Axl Must be doing Something Right

[Vincent Vega]

Axl must've really changed, and he must be doing right behind the scenes. Izzy's the most level headed and practical of all the original guys, and I think if Axl was really fucking up behind the scenes or acting like his old self, Izzy would set him right or if he really disapproved of Axl's actions, he wouldn't play with Axl, simple as that. Izzy's in a unique position where he most likely has Axl's ear being Axl's oldest and best friend but also does not have to listen to him. In in the original band, the other guys would go along with Axl to avoid an argument.

Izzy's in a position where he can say, "Axl, you're being an asshole" and not worry about being fired but also has the benefit of being a part-time member of the band where he can play and hang out but with no strings attached, which is something totally Izzy when you think about it. He's a member of the band WHEN HE WANTS to be, and when he wants to do his own thing and stay away for a while, he can too. I would definately say at this point he's probably in some kind of semi-member status. He's in a very unique position as I said and I think with him, Bach and many of Axl's old friends around again, Axl's in a very happy place. Going along with Weiland's analogy of Axl as a king that's lost his court; Axl's a king that has spent many years in exile, and is coming back and slowly regaining his ''court'' once again, and I think that with his friends around him again, he will finish the album and do his job, which is being one of the greatest rockstars ever.

Edited December 18, 2006 by Mr. Miser

[D-GenerationX]

To be honest, I don't consider Izzy part of the band at all.

And frankly, I think that's the only reason he still hangs out with Axl.

Think of it like a relationship. Maybe the two of you are just no good for each other romantically, but as friends, it just works. That's how I see this.

To be honest, I find it hard to believe Axl has mellowed much, if at all. But now Izzy can just say "not my problem anymore".

[Patience 4 Axl]

Axl's in a very happy place.

Yep, I think he's definitely taking some happy pills.

But in many ways, behind the scenes, he is probably much the same. When I saw them in Vegas and they were having sound problems, I could see him on the side of the stage going completely ape-shit on Merck, and who I assume was a sound tech.

As for Izzy, he's got the best job in the world right now, doesn't he.

[Dave10]

To be honest, I don't consider Izzy part of the band at all.

And frankly, I think that's the only reason he still hangs out with Axl.

Think of it like a relationship. Maybe the two of you are just no good for each other romantically, but as friends, it just works. That's how I see this.

To be honest, I find it hard to believe Axl has mellowed much, if at all. But now Izzy can just say "not my problem anymore".

I hope you mean the new band and not the old band.

[D-GenerationX]

To be honest, I don't consider Izzy part of the band at all.

And frankly, I think that's the only reason he still hangs out with Axl.

Think of it like a relationship. Maybe the two of you are just no good for each other romantically, but as friends, it just works. That's how I see this.

To be honest, I find it hard to believe Axl has mellowed much, if at all. But now Izzy can just say "not my problem anymore".

I hope you mean the new band and not the old band.

Of course I mean the new band.

I consider Izzy the MVP of the old line-up. No band without him.

[Dave10]

Ok I was a little confused. I agree with you, he isn't part of the new band, the new band's Axl and the other guys. Even though the other guys are great too.

[Axingn'r]

I agree with you Patience4Axl. Izzy is doing this for fun. He has nothing to do with the new band, there's no pressure at all.

Maybe he's been talking about a couple of things to Axl... Like the possibility of a reunion in 2 or 3 years...

[.Seal]

Maybe he's been talking about a couple of things to Axl... Like the possibility of a reunion in 2 or 3 years...

Probably not.. Don't think Izzy would be the one who would start the talks of that. After all he took the other path long ago..

Edited December 18, 2006 by .Seal

[Vincent Vega]

Its funny though that the first member to leave voluntarily is the first to come back, even if he's not in the band he's playing with them which is a start.

[luvaxl4ever]

Maybe he's been talking about a couple of things to Axl... Like the possibility of a reunion in 2 or 3 years...

