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Re: Matt Sorum open to Playing with Current GNR Line-up
Sometimes I think Axl goes overboard on purpose with the Slash hate to push Slash and his fans away from GN'R. That it's less pressure on him if everyone knows Slash will never come back and he doesn't have to confront the Slash issue. When was the last Slash chant at a live show? That shit happened all the time in 2002... I haven't heard it since... and that's about the time he unleashed the fury on Slash.
He obviously has major issues about Slash, I just wonder what would happen if Slash bit the bullet and said, "yeah, I screwed up with Axl, I didn't take his feelings into consideration and contributed to a lot of the beef between us, blah, blah blah..." and he drops any legal shit. What would be Axl's response? I thought Axl left the door open after the HOF. I got the feeling that Axl was basically saying: "Say what you say to me in public that you did at my home when you don't think anyone will know and we'll squash this."
He even said after the house incident that he stepped back to see what Slash would do, not what he said, and was hopeful they would reach some kind of resolution... and then Slash sued him... again. What does Slash have to lose but some face? And if Slash did do it I think he'd come off as the bigger person and realy shine, no matter what "the revelation" reveals. If Axl rebuffs him... Axl would take a major hit.
- Intercourse
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Re: Matt Sorum open to Playing with Current GNR Line-up
Over at myGNR a poster called Soul Monster put this huge list of quotes together taken from books and articles. Its just band mambers talking about Axl.
Its a fascinating read and props to the guy for putting in this kind of energy back when he did it.
I'm stepping out of the current debate and just reflecting on what's said below. Safe to say, whether you agree with what's being stated below or not, you'll come out the other end still as enthralled with each GNR member as ever...
Lastly, I'd just like to thank Axlin, ID, Mikka and Guns for working so hard on their responses in this thread. We may never agree on some aspects of GNR's journey but if I was Axl and the guys, I couldn't ask for more genuine, passionate and honest fans.
Salut!!
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Slash: Duff, Izzy and I were gutter rats, but Axl was more sophisticated, and always brought a different edge to the proceedings. At the very least, he usually wasn't passing out like we were [Bozza, Anthony, & Slash (2007). Slash. Harper Entertainment: New York, pp174-175].
Steven: Axl didn't think it was fair to split royalties [from Appetite for Destruction] evenly five ways on our songs. He believed he was entitled to more than the rest of us ["My Appetite for Destruction", 2010].
Steven: We didn't knew Axl had a medical condition, manic depression, at the time. We just knew that dealing with Axl was tricky, that he was a moody motherfucker, and that you had to be prepared for craziness. One day he would be hugging you and the next day kicking you in the balls. But Axl did some loving things for me that surpass anything the other guys did for me, so who am I to praise or condemn? I love the guy to this day, I honestly do ["My Appetite for Destruction", 2010].
Steven: When Axl was ridiculously late for a recording session or blew off an important gig, I felt I had to call him out on it. The other guys knew better than to draw the wrath of Axl, I guess. They would just look the other way and stove their feelings. But there were times when Axl treated me with more respect than anyone else in the band did, and I think it was because I was real with him. Somewhere in the depths of that tortured soul, he appreciated that ["My Appetite for Destruction", 2010].
Slash: We got to the gig [October 23, 1986]; Axl was nowhere to be found (...). It came time to take the stage - No Axl - so Izzy and Duff and Steve and I got out there and started playing without him. (...). WE were opening for Alice Cooper but basically that set was a drunken jam fir for a bar - except we were in an arena. It got so bad that at one poitn we asked the audience to sing lead and then asked if there was a lead singer in the house. (...) Izzy and I talked about the fucked-up show and what we were going to do about it. It wasn't the first time we'd have these talks; I'd say that the subject of firing Axl came up six times, very seriously, in the life cycle of the band [Bozza, Anthony, & Slash (2007). Slash. Harper Entertainment: New York, pp217].
Slash: There are certain protocols that Axl just didn't heed; since he's not in the same mind space as other people, the accepted norms just don't occur to him. Explaining those norms might not make a difference; you'd never know. Axl is superintelligent, yet at the same he lives in a place where the logic that governs other people does not apply. He doesn't ever realize what an inconvenience his choices might be for others. He means no harm; it's just the way he is. It's very hard to try to even explain it. He is as sincere as someone can possibly be, but it comes down to the fact that Axl, regardless of the world around him, insists on existing according to rules that hold true only in the universe that he has created around himself [Bozza, Anthony, & Slash (2007). Slash. Harper Entertainment: New York, pp217-218].
Steven: I'm all ready to go [on stage for show in 1988 taped by MTV], and fucking Axl is holding us up. Of all the times for him to do this. MTV was there, and this was huge, but eventually the MTV guys were like, "We gotta go, we gotta get this going, guys." Axl's like, "Fuck it. I'm not going on unless I have my bandanna!" (...) Of course the rest of the band was avoiding eye contact with Axl, preferring to wander off, out of earshot, to do their grumbling. (...) Axl finally found a fucking scarf, some powder-blue, girly-looking thing, and the show began. He put it on, and he got this Little Rascals Alfalfa look going, because his hair was pushed up, like a ridiculous cowlick, on the back of his head. I'm sitting there playing and just laughing. "You dick, look at you (...)" ["My Appetite for Destruction", 2010, pp. 157].
Steven, after waking up at the hospital after his first OD: I blinked. I blinked again. It was Axl. Axl got up and was now standing over me. He smiled. He looked genuinely relieved. He said, "Man, that was close, Stevie." He was the only one there. Later, a nurse told me he had sat by my bed the whole time. The other guys went ahead to do the movie but Axl stayed at the hospital. What Axl did was so noble, so selfless and surprising, that I cried, and they were tears of joy (...). There he was, blowing off a chance to be in a scene for a major movie release, to stand by me, his own personal vigil, just Axl. Goddamn Axl. Soon as I thought I had him pegged, he went and did one of the most touching, meaningful things anyone's ever don for me. That was so cool. Thanks, Axl ["My Appetite for Destruction", 2010, pp. 163].
