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Re: If this place ever goes HTGTH way
well maybe i need to put my 2 cents in here cuz i have a feeling that some of this is directed towards me based on my comments on the RIR and bridge school performances
i dunno if anyone has noticed but i have been wayyy hands off lately, even taking a break with virtually no posting for a month or more in the summer
my view is this....
Axl is who he is, he's gonna do what he is gonna do and not a god damned thing anyone thinks is gonna change that...if anything its gonna force axl to rebel against the flow and piss everyone off again
for me, if gnr is active its a good thing...every show is gonna have good points and bad points...at the end of the day the people at the shows typically seem to have a good time and post positively about the performances and sound quality at the gig ... me personally i can understand the distinction of what i probably would hear live vs what is coming through the vocal mix...i mean, fuck guys, dont you understand that axl is screaming his head off at near ear splitting levels? live without the benefit of mixing or mastering or anything? and yet here we are....armchair quarterbacks fucking scrutinizing every little fucking nuance in his performance and speculating on his mental stability? really?....no seriously really?
the guy is on radio, he is on tv, he is out perfomring gigs...doing charity work...and thats bad...hmmm its amazing we all didnt commit suicide in 2004 and 5 cuz that shit sucked i dunno who remembers, but i do
anyway the shows i have gone to were awesome. the current band is gelling good, and number one first and formost they are active
i dont give a flying fuck about going on tour...seriously a 37 year old grown man, a full time job 2 kids and a wife can just get up and go? i don't think so....exactly wtf is the band gonna give me? they dont owe me anything and i don't expect them to do anything for me why would i? who the fuck am I? that's right nobody, and average fan of a band that was popular 20 years ago
I've had the wonderful opportunity to meet Ron 3 times...and in the process to meet Del, DJ, Richard and Beta ,while Del and Beta arent in the band (obviously) it is still a bit neat for a gnr geek like me to speak to these people who are (in)famous in the GnR universe, several of you are in the same boat as me, meet a couple guys in the band a couple times.
and then there is Bono...he posts that he doesnt like a song and peopel jump down his throat...so what he doesnt like a song...its personal...music taste i mean...so he comes back and is a bit abrasive i wont deny, and he knows the rules but continues to insult people, what are we gonna do....bono if you woulda had a bit more tact then none of this shit happens...so do we let you get away with it? or ban you? kinda a lose lose situation if you ask me....wtf man are you 12? grow up, we are all adults here so why do i have to lecture? shit like this is exactly why i took the hiatus in the first place, do we really need to start the same old arguments over and over again? that crap isn't for me anymore, more power to the rest of you
none of the mods here are on gnr payrole...plain and simple...but yet here it is brought up again
ya know what 8-10 years ago i could argue with the best of them and be "realistic" or whatever you wanna call it....now? following this band for this long? i'll take it as i can get it...beats the fuck out of dead silence like we used to have...maybe i'm just not as big of fan as i used to be...or maybe i was never as big of fan as i was supposed to be...or maybe i just dont care anymore...i dunno...but i got more important things to get my panties in a bunch about these days rather than a poor live rendition of WTTJ...besides i focus on the guitar parts than lyrics and vocals anymore....used to be a time when i could recite lyrics like mad....then i started playing guitar and my stupid ear focuses on that more than anything now, i dont even know the full lyrics to ANY song off of CD yet...hell havent listened to that album in a year probably
bottom line? i just cant be bothered to argue about it anymore, i dunno why i even posted this ...y'all are gonna think what you want and make up your own theories anyway
does anyone get where i am coming from here? or am i just talking to myself? i dunno if i cleared any air or not...but at least i got a bit of it off my chest 
...flame away 
Re: If this place ever goes HTGTH way
I've noticed a bit of a different feel too, but I think some of that is just me. After going to the Slash show in Atlanta and the show in Vegas, I kinda feel like I have closure on the whole thing. Arguing about GnR stuff just doesn't seem all that appealing to me anymore.
