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Re: Unofficial CD 'reunion' T-shirt.
That's exactly what stumps me about CD and the whole break up of the original bnd. The final product was not nearly as off the wall or revolutionary as I expected. Slash could have eaten most of those tunes for breakfast.
there's a bunch of songs like shackler's revenge sitting in the vault that slash would've never touched.
axl went techno towards the end and slash said , himself, he wasn't interested in that.
until we get into that vault it doesn't , however, matter. we got as many songs as possible that sounded as close to classic grn as possible in cd 1.
- Intercourse
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Re: Unofficial CD 'reunion' T-shirt.
I think Slash's biggest gripe with Axl's musical vision was that he was adamant about taking styles from other bands who wre hot at the time. Not only was Slash unhappy with the techno stuff he said that Axl had been pushing stuff around that sounded like Pearl Jam and even U2.
His point was that they became global megastars from pursuing their own vision and not copying current trends directly. Now, I'd be the first one to say that if the follow up to UYI was more of the same I think it would have stiffed; but I would agree with Slash that becoming a stylistic clone of current favours of the month would have been suicide.
The way CD was delayed so much bears this out, by the time Ax was ready with some songs the trend had passed and the song was no longer cool. hence the consatant re-tooling.
Re: Unofficial CD 'reunion' T-shirt.
CD is such a stylistic mess...some of the songs have no business being on the same as album as each other...Shackler's, Better, If The World and Scraped are all way different than the rest of the record. The Blues as well (a straight up UYI sounding track).
Re: Unofficial CD 'reunion' T-shirt.
I think Slash's biggest gripe with Axl's musical vision was that he was adamant about taking styles from other bands who wre hot at the time. Not only was Slash unhappy with the techno stuff he said that Axl had been pushing stuff around that sounded like Pearl Jam and even U2.
His point was that they became global megastars from pursuing their own vision and not copying current trends directly. Now, I'd be the first one to say that if the follow up to UYI was more of the same I think it would have stiffed; but I would agree with Slash that becoming a stylistic clone of current favours of the month would have been suicide.
The way CD was delayed so much bears this out, by the time Ax was ready with some songs the trend had passed and the song was no longer cool. hence the consatant re-tooling.
but slash wanted to do the same music and axl wanted to experiment and slash said so himself.
Re: Unofficial CD 'reunion' T-shirt.
That's exactly what stumps me about CD and the whole break up of the original bnd. The final product was not nearly as off the wall or revolutionary as I expected. Slash could have eaten most of those tunes for breakfast.
Listening to songs he has produced like 'Watch This' and 'Nothing to Say' with M Shadows shows me that he'd have had no trouble with working on Shackler's Revenge etc.
Axl just has to accept that people worship his work with Slash and will always hope to get more of it again.
Its one of those rare things, the tone of his voice against the tone of Slash's guitar just blew the world away.
I listened to Breakdown the other night for the first time in years and I was fucking blown away. It is every bit as huge, complex and grand as anything on CD yet sounds much stronger and more confident.
You just said anything and everything that sums of the Chinese Democracy experience. Doesn't matter if you cherry-pick the best possible track on there (some say TWAT, some say Better, some say TIL), when in comparison to the old catalog, especially the UYI trx and specifically the grandiose ballads on UYI II...
Never and I mean NEVER, even with My World, or the worst track on TSI, does it ever lack focus or confidence.
CD's biggest problem is the whole thing lacks confidence. Why is that? Well, maybe because Axl pieced together his vocals and the guitar parts in 2 second clips over the span of 10 years to represent the album.
Even CD 'feels' like Axl's scared to let you listen to it and chastize him for it.
And you also nailed it that Axl forgot that he was W. Axl Rose, and was the fucking man for doing just what he did from 1987-1993. He didn't need to copy NIN, Rob Zombie, Nirvana, and whatever else he wanted CD to be so it could be "cool, modern, and relevant". Just be Axl Rose, and everyone will love it. Problem, what Axl thinks is 'Axl Rose', isn't anywhere close to what audiences loved about Axl.
