What's a GnR opinion that would put you into this situation:
Band DiscussionIt also felt like he started a point and then was like "but we'll come back to that later" way too often in that book
Totally agree, I couldn't even finish it, it just sounded like a teenager had written it
Some day there will be a book that tells us all about the reunion. Maybe someone has already written a good account?
I couldn’t believe when I read the part about the St. Louis riot and he says that the band kept playing after Axl left the stage. I had just watched the video on YouTube and the whole band leaves behind Axl.
How do you get a detail like that wrong? It’s so easily verified with a simple search.
So that lead me to wonder “well he can’t even get THAT right, what else is pure fabrication?”
I like Slash’s but didn’t finish Adlers.
I wanted to get Steven Adler's book. What made you not want to finish it?
I got 75% through it. He bullshits worse than Slash, and makes very easily disproven lies about all the other band members. It's pretty badly written just when it comes to basic grammar. The parts that were the most truthful and sincere were hard to read because of how sad it was. It was a slog, and I went in with no expectations.
It was a difficult reading for me at the begining when he starts to talk about his childhood. Specially when he mentions the abuse he suffered in hands of men and women. Makes you understand why he was a drug addict.
I finished it but I’ll warn you now: it’s very depressing.
Agree, and it doesn’t help that he talked about how fucked up he was during all of what he’s writing about, so how can we trust his memory about any of this?
I agree
Axl is not the only one to blame for everything and is not the dick he’s been made out to be
I think Sebastian Bach once said (paraphrasing, of course) that Axl kinda keeps himself under the bus by not shooting down a lot of the false narratives that come out about him; almost as if he’s indifferent to the fact that much of the rock/metal world views him as a supervillain
I remember that! I believe he said something like Axl just will not defend himself publicly at all. I wonder if it’s because he’s indifferent, or if he just got so used to taking it that he felt it didn’t matter what he said because no one would believe him
Also Doug Goldstein said Axl will never defend himself. I see where it comes from but it’s still sad & piteous
I think it could be the latter
I think so too, Axl reminds me of a kicked dog sometimes for real
He had a super fucked up childhood which often causes that 😔
Axl honestly breaks my heart, I’ve read so much stuff about his childhood and it is just insane to me that someone would treat a child in that way. Add on top of that he’s more than likely neurodivergent with a heavy dose of cptsd and it’s no wonder he had the time he did and acted the way he did
I think things like this are complex, and would take so much time trying to explain the situation, so that people can understand the reason for your behaviour, that there’s just no point in trying to convince anyone.
This often makes me wonder. I mean, he did say in multiple occasions that ppl don’t know the truth. But he certainly wasn’t proactive about providing his perspective on those said events, and I just thought that’s pretty odd…
100 percent agree. At some point in his life, maybe even before fame he became the scapegoat for everything.
I think so too! Axl was a convenient whipping boy and scapegoat for the band. Not saying he’s not done some things lol but literally everything gets blamed on him and it’s not fair at all
Don’t Damn Axl
this!!
Spaghetti Incident is a fantastic album, great for driving fast.
Especially the song Ain't it Fun. That guitar intro is fuckin' rad!
Love all of it, I was hesitate with Look at your game, girl. but I gave up after a while, especially after Manson died. At least it is melodic than My World.
It gets way more hate than it deserves. I was so glad to hear them play Down on the Farm live.
It is a great album but I don’t expect it to be any more popular than it is considering it’s all cover songs.
Black Leather and Raw Power always get me hyped
I love both of those songs.
Now you’re messing with a SON OF A BITCH!
If they made another album, I think trying to recreate the sound of AFD would be the worst way to do it. It would never live up to it and people would be disappointed.
I think this has been Axl’s dilemma since 1988
not really. its not like lies or use your illusion was trying to sound like appetite
They couldn’t have recreated Appetite in 1988, let alone in 2024.
I just want the next album would be like Ministry or Mick Gordon style with more guitar. Guns' Cyber Metal would be weirdly absurdly neat.
Sucks there was so much made out of “GNR GOUNG INDUSTRIAL?!?” back in the day and we got like 3 or four industrial songs out of it overall. I’d love an album where everything is like Oh My God
Yeah. Oh My God with better heavy synth jabs like Mick Gordon. Imagine if Guns pull out Rip & Tear from Mick Godron/Doom series. Everyone would go ape shit.