Slash: Axl is so prolific lyricwise and has such a heartfelt sense of melody that combined with Izzy's songwriting skill and Duff and myself, creating great guitar parts was easy, and so we'd have amazing songs in no time. Izzy and Axl had such great chemistry because Axl knew how to transform one of Izzy's simple structures into a perfect, well-rounded, melodically and lyrically rich song [Bozza, Anthony, & Slash (2007). Slash. Harper Entertainment: New York, pp 265].
Izzy: After the media had shish-kebabed Axl over that riot in St. Louis and being late and just everything, it really got to him and he said something weird at one of our gigs - 'a lot less pressure killed Jim Morrison'. Axl's just naturally late. It can get pretty tense at times, particularly when you're supposed to be on-stage and you're sitting there, literally counting the seconds, thinking 'man, we've just had a riot in St. Louis. Now we're in Texas. What the fuck is going to happen here? [The Vox, 1991].
Matt: Axl's so fuckin' great. Anything he does or says, it's just because that's the way he really is. He's beyond real, ya know. I've never seen anyone dare to talk shit to him, ever. I love that [The Vox, 1991].
Slash: If there ever was a combination of fucking opposites, like me and Axl or whoever else in the past, that one is crystal clear. Me and Axl are so unalike that we attract each other. The relationship between most lead singers and most lead guitar players is very sensitive, very volatile - I could go on listing these things for hours. It's just very intense. It has major ups and major downs. But somewhere between all this intensity and this friction there's a chemistry. And if the chemistry's right, like me and Axl are really tight, then there's something - a spark or, you know, a need, that holds it together. You fight too. The biggest fights are between me and Axl. But that's also what makes it happen [Tears Before Bedtime?; Q July 1991].
Steven: Here's the thing about Axl. He demands emotion. "Love me, hate me, but don't you fucking ignore me." He will not tolerate a vacuum. Sometimes I think that's why he would keep our fans waiting for three hours before going on. He demanded an emotionally charged atmosphere at all times. He wanted a life spent on the frantic jagged edge, and that's why he could deliver that unique urgency in his lyrics: he lived it ["My Appetite for Destruction", 2010, pp. 163].
Slash: The first night of the Aerosmith tour was tumultuous: it started in Illinois, and while the rest of us showed up early enough to watch them sound-check, Axl was missing in action until half an hour before show-time. I remember Steven Tyler coming up to me and saying, "Hey...so where's your singer?" It's become a recurring punch line; it's his standard greeting whenever he sees me [Bozza, Anthony, & Slash (2007). Slash. Harper Entertainment: New York, pp233].
Izzy, recounting Axl and him playing with The Rolling Stones in 1989: The Stones were asking me: 'Which song are you doing?' We'd chosen 'Salt of the Earth'. Nobody knew it! And I'm thinking: 'Fuck, you guys wrote it over 20 years ago! You must remember some of it!' So we go back in this little trailer and Mick Jagger's got a tape-player and he's listening to it, with the lyrics written on a piece of paper in front of him. And I'm sitting there playing acoustic guitar with Keith Richards and I'm thinking 'This is sooo cool!' 'Cos we're playing it thru' and Charlie and Bill Wyman are sitting there, listening to it. And I'm just flipping out, thinking 'God, this is sooo wild!' Finally we finished the song. They all turned to me and said: 'So where's your singer?' And I didn't have an answer! Axl was late again. Real late [The Vox, 1991].
Slash: It takes Axl an indeterminate amount of time to decide what he is going to do from the inception of an idea to the point of carrying it out, which always keeps things interesting [Bozza, Anthony, & Slash (2007). Slash. Harper Entertainment: New York, p.259].
Slash: Axl and I had a very interesting sort of love/hate relationship, and always did. Most of the time Axl and I were like fishing buddies who don't have much to talk about unless they're fishing. Then there were times when he and I had a great rapport, when he'd come to me to talk when he had a lot on his mind. For all of those periods, there were stretches when we were so obviously on opposite sides of some invisible fence that we didn't communicate at all [Bozza, Anthony, & Slash (2007). Slash. Harper Entertainment: New York, p.268].
Slash, recounting the period right prior to the release of the Illusions albums: This was when Axl started getting obsessive about the details of everything to do with Guns N' Roses, starting with the publishing splits of the songs on Illusion I and II. (...) In the end, because of contributors like Paul Huge and West Arkeen and Del James, Axl insisted upon splits that were like 22.75 percent or 32.2 percent per song for us core members [Bozza, Anthony, & Slash (2007). Slash. Harper Entertainment: New York, p.319].
Slash: Axl became a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (...) It was really tough for me because I felt very close to Axl for periods of time when we were working together toward a common goal, and then, not much later, I'd feel like we were on opposite sides of a fence. It started a real love/hate situation between us. Axl and I had a pretty rocky relationship from the very beginning, which continued until the very last time we spoke, for the simple reason that we have such different, different ways of looking at and handling things. I bear him no ill will; I know that his version of events is every bit as viable as mine...just different. It took me a long time to even sort of understand Axl - if I ever did at all - let alone predict what made him react the way he did. (...) Early on, when we first met, what he did would sometimes take me by surprise. We related to each other because both of us were rebellious and anarchistic, but I could never understand why he took rebellion to the point that it made his life difficult for no real reason. I could understand standing up for what you believe in and that conflict often results from that. But Axl took it to a degree of self-sabotage that I just did not comprehend. I spent a lot of time trying to sort that out, to just understand it intellectually in some way, until I realized that there was no rhyme or reason to it whatsoever [Bozza, Anthony, & Slash (2007). Slash. Harper Entertainment: New York, p.328].
Slash: I was drawn to Axl like everyone else because he is such an amazing singer and performer and has such powerful all-around charisma. I also admired the fact that he always had a point of view that he felt strongly about and was always so sincere about it. He's a brilliant lyricist and such a really tortured artist that he won me over because my mentality has always been to root for the underdog - and that was such a major part of his brilliance [Bozza, Anthony, & Slash (2007). Slash. Harper Entertainment: New York, p.329].
