Why do people turn on the old members like Bucket and Brain?

[Randy Lahey]

Ron is such a nice guy that he would clarify for you guys, that indeed, he's not as good a guitar player as Bucket. I'm sick of talking about this as I know I'm right.

[Gunzen]

Ron is such a nice guy that he would clarify for you guys, that indeed, he's not as good a guitar player as Bucket. I'm sick of talking about this as I know I'm right.

once again, soneone speaking for someone else. Fucking stupid. You dont know him personally, how the fuck can you even say that. Even if you did, people cannot speak for others, at least not correctly. I am officially done with this dumb ass conversation. Once people start speaking for people and saying what the other person "would say" Done.

[dann]

speaking solely as a musician, and more specifically a guitarist, buckethead is the best guitarist gn'r has ever had. i won't argue who was best for gn'r, that's simply a matter of opinion. but for any person to ever say anything negative about bucket's playing is absolutely ignorant.

we all enjoyed slash, i mean, come on, we're all here posting on the internet about 20 year old songs when there's literally thousands of more productive things we could be doing. but we enjoy gn'r. we like slash. but from a technical standpoint, slash as a player really isn't that much to write home about. 95% of his repitiore is minor pentatonics. surely he knows more, i've heard him break into a aeleon mode a couple times. but if he knew more, he never showed it. and i guess he plays pretty fast, but in the world of rock n' roll, he's not Really fast. he wrote a couple good songs, but the bulk of why people like slash was penned by izzy. slash is good, no doubt. he's no where near the best. perhaps he's you're favorite, and that's cool. that's opinion. he's one of my favorite's too. but i wouldn't call him an amazing player in almost any sense of the word. he fit the suit for a sleaze rock band.

buckethead on the other hand is probably one of the top 5 greatest guitarists since the guitar was invented. almost no where else in to world do you find anyone capable of 7 finger tapping. he sweeps better than malmsteen. he's got finger style like chet. he's got over 20 albums of quality intrumentals under his belt. and if that wasn't enough, he takes a blues rock rager like nightrain, (and this blows my mind) burns on melodic minor and diminished scales. anyone who took 7th grade music theory knows why this is just too surreal. he's a technical matermind. a master composer. his playing is like a tornado taking a highway. totally out of control, insane, but 100% by the book. truly one of the all time greats. ofcourse any one after him is going to be a downgrade. and nobody likes a name dropper, but he's one heck of a nice guy.

i have no major problem with bumblefoot. he's a new generation noise burner. and that's cool. it's his thing. and i wouldn't be surprised if to the untrained ear, his spacey sounding solos don't sound unlike bucket's. i can understand him as a replacement. though sometimes, i feel like axl is trying to pull a fast one on me. kind of pulling the old switcheroo with shredders to see if anyone notices the difference. i did. but i think most people are so cought up on neither of them being slash, they don't even notice.

robin is a fairly solid player. if it were my call, i'd have pushed him down to rythm guitar though. he doesn't seem to have a solid enough comprehension of blues style to handle a lead spot in guns n roses. the majority of his playing problems comes from bending too slow. i really question if anyone has pointed this out to him. he bends to slow, then rushes the next couple notes, and it totally blows the feel of the song. i think if he worked on that small area, his playing would improve many times over.

and those of you that are hating on buckethead for the way he dresses, and his gimmick; how come a chicken bucket is lame, but wearing a top hat and a boa constrictor and naming yourself 'slash' is ok? our dear freind saul had a gimmick too, so it's best to take inventory before casting stones.

and on a personal note, i really liked how gn'r looked in '02. with robin all gothed out, axl rose at the height of his wiggerdom, and the icing on the cake: buckethead. the band looked like a total freak show, and i think it worked so well for them. the band was scarey, wierd, new. take this imaginary scenario for instance...

dude a: who or what the f*ck is that?!?

dude b: that right there is guns n' f*cking roses.

