Axl's NEW Post "My homework" (Q&A on page 9)

[2NaFish]

who's Bubbles?..he referred to Bubbles during the wwe question and in one of the legal questions regarding Slash?

he's a character in the conadian comedy show the trailer park boys. he went on tour with guns a few years back.

[thistle]

I feel such an incredible sense of pride in Guns after the events of the last few days. It seems like I've had to spend most of my adult life defending Axl and my love for Guns and now I feel justified in doing so (not that I needed any justification). For Axl to speak directly to the fans and explain a lot of the events of the last few years is an incredibly generous thing to do. I'm inclined to believe his version of event as, unlike other members, he has remained quiet and retained his dignity for the last 15yrs, all the while being crucified in the press. Now when he feels it's time to address the issue, rather than sign some exclusive lucrative deal with a magazine, he has made the decision to come directly to his fans to bare his soul. All I can say is bravo Mr Rose, Bravo!!! 

[GNR012]

I may be being too sappy, but all that Axl has illuminated has made CD even that much more special too me. The world absolutely needs GNR to continue to produce extraordinary music as it has on CD. What CD displays that most music the past decade has failed to is emotion. Listening to each song you can feel how much it means to all involved, that everyone is bringing their A game because that's what GNR is about. 

[CalumFarq]

I may be being too sappy, but all that Axl has illuminated has made CD even that much more special too me. The world absolutely needs GNR to continue to produce extraordinary music as it has on CD. What CD displays that most music the past decade has failed to is emotion. Listening to each song you can feel how much it means to all involved, that everyone is bringing their A game because that's what GNR is about. 

Well said 

[king]

damn , thats was great. christmas comes early this year . thanks AXL

[AylaRose]

I may be being too sappy, but all that Axl has illuminated has made CD even that much more special too me. The world absolutely needs GNR to continue to produce extraordinary music as it has on CD. What CD displays that most music the past decade has failed to is emotion. Listening to each song you can feel how much it means to all involved, that everyone is bringing their A game because that's what GNR is about. 

Very well said. I was driving today from my class back to work listening to CD and it dawned on me...holy shit...he just explained about ten years + worth of very important information to us via boards I've posted to and/or lurked for years. Damn! Thats cool of him to do and he so DID NOT have to take the time to do it.

In one weekend he was able to stick a big "fuck you" to the press (don't tell me Rolling Stone wouldn't die for an interview about some of these topics) and those that have hurt or fucked with him. He cut out the bullshit and middle man and went straight to the people that he knew would give a shit the most.

It really does make you listen to CD in a different way and more so that ever, makes those album sales even less important (at least to me).

AylaRose

[TWT (free at last...)]

Reading all that vitriol in the comments section on Blabbermouth, there's just no hope for Axl with certain corners of the internet, is there?

[Gunner_Fucker]

"Which led to the trial period where Slash played the key bits of 'Fall to Pieces' but once I showed some interest that was over"

I didn't get that.. Fall to Pieces
Was that in 1996? 2004?

[freedom_man]

Reading all that vitriol in the comments section on Blabbermouth, there's just no hope for Axl with certain corners of the internet, is there?

Or rather, there is no hope for enemies of Axl... 

[luket93]

i hope he does come backk 

[mECHsLAVE]

Axl has finally spoken out about some of the things Slash went public with in his book, and while we don't have Axl's full side of the story, we as diehard Guns fans have enough to know that we've now been put in a very awkward position.   Before now, it could all be dismissed as musical clashes, misunderstandings, different visions, etc.  But now, we have to face hard facts.  Either Slash or Axl is lying to us.   And to me, that's sad.

Although of course neither know me or will ever know me, they have nevertheless been a part of my life over the years, as well as all the members of the original lineup(s).  The first time I was sent to the principal's office in 8th grade was for wearing the infamous "Guns N Roses Was Here" t-shirt that some of the older hardcore fans will remember (had to wear it inside out the rest of the day, and would be suspended/expelled if I wore it again).   I grew up with the band.   My high school and college years had Guns as the soundtrack.   I saw them in concert, knew every riff, lyric and drum beat, bought most mags with them on the cover.  I traded tapes while in high school and college (and this is before napster or even the internet really, this is the old free ads in the back of Metal Edge...for the old tape traders who remember them).  After I'd graduated college and for the first time in my life wasn't dead broke, the one thing I bought was a Guns N Roses pinball machine.   It's still in my office.  As is all the vinyl and teeshirts and other odds and ends I picked up over the years, bought at concerts, etc.  Without going into more detail, they're the band of my life.   No band is ever more important to you than the band that you grew up with and matured as a man to. 

Now, with all the informantion at our disposal, we as fans have a decision to make.  Who is lying to us?

I'll just give my opinions on each discrempency...