Probably not.. Don't think Izzy would be the one who would start the talks of that. After all he took the other path long ago..

Actually, he is probably the only one that could possibly convince either side to a reunion. If anyone will be able to get Axl and Slash to talk to each other again, it will be Izzy.

[maximo]

Maybe he's been talking about a couple of things to Axl... Like the possibility of a reunion in 2 or 3 years...

Probably not.. Don't think Izzy would be the one who would start the talks of that. After all he took the other path long ago..

Actually, he is probably the only one that could possibly convince either side to a reunion. If anyone will be able to get Axl and Slash to talk to each other again, it will be Izzy.

I think your right, Izzy would be the one that set a reunion in motion and with him and Axl together again it is starting to look possible.

[GeorgeGlass]

I agree with you Patience4Axl. Izzy is doing this for fun. He has nothing to do with the new band, there's no pressure at all.

Maybe he's been talking about a couple of things to Axl... Like the possibility of a reunion in 2 or 3 years...

One can only hope...perhaps Izzy is the only one that could bring this up to Axl for legitimate consideration...they are the closest of all the members.

Would be interesting to see if a reunion would consist soley of a reunion tour, or a legit reunion writing new music and stuff...I'd take either of the two.

[Vincent Vega]

One can only hope...perhaps Izzy is the only one that could bring this up to Axl for legitimate consideration...they are the closest of all the members.

Would be interesting to see if a reunion would consist soley of a reunion tour, or a legit reunion writing new music and stuff...I'd take either of the two.

Personally, I'd find a GN'R more interesting if it was supported by a boxset of all the band's demos remastered and remixed from the AFD and UYI era, different takes of all the songs, the CD sessions plus a release of the ''Lost GN'R album'' which the original GN'R was working on in 1996-1997. Here's some info on it in case you haven't heard of it:

Lineup

Axl Rose - Vocals, Guitar

Slash - Guitar

Zakk Wylde - Guitar

Paul Tobias - Guitar

Duff McKagan - Bass

Matt Sorum - Drums

Dizzy Reed - Keyboards, Piano

In Their Own Words

Matt: It will be a single album with 10 or 12 songs.

Slash: [Axl's] been writing; he wrote some stuff with Duff. He wants to write songs.

Slash: When I left town, Axl and Matt and Duff and I had worked on new material. I hadn't heard Axl sing anything, but he was there while we were fucking around jamming.

Slash: We have only been collaborating together. But we have been doing mostly Axl's material.

Matt: We are working on rock songs that last only 4 minutes (laugh). We already did 7 songs and we will write 7 others.

Slash: It's gonna be an angry record, but that's what we were built on.

Axl: I opted for what I thought would or should've made the band and especially Slash very happy. Basically I was interested in making a Slash record with some contributions from everybody else. There’d still be some chemistry and some synergy happening and whatever dynamics anyone else could bring in to the project. It seemed to me that anytime we got close to something that would work, it wasn’t out of opinion that Slash would go ‘hey it doesn’t work’, but it was nixed simply because it did work. In other words, ‘Whoa, wait a minute. That actually might be successful, we can’t do that.’

Matt: This is not as sophisticated as Illusion, but not as wild as Appetite. It's in the middle. Maybe more groovy. Musically, we are all better. I never heard Duff play like that.

Slash: I would like it to be hard edged like Appetite, but at this moment in time I have no idea what direction it's going in. I have only been back in the band for three weeks and my relationship with Axl right now is sort of at a stand still.

Axl: I feel that some of the recordings we did in that limited amount of time had some of the best playing that Slash had done at least since Illusions. I was there. I know what I heard and it was pretty exciting.

Slash: We've got tapes of what Axl considers great songs, which from my point of view is just me playing the guitar! I haven't heard any lyrics or any vocals, so I don't know what a song is until then.

