I'm going to play devils advocate on this.

GN'R is huge because they have a dozen hit songs on those 3 albums and they (used to) rock harder than any other band. Their heyday was peak guitar rock. Name a single song in Rolling Stones entire discography that can compete with Paradise City in terms of raw rock n roll. It is commonly accepted in the public eye that peak Axl was the greatest rock singer of all time. Jimmy Paige got nothing on Slash in his public image. Slash is probably the most famous rock guitarist ever, the most iconic. Even the side characters carry a ton of cred. Who is competing with this band? AC/DC, Metallica are all out there touring on 40-50 year old material. Nobody cares about their "other albums" either.

The fact that they are touring on the level of these other hard working legendary outfits is testament to their incredible quality. And they are going to squeeze every last buck out of it.

I guess you could say they are keeping it real by not releasing material when they have nothing left in the tank. They do some teasing, but the fans have become no different than the prostitutes they used to rip off. They have returned to basics. We are the marks. And I don't think that is on Axl alone. The we don't give a fuck attitude only started when Slash & Duff rejoined the band. Solo Axl was always "trying". No more.