[jester]

bucket's numbchucks

i still find it hard to comprehend what this has got to do with music

he must be one of those uber geniuses that noone can understand

[bucketfan27]

fantastic post dann. i dont think i can improve upon it. i'll just refer to your post over and over again. just, thanks for posting. unfortunately though, more than half of this forum doesn't know what "pentatonic" even means...

[DTGNRVR]

speaking solely as a musician, and more specifically a guitarist, buckethead is the best guitarist gn'r has ever had. i won't argue who was best for gn'r, that's simply a matter of opinion. but for any person to ever say anything negative about bucket's playing is absolutely ignorant.

we all enjoyed slash, i mean, come on, we're all here posting on the internet about 20 year old songs when there's literally thousands of more productive things we could be doing. but we enjoy gn'r. we like slash. but from a technical standpoint, slash as a player really isn't that much to write home about. 95% of his repitiore is minor pentatonics. surely he knows more, i've heard him break into a aeleon mode a couple times. but if he knew more, he never showed it. and i guess he plays pretty fast, but in the world of rock n' roll, he's not Really fast. he wrote a couple good songs, but the bulk of why people like slash was penned by izzy. slash is good, no doubt. he's no where near the best. perhaps he's you're favorite, and that's cool. that's opinion. he's one of my favorite's too. but i wouldn't call him an amazing player in almost any sense of the word. he fit the suit for a sleaze rock band.

buckethead on the other hand is probably one of the top 5 greatest guitarists since the guitar was invented. almost no where else in to world do you find anyone capable of 7 finger tapping. he sweeps better than malmsteen. he's got finger style like chet. he's got over 20 albums of quality intrumentals under his belt. and if that wasn't enough, he takes a blues rock rager like nightrain, (and this blows my mind) burns on melodic minor and diminished scales. anyone who took 7th grade music theory knows why this is just too surreal. he's a technical matermind. a master composer. his playing is like a tornado taking a highway. totally out of control, insane, but 100% by the book. truly one of the all time greats. ofcourse any one after him is going to be a downgrade. and nobody likes a name dropper, but he's one heck of a nice guy.

i have no major problem with bumblefoot. he's a new generation noise burner. and that's cool. it's his thing. and i wouldn't be surprised if to the untrained ear, his spacey sounding solos don't sound unlike bucket's. i can understand him as a replacement. though sometimes, i feel like axl is trying to pull a fast one on me. kind of pulling the old switcheroo with shredders to see if anyone notices the difference. i did. but i think most people are so cought up on neither of them being slash, they don't even notice.

robin is a fairly solid player. if it were my call, i'd have pushed him down to rythm guitar though. he doesn't seem to have a solid enough comprehension of blues style to handle a lead spot in guns n roses. the majority of his playing problems comes from bending too slow. i really question if anyone has pointed this out to him. he bends to slow, then rushes the next couple notes, and it totally blows the feel of the song. i think if he worked on that small area, his playing would improve many times over.

and those of you that are hating on buckethead for the way he dresses, and his gimmick; how come a chicken bucket is lame, but wearing a top hat and a boa constrictor and naming yourself 'slash' is ok? our dear freind saul had a gimmick too, so it's best to take inventory before casting stones.

and on a personal note, i really liked how gn'r looked in '02. with robin all gothed out, axl rose at the height of his wiggerdom, and the icing on the cake: buckethead. the band looked like a total freak show, and i think it worked so well for them. the band was scarey, wierd, new. take this imaginary scenario for instance...

dude a: who or what the f*ck is that?!?

dude b: that right there is guns n' f*cking roses.

I agree with almost all of this post. The only bit I think is a bit besides the point is how fast BBF or Buckethead can play. A robot could play as many notes a second as them, playing guitar isn't about how fast you can play!

Apart from that I agree I think Buckethead is the best guitarist GNR ever had, not because of speed, but because the way he can incorporate such melody and feeling into each song, and adding the fast bits is impressive to a lot of people. Bumbelfoot just hasn't got that feel. Buckethead is the best, then Slash, then Bumblefoot in my opinion.

[tbaugerud]

In my opinion Buckethead was GNR's biggest obstacle. For obvious reasons he gave all the new-Guns bashers something to pick on.

