You are not logged in. Please register or login.
- Topics: Active | Unanswered
Re: One Year Later - Did you get what you wanted?
I said all along on this forum that I wanted new music, and the new band was the only way to get that. That is why I never begged for a reunion. I knew it would be a cash grab nostalgia trip. The expensive tickets proved that to be true. Sure, it's nice they are back together, but without new music, it's a waste for me. I'm not shelling out a couple hundred bucks for tickets, taking a day (or two) off work to hear these guys past their prime. I saw the Illusions tour and the 2002 tour. Don't need to see this one.
- monkeychow
- Rep: 661
Re: One Year Later - Did you get what you wanted?
@monkey
Did you enjoy this past year at all?
Sure.
I went to my local show and had a good time of course. However, that reinforced my view that they left it too late. I mean Axl and Slash together is of course good anyway - but things are now at the level of most normal professional good bands. What you used to see when seeing GNR was seeing the greatest band in the world and one of the best few of all time. So it was fun but 10 or so years earlier and it would have been mind-blowingly awesome.
I saw the 1993 band and it was amazing. Literally amazing in the proper sense of the word. Then again you can respect that they arn't 28 anymore. My problem is what happened in between. You can watch a bootleg of say most 2006 shows (or even some 2009 shows) and Axl vocally and physically outperforms his current self. Obviously not his young man prime but still a devastating front man. then watch Slash at any boot from the last 10 years and it's incredible. You can't help but wonder what would have happened if they'd done it around then. We'd have bootlegs of a modern GNR with modern video standards and still-prime performances...it would have been the best stuff ever perhaps. But now things don't have the same ability unfortunately.
But I had some fun anyway. I bought the VIP tickets so i was right up front, and of course it's my favourite songs, and it's amazing to be so close to the action so it's not like it's a bad experience. However, sadly to me, it's just not what it could have been.
It's not like the shows are bad. From the boots of the rest of the tour, I think Axl's best performance was Houston Tx - recommend that one - he's closest to classic Axl there.I also enjoyed Axl/Dc quite a lot as i'm a big AC/DC fan. I recommend the Flordia or Greensbro videos of that show.
Another positive thing I could say was Slash's take on the CD songs. I loved how the CD riff sounds with his setup and his additions to them. I love TIL with Slash, and also TWAT sounded like it would be great if Axl could go back to nailing those vocals in the middle like he did in 2009. I'm glad they didn't just dump the CD material too as I always liked those songs despite the politics. Once again though, it's bitter-sweet - you can't help but wonder what a studio version would be like of Slash doing TIL..
To me it's like so much of GNR fandom has become 'what if'. What if Axl played on Snakepit? What if SLash played on CD? It's always been this way but it's frustrating that I'm still experiencing it even if they are together again. Look at how good slash's riffs were on the past few solo albums, look how good Axl sounds in Ac/Dc....look at the leaks of his CD remixes where he sounded good. It's beyond me why they can't make a "rock or bust" style single with some simple screamy vocals in his Ac/Dc voice and one of these Slash riffs that overflow out of Slash. What if, What if, it's always what if. I enjoy what we get but I'm left dreaming of what would happen if they did something more than the minimum.
Speaking of Axl/DC.... I think Axl in Axl/Dc outperformed GNR by a long way - I think those songs suit his modern voice, and it was clearly important to him to do well at it. I think their next album will be great, and I think we'll get a great DVD of that one day hopefully.
So I don't hate everything. I'm just very frustrated. It seems cynical to me. It seems like the reunion was held off until Axl needed to take the focus of himself because his voice was failing, and it seems like Slash figured out he could never win solo and needed the money from the divorce and realised it was now or never. Then the band decided money was the priority and so we have the situation with Adler/Sorum. I'll give them a pass on Izzy cos that does seem complex. Then they decide to go with the least resistance and not worry about songwriting. Because after all that's what drove them apart in the first place, Axl clearly has a complex over it these days, and they don't NEED to do it...they know they can get away with less...so they do.
There have been positives. It's just hard for me to fully get behind the media's presentation of "what you always wanted has happened" when basically I can't help but notice it's being done out of desperation not good will, that it's done prioritising the quality last, that it's done half hearted and that it's done as simply as they can get away with. it makes me an asshole I know but really it just makes me sad.