Slash: I learned to take the bad with the good as far as our friendship was concerned because Axl had a lot of stuff going on. We'd have these very in-depth, personal conversations, especially during the period when the band was starting out and we lived together. There were moments when I loved him to death, when he was just so cool and we had really close, heartfelt talks that he would lead. It was cool to get to know someone like him, because I can go for years without saying anything about how I feel, but Axl is not like that at all; he needed someone to communicate his feelings to. We'd have these great, peaceful one-on-ones about what bothered him and what was on his mind when the static died down. We'd talk about personal stuff for his past, all the things that concerned him, interested him, his goals for himself and for the band, what he wanted to do with his life. It was great insight into someone that I already admired, and I liked him a lot during those times because he was human and vulnerable and I felt like we really connected. The flip side to Axl, the Hyde to his Jekyll, was that once you felt that you had a strong bond going with him he'd do something that completely defied what you knew. One of the great things about our band was that we always had one another's back, regardless of the situation, but that became hard to do with Axl eventually. He never did anything directly to me; he did things that jeopardized the entire band and its standing among our peers and fans (...). The longer this type of behavior continued, though, the more I harbored mistrust when it came to him, because the guy that I'd have those intimate talks with was not the same guy who would make what I considered inconsiderate decisions [Bozza, Anthony, & Slash (2007). Slash. Harper Entertainment: New York, p.329].
Slash: (...) For my part I put a lot of hours into trying to understand Axl and where he was coming from, because for our band to succeed, it had to be us, united, against the world. We had to keep our ranks tight. Whenever Axl did stuff that belittled the rest of us, it put distance between us where there should have been none [Bozza, Anthony, & Slash (2007). Slash. Harper Entertainment: New York, p.330].
Slash: As the band got bigger, though, his demands got bigger. And as time went on, we developed a habit of appeasing him. (...) It established a pattern in which he got used to getting what he wanted. (...) One of the hard things about him back in the day was that when no one else agreed with him, Axl's retaliation wasn't easy: he'd throw something, knock something down, leave the building, or walk away, fuming, down the street and quit the band. In the heat of those moments you couldn't reason with Axl; he was like a kid having a tantrum [Bozza, Anthony, & Slash (2007). Slash. Harper Entertainment: New York, p.330].
Slash: Axl insisted that owning the band name was something we needed to litigate, and making our "identity" a "commodity" left us feeling dictated to - which was something that never went over well. That legal arrangement damaged our sense of mutual respect because it made the rest of us apart from Axl feel pretty taken for granted [Bozza, Anthony, & Slash (2007). Slash. Harper Entertainment: New York, p.332].
Slash: Subconsciously, I think I began to see the band as one guy sitting on a throne high above and completely apart from the crowd of people hustling around beneath him [Bozza, Anthony, & Slash (2007). Slash. Harper Entertainment: New York, p.329].
Slash: (...) We began to go on [stage] later and later as the [Illusions] tour progressed. That was an Axl thing and it wasn't just one or two occasions, it was every night. That hit me, on a personal level, as his biggest betrayal ever (...). It became a major issue with me. When I am asked why I quit Guns N' Roses, I can think of three reasons: the first was the fact that on that tour we almost never took the stage on time; the second was cancelling shows for no good reason; and the third is the infamous contract rewarding Axl the band's name should we ever break up [Bozza, Anthony, & Slash (2007). Slash. Harper Entertainment: New York, p.336].
Dizzy: We met in Hollywood when I first moved there and... he just liked the way I played the piano. At the time, in the 80s, most of the keyboard players that were playing at the time were kind of classically-trained and you know... they were good but they would not have fitted in with Guns N' Roses songs. And I think he realized that I would be able to play and add something that would raise the songs [Madagascar88, January 2006].
Slash We were an unreal band with an unreal singer; Axl was just amazing. Despite all of the tension going on behind the scenes, I still had some onstage chemistry with him that was incredible: we did amazing things every single night that were godlike [Bozza, Anthony, & Slash (2007). Slash. Harper Entertainment: New York, p.339].
Slash, recounting the St. Louis riot: The first major issue [during the Illusions tour], of course, was in St. Louis (...). Axl had a beef with a guy in the first few rows who had a video camera. Axl mentioned it to venue security and they did nothing about it. Their attitude and the guy's blatant disregard really set Axl off, so he jumped into the crowd to take his camera away (...). Axl got back onstage, everything felt triumphant for a second...then he grabbed the mike, said something like, "Because of the bullshit security, we're going home," slammed the mike down, and walked offstage [Bozza, Anthony, & Slash (2007). Slash. Harper Entertainment: New York, p.340].
Izzy, talking about the riot in St. Louis in 1991: When something like that happens, you can't help but think back to Donington [in 1988, when two fans were trampled to death in the rush for the stage at the start of GN'R's set]. What's to stop us from having some more people trampled - because the singer doesn't like something? Like, what's the point? What are we getting at here? [Classic Rock, 2001].
Slash: We went on late [Mannheim, Germany, on August 21, 1991] - late even for us - then, pretty early in the set, something happened and Axl walked off for what reason I have no idea. (...) He went to to the van and headed off to the dressing room. "Fuck that guy," [Matt] said. "I'm gonna go straighten him out." Matt felt that Duff and Izzy and I had played it too delicate with Axl for too long (...). By this point we'd discovered that Axl's van had not left for the dressing room; he was sitting in it but refused to come out and return to the stage. So Matt went down to Axl's van to rally him, but as he got down there, he ran into Axl, who had emerged to head back to the stage. "What the fuck are you doing?" Matt yelled. "Get back onstage!"(...) Axl went back to his van, and it didn't look like he was coming out again. (...) The local police were already there in riot gear, ready to deal with a full-on situation. It was a scary, tense scene, and a very near miss. We got Axl back onstage once he realized he had no choice, and the rest of the show went as planned. All I remember thinking as I walked offstage after the encore was 'Fuck, that was close.' Well, too close, as it turned out: by the next morning, Izzy sent a message through Alan [Niven] informing us that he was quitting the band [Bozza, Anthony, & Slash (2007). Slash. Harper Entertainment: New York, p.343-344].
Slash: From the start of the tour [with Metallica in 1992], Axl was out to impress Metallica and every one else - in his way. He brought up the idea of having backstage parties every single night - theme parties that would be a lounge for our guests (...) I never went to one of those parties during the entire tour. The whole idea of it was just too self-indulgent, too self-centered, and too showy for me to even think about participating in good faith anyway [Bozza, Anthony, & Slash (2007). Slash. Harper Entertainment: New York, p.356].
