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

[Gabriel]

It was about time Axl would said the truth. It almost brought tears to my eyes 

Wether some may like it or not... 

Dear mother of god

[justin5150]

He needs to learn to use full stops though

[2NaFish]

He needs to learn to use full stops though

Can't say i see one in your post.

[lydia_ravenswood]

I believe Axl, because Slash has completely contradicted himself repeatedly and been caught red-handed flat out lying about the visit to Axl's house

Slash was also a bonafide alcoholic and drug addict throughout much the early-mid 90's when this stuff went down.  He admits he was drinking a half gallon of vodka a day and shooting speedballs daily as well, how reliable can he really be?

As far as Snakepit songs and what not, let's just say that it's known that Axl wasn't the only one against doing those songs in that form.  Duff was against it as well, for the same reasons.  Axl's accounts of Slash's behavior at the time seems fitting of someone pulling a power play.  Slash claims Axl was never around.  Axl says he wasn't around because Slash refused to let anyone else have input.  If you believe Axl's side, Slash's actions seem right in line with someone trying to gain the upper hand by refusing to cooperate or compromise in effort to sabotage the band, to the point where he either broke it up or gained control

The thing with drunks is that they tell FAR too much when they're drunk, not thinking what will happen afterwards, and they always seem to find the one semi-sober or sober person, who'll remember what they said, to talk to!  And unlike the "once in a while drunk" who forgets what they did or said while drunk, a constant drunk remembers EVERYTHING!  It may take a few days, but it all comes back, and then...they LIE!  I have a "friend" who's like that.  Been drinking since he could hold a bottle, and he gets drunk fast!  My friend reminds me of Slash soo much.  Nice guys, great amount of skills, but complete losers.

With the music and band in general around the time Slash creates Slash's Snakepit, Axl had said he didn't like being around Slash much anymore, and that Duff's drinking bothered him.  I wouldn't want to be around them either!  And it's very clear Slash wanted more of the limelight once is guitar playing was becoming legendary, none of us can deny that. 

I'm far more partial to what Axl says.  He's known for saying to much when sober *lol*

[Gunns]

Can't say i see one in your post.

on snap

[-innuendo-]

omg, i can't belive i am reading something axl himself wrote!!!

[mECHsLAVE]

Firstly, I'm pretty sure that the media didn't report about Axl owning the name until around '97 - i.e. after Slash was out of the band. If you can find an article prior to that, or an article in which the story of Axl holding the band up at a show to get them to sign the contract comes from a source other than Slash I'd be very interested to read it.

Secondly, why would Rose issue a rebuttal in the press prior to the matter being argued in court? Why tip your hand? The outcome of the lawsuit is way more important than Axl's reputation among gutter-press "journalists." And I don't think anyone needs to argue that not discussing the details of a lawsuit in progress is standard protocol.

Finally, and completely unrelated, does anyone know of any good online archives of music magazine news/articles?

Thanks for the full Loder interview.   I remember watching it on Mtv when it came out, and I didn't realize they cut it down so much.  So Axl's story has been around awhile then, and Slash's has remained the same.   So basically, like I said, unfortunately one of them isn't telling the truth about it.  Because Slash the Snakepit album completely differently in his book.

As for not speaking out about the "band name/ holding crowd hostage story" before now.   Regardless if it was 95, 96, or 97, my point still stands... because I don't believe there were any lawsuits around that time.  I knew he owned the band name before 97, but you may be right about that story of not going onstage unless they signed being uncovered till 97.  And there was a period after Slash quit where nobody really thought he was out of the band for good.  Nobody believed him.  Fans, media, etc.  I remember he would get introduced as being the GnR guitarist for years after he quit, and he wouldn't correct them either and say "ex-GnR"  so really the whole thing is more complicated than we'll ever know probably.  But I still think Axl could've spoken out about his side on that one if it was as he says "total fallacy."   Cmon...  what lie like that are you going to let linger for over a decade if it's a total lie?   

[ghsqb]

Well, I know I'm late to the party, but this is by design.
I wanted to reflect on a lot of this before posting, so after doing that, here are my thoughts.

I've seen a lot of comments here about so and so is lying, or whatnot, and I don't really believe this to be the case necessarily.

If you go back and read Axl's replies, for example the scenario regarding Axl taking control of the name, Axl made it clear that it was to protect his interests, as there was a manager at the time that was trying to get the band to fire Axl.
Let's be clear about something here, I love Axl, I think he's a genius musically, but I think that even Axl will tell you that he can be difficult sometimes. Especially back then.  I don't even think he does it to BE difficult, he's just headstrong and principled, and won't compromise on something if he truly believes in his position, and that's fine.

But think about the context of the situation. This is at the time, the biggest band in the world, and a veritable cash cow.  Is it that hard to believe that there could be various hangers on, or music industry people trying to play different angles to try and weasel out a piece of that pie?

