Axl close to Ashba

[batatadoce]

9 hours ago, AtlasShrugged said:

I think it stems down to when Axl and Daren Jay had to defend their honour against a drunk, obnoxious guy, big dude.

https://blabbermouth.net/news/guns-n-roses-guitarist-dj-ashba-recalls-funny-bar-fight-involving-axl-rose

"we're stompin' this guy to a pulp, but it was all in good fun"

[Blackstar]

29 minutes ago, allwaystired said:

Ashba, love him or hate him, seemed very genuine in his desire to move the band forward and do new things. I'd have loved to hear what he could have created with Axl. 

He claimed that his demos were in the vein of Appetite. I don't know if that could be called "moving forward", also considering that they naturally wouldn't have been even near AFD in terms of quality.

[AxlRoseCDII]

3 minutes ago, Blackstar said:

He claimed that his demos were in the vein of Appetite. I don't know if that could be called "moving forward", also considering that they naturally wouldn't have been even near AFD in terms of quality.

I’d be astounded if Ashba could write anything that even comes close to sounding like appetite. It’s true he’s a good guitarist in his own right and on Sixx AM stuff but I don’t think in a million years he could write something that sounds like that album.

Edited November 3, 2022 by AxlRoseCDII

[allwaystired]

35 minutes ago, Blackstar said:

He claimed that his demos were in the vein of Appetite. I don't know if that could be called "moving forward", also considering that they naturally wouldn't have been even near AFD in terms of quality.

Well, in terms of how the music would have sounded we'll never know....but I term 'moving forward' to be basically anything new! 

[Nightrain7]

Bumble and Fortus could have handled guitar duties easily without DJ, which would have been cool to see rather than 3 guitarists. Interesting addition to the band, he did ok with engaging a crowd in a live show. I hated that patience solo..

[Tom2112]

57 minutes ago, Blackstar said:

He claimed that his demos were in the vein of Appetite. I don't know if that could be called "moving forward", also considering that they naturally wouldn't have been even near AFD in terms of quality.

I am NOT a fan of Ashba, but I think this is a little out of context. I don't think he was saying "I'm writing something as good as My Michelle" I think it was more of a writing a more sleazy loose riff based song, instead of the heavily produced CD material. I think DJs head was in the right place, he was both cosying up to Axl and he was watching the crowd and seeing that the CD material wasn't really connecting with a good portion of the audience... conclusion write older style material. Unfortunately, his plan was doomed to fail because 1) Axl would never have gone backwards in such a way, leaving his CDII songs 2) DJ was a pretty piss poor gtr player

[Blackstar]

6 minutes ago, Tom2112 said:

I am NOT a fan of Ashba, but I think this is a little out of context. I don't think he was saying "I'm writing something as good as My Michelle" I think it was more of a writing a more sleazy loose riff based song, instead of the heavily produced CD material. I think DJs head was in the right place, he was both cosying up to Axl and he was watching the crowd and seeing that the CD material wasn't really connecting with a good portion of the audience... conclusion write older style material. Unfortunately, his plan was doomed to fail because 1) Axl would never have gone backwards in such a way, leaving his CDII songs 2) DJ was a pretty piss poor gtr player

I didn't say that Ashba said that. He said he had written songs that were close to AFD era GN'R in terms of style.

I just pointed out that this wouldn't be exactly "moving forward" and that his songs would be subpar to that anyway.

Edited November 4, 2022 by Blackstar

[rocknroll41]

17 minutes ago, Nightrain7 said:

Bumble and Fortus could have handled guitar duties easily without DJ, which would have been cool to see rather than 3 guitarists. Interesting addition to the band, he did ok with engaging a crowd in a live show. I hated that patience solo..

At one point in 2006 the band almost went with a two-guitar approach of just Finck and Fortus, before bringing Bumble in. I wonder how that would’ve went. Maybe Finck wouldn’t have left in 2009, in that scenario.

[Gordon Comstock]

I was happy when DJ was announced as the new guitar player in 2009(?). He was good when I saw Sixx AM on Cruefest, The Heroin Diaries and Saints Of LA were solid for what they were, Life Is Beautiful was a #1 rock hit... there was definitely potential for DJ to bring some interesting songs to GNR - he can write some catchy stuff, and someone like Bumblefoot would've elevated it.