The issue of the band name....    I think there's something to each side's story with this one.  Ok, yes it was Axl's band name before Slash was in it, even Slash admits to that.  But while it was just a name at that time, all of the other members worked for years creatively and on the road to make it a household name, Slash especially.   So when you go down to the local arena and it now says "Guns N Roses" on the marquee, well some people are going to buy tickets just because of the name... the name that Slash and the rest of the guys supported for several years on the road, wrote music for, did interviews for, did promotion for, posed for photographs for, designed logos for, etc.   So I actually side more with Slash on this one.  I think that yes, Axl should have the MOST rights when it comes to the band name (ie, veto power over not having his voice be the voice of helicopters going into battle in a movie like "Blackhawk Down" which is just one of the projects specifically Slash and Duff sued Axl over his denying the use of a song, etc.)   If Axl doesn't want his voice to be the backdrop of battles, killing, etc, then he absolutely has that right, regardless of Slash and Duff losing a payday, and doesn't owe them a dime if he turns it down.   But do I think Slash and Duff are owed money when Axl sells out arenas around the world with that name?  Yes I do.  After all, it's because of the old Guns music that 99% of the people are showing up, music they all wrote together.  If they just played Chinese Democracy songs that's one thing.  But I saw them on Halloween in 06 and they played 90% old Guns songs. 

I think with issue to the name, Axl is right and legally has all the rights he claims, but that the old Guns are certainly not without rights and due compensation over money earned with that name.   Without them, the name wouldn't be worth very much, let's face it. 

As for Axl refusing to leave the dressing room until they signed...  well, if it's a lie by Slash then it's a good one.  Because Axl has certainly done this kind of thing before and his childish tantrums and behavior over things like that are well-documented.  Yet it could certainly be a situation like Slash and Duff promised to sign for weeks and weeks and just didn't do it because the Illusions tour seemed to be one big party for everyone except Axl (and Izzy before he left) and Axl may have just been fed up and said that to get them to sign.  I can easily see that happening.  Axl hasn't elaborated on his side other than to say "That never happened."  I guess my question to Axl would be "Why wait 15 years to tell us that it didn't happen?"


The issue of Snakepit, next Guns record, and the Complex.   Slash has always said Axl never liked the Snakepit demos, back when Snakepit was first released he said as much.   Axl is now claiming that Slash delivered the songs to him done WITH lyrics and melodies and told him to sing them or "fuck off."   I don't know.  That doesn't make a lot of sense and I'll tell you why.   Why would Slash do that?  He knows that's not the way Axl operates.   Slash wrote the songs with another singer, the Jellyfish dude, and wanted Axl, probably the greatest hard rock singer/songwriter at the time, to re-sing and record another dude's words and melodies and vocals?   Cmon now, that's either Slash being a psycho or Axl lying about it now.  This one just doesn't make sense exactly as it's been told to us.  I'm guessing each side is massaging the truth a little on this one and giving their own spin.   I don't blame Axl one bit for refusing that, but I also find it hard to believe it went down just that way.   Especially given what we KNOW about Axl being very reclusive during that time and bringing in Tobias without Slash's ok.  Slash has always claimed that Tobias being brought in without him having a say in the matter, and then Axl mixing in Tobias solo copy over Slash's as a weird echo solo was the straw that broke the camel's back with old Guns breaking up.  I mean, Tobias was brought in without Slash's ok and that solo that was mixed in sounds stupid as all getout and not at all Guns, that we KNOW for a fact.   We also know that Slash was very bitter at the time, had a failing marriage, was trying to deal with life off the road, and was inebriated around the clock.   I think this one is a draw.   I think Axl started to take control around this time and Slash got a chip on his shoulder and began fighting back in his own way.   Snakepit was the beginning of it.  Sympathy for the Devil seems to be the end.  What went on in between seems to be Axl trying to make sure that the band was preserved and not in the hands of people who were inebriated around the clock and didn't always make good decisions, and in doing that Axl did some things that were just flat out WRONG.  Like the Tobias stuff.  Yet Axl makes a good point backing up his claim that he wanted to get out a blues-rock album, and not the expirimental synth stuff, with his bringing in Zakk to try out with Slash.  That's not someone you bring in for an industrial expirimental sound, let's face it. 


Bringing in Coma as a finished song....   Well, this one is weird.   Axl is now saying Slash never brought it in as a finished song, yet what Slash claims is that he wrote all the music for it and that Axl came up with the lyrics.   Axl himself has said something very similar in the past.  He called it "Slash's baby" at one point and that Slash had nicknamed it "Girth" cause it was such a long and complicated arrangment.   I have to side with Slash on this one.   I think Slash wrote the music and arranged the breakdowns and whatnot and that Axl wrote the lyrics to it.   It's probably one of the top 3 Guns songs, so I guess that's why the animosity over writing it.   Amazing, amazing song. 

