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- Me_Wise_Magic
- Rep: 70
Re: Opinion Piece: Why Izzy Stradlin Was the Heart of Guns N' Roses
Same! Great work good sir!
Re: Opinion Piece: Why Izzy Stradlin Was the Heart of Guns N' Roses
This is quite an old thread.
Anyway, Niven`s hatred of Axl boils down to one simple thing, power struggle.
He thought he could boss Axl around. When it backfired and Axl showed him who was the boss and who bossed around who, Niven did n`t like it anymore.
I don`t blame Axl. He was 100% right about Niven. He was very intrusive and basically acted like a dictator. He was angling to get Axl fired from the band he had formed.
If I had been Axl and a fucking obnoxious manager like Niven had given me instructions how to write or what to do, I would have bashed his skull in.
Axl shoould have mopped the floor with Niven before firing him.
- monkeychow
- Rep: 661
Re: Opinion Piece: Why Izzy Stradlin Was the Heart of Guns N' Roses
I think when assessing Niven you have to remember how childish young GNR were.
Duff was wasted beyond recognition almost 24/7, Steven was so high he can't play, Slash is doing junk to the point he dies and is revived before shows, Izzy can't be assed putting down rhythm parts to his own songs, Axl is getting into fights with cops, rockstars and anyone else that looks at him wrong.
So sure, Niven comes in - he uses a bit of a bossy firm hand and tries to steer the ship like an annoying record company guy. Someone had to - the guys in the band are lucky they arn't in jail or dead. That's the reality. Talented guys with no common or business sense about them.
Look what happened under the next management - the UYI tour doesn't make a profit, the band breaks up, and Axl spends 25 years in the wilderness and releases just one album. So was Niven really wrong to try and push for some normal industry behaviours?
As for Izzy being the key. I think two things are simultaneously true:
1. GNR sounded like it did because of all 5 guys. Axl brought the Nazareth and Elton John. Duff brought the punk. Izzy brought the Americana. Slash brought the blues. Steven brought the swing. Change any one of them and it would be a little different. To get the exact GNR mix it was everyone...but
2. GNR is a commercially successful band because Axl is one of the top rock singers of all time, and Slash is one of the greatest ever guitarists. Two guys who are perhaps the picks of their generation put together. It makes a Brian/Angus it makes a Joe/Steven and it makes a Jagger/Richards type connection. Put 1980s Axl and Slash together on any reasonable song and you have magic. What's the difference between Del James' song "Yesterdays" and the song he just wrote for Dizzy's solo album - the difference is Axl and Slash.
So while Izzy's songs were great classic rock foils for Axl and Slash and led to some hits. I think putting them together on nearly anything of that era would have led to gold. Where's the magic on AFD - it's in Slash's SCOM riff, in Slash's PC and Nighttrain solos, it's in Axl's jungle lyrics, it's in Axl's venomous sound.
Change any of the guys and it would sound a little different. But the magic of GNR is not Izzy, it's Axl and Slash.
Re: Opinion Piece: Why Izzy Stradlin Was the Heart of Guns N' Roses
^^ Good post Monkey.
Personally I think ppl are being a bit hard on Niven. Not sure its entirely sour grapes on his part, I think its pretty good insight into alot of what went down. I've always wondered what really happened with Izzy's leaving, and (reading between the lines a bit) it kinda clears up a bit of it all.
In Keith Richards Bio 'Life' he has a term LVS - Lead Vocalist Syndrome. Just how they kinda take over & take control. Says he was best buds with Mick until about 1970 Mick just sorta changed & he didn't know him as well anymore. Has great words about him, says he's the best frontman & songwriter (wrote Wild Horses in one sitting), but just he changed as a person.
Re: Opinion Piece: Why Izzy Stradlin Was the Heart of Guns N' Roses
Axl completely destroyed, annihilated Niven that is why he still resents Axl.
Bottle it up, Niv, it is all you doing.
You made a fatal mistake when you thought you could turn Axl into your bitch like Jack Russell. It did not go very well for you.
- monkeychow
- Rep: 661
Re: Opinion Piece: Why Izzy Stradlin Was the Heart of Guns N' Roses
It didn't go well for Axl either. See the past 30 years.
- dave-gnfnr
- Rep: 16
Re: Opinion Piece: Why Izzy Stradlin Was the Heart of Guns N' Roses
izzy was the glue that held the band together and that could keep Axls and Slashs egos in check.
