st@rfucker wrote:

James Lofton wrote:

People who are hardcore fans for decades are not "fair weather", regardless of what side of the fence they stand on.

What is mildly amusing about these types of situations is how some people think it has to be one of two extremes....Ashba revealing Axl's deepest, darkest secrets or cementing his mouth shut. Its like people don't follow other artists and see that a middle ground exists.

No one was expecting Ashba to leak two new GNR albums. Simple statements regarding his time in rehearsals or something of that nature isn't really too much to ask(or is it?), and its fucking hilarious that you're branded a hater/complainer for simply wanting to hear/read some info on a band you like.

Only in the GNR world.....

Not everyone is as ancient as you or I and haven't been fans for decades,some are just discovering GNR, look at the age plateau
on some forums, and consider some of these 16 year old instant experts actually expect GNR to act like a "normal" band?
If I were assaulted with as many innane comments as Ashba was
I'd be thoroughly and absolutely disgusted and a bit disillusioned.
No, It's not abnormal to crave info about a band, it's a bit insane to demand it imo. And I'll mention again how shiny and happy the boards got immediately following the dec. chats, but that shine erroded rather rapidly in some places.
Maybe that shitslinging that followed not long after closed some lines of communication.
And Ashba didn't lose any fans by participating in the melee'-He just didn't give much information out,other than yes-he is in GNR, and that he writes profusely, Good news so far.

A little goes a long ways.....

Had Axl followed through with something after those chats, I don't think the cloud of negativity would have resurfaced so soon. Example, he says "a week or so" for the Better video. It gets released. Anyone complaining under those circumstances would have been complaining just for the sake of complaining.

After the video, maybe a limited amount of tour dates. Hit a few major cities in the U.S., maybe a limited run in South America.

None of this requires what is commonly referred to as "attention whoring". It would simply be Axl/GNR doing what artists do.

Instead we get silence, and silence breeds contempt. Axl's own hardcore base wasn't even willing to push those two singles up the charts, and neither came close to cracking the Itunes Top 100, and even shit like a deep album cut from a 1980s Heart album has cracked that chart.

The road goes both ways. Relationships between artists and fans exist on a very fine line, and thats not including the dysfunction in this situation. I think all GNR fans(well, the hardcores) are willing to support the band 100%, even those who "complain". Everyone at these sites could have joined forces and propped CD and/or Better up on that Itunes chart, which literally could have been the catalyst for the "second wind". It didn't happen. Why? Was it Beta informing fans that they weren't fans, Axl's nonchalant approach not just to the record but the singles themselves, or the can of cancerous worms with Slash's name on it?

It is obviously Axl's choice whether or not he wants to stay out of the limelight or swing for the fences one more time. Whatever he decides to do, he needs to aim for more consistency. Letting the hangers on say we're not fans and then literally the next minute sending out myspace bulletins begging people to buy it simply wont cut the mustard in today's music culture. Its hypocritical, a huge turn off, causes casuals to walk away, and your album/singles get laughed off the charts.

I don't care how many copies this sold in Timbuktu, it sank like the Titanic and I think the approach to it had just as much to do with it if not more than the actual material itself.

As far as the younger generation of fans go, they grew up on the Chinese Democracy era. You cant expect sunshine and lollipops coming from their direction, and Axl, GNR, and UMG should be thanking their lucky stars that anyone in that age demographic even bought it.