Even I thought "OH NO" when I saw the MTV appearance. Even Finck looked off back then.

I think Axl has found a bit of inner peace in the past couple of years and we can see that in his behaviour and his appearance.

The current band looks great and freaks like Buckethead does not fit into Guns n Roses. Can't believe that some of you want Buckethead in there just because of his skills.

[Leigh-Rok!]

Fan friendly or a dork? Seriously, was Slash ever fan friendly? The man was a drunk and we loved it. When bucket shows up somewhere, he has presence to say the least (albeit because of a chicken bucket on his head)...but Ron and the rest of them have no such presence...which is why they are always re-inventing their looks...

Slash was weird and strange, so was bucket

Ron is a nice guy, but who cares...I don't want a GNR lead guitarsit to email me back his vacation photos, I want a GNR lead guitarist to do this...

Oh the memories.

[dann]

Can't believe that some of you want Buckethead in there just because of his skills.

i thought skills were what one needed to play guitar.

[Leigh-Rok!]

speaking solely as a musician, and more specifically a guitarist, buckethead is the best guitarist gn'r has ever had. i won't argue who was best for gn'r, that's simply a matter of opinion. but for any person to ever say anything negative about bucket's playing is absolutely ignorant.

we all enjoyed slash, i mean, come on, we're all here posting on the internet about 20 year old songs when there's literally thousands of more productive things we could be doing. but we enjoy gn'r. we like slash. but from a technical standpoint, slash as a player really isn't that much to write home about. 95% of his repitiore is minor pentatonics. surely he knows more, i've heard him break into a aeleon mode a couple times. but if he knew more, he never showed it. and i guess he plays pretty fast, but in the world of rock n' roll, he's not Really fast. he wrote a couple good songs, but the bulk of why people like slash was penned by izzy. slash is good, no doubt. he's no where near the best. perhaps he's you're favorite, and that's cool. that's opinion. he's one of my favorite's too. but i wouldn't call him an amazing player in almost any sense of the word. he fit the suit for a sleaze rock band.

buckethead on the other hand is probably one of the top 5 greatest guitarists since the guitar was invented. almost no where else in to world do you find anyone capable of 7 finger tapping. he sweeps better than malmsteen. he's got finger style like chet. he's got over 20 albums of quality intrumentals under his belt. and if that wasn't enough, he takes a blues rock rager like nightrain, (and this blows my mind) burns on melodic minor and diminished scales. anyone who took 7th grade music theory knows why this is just too surreal. he's a technical matermind. a master composer. his playing is like a tornado taking a highway. totally out of control, insane, but 100% by the book. truly one of the all time greats. ofcourse any one after him is going to be a downgrade. and nobody likes a name dropper, but he's one heck of a nice guy.

i have no major problem with bumblefoot. he's a new generation noise burner. and that's cool. it's his thing. and i wouldn't be surprised if to the untrained ear, his spacey sounding solos don't sound unlike bucket's. i can understand him as a replacement. though sometimes, i feel like axl is trying to pull a fast one on me. kind of pulling the old switcheroo with shredders to see if anyone notices the difference. i did. but i think most people are so cought up on neither of them being slash, they don't even notice.

robin is a fairly solid player. if it were my call, i'd have pushed him down to rythm guitar though. he doesn't seem to have a solid enough comprehension of blues style to handle a lead spot in guns n roses. the majority of his playing problems comes from bending too slow. i really question if anyone has pointed this out to him. he bends to slow, then rushes the next couple notes, and it totally blows the feel of the song. i think if he worked on that small area, his playing would improve many times over.

and those of you that are hating on buckethead for the way he dresses, and his gimmick; how come a chicken bucket is lame, but wearing a top hat and a boa constrictor and naming yourself 'slash' is ok? our dear freind saul had a gimmick too, so it's best to take inventory before casting stones.

and on a personal note, i really liked how gn'r looked in '02. with robin all gothed out, axl rose at the height of his wiggerdom, and the icing on the cake: buckethead. the band looked like a total freak show, and i think it worked so well for them. the band was scarey, wierd, new. take this imaginary scenario for instance...

dude a: who or what the f*ck is that?!?

dude b: that right there is guns n' f*cking roses.