Slash and Axl's late night visit in October 05....    Well, this is really the one that hurts.   One of the guys is just outright lying their fucking ass off about this one and it really annoys the shit out of me.   Slash claims he was drunk and he and Perla just handed a note to some assitant of Axl's at the door and that he never saw or spoke to Axl.   Although, he also admits he was very drunk and that Perla had to drive.  Axl's side is that Slash talked to him about VR and said those derrogatory things about Scott, Matt, Duff, etc.  Tough one to sort out, but I have to go with the sober one here.  Axl, while a known pothead, has never been known to get overly inebriated or to have any drug addictions or really tell any flat-out lies whatsoever.  This is why Scott, Matt and Duff believed Axl over Slash and nobody spoke to Slash for awhile because of it.   I think Slash probably did say those things and regretted it, and may even honestly not remember saying much of what he said because he was wasted.  Remember that Slash's drunk is not your or my "drunk."   Slash used to get fucked up, with a capital F, by his own admission.  But at the same time, it may be a lie he has to tell to save the band he's in now.  Because no matter how drunk he was, he wouldn't forget talking to Axl for the first time in ten years if it happened.   These boards are a sea of rehashed questions and whatnot at the moment, so I don't know if anyone asked Axl to clarify this or not, but it'd be nice to get his updated take on it since he's talking again. 
 

So for now.... Axl seems to have the best memory of anyone in the band, so I will side with him when I can.   For instance, Slash's book is full of little things here and there that we as Guns fans know are not true, like how Axl ran offstage in St Louis and the rest of the band kept playing and didn't know what was happening and went over the side of the stage to talk to Dougie and THEN stopped playing when Axl wasn't coming back.   Well that's not what happened.  2 minutes of your time and youtube.com can tell you that, if you don't have the bootleg.   Lots of little things like that in the book.  But they are for the most part, minor.  Axl did waste a lot of money and become more grandiose and lavish in his wants and needs on the Illusion tours, and his perception of things is not always what happened, either.   But on the cut and dry stuff, I have to side with Axl.

This is a mess, but it's nice to finally get Axl's side of things (just the tip of the iceberg as he says) and I'll be looking for more answers and the larger part of the berg in the near future.  Axl seems to be on a rampage at the moment, so it might even be tonight. 

There's actually more disputes to go over but I'm sick of typing for now....   







 

[workaholic]

I may be being too sappy, but all that Axl has illuminated has made CD even that much more special too me. The world absolutely needs GNR to continue to produce extraordinary music as it has on CD. What CD displays that most music the past decade has failed to is emotion. Listening to each song you can feel how much it means to all involved, that everyone is bringing their A game because that's what GNR is about. 

Yeah!   
As other members said already. You put it in the right words. Thanx!

Reading all his answers and especialy those about the band name was really interesting but made me at some parts a little bit sad.
I can't hide that I always wanted the old GN'R back (even when I loved the new one). Please don't sue me. 
This have nothing to do with the music quality, music directions, or who hurt whom.
It was only .... I don't know exactly how to explain this, sentiment maybe for the old times. I know the most of the friends here are much younger than me. Please, understand this, there were so many special moments in my life where the music of Guns played an important role in them.

Now, everything changes  Thanx God! And I'm open minded and can't wait for more of GN'R no matter what direction it will take. I'm simply extremely curious and want more.    Oh hell, I have to admit this - I love every song on ChiDem. And you know what? I didn't hear to the leaks. Maybe caught something here and there but I refused to hear to them.
It was like being in heaven to discover it for the first time. Try this the next time. Believe me, you won't regret this. 

[baits10]

Woah just got in from work logged on and seen this.... fuck me

To my friends Leggy , Huss , Evans and the rest of my fellow ageing rock buds .. I fuckin told you that the story would come full circle and you laughed at me and said "Baits your 31 now and you need to get over your Axl is god mindset" .Well my friends this weekend i will accept your apologies and the free Jack Daniels you promised for the following reasons

1) CHINESE DEMOCRACY IS OUT AND WE ALL HAVE IT
2) AXL IS STILL MY FUCKIN HERO ( My daughter also does a mean impression for a 3 yr old )

" This thread is dedicated to all the Guns N Roses fans who stuck with Axl through all the fuckin shit & to all those opposed mmmm well "

Love it , Merry Xmas Mr W AXL ROSE and thanks for your time and efforts.. Merry Xmas to all the mods and members too ..What a couple of months xxxx 

[freedom_man]

" This thread is dedicated to all the Guns N Roses fans who stuck with Axl through all the fuckin shit & to all those opposed mmmm well "

Haha!  Mebbe it's coz i'm drunk but that got me laughing out loud...IN-F'N'-DEED!