Guns N’ Roses “If Only’s”

[JAxlMorrison]

I’m sure we’ve had a million of these, if only Slash hadn’t left with those songs, if only Axl was better prepared for MTV 2002, if only Freese didn’t leave at the end of his contract, etc.

But I thought of a new one, randomly tonight, 2:37 AM on Christmas Day haha.

If only…there had been a release on DVD of that House Of Blues concert as rumored, people would’ve seen it in their Sam Goody & FYE & The Wall stores back then, and they would’ve known Axl still existed, and they may have sprung for, and enjoyed, the new show. By refusing the release, it made his “return” after 6-7 years totally not a big deal. It should’ve been produced, promoted, and fucking released. Axl may have maintained or restarted his relevance, and the new band would have a fucking existence & presence…

[gavgnr]

The biggest for me is, if only Chinese had been released in 2006 off the back of the momentum built that year. We might well have seen part 2 sometime between 2008 and 2012. From 2012 onwards it was all heading towards the reunion 

[DoMw94]

I like to think of the current lineup as something of a "what if". We hear what Chinese Democracy would've sounded like had Slash and Duff either never left or had they come back before its release

[mikeman5150]

For me it’s “what if” they did the reunion in 2006 and released CD in 2007 with slash and duff? Axl was on fine form both physically and vocally in 06’ and velvet revolver was media darlings. It would’ve been even bigger than NITL was. They easily would’ve risen to the top as big or bigger than Aerosmith did during their second or 3rd act when they hit it big in the early-mid 90’s with get a grip and big ones. Also speaking of Aerosmith, it makes me think of Wayne’s world 2, which brings me to this, “what if” Mike Myers wouldn’t have insisted on using bohemian rhapsody in Wayne’s world 1 and went with the original song that the the producer wanted…. Sweet child o’ mine? Then GNR show up on mtv with a new SCOM video featuring Wayne and Garth and GNR carry that mainstream momentum into the mid-late 90’s when we could’ve got the majority of what became CD. 

[drlaban]

CD released in 99-02 or absolutely latest in 06. 

[Gunner Gilby]

What if the line up of Axl, Slash, Duff, Dizzy, Matt and Gilby stayed together and released a bunch of albums?

[Rovim]

what if Axl didn't take himself too seriously and was confident enough as an artist to know when to step back, let go, and pull the trigger on a release but that's like wishing he was someone else

I guess also what if Axl was better at forgiving people that were close to him for being human and making mistakes or just not agreeing with his approach. I'm specifically talking about Slash here as an example.

nothing was worth the 20 years of Axl and Slash not having access to their perfect musical chemistry they had, especially when they were still closer to their peak, but I don't believe they were ever really on the same page musically. It wasn't like AC/DC or Queen when the intention of all the band members who had control was more or less the same and they shared a collective goal. The only time it was that way for Gn'R was when they were making AFD and even then Axl was already working on November Rain which wasn't really Slash's thing it seems.

[F*ck Fear]

If only Chinese Democracy had been released in 2001/2002 & the reunion happened in 2006/2009.

[DSTK]

If is the most pointless word going, if your gran had a cock & balls...she'd be your grandfather 

[Rovim]

4 minutes ago, DSTK said:

If is the most pointless word going, if your gran had a cock & balls...she'd be your grandfather 

what's the harm in speculating, though? for me it does serve the purpose of trying to understand why things have ended up the way they did with Gn'R, but if you're not interested in that sort of shit, I can understand why it doesn't have value for you.

in general, I think at the very least "what if" is a good spark for the imagination so you can learn what to do or not to do in a possible next situation in your life. Just my opinion.

[BangoSkank]

If only Axl had labelled the new band a solo project, he may have felt less of a burden, the record company wouldn't have been on his ass so hard, the general public would have had an easier time accepting the new creative direction, we may have more releases, he wouldn't have been dodging criticism left and right, people wouldn't have been crybabies about someone else taking the solo on "November Rain," people wouldn't have been throwing the question "where's Slash?" at him constantly, and we may even have a band that plays Axl's crazy industrial project in between GNR tour legs. 

I know it's pointless to wonder, but I'm such a supporter of what Axl was trying to do that I can't help it.

Edited December 28, 2023 by BangoSkank
clarity