Slash: I think that the reason Axl went onstage so late, and never understood how offensive, selfish, and inconsiderate it was to everyone involved - from the fans to the band - was that he saw it as something other than what it was [Bozza, Anthony, & Slash (2007). Slash. Harper Entertainment: New York, p.357].
Slash: The disrespect and lack of trust that Axl's behavior inspired was corroding the core of the band [Bozza, Anthony, & Slash (2007). Slash. Harper Entertainment: New York, p.358].
Slash, recounting an episode after Slash OD-in in 1992: (...) Doug [Goldstein] called a band meeting in Axl's room. We all gathered around, and I was still nodding out at this point. Everyone voiced their concern for my well-being, but Axl's comment stood out most of all. It snapped me out of my haze, actually. "You gave us a scare," he said slowly, looking right at me. "We thought you were dead...I though I'd have to look for a new guitar player" [Bozza, Anthony, & Slash (2007). Slash. Harper Entertainment: New York, p.362].
Izzy, on Axl bad-mouthing his from the stage after Izzy left the band: I've heard [Axl]'s still slinging mud. I can't take it personally, because if it wasn't me, it would just be somebody else. Somebody's gonna get it in every city. There's nothing I can do about it. When I left the band, he got real pissed off, told me to get off his property. When I talked to him a couple weeks later, he said he wasn't still mad, but who knows? I've left him all my phone numbers since December, and he still hasn't called. When he's ready, he'll call and we'll talk [Musician, 1992].
Izzy, on being asked if he would donate bone marrow to save Axl: What, you mean if he had an accident? Uh, if he was gonna die I'd give him a little bone marrow. A little. We could work something out! [Kerrang, 1992].
Izzy: I guess in some ways I was sort of a balancing factor between Axl and the rest of the guys at one point [RIP; 1992].
Izzy: Before I left [Guns N' Roses] I spoke with Axl for a couple of hours on the telephone, and he made it real clear to me that he was going to be running things, so to speak, and there were some conditions put up that I was going to have go by. He was trying to make it good for me as well, I guess, but at the same time I realized that was it, I was done. The next day I signed my leaving papers [RIP, 1992].
Izzy: When [Axl] wants something from you he's on the phone being all nice and friendly. As soon as your usefulness has run out he turns on you. He's said some shit about me in the past, and right after I'd done those dates [stepping in for five gigs in 1993 when Gilby's arm was broken] he was back in the media putting me down. He's an odd guy [Metal CD, 1993].
Slash: If Axl's in a good mood, us others in the band don't have to think about what he's doing and why. But if he's in a worse mood, we have to spend a big part of the show at not making him more pissed off or irritated and therefore screw the show even more. [...] He will absolutely not do anything he doesn't feel like and I respect that. Of course it happens that a show doesn't fully work due to his mood-swings. But he can't pretend. But the times we are good, then it feels really good. Then there is nothing better [Metal Zone, December 1993].
Gilby, explaining in 1994 that no album is planned: Well, it's an Axl thing. He just wasn't into what we were doing, so he's kind of rethinking what he wants to do. He just kind of threw a wrench into everything that me, Slash and Matt had worked to. And then Duff came in. Duff and Axl have an idea what the album should be, and the rest of us have another idea. So right now, we're not gonna do anything [War Of The Roses! (Gilby Clarke interview), Kerrang!, May1994].
Gilby: It's Axl's band, and he runs it the way he wants. And whatever he wants to do is gonna happen. So we can work on songs all year long and come up with 20 songs, but when it comes down to it, if Axl writes 10 songs, he'll go, 'I want my 10 songs on the record'. And that's what's gonna happen [War Of The Roses! (Gilby Clarke interview), Kerrang!, May 1994].
Gilby: I don't know why Axl didn't play on Duff's album, but he was easy to work with on mine. He came down to the studio, wasn't terribly late [laughs] put down the vocals and the result was good. (...) Axl came down, played piano and when he was ready he said "do you want me to sing too?". I was surprised and answered "and I thought you didn't want to" [Gilby Clarke - A "Pawned" Rocker, Heavy Mental, June 1994].
Slash: He's a little bit crazy, but we're good friends even if I don't have a clue what he's doing now. You have to learn to understand Axl. We've been working together for over ten years and we really know each other. But working with him…Axl is serious and thinks incredibly much. He sees a show on TV that interests him it doesn't matter if we're gonna go onstage. He sees the whole show and we get two hours late. That's just the way he's working [Guns N' Roses Doesn't Quit, Goteborgsposten , February 1995].
Slash: Axl thinks that Guns is his solo-project [Slash Is Tired Of The Superdiva Axl, Aftonbladet, February 1995].
Slash: When the Snakepit thing is over, and I've got that out of my system, we all seem to be pretty amicable about how we feel about each other as far as Guns are concerned. I just want to do a really cool Guns record, and I don't want to push it 'cause I don't feel like we have to rush it out to keep up with the Joneses. So when everybody feels comfortable doing that... I don't know exactly where [Axl's] head is at, as far as what that should sound like. It changes from month to month. But we talk. We're fine. All the rumors and all that kind of stuff, it's between us. It's sort of like getting involved in someone else's marriage: You don't know what's going on, but people love to write about it. Me and Axl and Duff are obviously way the fuck more close and personal than they can even possibly put out in some magazine. That goes back to when Guns started, before we even got signed. The first quote that was in Music Connection was `They'll be great if they live long enough' [Coiled and Ready, April 1995].
Slash: Me and Duff are real close, we talk all the time. Axl and I haven't talked, I don't think we've actually come to terms with what we're gonna do [Slash On The Line: A Report From the Road, October 1995].
Slash: At one point he didn't like the songs [that ended up on Slash's solo record], and all of a sudden he wanted them and the [Snakepit] record was already done. That set me off. What the f.ck is that? It turned into a bit of a fight [Slash On The Line: A Report From the Road, October 1995].