I would honestly like a country album lol. Wish they'd jump on the country resurgence hype lol.
I know you’re joking but Slash’s guitar tone when they did “You’re Crazy” and “Used To Love Her” on The Late Show in 1988 was very much a country-ish Stones sound. Sure, they’re not going to go full Dwight Yoakam with their sound, but a few more songs leaning into the Stonsey country influences would have been really neat.
Yep, an ‘Exile/Sticky Fingers’ ‘Country Honk vibe
Ugh, one can only dream :'). Some more stuff like Witchita Lineman would be great.
Axl Rose was unbelievable in 2006. His voice and his look was fantastic. If Chinese Democracy had come out then with Better as the lead single it would've been a big hit. He was operating at a higher level than most of the Use Your Illusion tour.
And the band he had to back him up was pretty amazing as well, even though it’s not classic GNR
I saw them in that era and then again twice in 2015ish, he was way better in 2006, but it was cooler to see him with slash and duff.
Agreed, 100%.
-Axl is almost completely innocent in the Kurt Cobain feud
-Slash does not come out of his book looking great. Too much finger-pointing. A lot of the shots he took at Steven Adler were also a little excessive.
-the rare don’t cry ‘87 demo is actually better than the finished product and deserves an official re-release
-we all talk about how great and entertaining a GNR biopic would be, but maybe it’s best to leave that stone unturned. Why open up old wounds? Plus there’s no way to do the story faithfully in just one movie. I loved The Dirt but I think we can all agree it had a bit of revisionist history and was more of an abridged retelling than a faithful documentation of the real story. I’d much rather get a long form GNR documentary series on Netflix or Hulu or whatever that tells the story of the band and the reunion.
I found ironic that Kurt gave such crap to Axl, refusing to tour with GNR but at the same time touring with RHCP or praising Metallica. Just search about what kind of people Anthony Kiedis, Flea and Chad were or the racist behavior of James Hetfield in the past. Everything of that has been public knowledge for decades. Never understood the feud to be honest
First of all, Kurt was always a hypocrite and a virtue signaler. He felt like kicking Axl gives him credit since he wanted to see himself as an exact opposite of GNR, not to say was hard to find easier target than Axl
Don't cry demo with Steven on drums is so good
Izzy's solo material is pretty flat. When people say that Izzy is the one solely responsible for GnR's success, I wonder if people have heard the music he's written on his own. The songs sound like demos. It's just not very interesting without Axl and Slash adding their energy and creativity. The band would have went nowhere if it was just Izzy steering the ship.
I partially agree with you. Classic GNR was better than the sum of its parts, and Izzy was an important one because of his writing contributions and his interplay with Slash. After Izzy left, the bluesy/hard rock/rock and roll sound was lost. He has some nice songs (Old Hat, Shuffle It All, Train Tracks, Spazed) in his mostly stoney-rock albums, but I agree the sound of GNR is miles ahead.
Of course, the band would have gone nowhere without Axl and Slash, but it is not like Axl and Slash did great on their own. Axl got stuck for more than a decade, and Slash issued several releases in which his sound became much more generic.
The vintage lineup was lighting in a bottle, and everybody did their part.
Pretty difficult to replace Axl's vocals and Slash's lead guitar, but at the end of the day you need songwriting to carry that talent. That's why some of the Gunners covers kick ass - the songwriting is good and they take it to the next level with their talent
My impression from going through Izzy's solo work is that Izzy is great at what he knows, but seems almost incapable of branching out from that one sound. He has 11 albums of AFD rough drafts. It gets old pretty quickly.
That's my thoughts. It's like AFD if AFD was boring, and he does it over and over again. He needs a collaborator.
sweet caress slaps tho
I think Izzy understood what kind of band GNR was supposed to be and filtered out his more Tom Petty-esque singer/songwriter vibes because it wouldn’t have fit.
It's not the style of the music that bothers me. I listen to a lot of artists that have a more bluesy, raw feeling to them. I'm a big fan of Keith Richard's solo work for example.