But eventually he became more focused on posing, swag, etc. and somehow managed to play sloppier as time went on.

 

17 minutes ago, Tom2112 said:

I am NOT a fan of Ashba, but I think this is a little out of context. I don't think he was saying "I'm writing something as good as My Michelle" I think it was more of a writing a more sleazy loose riff based song, instead of the heavily produced CD material. I think DJs head was in the right place, he was both cosying up to Axl and he was watching the crowd and seeing that the CD material wasn't really connecting with a good portion of the audience... conclusion write older style material. Unfortunately, his plan was doomed to fail because 1) Axl would never have gone backwards in such a way, leaving his CDII songs 2) DJ was a pretty piss poor gtr player

 

Yea, I imagine his demos sounded similar to Beautiful Creatures.

[Sosso]

2 hours ago, allwaystired said:

Ashba, love him or hate him, seemed very genuine in his desire to move the band forward and do new things. I'd have loved to hear what he could have created with Axl. 

Same with all the past incarnations really. If each one of them had managed to make an album we'd have such a varied and interesting discography. 

 

Yup. 

96 - Slash / Paul Huge era

01 - Robin / Bucket era

06 - Robin / Bumble era

10 - DJ / Bumble era

16 - Reunion era

 

 

 

[rocknroll41]

It’s pretty wild how much of a fall from Grace Ashba has had. I used to think he’d be the one to replace Mick Mars in Crue, but even that didn’t turn out to be true?

Is Ashba even doing anything relevant now?

Edited November 4, 2022 by rocknroll41

[allwaystired]

9 minutes ago, Sosso said:

Yup. 

96 - Slash / Paul Huge era

01 - Robin / Bucket era

06 - Robin / Bumble era

10 - DJ / Bumble era

16 - Reunion era

 

 

 

Just imagine, if all of those had released one album! 

It just hits me every so often how much time and talent has been wasted. Such a major loss really, when you think about how much opportunity there was and has been, all along the way. 

 

[JAxlMorrison]

2 hours ago, allwaystired said:

Ashba, love him or hate him, seemed very genuine in his desire to move the band forward and do new things. I'd have loved to hear what he could have created with Axl. 

Same with all the past incarnations really. If each one of them had managed to make an album we'd have such a varied and interesting discography. 

 

Agreed. I’d love to have a record from each incarnation, or at least an EP. Sucks that we don’t. 

[Blackstar]

I suppose that if they had managed to release an album in 1996, the later lineups would have probably never existed. Same with the 1998-99 lineup and then with the 2000-01 lineup.

[The Real McCoy]

DJ’s playing was great on the first Beautiful Creatures album. Not sure what happened after that.

[W. Axl Kev]

Sorry I don't think DJ Ashba is on Axl's radar whatsoever. He's very much an also-ran member of the band's history. Just last year DJ was on Eddie Trunk's show non-stop talking about Guns N' Roses. Non-entity for me. Surprised he wasn't picked as the Motley Crue replaced for Mick Mars but that's probably a reflection of Nikki Sixx' opinion of the guy.

[guitarpatch]

6 hours ago, The Real McCoy said:

DJ’s playing was great on the first Beautiful Creatures album. Not sure what happened after that.

DJ is a competent player. Live music isn’t perfect. He’s just not on the level of Fortus and Rob. That’s partly why his playing sticks out in that situation 

[James Bond]

2 hours ago, guitarpatch said:

DJ is a competent player. Live music isn’t perfect. He’s just not on the level of Fortus and Rob. That’s partly why his playing sticks out in that situation 

He's a better writer than he is a player I think. I just don't think he was quite up to scratch for the Guns material. Add in the stage antics and a lot of the other "Ashba brand" sort of stuff and he stuck out even more.

He's a good riff and hook writer though. Great ear for melody. I like Sixx AM and always enjoyed his contributions to Saints of Los Angeles.

[Sweersa]

Didn't DJ record an instrumental presented to Axl that Axl and Bach really like? I wonder what, if anything will become of that. 

[Blackstar]

1 minute ago, Sweersa said:

Didn't DJ record an instrumental presented to Axl that Axl and Bach really like? I wonder what, if anything will become of that. 