Frankly. I'd wet the bed for a modest effort. Hell take the silkworms remix clips that MSL floated around a few years back and throw Slash on it and release the bastard. Would be like a sick modern led zep style song. Do something please. But...they don't work for me so why should they right? I'm entitled 
Re: One Year Later - Did you get what you wanted?
@Monkey, I hope that wanting more from your favorite band doesn't make you an asshole... If it does than I'm an asshole too. Lol. I pretty much feel the same way - though I don't care as much about Adler/Sorum not being there, and the order the shows were announced didn't both me (but I can see how it would upset someone who was traveling and dropping big money to be at what they thought would be the first show)
But I agree - since 96 GNR has been the story of waisted talent, and that's sad. These guys could have been our generations Rolling Stones. I play the what if games too, and it gets to me at times, but at the end of the day I have to let it go. It's unhealthy to dwell on things you can't change, and feelings of anger & disappointment only hurt you, not the object of your frustrations. And in the case of pop culture you're emotionally invested in, it's sad when frustration over what might have/ could have/ should have been keeps you from enjoying what is.
I'm glad to hear that didn't happen to you & that you enjoyed the past year.
- monkeychow
- Rep: 661
Re: One Year Later - Did you get what you wanted?
That's true.
I'm actually quite hopeful whatever we get next may the the best thing in quite a while too. Like Slash working on CD leftovers, or Axl doing some Angus songs in the studio.
I'm optimistic about how either of those would turn out. I guess there's still time for an AFD remaster for the end of this year too.
Re: One Year Later - Did you get what you wanted?
I loved the show I went to and it is good to see Gnr back as far as ticket sales go. However, it is what it is.....a money making trip through the past. No new music, no significant interviews, no Izzy, etc. Just another tour in my opinion.
I actually enjoyed seeing Axl with AC/DC more than the Gnr show.
Re: One Year Later - Did you get what you wanted?
^Sums it up 
Consider Universal. Their big act is hot again on the tour market. Why not new music, it's as good as any supplementary merch. If Axl delivers the goods... And he's not. What's to be asked here is, why is Axl (apparently) reluctant to have a meeting with Uni brass about releasing an album.
If he's all about the art, the art itself would benefit from gaining the audience it was intended to. Sure, the money would be peanuts in comparison to the millions he rakes from the tour. But if he's all about art...
What come up here are the wounds CD left on Axl. The sister album is still on his shelf, and ties into a huge chunk of his life. What we may have here is Axl, absolutely frightened about the public response to any new music. Slash and Duff have artistic leverage, but who knows whether they can move things along.
Re: One Year Later - Did you get what you wanted?
What's to be asked here is, why is Axl (apparently) reluctant to have a meeting with Uni brass about releasing an album.
I think he knows it's his last shot. The pressure abounds. Soon is not the word.
Chinese was supposed to be his big comeback album. Relaunch GN'R into popular consciousness and re-establish Axl as a creative genius. Make the old band look bad. Then that failed big time.
There's also the aging rockstar, spurned record company, and old material/old players angles as well.
- monkeychow
- Rep: 661
Re: One Year Later - Did you get what you wanted?
I wonder about the pressure though, like realistically, how much of it is illusory at this point?
No one, even the most bullish label exec would be expecting this record to outsell AFD, there's also no longer the need for this record to justify the creative direction the band took or validate the band personnel as legitimate members of the band like there was after the silent years or during the "feud" with Slash. There's no pressure to justify cost or times.
This record would be treated the way all the comeback records are: The occasional negative reviewer will comment that it isn't 1987 anymore and that the band should have stayed retired, while the positive reviewers will discuss how good it is to hear the sound of the act back on the stereo and discuss how nicely a few of the new hits sit with the classic tracks on a playlist.
Odds are the response will be much like this tour: The fans will flock to it, the reviews will be mostly positive, a few commenting on missing factors like Izzy and some playing up the age, the people who hate Axl will hate it just like they do AFD, and the people who love it will love. Most will be happy overall just to have some GNR again....it won't be the best thing they did and it won't be the worst. It will just be nice to have - like this reunion.
So what pressure? The world cares about Drake now....I don't think the world is sitting around waiting for GNR to fail at an album the way there were in 1997. We just want them to exist and remind us of our childhoods.. The greater failure would be to do nothing.
