Yeah. Matt is not an Axl fan, for sure, so he'll be on the other side of the fence. However I'm not sure that he'll be very pro-Slash either, considering the past 5 years of Velvet Revolver and the slight chance of a VR reunion.

You misunderstood my post or I wasn't expressing myself good enough. So I try it again.

I fully supported Axl when he decided to continue without the others, under the Guns N' Roses name. (I don't wanna hijack this thread with the argument that who's to blame if everyone else leaves.) I thought it was better to keep the name alive then leave it die. Yes, I thought they could reunite one day, but even till that, we'll get quality music from Axl. I even supported the industrial turn, cause I loved Nine Inch Nails, early Manson and some other bands like Recoil etc. I was happy with the band he built up by the late 90s, which had a great potential to make great industrial music.

But this didn't happen. Axl made all his line-ups better or worse cover bands of the original Guns N' Roses. That was and is my problem. I though that "well, he's got Robin Finck, who's extremely great for industrial music. They won't play the old songs, cause that doesn't fit their style, no SCOM, no NR, etc, maybe a few old songs will remain, but they'll have great own material". This didn't happen. Axl made them play SCOM, NR. etc., and all their industrial songwriting input was wasted or softened to a point, where it became irrelevant. Not to mention that ONE album in 19 years is just not enough. If they released more material, I would probably have a different view. Cause not Velvet Revolver's two albums helped me keep my Slash fanboyism. Anyone can make a not so good record, but if there is nothing else, then why care? I even doubt I'd care at all, if I found CD magnificent. Even The White Album only wouldn't be enough in 19 years.

And yes, I not only have problems with Axl's non-actions, I have problems with his actions, too. He's always been a madcase, but in the past decade he turned into a bitter, self-apologizing hater, who wants all the power and wants to decide everything,yet he's the one who doesn't take responsibility for jack shit. Guns N' Roses used to be unpredictable, but functional. Now it became predictable, disfunctional and the worst led band in the history of music.

And no, Slash's post-GN'R work doesn't do the same for me, like old Guns N' Roses. I feel a great loss here, too. But at least he's not become the biggest egoist of the world and continue to make albums, some of them are quite enjoyable for me. I do like Duff's work to some extent, doesn't really care about Izzy's repeated same songs, but these are solo albums that come out under their name. Even if it was weak, it wasn't tarnishing the Guns N' Roses legacy. If Axl had the balls to go solo, I'd probably be less harsh with him. But he made my all-time favourite band a joke. A really bad joke.

So yes, I feel it's a great loss that my all-time favourite band turned into a nostalgia wedding band. Considering what happened in the past 17 years, it would have been better to let Guns N' Roses die, than making it into this impotent parodia of itself. I don't feel anger. It's been done a long time ago. I feel a very bad disappointment about all that could have been and all that SHOULD have been.

No, it doesn't feel like a victory. It feels like a loss. A great loss.

GN'R were the ultimate band for me back then. I collected everything from them. I was listening albums and bootlegs 24/7. I had like 7 GN'R shirts and everyday I went to the school in one of them. (Well, I had a Led Zeppeli and a Skid row shirt, too.) They inspired me to learn guitar. I learnt all their songs, except a few which I couldn't.
Now it's a meh band for me. Only the past (and Slash's recent solo efforts) keep me here. Cause there is really nothing in Axl's band and post 1996 career to get excited about. And it's a great, great loss, considering how unbelievable great he was in his prime. I thought he could succeed alone, or with new musicians and will continue to make great music. But I was wrong.

the pop version

I see no progress, except that Guns N' Roses are finally becoming a functional tribute band. It's been a disfunctional tribute band in the past years, so you can see it as an achievement, if you wanna be positive.