Axl: I think that some of the riffs that were coming out of him were the meanest, most contemporary, bluesiest, rocking thing since Aerosmith’s Rocks. The 2000 version of Aerosmith Rocks or the 1996 Aerosmith Rocks by the time we would have put it out. I don’t know if I would have wanted to even do a world tour at the time but I wanted to put that record together and could we have done it? Yes. It’s not something I would want to approach (without Slash) because at the time there was only one person that I knew who could do certain riffs that way. We still needed the collaboration of the band as a whole to write the best songs. Since none of that happened, that’s the reason why that material got scrapped.

Matt: I will be very proud of what we did. But I don't worry about it, I know that what we are doing right now is great.

Matt: [Axl]'s playing guitar and it's like he plays that instrument for 10 years

Slash: Axl's intention is not to be the rhythm guitar player.

Slash: We tried out different guitar players, did that whole bullshit thing with Zakk... Just to get that story straight, it's nothing against Zakk, it was just not the right... I love jamming with Zakk on his own, as a separate entity, but in Guns N' Roses it doesn't sound right.

Axl: I tried putting Zakk Wylde with Slash and that didn’t work. It brought out some interesting things in Slash but it was a different approach that ended up being overpowering and didn’t bring out the best in Slash. It brought out some interesting things and it would’ve worked to do some songs.

Matt: There's someone [a rhythm guitar player], but I can't tell you his name [Paul Tobias].

Axl: Paul was going to help me for as long as it took to get this thing together in whatever capacity that he could help me in. So when he first was brought into this, he was brought in as a writer to work with Slash. At the time those guys never suggested one name. Nobody else. Ever.

Axl: Paul was one of the best people we knew who was both available and capable of complimenting Slash’s style.

Axl: Paul was only interested in complimenting Slash, laying down a foundation of a riff or something. That would accent or encourage slash's lead playing. Now whether or not Paul was going to be officially on the album or on the tour that really wasn’t an actual consideration at the time. It was in the air as a possibility but Paul was a friend trying to help us and he had a huge respect for Slash. He is and this is the bottom line a good man and that's the reality behind things.

Axl: Had Slash stepped up and written what we captured glimpses of, it would have created an environment that was beyond Slash’s ability to control. He did not want to do that or put himself through the rigors of taking the band to that level even if he was capable of writing it. Was he capable of doing it? Absolutely 100%.

Slash: When the [snakepit] tour ended I was supposed to commence work on the next Guns n' Roses project, which I sort of hesitantly did, even though I knew that Axl wasn't ready. I did about 10 rehearsals with various guitar players - people I didn't like. Duff was there. He wasn't happy. I wasn't happy. And that's when I finally quit and made it public that I couldn't do it anymore.

Duff: The record will be all up-tempo rock songs ("No ballads," McKagan said firmly) and it will be just 12 songs, with a release planned for next spring. A summer tour would likely follow

Duff: "For the last couple of years, he (Axl) started to go, 'Okay, I'm going to play guitar and actually learn what these notes are.' It's an innocent guitar, not unlike Izzy (Stradlin, ex-GN'R guitarist) was, but Axl's got a lot more musically than Izzy ever did.''

[nollsiesays]

Its funny though that the first member to leave voluntarily is the first to come back, even if he's not in the band he's playing with them which is a start.

Good thought. I like where your head is at. I like the new band and all and I'm sure I'll like them even more when Chinese Democracy hits store in March (fucking hopefully), but let's face it... The original GNR is legend... and everyone on the planet would love to see them back together and recording again, because the music they made was timeless. Whether that happens or not, who knows. I'll stick with the new band, I'll support them and love them... but when it comes down to it... I'll pick legends over hired help anyday.

[Turn_It_Up]

Axl must've really changed, and he must be doing right behind the scenes. Izzy's the most level headed and practical of all the original guys...,

As much as I love Izzy, has anyone ever considered him to be the most level-headed and practical of all the old Gunners?

Izzy's incredible for many other reasons, but I'd consider Duff to be the much more level headed and practical individual...

Edited December 19, 2006 by Turn_It_Up