Most of Izzy's solo music feels underwritten even within that context.
I’m not huge on Izzy’s solo work, mostly indifferent. I dig some of it but the rest isn’t really for me.
I love Izzy + Slash songs. I think his potential exploded when they worked together. But you're right, you go to his solo albums looking for something like what you've heard in the gnr albums and get through them feeling something is missing.
Finally someone said it.
I couldn’t agree with you more! People go apeshit over that first JuJu album but to my ears it’s some of the most bland and boring music I’ve ever heard. And that album is the BEST of his solo material. His subsequent albums are even worse.
His music and singing simply sounds lazy to me; both from a performance standpoint and a songwriting one.
This is some kind of immature approach, bordering on stupidity, to mix heterogeneous elements into one pile and use as an argument, they say, if you don't like the solo album, then the person has not made his contribution to the music of the band itself. Just childish nonsense
Mr. Brownstone is the best song on AFD.
Mr Brownstone or Night Train imo
I personally think it’s 3rd best on AFD
That’s it? Not going to name the two ahead of it?
I was waiting for someone to ask, anyway those 2 are: Paradise City and Welcome to the Jungle
Mr Brownstone or Night Train imo
I can agree to that.
I don’t think that’s an unpopular opinion among GN’R fans. Miles sings GN’R with the a very clinical cleanliness. He hits the notes, but there is zero danger or conviction in that guy’s voice.
It's super hard to replace somebody like Axl. He is in the top 1% of rock/pop singers, and only widely recognized mega starts like Freddie Mercury could outshine him or be at a similar level.
To be fair with Slash, I don't remember any musician that went solo at that could obtain and keep such a singer. Those would request the lion's share of the revenues, and they would have to accept being under somebody else's creative control.
Chinese Democracy is a rock solid album, other than Scraped. 2006 Guns N Roses is a solid match for peak 92 GNR.
Axls voice was prettg much at peak in 2000s
To add to that, 91 GNR was peak GNR, 92 is close second though
In most of the 91 shows, Axl’s voice was shot although the energy was high though. Then again, it’s all but an opinion, I appreciate the GNR of all eras, even in 2001.
I like Frank. He doesn't deserve the shit he gets from the fanbase
They should not do another album. Would be forgettable and wont sell.
we just need an official release of all the Chinese Dem songs
So true
I prefer the G N' R version of Sympathy for the Devil.
Coma is the best GNR song
Steven Adler’s sense of rhythm had far more to do with the success than is commonly recognized. (A parallel to this is Dave Krusen on Pearl Jam’s Ten.) When a band loses a drummer it loses so much.
Matt was great but getting him killed The Cult.
Here another one.
“Shuffle It All” is the best thing any band member did after AFD.
Dave Abruzzese wasn’t a bad replacement.. Vs and Vitalogy did better week one sales then 10 💁🏻♂️
Absolutely, but Abruzesse sort of was first cousins with Chad Smith’s feel. It worked but it definitely gave the band a very different feel. Less psychedelic and spongy.
But you have to admit, no one knew who the band even was week one of their album sales. That album took awhile to catch on too.
I love "Shuffle" too!
The Cult (Ian/Billy) can only kill itself. It has always been quite inconsistent. I saw them live two times: one was amazing, and the other one Ian could not even finish the lyrics ... from the very start of the concert. Matt was in neither. I still love them. Ah, and Matt returned for the great album "Beyond Good and Evil".
Slash is a [pathological?] liar and took advantage of the fact that Axl fits the “black sheep” role so much to get away with a lot of stuff 😬
Izzy wss the heart and soul of the band, without Izzy the band just isn't the same.
I agree. I love izzy so much
Chinese democracy masterpiece
Axl is kind.
Chinese Democracy is Axl at his most unfiltered genius which makes it a work of brilliance.
None of the band members’ side/solo projects are very good besides maybe Velvet Revolver. They really need to have the 5 OGs together or it’s just not right to me. They have such a good formula together, I wish they could work things out and just be together again.
I do not acknowledge anyone besides maybe Matt and Dizzy as GNR members after the OG 5.
UYI probably could’ve been 1 album if they took out all the not so good songs on both. Most of the songs feel like cringe Axl rants.