After spending some time with Russ, I think the one thing I can say for sure is that he is not on the GnR payroll, and he will never be on the GnR payroll. His feelings towards "management" are quite clear, and as a result, he has no chance of being a yes man for them. Obviously he supports the new band, but from what I've seen in person, that's strictly about the band and the people in the band. Any "preferential treatment" he might get would come as a result of that, not because he sold out. If you can't see the difference, that's on you.
- monkeychow
- Rep: 661
Re: If this place ever goes HTGTH way
me personally i can understand the distinction of what i probably would hear live vs what is coming through the vocal mix...i mean, fuck guys, dont you understand that axl is screaming his head off at near ear splitting levels?
Interesting post overall neemo but I can't say I agree with this part. If you're rationalising vocal parts sounding questionable as lack of pro-mixing/mastering and youtube quality vs being there.
While I have no doubts the shows are an amazingly fun experience - elements such as lack of rasp, obvious breathing difficulties and some of the tonal problems seem at recent gigs are not something that's just being created by the lack of a production polish on the bootleg.
Otherwise you'd see the same phenomena when watching Audioslave boots, or Aerosmith boots or other bands that have singers with similar intonation to Axl. At times Axl has delivered performances free of them, but at the moment he is not. It's not just about not being there.
To use your "it is what it is" approach - Axl's songs are amongst the hardest type of music to peform live (huge range in pitch, lots of vocal power needed, variety of vocal tones and use of rasp) - and it can't get any easier as he gets older.
So maybe he does the best he can, and I'm sure he could song write to make great stuff and take advantage of his new voice, but this is the kind of thing I mean, I can't pretend I don't hear the differences.
and yet here we are....armchair quarterbacks fucking scrutinizing every little fucking nuance in his performance and speculating on his mental stability? really?....no seriously really?
Hmm...it's not like anything has happened to raise those questions, after all he doesn't have a record of arrests, allegations of assaults and mood swings, history of on stage meltdowns, periods of seclusion, the most expensive record in history, which he self boycotted after release, a revolving door of musicians who all quit on him, violent outburts at photographers and hotel staff, a bizarre stepford wives management structure where his personal home staff were able to contradict and override the highest level power brokers and professional managers known to the music industry, one of the most notorious track records of riots/show cancelations / product failures (eg the film), a history of getting upset at the opinions of insignificant internet users like us (first post at my my gnr was to call someone a cunt), and the instigation of censorship of opinion at official and semi-offical sites, and a list of self harming behaviour in both his personal (smasing his house up, pianos out windows) and professional life (see the silent period you describe) that's off the charts. 
To be honest, I love the guy, I love his music, I love his lyrics - and from all accounts 95% of the time he seems like a warm funny and generous and super cool individual....but that said...there's grounds for people to ask some questions...and it's really odd to me that you'd question why anyone would.
I understand what you mean - that our opinions aren't going to change anything and it is what it is - but then if we all really believe that - why not just close the board entirely and leave Axl be.
- Me_Wise_Magic
- Rep: 70
Re: If this place ever goes HTGTH way
You are right to post this information. I know some of us can get frustrated over the situations either in what GNR is doing or some of the constant arguments. For me, I'm just happy that the fans are coming to like the guys in the band and they play awesome together no doubt. I'm excited to get my shirt from Russ in the mail sometime this week and just enjoy what this week has to offer. As for lack of new music it just doesn't bother that much. At least they are out there playing shows and Axl isn't sitting at home. I know this place will never become HTGH because we have friendly people here with some great opinions just trying to find ways to express themselves and they don't have a second agenda. I just like enjoying the performances when they come up online. I would love 
to go independent with this band, finish the deals with Geffen and such to release either vault session work or something. Hell, I don't know what the hell the man has gone through to get to this point either; so I can't comment at all on his personal life. Like Monkey said, he sounds like a fun guy to chill, have a drink with, and discuss music. I personally believe 
has been the best person to represent this band in quite awhile. He seems very down to earth and tries to be honest and friendly to the fans. They all seem like swell guys.