Slash: Everybody used to go, "What's gonna happen when Guns is no longer.. when a new fad comes along?" or whatever. And I'd be, "I don't give a fuck". And I watched it happen, and it didn't matter to me. With Axl it mattered a hell of a lot. Next thing you know, he wants to be Pearl Jam, right? Why? I hate Pearl Jam anyway, so what's the point? And it's great to watch Pearl Jam going through what they're going through, cos I'm going, "See Axl?" We do what we do the best that anybody does. Let's just go out and do a club tour, a theatre tour, and fucking get back down to where we have some validity with an audience that we can relate to. But Axl was all fucking.. he wants to be on MTV, he wants to do Unplugged, he wants to be this, he wants to be that. So we didn't see eye to eye, and that's where a lot of that bullshit got started, and of course it was blown out of all proportion in the press [Guns N' Roses: Is It All Over? Does Anyone Care? Metal Hammer, November 1995].
Slash: I played him the material that I was writing, and he was like, "I don't wanna do that kind of music" [Guns N' Roses: Is It All Over? Does Anyone Care? Metal Hammer, November 1995].
Slash, about Axl doing s solo album: I wanted him to. You have to know Axl to understand what I'm getting at. Axl's the kind of guy who over-thinks everything. Sometimes it's fucking classic, and sometimes it's just...whatever. And that's cool. But there was a point there where Axl goes: "I'm gonna do a solo record, and I'm gonna get Trent Reznor and Dave Navarro, and the drummer from Nirvana..." and so on. And it's like, he doesn't even know half of these people. He's just pulling them out of the sky. And I was like, "Cool! Do your thing. That way you'll get it out of your system, and when you get back we'll just be Guns N' Roses" [Guns N' Roses: Is It All Over? Does Anyone Care? Metal Hammer, November 1995].
Slash, about the band name: As far as contractually - and this is a discrepancy between myself and our attorneys - apparently Axl owns it. Now I should have known that, because I could have then said: "Okay." I don't give a fuck who owns the name. But I find out later that Axl legally owns it - apparently. It's like everybody is on Axl's side from the business point of view, y'know? Everybody's scared that they're going to get fired. Because if Axl decides that he can't work with you you'll get fired, no matter what I say! I can fight till I fucking turn blue, but I won't be able to get anything done with the band if Axl won't work. And that's how the latter part, from "Use Your Illusion" till now, has been. And that's why we had big blow-up dolls and background singers and horns! It was ridiculous [Guns N' Roses: Is It All Over? Does Anyone Care? Metal Hammer, November 1995].
Slash: I work with the band; I don't work with Axl when we record. I work with the band and we just jam the stuff live, and Axl goes in and spends... Well last time it was a year in the studio, just adding and adding. I don't necessarily agree with that, but Axl's so talented he can go in and whip it out like that. But everything has to be perfect. Sometimes some of his ideas - like a harmony or something - I can go along with, but all the additional stuff...'Use Your Illusion' sounded amazing when it was just the basic tracks. It was fucking great. But then by the time all the tracks were done it was like impossible to fucking mix it, and it came out sounding... The more stuff you put on tape, the less "big" it sounds. I tried to tell Axl that but he wouldn't listen. But I'm not gonna do it that way this time, and that's what we have to talk about. I have the rough mixes, which are more or less the basic tracks and the basic overdubs - very simplified and try - and those fucking rock! You could come over to my house and I'll play you "Use Your Illusion" before it went into the mixing stage, and you'd be like, "Fucking what?!" It's very brash. But this is before synthesizers and all this outside stuff got involved. I really try to understand where Axl's coming from when he gets into that. It's a self-expression that, because our personalities are so different, I can't fucking understand. And he probably can't understand why I want to keep everything so natural. But it's just because I know the band - on a players' level or an emotional level or an expression level - is fine when it's naked on its own. When we play live, it's right there, y'know? That's as good as you're gonna be, no matter what you put on it [Guns N' Roses: Is It All Over? Does Anyone Care? Metal Hammer, November 1995].
Slash, about recording 'Sympathy For The Devil': Once we got around to listening to the track, [Axl] had some constructive critisism. Via a lot of communications between middle people, I was told that I needed to rerecord my guitar solo so that it sounded more note for note like the Keith Richards original. Now that really pisses me off, most of all beause the message reached me three times removed like we were playing a game of telephone. (...) "If you don't change it, I won't sing." I swallowed my pride - yet again (...). When I got a DAT of the song with Axl's vocal oon it, I noticed that there was another guitar layered on top of mine in the solo. Axl had gotten Paul Huge to double over me. (...) That was it - having another guitar player record over me without telling me was a much disrespect as I was willing to handle [Bozza, Anthony, & Slash (2007). Slash. Harper Entertainment: New York, p.380].
Matt: Lead singers are just difficult. They just are. I'm sorry. If you don't hold an instrument in your hand, then you're just gonna be a pain in the ass [Outsiders responsible for Guns N' Roses reuniting? Toronto Sun, September, 1996].
Slash: I don't care what Axl might say - this band was formed on the camaraderie between a little gang, against all odds [GUNS N' ROSES -"We Ain't Dead Yet" , Kerrang, September 1996].
Slash: I have only been back in the band for three weeks and my relationship with Axl right now is sort of at a stand still [transcript of Slash online chat; Pepsi Live @ Ticketmaster Online, October 1996].
Slash: (...) Guns N' Roses had become a dictatorship. (...)The whole process was dictated by Axl, and although I know he wanted input from me, I was suffocated by the tension and I couldn't think straight [Bozza, Anthony, & Slash (2007). Slash. Harper Entertainment: New York, p.390].
Duff, explaining what Matt meant Axl was wrong about: About schedules and the way Axl was late for the next album. Susan, my girlfriend, was pregnant. We were going to have a baby, but this band was becoming a dictatorship, everything had to get done in Axl’s way or it wouldn’t get done at all. It wasn’t like that when we started out [Duff McKagan Interview, Hard Force Magazine June 1999].
Slash: This time [the contract in 1995] was directed at Duff and me - the only remaining original members of Guns N' Roses. And it was very strategically presented: the contract stated that Axl would retain rights to the band name and was allowed to start a new band that he could call Guns N' Roses. Of course Duff and I could be members...but only on his terms, which felt to us like we were being defined as hired hands (...). He pushed this contract issue on us with so much pressure to the point that Duff and I just gave in [Bozza, Anthony, & Slash (2007). Slash. Harper Entertainment: New York, p.391].