Despite the fact that Slash has alot of post-GN'R turds in his catalog, there's alot that stayed true to the GN'R spirit, and kicked major ass. I think in some ways Slash was vindicated on this. Sticking with the old format was the way to go.
Slash, Izzy and even to an extent Duff stayed close to the GN'R spirit far more than Axl. CD does have an few old Guns-spirited songs (SOD, TWAT, I.R.S., TIL), but the guitars are WAY OFF and kill the entire true GN'R spirit.
Thus, ultimately, still keeping them Axl Rose solo songs. Don't believe me? Listen to Ghost, Watch This, Sucker Train, Fall To Pieces, just about everything Izzy ever did, etc. and tell me what sounds closer to old Guns... not even a contest.
- Intercourse
- Rep: 212
Re: Unofficial CD 'reunion' T-shirt.
Its a pity because I totally get what Axl was trying to do....evolve.
I just think he couldn't dream up what that evolution looked like for himself and was open about his plan to mooch from other hot bands of the time. That plan coming to fruition would have been even sadder than them trotting out a tired version of UYI and going through the motions because at least those motions were of their own creation.
In 1992, both of those men needed a producer who would have dragged Slash out of his comfort zone while making Axl focus on using the magic that makes him unique and we could have had another classic album.
Slash is back but as you rightly pointed out Axlin, he went on a quality sabbatical for a few years. His guitar 'work' was still stellar but the musicians he chose to work with in Snakepit etc were not in his league and the songs were dated and a little sad at times (particularly in 'Ain't Life Grand').
All the while Axl was and remains overwhelmed with too much of everything; too much money, too many lawsuits, too many musicians, too many new technological toys, too many hangers on, too many detractors, too much pressure from labels and managers.... too much of everything to get a cohesive set of musical ideas together and just leave them to fuck alone.
One mans slavish devotion to simplicity and the other mans slavish devotion to drama and complexity put them on a collision course. Both men have a great career but really its an A minus when stacked against their peers i.e. U2.
Re: Unofficial CD 'reunion' T-shirt.
I was watching a lot of old GNR live stuff recently, it made me listen to Slash's Snake Pit to even his last record. IMO, nearly everything was pretty much terrible.
It's funny you'd (Axlin) say CD shows how insecure Axl is, I'd have to say the opposite. He went so far away from the original GNR sound, to songs that don't even have a category, that I think he was throwing it in people's face that he wasn't afraid to turn people off. I think his problem is that no one was there to say, "Whoa." CD shows he wasn't trying to fake an orginal style album to get people not to criticize him. He wasn't going the safe route. I think he went into this knowing people would be criticizing him. His problem was prefectionism, thinking more is better.
Slash's solo album reeks of insecurity. From getting all the old rock stars to sing sub par, generic lyrics over old school riffs to adult contemporary pop rock guys (I'm shocked that Chad guy from Nickleback wasn't there) to a POP song that was, again, imo, a desperate attempt to get a top ten hit. When Slash said he was scared to approach Thom Yorke that really struck me that my criticisms were pretty much right on in what "my" problem with Slash's music is. He's afraid to break that old mold to turn off old fans, or whatever the reason is. Even his choice of Myles as a lead singer is the safe bet. Perhaps that's the problem with VR and getting an established guy who would push Slash into directions he wasn't comfortable with. Maybe a guy like Cory Taylor brought in the prospect of having to raise his game and having a relationship with Axl and to some extent Scott, of having someone not like what he's writing. I totally believe Axl when he said Slash told him he didn't want to work that hard at making music. His music is proof of that.
I think Saint Is A Sinner is the most interesting song on the album and I would have LOVED to hear Thom Yorke on it. I'd love a bunch of challenging shit from Slash. I don't think that's going to happen.
BTW, I'm not bashing anyone who feels differently than I do. If you love Slash's stuff and hate CD, that's just a matter of taste. Not saying anyones right or wrong.
And I completely disagree that UYI didn't lack focus. Those albums were all over the place.