I even remembered Velvet Revolver being better than it is. I went years without listening to that stuff, but always remembered it being fairly decent.
I revisited Contraband a few weeks ago and it honestly didn’t excite me very much. It sounds very 2004 to me, which is not a good thing when we’re talking about rock music.
I think I only knew a few songs from the radio, but very much agree! I listened to them again kind of recently when I made a playlist and it definitely wasn’t hitting the same.
Rocket Queen is okay, good at best
You can leave
The reunion live version is the best version ever
But hey, drums and bass on RQ are amazing
Heresy!!!
I cannot look at you at the eyes anymore :(
Go watch that song live at the ritz in 88, come back to me.
Chinese Democracy is a good album
Absurd is a good song
The Garden is not a great song (in my opinion) 👀
Also why put 2 garden songs back to back in the same album…
Right? With the garden I just never liked the lyrics or cadence of it, or the Alice Cooper feature. It's just not that good
Yeah it's not great, it's amazing
Slash’s solo is one of his best
Frank is a decent drummer. Playing oldies, new ones, tons of covers just fine.
Axl gained weight when he got older, but it never got in the way of him performing. He isn’t like Vince Neil where he can’t sing 2 words without being out of breath.
he looks good again tho
He looks great. love the hair cut and just breaking with the past while still being cool as fuck.
Use Your Illusion 1 and 2 are individually and as a whole better than Appetite
Between AFD and the UYI albums Duff started using active pick ups completely changing his bass sound for the worst and the overall sound of the band lost its edge
Can you please elaborate for a non-musician?
Active Pickups popped up somewhere in the 80s and they basically have a sound to them you can’t get rid of and can’t work around. A common complaint is every guitar/bass with an active pickup sounds the same and that they take away the character of the instrument they’re put in. Honestly it’s kinda true. Every guitar you’ll play with EMG pickups will only sound like EMG pickups, it just makes the instrument irrelevant
Thanks for the explanation!
🗣️Izzy and Duff are the hottest ones and always have been
Duff for sure. Maybe it’s just me, but I never understood how he just seemed to blend into the background. Axl and Slash were iconic, sure, but the hair, the bone structure, the gait as he strides across the stage,… how on earth did that not stand out just as much?
Excuse me, I need to reform from the puddle I’m now in on the floor.
All of them are hot 🥵
Axl was never bipolar, but misdiagnosed and probably mistreated first, that’s why the initial treatments didn’t work for him
Back in the day "manic depression" was a common diagnostic for many mental illnesses and neurodivergencies that are way better identifiable and treated today. Also, he once said in MyGnR forum that he was never diagnosed as bipolar, which makes sense, since the term manic depression was the one used back then and was probrably a misdiagnose.
Thank you, it’s absorber thing how rapidly the names and definitions change there
You said on here before that you thought he was autistic. Do you still think that?
The more I know and the more adult ADHD autistic (neurospicy folk) the more sure I am as a non professional but one of the tribe. There’s something called feminine presentation with individuals being sensitive and human oriented but still kind of alien. Add ADHD to mix and you get the unpredictability, novelty craving, poor sense of time, memory suddenly skipping decades..,
Yeah. I'm not sure myself, but I know both Mick Walk and Alan Niven said that when they were raising an autistic kids, the kids' behavior reminded them of Axl's mannerisms. I thought it was interesting.
Honestly, we recognize each other better than many qualified professionals with their standardized tests and external knowledge. Also being in such a close relationship with someone openly autistic/neurodiverse helps understanding and recognition.
That’s why it was also a little surprise to me that mysterious Axl Rose was an open book to me when I saw him.
Meltdowns, shutdowns, mood switches you don’t see coming, but also kind of childlike timid manners, honesty, curiosity and joy, and some other fine traits come with the package.
Totally agree, I truly believe Axl is autistic/ADHD and is one reason why I’m glad he has someone like Beta with him
Axl is the reason they haven’t written and recorded a new Guns and Roses album. Slash has written and released 183 albums with 3 different bands since the reunion and Duff has written and recorded 4 or 5 himself. It’s easy to see where the problem lies
Estranged is better than November Rain
Use Your Illusion II is the best GNR album
Someone asked a similar question in r/Grunge. I commented that Gn’R was the band that killed Hair Metal.