What better way than to align yourself with the lead guitarist who is pretty much as famous at that point as the singer, and try to get rid of the "difficult" singer.  By his own admission Axl believes that Slash was manipulated by some shady business types around him, and really how difficult could it have been in the condition Slash was in most of the time back then.

This is the dirty reality of the whole thing, the very real business and financial implications of some of these machinations by the assholes around the band at that time.

Many things in life are about perception also. We are talking about events that took place almost 20 years ago. Even if we just accept recollections at face value after all this time, those recollections themselves are still based on the perceptions of the people involved.

Axl feels strongly that Slash was deliberately scheming against him in some of these scenarios. I'm not sure that that's the case, though does it really matter? If Axl believes and feels that it is, then it may as well have been! The point is that the perception becomes the reality.
I'm not sure that Slash was deliberately scheming against Axl, I think he may have been manipulated into doing certain things, and in some cases may have done some of these things of his own accord.

Is it that hard to imagine after how big the whole thing blew up, and how much money and fame was lavished on these guys, that some egos might not run out of check once in a while?

When I read Slash's book, I see a lot of instances of Slash recounting something, and then mentioning that this was his perception/recollection of events, and that Axl's side of the story might be equally as valid.
Axl referenced this a little and pointed to it as another Slash mindfuck, but I don't think that's what this is.
I certainly can see how Axl would feel that way, with his perception and recollection of events as they went down, but a lot of us have been fans of GnR and Axl Rose for a long time, and am I speaking out of line here when I say that our ultra-talented singer has been known to be a little paranoid at times?
Again, with everyone around them angling for a way to get their piece of the pie, you can hardly blame the man, but that doesn't mean that all of the conspiracies and theories he advances are real.  They're certainly real enough to him, and really that's a big reason why we find ourselves where we are.

None of this is to say that Axl is lying or to blame. I think there is some truth to a lot of what he says, and I don't think he's deliberately misleading anyone.  I think a lot of these issues are little more complex that we realize, something Axl himself has always maintained.
I also agree with Axl that maybe some of the former members might not be entirely truthful about the circumstances behind Axl getting the name.  Again, if we accept that Slash and others for that matter were manipulated into certain things (again is that so hard to believe with the state of mind of a lot of these guys at the time) is it that hard to believe several years later that these guys look back, realize what they've signed off on, and then try to come up with a plausible explanation (maybe with some help from some of the parasites) as to how they could have been so stupid as to do what they had done?
Again, I don't think Axl was trying to screw anyone over in what he did, I believe him 100% in his motivations for what he did, but is it such a stretch not to accord Slash the same benefit of the doubt, that maybe behind a lot of the things that happened, he wasn't some Machiavellian schemer, but maybe  a drunken, drug addicted, manipulated player in a lot of this?

Does this get him a free pass? Not entirely, but all these years later, I see Slash kind of extending an olive branch a bit in his approach to things, and Axl still having a lot of anger and frustration, which is his right.
As he told us a lot of the BS and struggles he had to go through "cost more than it should for me" so he's entitled to some hostilities.

Anyway the point is that between two points of view, the answer is often somewhere in the middle, the positions clouded by perception and memory.

I love old-Guns, and frankly, I love new Guns. I've seen the new lineup twice, and I'll admit I'd love the chance to one day see the old lineup in person, simply because I never have.

The truth is that because of all that has happened, I've been introduced to a bunch of new talented musicians that I never would have likely found on my own, and even got to meet one of them (Bumblefoot) after the show.
So if old-Guns never reunites, I'm totally ok with that.
I think in many respects that technically, Bumblefoot and Buckethead and arguably Robin Finck are better talents than Slash as a guitarist.

But I also believe that Slash has a certain feel to his music, it was there on AFD and UYI 1 & 2 and I heard it shine through in some cases with VR: Fall to pieces, his brilliant work on Loving the Alien...etc

I think that Slash and Axl together, with Slash's soulful Blues style, and Axl's songwriting, incredible lyrics and unique voice is a combination that has never been duplicated and likely never will again.  It's just magic, the perfect storm.

Chinese Democracy is a masterpiece, those of us that have it, know it, the true tragedy in the sales numbers thus far is that more people don't know it also.

This is a hell of a long post. and I'll tip my cap to anyone that bothered to read all the way through it. This is really more of a blog than a forum post, but I just needed to get some of these thoughts down.

[MrB]

Duff, Slash: having kids doesn't make you grown up.

[Randy Jesus]

I don't believe Slash was scheming at the beginning, I think he was intoxicated and was manipulated by the "Business Types". I think the seed was planted and Slash believes the manipulations to this day.

[Schwarzgold]

I believe that I don't know shit, therefore I don't speculate. 

[hallyson]

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First time hi people hi gunners thank u for this forum... :rockon:I want say people listen chinese and dream...

[Chase the Ace]

I'm sorry Axl I do believe most of this. But the deal is that there are a lot of truths between this and Slash's book I believe but I think there are still many black holes out there.

[Pera]

amazing Axl!!!! When u laucnch the video it will be great more promotion and u will sell lots of cds cause its amazing!!!!