Matt: Then in 1997 we got into an argument and I said, ‘This is not right, we’ve got to pull the band together. This is not brain surgery, this is rock and roll: two guitars, bass, vocals, and drums. Don’t over-think it.’ He said, ‘Are you going to quit?’ I said, ‘No.’ He said, ‘You’re fired’ [Matt Sorum Rocks with Velvet Revolver, Drum! April/May 2004].
Slash: It was almost amazing to me that this band had taken such a turn; we, the band, had allowed Axl the freedom, over all those years, to transform what we had into some morbid reality that existed only in his head [Bozza, Anthony, & Slash (2007). Slash. Harper Entertainment: New York, p.392].
Duff: Not too long after I got out of the hospital, Axl came up to Seattle to visit me. The challenge was how we were going to make a new record and what direction we were going to go musically. We couldn't very well do anything at the time because Slash was out doing a Snakepit tour and battling his own addiction. In previous years, there had seemed to be a fail-proof alliance and understanding within our band; we knew that at the end of the day we only had each other to rely on. Now I was doing sober things with Axl, like riding mountain bikes and eating healthy food and talking on the phone about a productive musical direction. That sense of family and trust had recently been tainted by management dealings and other wedges that did everything possible to vanquish our bonds [Reverb, December 2009].
Duff, explaining why Axl changed: Because many people around him maintain him in that state of mind. They kept telling him he was right. Some of them feared him cause they were scared they were gonna lose their job. It’s as simple as that [Duff McKagan Interview, Hard Force Magazine June 1999].
Slash: The road that Axl chose to travel forced me away. And once I left, Duff was next-he split of his own accord less than a year later. Not too long after that, Matt got fired. Apparently, he stood up for me when I was slandered at rehearsal and that was the end of him. By 1998, Axl was the only one of the original five still in the "band" he'd legally arranged to be able to call Guns N' Roses [Bozza, Anthony, & Slash (2007). Slash. Harper Entertainment: New York, p.396].
Duff, being asked if he is still friends with Axl in 1999: Yes I am, but it doesn’t mean we agree on everything. We’ve been thinking too much about this band. We’ve been teenagers together, we became adults together. Nobody can ask me not to be friend anymore with my brother. But he’s got a problem: too many people around him confusing his mind. To be honest, he probably doesn’t live in the same world as you and me [Duff McKagan Interview, Hard Force Magazine June 1999].
Slash: When the 90’s rolled around, Axl got really, really into the whole trip and became a more exaggerated version of someone I already knew. Nothing that Axl does now surprises me. It’s just a bigger, more exaggerated version. That’s where he was headed [Modern life is rubbish, Kerrang! 10th of June, 2000].
Slash: [...] There's another version of "Sweet Child O' Mine" that Axl did in the same movie [Big Daddy], which is the same version as our thing from 'Appetite for Destruction'. They sampled my guitar solo, and then added their own thing. It sounds really, really bad. And that's all I can say about that. It's like, "Why? What's the point?" Sheryl Crow doing it was an interesting take on it. But when Axl did it, it almost became a lawsuit. He used Duff's bass line, some of the original drums, and sampled some other stuff. I was like, "Wow. A lot of cooks in the kitchen over there!" That's why I quit, I have to say, for the record. Everybody keeps asking me, "Well, why would you quit? Guns was such a huge band." With all my heart I can say that I would have never wanted to mess with that. I did everything in my power to keep GN'R going--even having a good time in the midst of the most insane chaos with the redhead. But it just got to a point where it was really hard. So when I finally quit, I was like, "I have no choice. I'm going into deep depression here. I'm not having any kind of a good time, and all my bandmates are gone. I have nothing to hold onto." People were saying, "No, You can't quit." But I was like, "Well, I gotta go." And they said, "No, you can't." So I said, "Axl wants to make a Guns N' Roses record, and he wants to do it with me. But he doesn't [care] about Matt, Steve, Izzy, or Duff. And I can't do it that way. I don't wanna work with these people who are suddenly becoming involved in the band." That was about five years ago [Guitar One Magazine, April 2000].
Slash: I just wish the fucker would get the fuckin’ record out so I could see why he took something so cool and systematically, destroyed it. I want to hear where he was headed, and what he was trying to communicate that none of us in the band could relate to [Modern life is rubbish, Kerrang! 10th of June, 2000].
Slash, listing his villains: He’s the closest person I’ve ever worked with that was as villainesque as they get. You know, in a sort of harmless kind of way, but not totally. All that is sort of self-explanatory as well. I definitely gotta put him on the list cos as much as I love the guy he’s definitely way up there. I don’t know how familiar you are with Guns history, but I quit the band five years ago and haven’t looked back since. Axl’s probably still in them, but I haven’t seem him. He’s just a really fucking huge mindfuck. He has a sweet side to him and a nasty side to him, if memory serves. He would be very, very violent and have very wicked thoughts and sore points. I guess I last saw him in an attorney’s office. I quit the group because of musical differences. I wanted to continue doing the hard rock thing, and he wanted to do techno-rock or something. We’re still to see the end result. I just do what I do because that’s what I like doing, but his thing seems to be a little more convoluted [Slash’s Heroes & Villains, NME, October 7, 2000].
Izzy: I'd moved back out to L.A. [1996 or 1997] (...) and was riding around one day and I thought, fuck it, I'll go by [Axl]'s house. Bastard, he lives up in the hills, in this big house. I'll go and see what he's up to, what he's doing, you know? And I go up and he's got security gates, cameras, walls, all this shit, you know. So I'm ringing the buzzers, and eventually somebody comes and takes me up and there he is. He's like, ''Hey, man! Glad to see you!' Gives me a big hug and shows me round his house. It was great. Then, I don't know, probably a month later, one night he calls me [and] we got into the issue of me leaving Guns N' Roses. I told him how it was on my side. Told him exactly how I felt about it and why I left. And man, that's the last time I've talked to the guy! But, I mean he had a fucking notepad. I could hear him [turning the pages] going, 'Well, ah, you said in 1982... blah, blah, blah...' And I'm like, what the fuck - 1982? He was bringing up a lot of really weird old shit. I'm like, whatever, man. But that's the last time I talked to him [Classic Rock, 2001].
