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Re: Great Duff Interview on Axl
To me, Guns was always a bit between two stools; they hailed from the hair-metal era of the mid-80's, when Hanoi Rocks was still the talk of the town and vocalists still modeled themselves after Mike Monroe with a gallon of hairspray. They somehow managed to survive the shift of early nineties to co-exist amongst the grunge, industrial and rap bands that surfaced.
The song structures on AFD were generally pretty simplistic, although some of the 80's cheese is kept away with aggressive guitars and Axl's above-average lyrics. It's not an elaborate album in that sense - quite the opposite, it's deliberately going towards mass appeal. When you take an anomaly like that and blow it into the umpteenth level by making them the biggest band of their time, the whole thing's bound to come off from the seams.
Only on UYI's did Guns begin to write and record music that was actually more challenging to themselves as well as the audiences, and those albums were, to me, the only justification as to why a band like that should really deserve what came to them. Without that growth factor in between albums, they would've been remembered as nothing but Hanoi Rocks gold-diggers who got a little lucky, the Crue with better guitars.
While some AFD/Lies material still works well to a lot of people on an emotional level, I personally feel Guns were coming to age no sooner than when they started twiddling around with songs like Coma. It's not Soundgarden or vice versa, but at that time, they were gallantly pushing the boundaries of their preconceived public image.
Ultimately, that's the part of the Guns legacy that remains interesting to me to this day.
Re: Great Duff Interview on Axl
Absolutely, it breaks my heart to hear the media labeling the Illusions negatively compared to Appetite. I was a boy when Appetite came out and I loved it, the Illusions were how my obbession with the band grew to hardcore levels as a young adult/adult. Those albums are the guys pushing their potential to the max and experimenting with new things, I cant fathom why critically they are not more apprieciated. Inconsistency of the songs I suppose, but its still unfair and its just ignorance in many cases.
Re: Great Duff Interview on Axl
Axlin08 wrote:In an ironic twist, Izzy ran Axl down the most, WAY more than Slash, yet Izzy was the first to be let back into the fold.
I think they had the closest friendship, and that can happen, I've seen it with my own long-time friends.
because they tend to know all about you, the good and the bad, things can get ugly if two people that close turn against each other, but things can get patched up really fast too to the outside world because you were friends so long for a reason, and there's always going to be some love there no matter what.
That's just my experience anyway.
Yeah man, even though the conflicts can be more bitter, it takes less to heal them amost true buddies. Feeling awkward, then eyes meeting and breaking into a mutual smile is enough.
Re: Great Duff Interview on Axl
The dynamics of the AFD lineup are certainly interesting; on one hand, you have Axl and Izzy from Lafayette, Indiana. Then you have the LA kids Slash and Steven. Both sides have a history going back to high school and even beyond. Then you have Duff, a Seattle punk, who had completely different things, events and friends going for him before getting into the whole Guns affair. It's no surprise that Duff's often been viewed as a middleman who had the ability to discuss with both camps, although he identified more with Slash and Steven.
It was rather complex, to be honest. At times, Axl could only be reached through Izzy, or vice versa. The one instigating those dialogs would usually be Duff. During the UYI recordings, Duff grew up to be the one picking Slash and Steven up for rehearsal, knowing they were both sliding into very bad cases of addiction. Axl and Izzy didn't want to deal with all that, and the LA boys themselves were painfully unaware of the damage self-inflicted; Duff was trying to keep reins with all that.
Duff's integral role in the band taught him to be diplomatic early into the game, one false word could cook up a war within, and he knew that his leaving personally would've killed the band within a week. With them striving to such a level professionally, I think he realized walking away just wasn't cool.
GNR survived the departure of Steven because Matt sided with Slash (and Duff), keeping in line with the existing balance of power. When Izzy left, Axl had no-one. He needed a Lafayette kid there, and what was he offered with? Gilby, the one who obviously went straight into the Slash end of the band. Dizzy would've been a step closer to Axl from Duff, but he was a Matt/Gilby equivalent in the best of times.
When Duff begun to inch closer to Slash (or, alternatively, Axl alienated himself from the others more), the balance was erupted to the point at which Axl felt it vital to bring in Paul Huge, simply on the grounds of having a confidant. And that freaked Slash out, as he was reaching the bottom of his alcoholism fast.
Paul was a tee-totaler from Indiana, not treating Slash with the same brown-nosing respect as Gilby or any other hand hired from the incestous LA music scene, but instead, the short-run of having Axl himself on rhythm guitar day in, day out. Not someone you could lure into your comfort zone by taking him out to a beer and telling, 'This is how it's gonna go, kid...'
That's why replacing Izzy was a pain in the ass undertaking. You'd need to find someone who communicates with Axl and sits in with Slash. Knowing their egos were blown to the degree they were in the early 90's, one can't really blame Gilby for falling flat, or Izzy for walking out.
Re: Great Duff Interview on Axl
Izzy only ran down Axl once or twice.....like Marc Canter said, Slash was the one who did the most damage. I'll go with the guy who knows all parties.
Only because Slash had the guts to go out and make a living on a bigger scale.
So Slash is a scumbag, because he played with Michael Jackson. Get over it Axl.
They both talked the same shit. Slash did more damage, because Axl chooses to perceive it that way.
We're lucky Axl didn't take a ridiculous jump towards the bandwagon by wearing flannel and looking down at the stage while singing.
Too late...
- julia (babydolls)
- Rep: 6
Re: Great Duff Interview on Axl
Always been a Duff nutswinger. Believe in Me one of my favorite 90s albums. Its a shame it didn't take off, but it was about a year too late.
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I really liked that album too. When I saw Loaded last year in London, they played 10 Years. I told him after how chuffed I was they played it. He did seem a decent bloke, much happier/chilled out than on another occasion with the rest of VR close by towards their.. err.. demise shall we say 
Understandable considering what happened with scott soon after. Liked his Cracked Actor bowie cover a lot on the B-side to believe in me too.
I've been surprised for years that they are all still alive. and grateful!