Chinese democracy is just as good as Appetite
Buckethead and Guns N’ Roses was a better fit than slash and Guns N’ Roses
I love Bucket, but come on man!
Axl is exceedingly outgoing & loves to talk about his “process”. 😂😂😂
Was this in one of their comic books?
Duff McKagan's first solo album is the best non-Guns thing any of the band have done.
Best Axl (as a Professional performer) was 2006.
The General is the best music video.
That anything goes is top 5
Matt was the best drummer.
For UYI yes, not for AFD songs
AFD songs loses that spark without Steven behind the kit, it's all about swing and groove
Izzy is overrated. I get it, he wrote some classic songs. But if it wasn't for Slash, they all would sound like those old Hollywood Rose demos and campfire music.
lol, I like some of Izzy's songs but you made me laugh with the "campfire" description. Now I cannot avoid picturing him playing his guitar with some guys watching while burning marshmallows.
It wasn't even meant to be funny. He wrote all his songs on acoustic guitars. Listen to the demo of My Way, Your Way (Anything Goes) and Anything Goes on Appetite. Everybody and their grandma is like "But Izzy wrote all their biggest hits!" No, he hasn't. And if he was such a genius, where are all his solo hits? I'm not bashing on the guy, but some of his fans need a reality check.
i dont like matt sorum 🙊 and i know it was at axl's request but i dont like how he does the same drum fill on like half of UYI
Axl has been taking everyones bullshit since the 80s
Latest UYI anniversary release was like um shit? just two live shows and that's all, no demo, no rare material(ok maybe Ritz warm up)
Neurotic Outsiders is the best GNR side-project. By far.
AFD is an excellent, but not a perfect album
Hiya! Just interested, why do you think it's not a perfect album? I'm not trying to fight you on this or anything, I just wanted to hear your point of view :)
Personally, I can just never see how it could be improved?
Thanks! <3
It happens to be my favorite album of all time, I just don't think it's perfect. I'm too lazy at the moment to go in depth or post a link to my non-biased review but you can check my profile and look up my post where I reviewed and ranked it song by song
Not the OP, but I would replace or just take out Anything Goes, You Are Crazy and Out to Get Me. Those songs a level below. Even with those songs included, AFD is a 9/10 or a straight 10 if we are not nitpicking.
Man, I love You're Crazy, lol. Axl's vocals on that one are just... *chef's kiss*
Great that you like it! More GNR songs for you! I do not think it is bad, but just not as good as the rest of the great songs (Welcome to the Jungle, It's so Easy, Mr. Brownstone, Rocket Queet, etc.).
Knockin on heavens door and live and let die are shitty and un needed covers on great albums and could easily be replaced by better songs from their own catalog during a show.
Not shitty, but I agree that they had more than enough original material to avoid including covers. They could have been a B side.
Especially given the strain I imagine both songs put on Axl’s vocals. Just don’t think they are needed
Live And Let Die should've never made it out of 1991
Can’t believe you’re getting downvoted. I couldn’t agree more.
I bet if you looked at a chart, beer sales spike during those two songs.
Especially Knockin. That’s a nice long one to take a pee break during a show.
I’m a big Dylan fan and a dead head. Was and still am a huge Guns fan before I got into the dead. To me, the way knockin on heavens door is played by Guns makes it into this obnoxious ballad compared to being a more somber and reflective song.
Agree. There’s other songs I’d rather hear, but as they were written by other people, I’m guessing it’s easier on Axl’s voice?
He likes them and they seem to have personal meaning for him anyway
True, especially with KOHD.
Estranged is big bloated garbage.
I challenge you to fisticuffs sir!
We need more Gunners sprawling rock epics, not less. Plus that video is unhinged!
Not really grasping the concept of this thread are you? 😂
Slash's book was not very good. It was pretty inaccurate when it came to details (Duff even called him out), focused too much on the drugs and partying rather than the music, and overall didn't show that he grew even a little bit from the 90s. I came away with a lesser opinion of him than I had before I read it.
I think he wrote it too early. The book he would've written now in 2024 would be a lot more mature and interesting than the book he wrote in 2006.