I like sharing Van Halen information or other things I find that you guys may find amusing or interesting cause it's helped keep me sane through some hectic weeks and some days just not going well. I'm proud to call some of you guys friends. Just don't like the bringing people down or draining the hope out of others that believe something will happen down the road.
Re: If this place ever goes HTGTH way
I understand what you mean - that our opinions aren't going to change anything and it is what it is - but then if we all really believe that - why not just close the board entirely and leave Axl be.
i dunno....for the most part people like posting here and hearing other peoples opinions and stuff...people seem to care about the other posters around here as actual people
i just don't understand why we have to argue all the same old arguments over and over again...and how they can get just as heated now as they did when we first had them 
there has to be something else to talk about...
at least the old vs new arguments are gone i guess that at least is forward progress
- monkeychow
- Rep: 661
Re: If this place ever goes HTGTH way
Neemo...So what you're saying is you like GNR and NU-GNR? 
Hehe...I do like all the posters here actually....it's sort of weird...we've all got to know each other for like what - 6 years or more at just this place? Maybe one day when GNR actually ends we'll have to turn it into a pop culture forum or something? I already enjoy reading a lot of non-gnr topics here that people post.
I also think we should get that musical project we've threatened a few times happening.
Re: If this place ever goes HTGTH way
Sorry I think it might have been me who originally started the "Is this place becoming HTGTH" paranoia
Frankly it's because I find the environment over there deeply disturbing, the whole saga is like a microcosm of the way people have followed propaganda, sold each other out and otherwise gone along with things they know it be untrue at various times in history - things like some of the experiments at socialism, the witch trials of the past, the fear of reds under the bed, and stuff like that. Obviously it's just a band and not anything as important as those incidents - but in it's own small way - it's a parallel and says a lot about human nature.
Meanwhile, while I accept Russ and other's statements that they are not on the payroll, I do feel the tone of this place has changed significantly in recent months - both in terms of the views expressed by posters, and the direction of the moderation. At first i thought it was my imagination, but it keeps happening and obviously with this thread being here it's not just me that's noticed it.
Perhaps it's natural. I know Axlin has spoken of his love/hate fan relationship to Axl being the heal character of rock music. I think such feelings tend to make people's posts vary from praise/anger toward the band - and I think his view is probably indicative of a lot of us here - I know myself I have mixed views - on one hand Axl is BY FAR my favourite songwriter ever and GNR is my favourite act - on the other hand I'm uncomfortable with the aforementioned approach places like HTGTH take....I like honesty in things - and just like I'm the first to say I love GNR songs and I'd kill for a new album, I don't like to pretend - so I can't support it when people imply old members contributed nothing, or when people suggest Axl's voice is fine on boots where it's clearly having a bad night and so on... ...and that I feel the band could be managed a lot better, and that to an extent the talent in the band (including Axl) is being eroded by the passage of time and the inability to deliver more of his art. It's things like the recent cinema cancellation experience. A small thing - but sort of standard for this band and I really can't understand why.
All this means that sometimes I'm a "positive" poster and sometimes "negative" I guess. But I don't see why there needs to be such a distinction. I mean does someone really have to think everything is always good all the time to be a fan. It doesn't seem healthy at all.
Honestly, lately alot of my positive attitude lately has come from just... letting go.
I'm busier than hell most of the time, I don't have time for the daily workings of the band, and because Axl has seemingly given up on being an actual music artist, and opted for being apart of the world's greatest cover band -- why should I care?
So it's allowed me to love Axl and the band for all of the reasons I love them, because I don't have to see them everyday. If that makes any sense? It's like having to see parents or grandparents you don't exactly get along with.
The other day I actually got jealous of Russ that I wasn't getting a GN'R show myself. With the setlist Russ got, i'd pay money for that. I wish GN'R could be an actual band again, instead of Cinderella with Rolling Stones-level popularity, but what are you gonna do?
It pisses me off, but i'm tired. How many tirades have I went on here? How many tirades have I went on in real life? I have said all I can say. I've preached all I can preach. It's up to him now.
