Point taken. Ill clarify, i think it actually had the potential to be a band.  But i dont think the final product (CD) sounds like a band, interesting as some of it may be, nevertheless. I just hope the name isnt damaged beyond the point of no return.

I dont know if this has been posted, but i read some recent Baz interview and he was asked about Skid Row touring without him....he said...."I cant believe it, they ruined the name...."

Dude....Axl went into seclusion again, and came back out just to bash Slash. That "interview" served no purpose but to bash him. It was rediculous. This entire CD circus is just damn wierd. "He should have left after lies..."   Yeah if you wanted UYI to sink into a sound of mediocrity that reiks of..."It just sounds like its missing something"

I read something on the internet about skid row touring without BAZ and he actually said..."I cant believe they did it....they runined the name...." lol

If the GNR name doesnt carry the weight that you claim it never did, and others say it did and does, then how did this band tour rather succesfully (relatively speaking, especially in europe) before it even had one album's worth of material published? Also, how did it manage to sell 500k copies in the US, when relatively speaking, the singles bombed? It had a pop in sales right out of the gate while simultaneously having a relatively unsucessful first single, and a totally unsucessfull second single. In my opinion, the only thing that explains this contradictory success/failure is the recognition of the brand name GNR. What else accounts for filling concerts with no released material, and selling albums with unsuccesfull material? After the first burst in sales, continued sales would be based upon the material itself, sales died rather abruptly. However, I think this band is a good band, but its not recieved as GNR.

The original GNR was viewed as the heir to the throne of the Stones and Zep. Nirvana did'nt knock them off, they were always the biggest band in the world, it just became fashionable to hate success and hate life due to grunge. But GNR was filling arenas until they stopped touring, no?

Well, not to sound rude, but one of the things ive learned from studying philosophy is....."there is always another choice.." Not to denegrate your poll, but, the place i have arrived at is that im just thankful i was a "part" of the thing, and rise of what was (obviously now) this phenominal thing that was GNR. It was great to be 12 years old when appetite made it big and the band took off. I consider myself very fortunate to be a part of, and in a small way, be a contributor to, what was the rise of arguably the last great rock and roll band.

It, in a good way and bad, rasied the bar very high; which is part of the problem now. Objectively speaking, new GNR is a success. Its when its compared to the Old GNR (which is inevitable since it bears the name) is it deemed something other than a success. That being said, this thing has been a bizzare ride. I just hope something of that energy and spirit that was GNR survies somehow, someway. It is, afterall a law of physics that energy can neither be created or destroyed. From 1988 the ride was awesome and i guess the car just ran out of gas; a wierd unsudden and looking back not unpredictable ending to the ride. But an ending not becoming of its stature to be sure.

Im looking forward to slash's solo album, i think CD is cool, but it's not GNR. Im going to keep playing my  guitar and try to capture for myself what that energy and honest creativity is that was GNR. Since the energy cant be destroyed, that means it has simply been transferred and lives in all of those who recognize it. It still lives in the original music. I can go to guitar center and pick up a gibson and plug into a marshall, play a great GNR riff, and still get a look or even a crowd, that energy is timeless.

It lives in the inspiration it has given me to play music and eventually write my own, although the thing i think ive learned from this is i can honestly say i can do without the fame. I think fame is something totally different when one experiences it, rather than observes it. Which i think is why so many famous people are unhappy.  I still love watching the old band and learning every one of their songs. But, this entire ordeal is dying for me, and sadly, at an exponential rate since CD was released. As discussed before, when CD was released we expected that to push the band into some sort of "band normalcy" regarding activity and news etc. What this means is that we sought closure from the release of CD from this entire saga. This didn't or wont happen. The closure is in all of us, and its when we say enough is enough and don't really give a shit anymore, which is about where i'm at, but i guess not entirely or i wouldn't be here.

Now, im going home to play my damn guitar. I thank the old band for getting me into playing blues and rock, when my friends are STILL playing in dropped D tuning and dont know how to use any but the two top strings on their guitar. GNR was a great introduction to guitar playing, it led me to the stones, led zep, etc. So i will always carry that with me, i will never put the guitar down, and i pity those who weren't fortunate enough to be around for the rise of the last great uncompromising rock band and who never saw them live. I hope Axl Rose is happy, and i dont mean that facetiously. I know his music brought me a lot of happiness over the years, so , i wish him the best. I don't know what's going on in his head, but, that last "interview" both with respect to timing, content, and purpose doesn't seem like the actions of a happy man.

This entire CD fiasco, with using the GNR name etc. was just a horrible idea. I think some of us have taken it for granted because its been so long since its started, but, it was just a really bad idea. It really does seem as if anyone who would have told him otherwise was shut out long ago. Sometimes what is best for you is something one does not want to hear. It allows for self improvement. I know this is lengthy but i had a class cancelled so i have a bit of time....I just hope that this entire CD saga, and these silly interviews dont erode the place the original band rose to.

Whats rediculous are mods on certain boards and fans that STILL try to act like him, i mean, that "fuck you" attitude. That was cool when they were in their early 20s and off the street, but, it wont get anyone anywhere outside of perhaps a rock band, and maybe not even then. Slash doesnt act that way anymore. Its not the real world. So, yeah, i guess ill wait for the slash solo album and for whatever is going on with VR. Because what i thought was beautiful dont live inside of GNR anymore.

I think the dissapointment is because the album was expected to be some kind of foray into normalcy after 10 years of wierd inconsistencies (at least it looks that way from the outside, who knows what has really been going on). But, CD is released and really its just more of the same-wierd inconsistencies. The album is dropped, GNR dissapears. Its supposed to be "the most anticipated album of all time" (according to advertisements) and its not selling as such.

The material aside (ill get there later) fans on these boards invested a lot into this long endevour and expected to receive some sort of dividend when it was complete-this obviously is not happening. They are recieving no dividend in the form of this thing being accepted as a great comeback, or even as GNR. For those who read this and say "its not the original band, dont compare them" well, its still called GNR-maybe it shouldn't have been. You've got the most recognizalbe rock guitar player of the last generation, instantly recognizable in both is look and sound-a true icon, and hes supposed to be dispensable? Its appearing he isnt-unfortunately its appearing as if this album is increasingly being looked at as a VERDICT with respect to the last 15 years of desicions Mr. Rose has made. For right or wrong, but it is morphing into a verdict-and this verdict is in stark contrast to the fanboys who invested years into this thing and thought it was the second coming.

Also, i think that once the album was eventually in everyones CD players the material just couldnt live up to what had grown up around it. I like this album, i think its an interesting band and if it would have been a solo project it might have been the strongest solo project in recent history-but having the GNR name attatched to it, in the end it was just too much. This album is cool, but after listening to it several times, for a few weeks now, it just cant compete with the spontaneous chemistry that was the original GNR.

Thus, here we are and everything is essentially the same as it has been- really wierd. None of this has ever made any sense really and it probably never will. But in that regard it has been very consistant.