I agree wtih you on this. With all the Best Buy (and Dr. Pepper) shit going on, I just can't believe they can escape from releasing it anymore. November seems very unlikely at this point though, but a Christmas release is still possible. It's really now or never. If Axl can't get his shit together, then the album(s) will come out as a boxed set with no promotion and will be labeled as the biggest clusterfuck in music history. It can still happen though.

Difference is that Trent doesn't handle the fans as enemies and he actually talks and updates the website. If nobody is around who played on the record, we'll get Beta, Fernando and Del James interviews in Rolling Stone and Metal Hammer.

I don't think that writing a base and simple chord structure (like UTLH or SCOM) can come close to writing a great solo for that, or exploring a Stones-type riff (YCBM, DTJ etc.) into something earth-shattering.
BTW if you look at the AFD creds... Slash wrote or co-wrote the best songs, some without Izzy (WTTJ, Rocket Queen) while the weaker ones (My Michelle, Think about you, Anything Goes) lacked his contribution, with the exception of Crazy.

I still stick to my opinion that solos are as important as vocal melodies, even more when it comes to GN'R, where the two were equally magnificent. Slash is really undercredited for his contributions for various reasons.

Izzy's credited for Pretty Tied Up, and West Arkeen is co-writer of Bad Obsession. Reckless Life's credits varies, one of the sources says it's a Stradlin'/Webber/I-don't-know-who song, but Axl isn't mentioned.

Buckethead left more than 4 years ago. I think it's irrelevant to bring up if he would play with a GN'R tribute band. I also don't agree with your comment, James, that if BH did this, people would hate and criticize him. Well, if he did this yesterday (which would have never happened), I'd laugh, but if he did it 6 years ago, I wouldn't complain. I try not to be biased, although I have my preferences. (To tell the truth, I like BH's music more than Ron's.)