Matt: Axl used to make us wait for hours before we went on stage. You can imagine being a drummer getting ready to go up before 50,000 people, but you don't know when to turn on. The show time is 9:00 and Axl would show up at 10:30, so your adrenal glands are pumping and you're constantly on edge with this nervous energy, and he keeps you on edge. I think somewhere deep inside he knew that was part of how he got this amazing rock 'n' roll energy out of the band. When we hit the stage, a lot of times we were pissed off at each other. I wouldn't even look at him. Then he would leave us on stage and take off. I'm sure everyone has heard about the stuff that went on. It was nuts. We'd go into these ten- or fifteen-minute jams waiting for him to come back [Surviving Super Stardom, Modern Drummer, September 2001]
Izzy: Every two or three years I'll put a call in to the office and say, 'Hey, tell Axl gimme a call if he wants to'. But I mean... the weirdness of his life. To me, I live pretty normal. I can go anywhere. In 2001, I don't think people really give a shit. But for Axl, I knew for the longest time, because his face was all over the television, and stuff. I don't think he could really go anywhere or do anything. And I think because of that he kind of got himself in a little hole up there in the hills. He kind of dug in deeper and deeper and now I think he's gone so fucking deep he's just... I mean, I could be completely wrong. But I know he doesn't drive and he doesn't... he doesn't do anything. I've never, never seen him in town. Isolation can be a bad thing, but Axl's been at it for a long time now. you know, he always stays up at night...[Classic Rock, 2001].
Izzy: In high school, you know, Axl, he had long, red hair, he was a little guy and he got a lot of shit [because of it]. I think he never got laid, too, in school. I hate to bring this up cos this is getting nasty. But he never got no pussy at school, Axl. So now the guy's a big fucking rock star, he's got the chicks lined up, he's got money and he's got people... and the power went to this guy's head. I mean, he was a fucking monster! Nuts! Crazy! And I never saw it coming. I mean, this is my side of it, he'd probably say I'm completely fucking crazy, but I think he went power mad. Suddenly he was trying to control everything. Did you ever see those fucked up contracts for the journalists to sign? The control issue just became worse and worse and eventually it filtered down to the band. He was trying to draw up contracts for everybody! And this guy, he's not a Harvard graduate, Axl. He's just a guy, just a little guy, who sings, is talented. But man, he turned into this fucking maniac. And I did, too, but it was a different kind of maniac. I was paranoid about the business aspect - I was the one freaking out going, 'Where's all the money?' [Classic Rock, 2001].
Izzy: For [Axl] the money wasn't as big a deal. But he had this power thing where he wanted complete control. And you can say, well, it goes back to your fucked up childhood where his dad used to smack him around, you know, and he had no control, so now he's getting it back. But it's like, it's still kooky, you know? You don't have to have everybody signing stuff [Classic Rock, 2001].
Izzy, about Axl asking him to sign a contract: This is right before I left - demoting me to some lower position. They were gonna cut my percentage of royalties down. I was like 'Fuck you! I've been there from day one, why should I do that? Fuck you. I'll go play the Whiskey'. That's what happened. It was utterly insane. (...) I recognize it as something that's not normal. Maybe it was just the stress and pressure of being him. I mean, he had people threatening to kill him constantly. So that's got to be hard to deal with. Then you've got those fucking morons in the KKK thinking we're behind them because of one song ['One In A Million'] [Classic Rock, 2001].
Matt: GN’R turned into a Gestapo – It was run by one guy who had his vision of what Guns was supposed to be, at that point. In this band, we like hanging out together and playing music with each other, it’s like we can’t wait to come up with a new riff. With Guns, we’d come up with a new riff and Axl would be like, “That sucks!" [Breaking The Big Machine, Metal Edge January 2005].
Duff: What I do regret is we let down a huge fan base that was there waiting for a next record, and Axl made us all--we all balled at one point or another. We couldn't deal with him. There wasn't any sort of rationality. It's just too bad. God, I don't want to come off bad mouthing him because the guy has a lot of great attributes. But how it worked before was the band would write all the music and rehearse it all, and kind of give it to Axl and he'd write lyrics to it. Or Izzy or I would already have lyrics, and he would just come in at the end. Later he wanted to be the ringleader and it didn't go anywhere. And I guess it still hasn't. Whatever, I have no resentment [Thrasher Magazine, January 2005].
Duff: Axl Rose is a very, very fickle guy, and he changes his mind all the time [POP QUIZ: DUFF MCKAGAN OF VELVET REVOLVER, April 2005].
Izzy: I spent my summer vacation touring with Axl's new GNR and had some fun playing live again. Amazing fans out there.... It's hard to believe at times. Fantastic! (...) Axl and I connected via cell phone this year, I stopped by to see if he looked as old as he might be............same age as myself, you know and he looked great!, and it was nice to reconnect with an old friend/war buddy/fellow musician. I told him later I`d like to join the fun in some way and he said I was welcome to come and play something, so I did! Took me about 3 weeks to recover from the 6 weeks of touring! [Talking to fans at Chopaway.com, 2006].
Izzy: Axl is a very complicated type, but very talented [loveloveleaon, July 2006?].
Re: Matt Sorum open to Playing with Current GNR Line-up
I think it's fascinating reading all those old quotes up there. I remember all of them now, reading them again, and alot of them vindicate the posts i've made in this thread. Especially considering Slash's irrationality when it came to continuing Guns in and what form Axl wanted to continue the band as.
For one, Slash statements about suddenly Pearl Jam becomes a big thing, suddenly Axl wants to be Pearl Jam. And I also believe in one of the Loder interviews, Axl cites Pearl Jam & Alice In Chains as influences during that period, and that's not counting his interviews 'in the moment' back in the day, where he was the biggest fan of Soundgarden & Nirvana around before they got really big. Slash himself basically admits that was the direction he wanted to take for the next Guns album.
He also confirms looking back what Axl's selection process was for replacing them all in Guns, and it shows that Axl was looking in the direction of both industrial rock & grunge rock as his musical direction for Guns, citing names such as Trent Reznor/NIN, Dave Navarro/Jane's Addiction, and Dave Grohl/Nirvana as all rolling around Axl's head as guys he wanted to record with, and the irony is the Reznor thing ended up being Robin Finck for a decade, and Dave Navarro is on Oh My God, isn't he? Plus Tom Zutaut says Axl bugged the hell out of him and the production staff on Chinese to get the drums to sound like Grohl's drumming on Nevermind, so much to the point that Zutaut stormed out of the studio, went and bought a copy of Nevermind and brought it back to the studio to try and duplicate Grohl's drum sound on Chinese.
