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#1 Re: Guns N' Roses » Axl is in the Studio but what for? » 3 days ago
Well I think he can both reward loyalty and also be a shitty band leader. Axl doesn't seem to be a money grubber so I doubt incidents where people don't get paid is him trying to stiff them. More likely a chaotic organization where things don't get solved or miscommunication. Also if he feels slighted in any way he can become really difficult and dismissive. He also lives in a bubble where all his yes men are feeding him information through a lens of "this is not your fault" so his perspective is probably warped.
Getting back Buckethead didn't seem to be an option. The band treated him poorly, but that is not exactly Axl's fault. Once he left, Axl took the position of "fuck you", like he always does when people disappoint him, real or imagined.
I don't know what actually happened with Goldstein and the tour fiasco. But I think we can agree that Doug was a yes man of limited competence. If he screwed up something I can see Axl taking that as a slight. Then you probably have Merck and Sanctuary pissing in his ear that Doug wanted out, agreed to it etc.
And the CD thing wasn't him refusing to release it, it was the failure to get the label to promote it the way he wanted to. It took Azoff to secure the Best Buy deal for that to happen. Apparently Axl was not satisfied with that, which is sort of fair, it was a cut your losses type thing. But he also should have realized that the gig was up at that point and move on. Nobody was going to invest serious money into a failed project. He is also basically sitting on his ass in this time period regarding new material and still is.
He can be a trainwreck but I don't think loyalty is something that he lacks. The Frank thing might very well have been Duff and Slash setting him up, and him feeling bad about it is proof of his loyal nature, not the opposite.
#2 Re: Guns N' Roses » Axl is in the Studio but what for? » 3 days ago
Finck and Brain left on their own accord. I don't remember BBF being fired. Tommy seems to have bowed out gracefully when he saw himself as a roadblock to a reunion. Ashba left.
I think the reunion happened because there was not much of a band left. Richard is still there, same with Dizzy. If Frank could drop a beat likely he would be too. Izzy, Steven are being paid lip service because they proved unreliable in the past. Izzy's enthusiasm lasted about 5 minutes before he went back into hiding.
TB is the best example of Axl rewarding loyalty when it is not really deserved. Complete mediocrities dragging the band down, but they stick to him so he keeps them around. Goldstein wasn't fired, but he should have been.
#3 Re: Guns N' Roses » Axl is in the Studio but what for? » 3 days ago
He can bend to peer pressure. Axl was the last person to sign off on Adler being thrown out, despite having a lot of reason to ditch him. Frank had to go because he was a poor fit and Slash/Duff wanted somebody else badly. He is not going to jeopardize the reunion for a replacement drummer.
Matt and Pittman acted out of line. That is a big no no.
Only exception is Gilby. Apparently Axl just viewed him as a temporary replacement and when he did not live up to expectations let him go.
Axl will reward loyalty unless special circumstances forces his hand. He values the opinions of Slash and Duff. With Frank he may have thought "alright we gave him 20 years, he's not really up to snuff, he did not prove himself sufficiently". Similar to Gilby in that sense. But even in that case Axl was loyal to him for decades. Somebody like Angus or Gene Simmons would not hesitate to ditch a player at the first opportunity.
#4 Re: Guns N' Roses » Axl is in the Studio but what for? » 3 days ago
We can't really blame Axl for not doing the reunion at those times. Whatever his faults, loyalty to his players are not one of them. He would never ditch long time servants without a very good reason.
The problem was the old band falling apart when Axl was highly motivated to keep the momentum going. He was too stubborn to get Slash back, so we ended up with NuGNR. That thing simply had to play out. The label is mostly to blame for that part, while Axl is to blame for pushing out Slash in the first place.
#5 Re: Guns N' Roses » Axl is in the Studio but what for? » 3 days ago
Slash never cared about Axl wanting to do industrial stuff. It was just payback for Axl embarrassing him by taking over the name. Dumbest move Axl ever did. Completely unnecessary. Alienated his most valuable player, which in the end forced out Matt and Duff too.
#6 Re: Guns N' Roses » Axl is in the Studio but what for? » 5 days ago
In reality they had 1 album worth. They spent years overproducing that material and replacing good songs with weaker ones.
Whatever they had in 2000 was ready to go and would have been the best version of CD they could have put out. Would have saved everybody time, money and headaches. The label is to blame for that, but also Axl for trying to continue GN'R with only himself as the member. Where he got the idea that Guns was his own personal project is a mystery. It's interesting how feminine his personality is. Incapable of accountability, throws tantrums to get his way. Makes terrible decisions. Gets led by the nose by mediocrites and simpletons. Constantly rejects sound advice from real professionals.
#7 Re: Guns N' Roses » Axl is in the Studio but what for? » 11 days ago
Perhaps not an actual album was ready, but the band seems to have had a ton of creativity back then. They could probably have whipped up something fairly quickly. Even Axl was prolific in the late 90s.
Bands have their time. When you get past 40 things start to dry up. This is why that period was so critical. The last 20 years have not really been wasted. Nostalgia tours are the name of the game for old artists. Even if there is an album it will tend to be weak stuff. At this point I don't really care what they do.
#8 Re: Guns N' Roses » Axl is in the Studio but what for? » 12 days ago
It's over now. CD leftovers was the last juice in the carton. We should have gotten that 1996 album.
#9 Re: Guns N' Roses » Axl is in the Studio but what for? » 2 weeks ago
Maybe they have a great buffet.
#10 Re: Guns N' Roses » If GNR releases nothing in 2023, is this the end for you? » 6 weeks ago
Even the titles get worse over time. Boston Third Stage should have been a lesson to all these bands.