Bach said he liked it, nothing was said about Axl liking it.

[Tom2112]

2 hours ago, Sweersa said:

Didn't DJ record an instrumental presented to Axl that Axl and Bach really like? I wonder what, if anything will become of that. 

Bach said he asked DJ if he could have it, but it was a case of only if Axl says so and I think that was after the reunion.

[themadcaplaughs]

16 hours ago, Gordon Comstock said:

I was happy when DJ was announced as the new guitar player in 2009(?). He was good when I saw Sixx AM on Cruefest, The Heroin Diaries and Saints Of LA were solid for what they were, Life Is Beautiful was a #1 rock hit... there was definitely potential for DJ to bring some interesting songs to GNR - he can write some catchy stuff, and someone like Bumblefoot would've elevated it.

But eventually he became more focused on posing, swag, etc. and somehow managed to play sloppier as time went on.

 

 

Yea, I imagine his demos sounded similar to Beautiful Creatures.

These are my thoughts exactly. I had some vague familiarity with Sixx A.M. when the band announced DJ joined the band (had never heard Beautiful Creatures). He seemed like a cool dude, and it was clear from the few interviews and chats he did around that time that he was a huge Guns N' Roses fan and seemed stoked to be in the band. It seemed like it could be a good fit; particularly mixing Richard and Ron with someone like DJ who seemed more at home with 1980s rock music. I loved Robin, and was sad to see him go, but was optimistic. 

In 2009/2010, DJ still had a lot of work to do, but it seemed like he had a decent grasp on the material and, as I imagined, seemed more at ease with the Appetite and Illusion material than Robin had been when he started playing live with the band in 2001/2002. From 2011 onwards however, it seemed like his playing actually got noticeably worse, and he was more interested in being the guy in the spotlight next to Axl and promoting his own endeavors. All that being said, he seemed like a nice enough guy and - to his credit - seemed genuinely interested in having an actual dialogue with fans. 

Per the wrestler (and as others have speculated on this thread), Axl had been a big fan of Beautiful Creatures in the early 2000s, was impressed with DJ's songwriting in Beautiful Creatures and Sixx A.M., and the fact that he played guitar was more of an "oh, that's even better" type thing. I say all this with the caveat that I do not think DJ is an objectively "bad" guitarist. He falls back on some generic and tired "shred" cliches, but can play the guitar. Based on interviews with him, I would imagine he sees himself as more of a songwriter/visionary with the guitar being a tool to help him achieve that, as opposed to people like Slash, Robin, Richard, or Bumblefoot who clearly consider themselves "guitarists". I just think it was an issue of not being a great fit for GN'R. Like that old interview said about Paul Tobias in the day, being "good" doesn't cut it for a band like Guns n' Roses. He needed to be great. 

And of course, I say all of this was (another) caveat that we never really did get to hear any contributions from DJ to the band. Many people made the same complaints about Robin Finck and Buckethead, but after hearing Chinese Democracy, at least admitted they added some cool elements to that material. Maybe DJ would have really surprised us if he'd played on GN'R releases.  

Edited November 4, 2022 by themadcaplaughs

[The Real McCoy]

3 hours ago, James Bond said:

He's a better writer than he is a player I think. I just don't think he was quite up to scratch for the Guns material. Add in the stage antics and a lot of the other "Ashba brand" sort of stuff and he stuck out even more.

He's a good riff and hook writer though. Great ear for melody. I like Sixx AM and always enjoyed his contributions to Saints of Los Angeles.

I always liked his solo on this: 

 

[Sweersa]

3 hours ago, Blackstar said:

Bach said he liked it, nothing was said about Axl liking it.

I could have sworn there was an interview where DJ said Axl liked some of the material he provided. It was one or more songs. 

[Blackstar]

3 hours ago, Sweersa said:

I could have sworn there was an interview where DJ said Axl liked some of the material he provided. It was one or more songs. 

Yes, Ashba mentioned that Axl liked the 10-12 songs he had submitted. But there wasn't anything said by Bach about that particular song regarding Axl (only that Ashba had written it for Axl).

And, of course, as Ashba would say later, Axl did nothing with those demos. Maybe Axl just said, "Yeah, cool".