I agree with almost all of this post. The only bit I think is a bit besides the point is how fast BBF or Buckethead can play. A robot could play as many notes a second as them, playing guitar isn't about how fast you can play!

Apart from that I agree I think Buckethead is the best guitarist GNR ever had, not because of speed, but because the way he can incorporate such melody and feeling into each song, and adding the fast bits is impressive to a lot of people. Bumbelfoot just hasn't got that feel. Buckethead is the best, then Slash, then Bumblefoot in my opinion.

Agreed.

I liked this guys informed post... a few capitals wouldn't have gone amiss though...

Edited December 19, 2006 by Leigh-Rok!

[Randy Lahey]

Some people on here don't want to be friends with the band. If I was looking for a friend, I would pick Ron as my guitar player. If I was wanting to listen to a cd or watch a guitar player rip it up live, I would pick Bucket.

[makketue]

Ferrer > Brain. But that's just my opinion

[Longpig]

Music is all about personal opinion so anyone who says "I play guitar so I'm right" is full of shit.

In my opinion music is mostly about writing songs and in terms of GnR we've got little proof who is "better" in GnR out of Ron and Bucket. In fact Robin with better is streets ahead at the minute. Yes bucket may have spunked all over the demo in places but it's nothing Ron couldn't have done.

In terms of live performance my vote goes to Ron every time - he seems to put so much of himself into all his solos/playing. Anyone who has to wear a mask and a Kentucky Fat Cunts bucket on his head can't have much personality really...

It's weird most people who praise bucket here, are the ones who think no-one can touch Slash. The 2 could not be further apart. Slash was about emotion and blues rock and feeling rather than trying to fit as many precise notes into 20 seconds as possible. He also moved around, showed the audience what the music he was playing meant to him. Bucket hid it all inside.

I think with Ron you get the ability AND the emotion and that's why I think he's better for GnR than bucket.

I saw GnR in 2002 and 2006 and I was much more blown away in 2006. If Ron left I'd be gutted.

LP

[DCK82]

Kaneda, bucketfan27 & dann......Great fucking posts guys, I couldn't have put it any better myself.

I don't have much too add, other than I seen the band live in 2002, and twice in 2006. Bucket was the highlight of the show in 2002, just fucking awesome and mesmerizing. No stage presence?......complete ignorant bullshit, one does not need to wear leather pants, run around and smoke a cigarette to have stage presence.

The 2006 shows were also brilliant. Axl and the band as a whole sound better, but it just wasn't quite the same without the mighty Bucket up there on stage. As much as I like Ron, he just doesn't come close to matching Big B.

Regarding Buckethead's appearence, I've read hundreds upon hundreds of messages over the past 6+ years with people moaning about how he looks like a freak, moron, etc, etc, etc.......and I can't really be arsed commenting on it anymore. If his image was/is really that important to you, well then that's you're problem.

Buckethead was the best thing to happen to GnR, and him leaving has been the greatest loss.

[Mango]

Ferrer > Brain. But that's just my opinion

I agree with you here.

[LA_0013]

This is Guns N Roses.......

LA

[F*ck Fear]

I saw the band in Toronto both in 2002 and 2006. 2006 was far better of a show. I do like Brain on drums, but Frank killed it in Toronto too. As for Ron and Buckethead. I do think Bucket is the better player, but he's a wierdo mother fucker with no stage presence. Ron can fucking rip the shit out of the songs, and looks cool doing it.

That is my opinion. And remember, opinions are like assholes, everyone has one....Doesn't make it right or wrong.

[Leigh-Rok!]

GNR = the Menudo of rock

A spicy Mexican soup made with tripe, onions, tomatoes, chilies, and hominy??

[rich256]

Are you fuckign kidding me? Slash isn't even in Guns N' Roses anymore. Brain's a cool guy, sure, but does anyone really give a fuck who's in the band anymore?

In a word... No..

