I just feel for Slash because it is like he is being left out, and it is sad to me for some reason.

otto wrote:

If it were 93 and we had message boards, would you all be saying this about Izzy as well?

"Well, yeah, he left because it became a circus and now here he is, playing with them... izzy man, spineless!"

Guns business' side: Instead of hiring a bass player who has to learn 20+ songs, they HIRED (there, I said it) one that knows most of them, has to learn 3 or 4 new ones (yes, he will play CD songs) and also has a history with the group.

Duff side: travel south america with family, enjoy some high profile/full of people gigs, be praised, cash in some good bucks, then, when he had enough of dealing with Axl's bullshit backstage, goes back to his normal life.

Axl side: Duff was the last to give up and judging by Duff's book and Axl's interviews, they were always on good terms but on a grey zone of discomfort in the sense of "who'll call first?". Good things they patched some scars in London.

People comparing this with Slash or "why not with Slash?": comparing apples to oranges. They haven't come to amicable terms yet and maybe never will. You get angry because it becomes more evident that a full fledged reunion will not occur (any time soon). Also, Axl has been really vocal about his problems with Slash and there are rumors that he demands a public apology and until that happens... well...

Slash: If he did have problems with Duff joining for a few songs, he did not make it public. Also, if he did, the RNRHOF occurred AFTER that and they are buddies again., on good terms, so I don't think Duff sees this as a problem and, if my instincts are to be right (given what I read about his life and modus operandis in the GNR days) he probably spoke to Slash prior to accepting the offer.

It's not easy to overlook some important fact: the 1993 band still had _the majority of the classic line-up_ and they were playing the asses off promoting _relatively new albums_, _they wrote_ and Izzy, who rejoined for a while, _was a co-writer of those songs_ and they did a helluva job, performing _amazing shows_.
Now we only have 1 original member, who's a shadow of his former shelf, who's playing a boring setlist just to rip off his remaining fans, with songs written by people he publicly hates, whom he didn't want to joing the stage, honouring their lifetime achievement. Also Duff - unlike Izzy - will be joining replacements of replacements, and not his old buddies (minus Steven). Plus, nobody on Earth questioned GN'R being GN'R back then - now only lunatics and zealots are preaching it's the same band.

So I guess this story is a little bit different, and noone can pretend it's 1993 again.

Duff can handle those Bass lines, no problem.  The problem is the double standard here.  Axl got pissed the old band played at the RnRHoF, and Duff was pissed that Axl let the fans down...  Izzy pissed the guys off too for siding with Axl. Fast forward, Duff is fine with it now and can jam with Axl, but Axl is unable in any way, shape, or form, reconcile his differences with Slash like Duff does Axl.  It is bullshit and Duff in a way supports this behavior by once again bailing Axl again....  Maybe Duff is spineless, or forgets who his friends are, but Slash IS ONE OF HIS VERY BEST FRIENDS, so why does he continue to play shows with Axl under the name Guns N Roses, when his best friend cannot?  It is like he should take  his boy's back here.  If I were boys with Axl and Slash, but more so Slash and Axl wanted to hang out, I would almost have to address the Slash deal with him and get a resolution.  I feel like Slash is on his own island on this one and it sucks for him.