Slash is absurdly unrealistic in his expectation that after UYI, and Axl's demand of basically turing to the band into the Stones on-stage (horn section/backup singers), and Queen off-stage (big theme parties, self-indulgence) that despite the audience's suddenly love for stripped down rock, and punk-infused grunge, that GN'R could somehow "gain their respect back" as a street rock band by doing a club show.
NO WAY the logistics would've ever worked for GN'R to have did a club tour in 1994/95. One, they were far too popular with too many hands in the cookie jar, and Two, it's Slash proving why Axl should've been handling business, 'cause it would've enormously damaged the GN'R brand at that time to go from doing stadiums, and selling out arenas with ease, to doing clubs. It would've been seen as GN'R in retreat from the grunge scene, and also shooting themselves in their own foot. God knows costs to do a North American club tour alone would've been the same output costs of the UYI tour with all the hangers on, but with a small fraction of the profit. Why sell 500 tickets in a major city, if you can sell 50,000 tickets?
Just doesn't make financial sense. I think at that point, even if just for a brief moment, it would've made more sense for Slash to shut his trap, go do MTV Unplugged by 1996 (at the latest), and debut an all acoustic style set similar to their GN'R Lies days, record it for release on CD and VHS, and maybe get James Hetfield & Lars Ulrich to special guest on a couple songs to add credibility that A) we're still Guns N' Fuckin' Roses, B) There is no bad blood with Metallica despite what the media says, and C) we have an MTV Unplugged performance that is just as good as anything Nirvana and Alice In Chains did. It wouldn't have hurt to debut an all-new song like Alice In Chains did, similar to an AIC Jar of Flies ballad and then release it as a single to promote the CD release, and make a video for it, as well as maybe Patience, Used To Love Her, and an acoustic version of Sweet Child O' Mine, and released all three as videos to promote the VHS.
It would've kept the old band on life support. It would've given them street cred still in an era when MTV Unplugged was enormously popular and great easy promo, and it would've given the fans some life support in a dark era in-between Spaghetti and Oh My God/Live Era (say if the band still would've broken up).
So I completely disagree with Slash there, and the fact that he nose-dived it at the time as some "fuck MTV", "fuck Grunge", "fuck Axl", statement.... in the end all he did was fuck his own fans and bury the band even more. I would much rather look back in 2014 and know I have a GN'R Unplugged performance, as one last appearence for the old band (similar to the end of Nirvana and Alice In Chains), then fucking nothing at all.
The fact that Slash turned around and performed with countless band members from Nirvana, Alice In Chains, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam years later, yet bashed Axl openly in the press for it, is even more ironic.
I stand by the fact that Slash talked SO MUCH FUCKING SHIT IN THE PRESS, too much to even count, and didn't leave it behind closed doors in the band, in the family, pissed Axl off even more and buried him with Axl forever and for that... I don't blame Axl one bit.
All those Slash interviews from the 90's would've made me hate his guts, especially the fact he talked shit to the press like a pussy, yet openly admitted he was scared to say it to Axl's face. If the band situation is THAT bad with the lead singer.... you don't have a band.
Re: Matt Sorum open to Playing with Current GNR Line-up
Funny that Slash got advice from Keith Richards on the situation: "Whatever you do, don't leave the band". Keith knew singers can be crazy, but he also knew he was the lead guitarist and that gave him power. Slash could have worked out a compromise with Axl in the mid 90s easily if he had really wanted it. Axl was crazy, but not crazy enough to fire him just because he refused to do "Pearl Jam music". That Paul Tobias shit is also hugely exaggerated.
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Re: Matt Sorum open to Playing with Current GNR Line-up
Funny that Slash got advice from Keith Richards on the situation: "Whatever you do, don't leave the band". Keith knew singers can be crazy, but he also knew he was the lead guitarist and that gave him power. Slash could have worked out a compromise with Axl in the mid 90s easily if he had really wanted it. Axl was crazy, but not crazy enough to fire him just because he refused to do "Pearl Jam music". That Paul Tobias shit is also hugely exaggerated.
You don't get into a near suicidal situation for shit and giggles. You don't leave the still biggest band of the world for jack shit. No need to rewrite history like Slash would have easily quit Guns N' Roses to blackmail Axl, and the situation wasn't that bad. All source says the situation was horrible and unbearable.
BTW Slash didn't leave Guns N' Roses. Axl left the band and started a new one with the same name. Slash just didn't join this as an employee.
Re: Matt Sorum open to Playing with Current GNR Line-up
i think they made each other miserable. It was kind of a wasted few final years as they both mentally checked out of the band as a cohesive unit, Slash probably more than Axl. The one thing they both agree on was that there were major conflicts the moment Slash joined the band about who was going to lead it... someone was going to win the test of wills. If anything, no matter who you believe, Slash gave Axl a lot of ammo in those interviews for this "war." There was also a quote from Slash where he said he would have made that "NIN" album Axl wanted... which kind of contradicts a lot of what he's said.
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Re: Matt Sorum open to Playing with Current GNR Line-up
i think they made each other miserable. It was kind of a wasted few final years as they both mentally checked out of the band as a cohesive unit, Slash probably more than Axl. The one thing they both agree on was that there were major conflicts the moment Slash joined the band about who was going to lead it... someone was going to win the test of wills. If anything, no matter who you believe, Slash gave Axl a lot of ammo in those interviews for this "war." There was also a quote from Slash where he said he would have made that "NIN" album Axl wanted... which kind of contradicts a lot of what he's said.
I think these quotes (and the whole story of GN'R) prove that you not only need to collect as much sources as you can to make the picture of what happened, but you also need to be a helluva psychologist to understand when they're honest, when they're lying, when they're overdramatizing, when they're trying to make things look better (sometimes even lying to themselves about the conflicts) etc. Hence we have these parallel universes in GN'R land, the parallel histories of what, how and why happened.