[Longpig]

Kaneda, bucketfan27 & dann......Great fucking posts guys, I couldn't have put it any better myself.

I don't have much too add, other than I seen the band live in 2002, and twice in 2006. Bucket was the highlight of the show in 2002, just fucking awesome and mesmerizing. No stage presence?......complete ignorant bullshit, one does not need to wear leather pants, run around and smoke a cigarette to have stage presence.

The 2006 shows were also brilliant. Axl and the band as a whole sound better, but it just wasn't quite the same without the mighty Bucket up there on stage. As much as I like Ron, he just doesn't come close to matching Big B.

Regarding Buckethead's appearence, I've read hundreds upon hundreds of messages over the past 6+ years with people moaning about how he looks like a freak, moron, etc, etc, etc.......and I can't really be arsed commenting on it anymore. If his image was/is really that important to you, well then that's you're problem.

Buckethead was the best thing to happen to GnR, and him leaving has been the greatest loss.

In your opinion....

2002 was a complete mess, 2006 was so much better for many reasons not just bucket leaving, but I find it bizarre to the point of thinking you're lying to say 2002 was in anyway better.... if he was the highlight of the show then something can't have been right!

LP

[germanrose]

Didn`t we had the discussion a while ago?? Who was/is the best something in the band??

To me:

1) Bucket: The technically best player, no doubt, but to "perfect", no stage presence and the worst thing, not even a little bit of feeling in his play

2) Slash: Totally other way, compared to bucket, lousy player, but the attitude, the style, song/lickwriting, stage presence and the FEELING is unique.... that`s why i was the best gnr guitarist

3) Ron: perfekt mix of both, that`s why i like him to stay. Even in my oppinion they just needed two guitar players, ron is the right man up there

btw: In my eyes the most underrated player in the band: Mr. Fortus...he has everything you need for Rock n Roll

And for the drummers?? Hm 3 posts up mr.drummer said it right i guess.

Brain is technically a bad ass drummer, funk n beat, hip hop....but Rock?? i think that`s why he isn`t able to pull off the YCBM start . I think Matt was a lousy drummer, so to me (and i saw both this summer) Frank is in the middle. Stage presence, power, beat feeling and the funky shit too, you can hear that while they are jamming on stage...

[Axingn'r]

I don't care whether Axl wants them in or not. That has nothing to do with how I like them.

That made me laugh because usually, username, you don't understand people who want Slash and Duff in the band.

But, yes, I think like you : I don't care if Axl doesn't want Slash and Duff in the band. That has nothing to do with how I like them. And obviously, I don't think it is credible to call a band GNR if there's only one guy left from the AFD line-up.

[ssiscool]

i prefer frank and i aggree why do people turn on exmembers

[DCK82]

Kaneda, bucketfan27 & dann......Great fucking posts guys, I couldn't have put it any better myself.

I don't have much too add, other than I seen the band live in 2002, and twice in 2006. Bucket was the highlight of the show in 2002, just fucking awesome and mesmerizing. No stage presence?......complete ignorant bullshit, one does not need to wear leather pants, run around and smoke a cigarette to have stage presence.

The 2006 shows were also brilliant. Axl and the band as a whole sound better, but it just wasn't quite the same without the mighty Bucket up there on stage. As much as I like Ron, he just doesn't come close to matching Big B.

Regarding Buckethead's appearence, I've read hundreds upon hundreds of messages over the past 6+ years with people moaning about how he looks like a freak, moron, etc, etc, etc.......and I can't really be arsed commenting on it anymore. If his image was/is really that important to you, well then that's you're problem.

Buckethead was the best thing to happen to GnR, and him leaving has been the greatest loss.

In your opinion....

2002 was a complete mess, 2006 was so much better for many reasons not just bucket leaving, but I find it bizarre to the point of thinking you're lying to say 2002 was in anyway better.... if he was the highlight of the show then something can't have been right!

LP

Of course it's my opinion, but you're saying I'm lying beacause my opinion differs from yours? Right.....

