the year before Velvet Revolver were subheadliners and that was after Contraband had been out for over a year!

Edited July 8, 2021 by CAFC Nick

[DTV88]

13 minutes ago, CAFC Nick said:

In Europe it was festivals. Biggest one coming to mind is Download. Even in 2006 download was a huge deal. Metallica GNR and Tool headlining.

Edit: to give even better context, the year before Velvet Revolver were subheadliners and that was after Contraband had been out for over a year!

I hear you, and European festivals look amazing! Attending one like Download or Rock AM Ring is on my bucket list. Taking these festivals into account does change my perspective a bit