this might sound odd, but I'd love to see bucket in a more mainstream setting. Which is what i was hoping for in GNR but it only happened to an extent. I know he excells at the advant guarde kinda stuff....but there's only so many nights I want to listen to cool guitar with wierd vocal samples and noises and stuff over the top....like sometimes I miss more traditional rock structures and vocals....and I'd love to see what he could do within that context as I know he's got kickass technical skills. You know like to me TWAT is no-where near his best solos, but it's awesome because it's in a song context you can sing along with - rather than what he does at the moment which is create kickass instrumentals...

If he'd played like Soothsayer or Notthimham lace in GNR it would have been insane. Didn't happen....but I'd like to see him move on from what he puts out these days. Just my opinion though.

I also think part of the problem is that Estranged's subject matter is much heavier and less easy for the general public to deal with. Like "Don't Cry" is a pretty straight forward love song, and "November Rain" while it has some dark undertones is a very easy song to emphaise with - a love lost etc - but "Estranged" is coming from a much darker place.

While there are no doubt countless people who have felt suicidal and can relate to the confusion and distress in those lyrics as well, there's also a ton of people who arn't emotionally sensitive enough or just arn't wired that way to really ever comprehend being in the kind of position the protaginist of Estranged is.

Which,  I think in terms of being a hit to the masses makes it less popular.

It's a brilliant song overall, amazing lyrics, beautiful and haunting guitar passages. I love it. But I do see it as somewhat of an Art Piece - it's not for everyone. It's just not as accessable to the average listener as a more 'mainstream' song. Which doesn't make it bad at all, but it is a certain genre.

This is shaping up to be pretty interesting!

Yeah...they would be insane with Bach...I think slash said when they auditioned with him originally that they felt it would make them like a Skid Row copy...which i guess is a danger given Baz's voice is so distinctive...but it's a shame cos it would have been killer.

These days it's not even an option as Baz's renewed friendship with Axl would prohibit it.

Interesting Article this one. I know a lot of dudes here don't like Matt, but I'll give him that he's pretty straight forward in these inteviews. I hope they find someone....someone with a cornell type flavour like he says would be awesome.....I think its better to wait than do someone crap...as much as Scott was wrong he did have some talents...so using someone really B list would fuck up the band for good.
But I also feel that in this situation there is a risk of always holding out for someone better. Like a person who stays single forever cos there is always someone hotter. Like you could find faults in amazing people like Axl, and Cornell even...so like I'm worried that if they're auditioning no-body's and they have this power inbalance like they are VR and the singer is no-one, then like even if the next Axl or Chris came along, they might over-focus on the dudes faults and keep waiting. Although i guess its a fine line. Cos no one wants them with a bad singer either. The singer is so important.