First of all, I never said the 2002 performance was better, although the Leeds festival gig was amazing. I stated that I thought Bucket was the highlight of the show, by that I meant not the ONLY highlight of the show, just that his performance throughout was superb and a standout. Bucket is/was a highlight of any show, it's just a shame that you're too ignorant to see, or should I say HEAR that.

You seem pretty hooked up on this whole KFC bucket, mask thing huh?.....You're the perfect example of the same old shit I've been reading on here since 2000.

P.S. I think Bucket surpasses Slash, so you're wrong there too.

[CDNGNR]

I hated when Bucket was in the band - just a travelling circus act is all it made GNR into. Robin's old look was idiotic as well, and his new look is much more fitting. Now, I also have to admit that it is scarey when a guy can change his look that much - obviously he is/was a little confused somewhere along the line - your average person would never guess that was the same guy. As mentioned Bucket can play well, but he is a complete moron and looks even worse. I think I could even handle the bucket on his head, but wearing a damn facemask on stage all the time - get real, the guy was out to lunch trying to create a legendary image for himself. Ya, the bucket thing is sooooo cool, gimmie a break - who can take that seriously. The only reason someone would do that kind of crap is for attention - a real musician will just play and let that do the talking. Bumblfoot - I could care less if he comes or goes, just another filler like most of the band. However, the band is more of a band then they have ever been and have gelled quite well. Bumble is really the only one who doesn't "fit" IMO. Slash is slash - I don't think for a second he is/was weird - he has always been who he is and has never changed.

As for reinventing the song - I don't care for it. I like a song to be recognizable at least, not just someone again trying to make a name for themself going off on a tangent during a classic tune, which was the only reason he joined the band in the first place. He was hoping to become a household name off of GNR - damn shame it didn't work and he had to crawl back in his hole. For those outside of GNR fans that ever even heard or saw him (MTV), they would probably just say "oh ya, that freak that was in GNR for a short time". Nobody really knew or cared what he was up to before, nor do they now. GNR is in good shape these days and much more fitting to the name - as close as they can be without the original lineup in place anyways.

do you have any fucking clue what you are talking about? axl begged bucket many times to join before he actually agreed--gnr just wasn't his kind of thing. axl then invited him to a christmas party, gave him a rare leatherface doll, bucket took this as a sign, and joined. that does not sound like someone who wants to make a household name for himself. the guy is the most modest, down to earth human being you could ever meet, and the guy is a genius when it comes to guitar. please do some research to figure out why he dons the bucket, but i know you are too much of an ignorant asshole to do that, so i'll tell you. he wants the music to speak for itself. he would rather have the liberty to walk down the street to pick up a quart of milk, without being hassled by anyone. in other words, to be normal. he created his bucket image to get out the music, while actually creating quite a few cool ideas for albums. and again, bucket had been around for nearly 10 years before he joined gnr. he didn't need to make a name for himself, he was already well respected in the guitar wielding community. i dont know what else to say. do some research before you speak from now on.

You can resort to all the childish name calling you want, but if you honestly believe he does what he does solely so he can go out in public, you are only fooling yourself. Wear your hair in front of your face or put a chicken bucket on your head and wear a silly mask? hmmm which one screams attention whore. Slash was shy - he wore a top hat - a little different, ok, but a chicken bucket and facemask? Please. He may want to be able to hide in public, which is understandable, but that is only a small part of the reason - he is/was trying to hard to create "legendary image" for himself - the great mystical buckethead. Aside from his attire - playing with nunchucks, yoyos and dacing like a robot at a rock concert - all for attention and trying to make a name for himself in the spotlight - give it up and play music. Sure he is well recognized in the guitar world, and for good reason - he can play and I don't take that away from him. But the rest of his antics take away from that. If he just played the music, I would have much more respect for him. In the end, I think he would be and was good musically for the new guns, but he ruined the old songs and his image/antics were embarrasing/tacky/pathetic. The only thing I have ever seen on stage that looked more foolish than KISS is BH. Sorry, but when someone acts like BH, they are just asking to be talked about - which is exactly his goal.

Down to earth? I hope you are kidding?

Edited December 19, 2006 by CDNGNR