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#1 Re: Guns N' Roses » The General and Monsters » 2 weeks ago
Hard to know.
Time fucks with even the best plans - and at their age they could become unable at any stage suddenly, but then again, they might also have many years ahead with modern healthcare etc.
I remember Nikki Sixx saying he thought Slash would be the BB King of our generation performing until the day he drops, I think that is very likely.
Axl - it's hard to know - he's shown over the years he does things for his own reasons and not necessarily what the industry tells him to do. As far as we can tell he's looked happier on stage in recent years - he seems to enjoy the shows and get a lot out of it - so I assume he will continue for now.
As you said he has problems compared to his prime, but then he always seems to be saving up a little bit of juice for a rainyday too.
Look at how 2016 Axl/Dc had a powerful voice compared to 2012 a few years earlier. Or even the TWAT screams last year were stronger than 2015 or so....he is a bit of a vocal freak so who knows what he could pull out of the tank. There's also other stuff they could do if needed like perform the songs in a lower key etc. That said....he obviously doesn't have his 1990 voice either...who can blame him.
I hope they will regroup and release another round of CD leftovers, and perhaps if we're lucky maybe even some new modern slash/axl/Duff offering in a new cycle. But it's one of those things where you can imagine it happening or not happening with equal possibility. I was encouraged by the release of Absurd/Hardschool/Perhaps/General - it shows he does still want to share his music with us. But it's GNR...they could fill in 5 years doing that or the rest of our lives.
Then I would assume they will do some type of farewell tour before the very end, just because it's the financially smart thing to do, although I would assume they are not wanting for money now, but you'd think maybe even just bookending things would have an appeal to them as performers and artists. I hope the fresh album cycle happens, but I could also see them laying low or just doing occasional festivals or residencies for a few years then the goodbye stuff...
So... if they did something close to both those things kinda leisurely - say over 12 years or so - that would put Axl around 74....for context Brian in Ac/Dc is 76 and they're rumoured to be doing farewell tour type things soon.
So time is sort of the enemy now more than it ever was, I hope they get busy in the next couple of years with some type of project as it gets less and less possibe to take the sort of timeframes they have used up in the past.
#2 Re: Guns N' Roses » The General and Monsters » 2 weeks ago
I don't think he'll put it out until the band retires, as he kinda implied (i think it was in the china exchange interview but not sure) that it could damage repaired friendships to hear his version of past events. It would be fascinating to hear his experience from his perspective though.
#3 Re: Guns N' Roses » The General and Monsters » 4 weeks ago
I agree.
I would expect at some point if he doesn't retire, Axl will release the other songs that had completed or semi-completed vocals. If for no other reason than as his voice gets older vintage recordings of him in prime form become more useful.
A good example is "Shadow of Your Love" - always a fun song, but it was used as a throw away B side more than once in their prime. Nothing wrong with it - but in an age where people are sitting down and writing YCBMs or Estrangeds or Comas it wasn't a star, But give it 20 years when the fire of the old band is long gone and suddenly it's a hidden gem and they released a whole box set around it.
In the same way songs like Atlas, State of Grace , and maybe even something half done like Eye on You, while maybe not as exciting in 2001 as the TWATs or TILs are going to increase in usefulness to the band just because they have usable vocals.
That said, if eveything seems as chilled and happy go lucky as the band seems to be these days, i could imagine Axl adding lyrcis to one or two new riffs or something too even though we know he's said he doesn't prefer to work with completed guitar instrumentals. A bit like how he added Slither to the set apparently to please slash, you could imagine if they do some kind of EP in the future he might let slash get something of his own on there too.
Given Axl is 62 this year, I would assume we are in the final 10 years or so of the band. So I mean i would kinda believe a break now, then maybe some kind of EP release or another drip feed release (like Absurd/Perhaps etc) to clear out any leftover songs and freshen things up, then another global tour leg spaced out casually over 24 months or something. Then you'd think they would think seriously about some kind of farewell tour etc. Or if people don't believe in new music...I could see a longer gap then a farewell tour.
I mean i think slash will tour till he dies like BB king....but Duff has a family and is gunna wanna be a grandpa at some stage, Axl's voice has enough in the tank for the time being, but it's hard to picture him doing this at 75 - then Again he is Axl...maybe he comes out at 90 with full rasp out of nowhere...who the fuck knows.
I think we have another chapter left to write after this break, but yeah, I could imagine projects might swap to either what is most fun for them personally, or what nets the most money without too much drama (like residencies etc), as they are rich and old already and I doubt they have a lot to prove to anyone.
#4 Re: Guns N' Roses » The General and Monsters » 5 weeks ago
I like them released officially so I can add them to my Spotify playlists without stuffing around with local files etc.
But yeah, this year is done for - slash is finishing up the 4 Album world tour now, and then releasing his blues album after that, and doing his serpent festival until at least late Aug.
Wouldn't be surprised if there's a second leg at some stage either.
Best we can hope for is some working behind the scenes via email or on breaks to record new GNR stuff.
#5 Re: Guns N' Roses » The General and Monsters » 10 weeks ago
Regarding known song meanings....
In the online chats many years ago Axl was kind enough to answer a question I asked about the meaning of Shackler's Revenge. Seems it's a good example of how a song can be a response to a specific thing but also capture a feeling or mood or be about a few things. Here's what he said:
"Shackler's was inspired by the insanity of senseless school shootings and also the media trying desperately to make more out of one shooter's preference for the Guns song Brownstone to no avail.
That said, listening for my own enjoyment or if we were to make a video or performing it I lean more to the entertainment of a horror flick or something like Dexter, something with an interesting menacing character as opposed to real life."
#6 Re: Guns N' Roses » AXL SUED FOR RAPE » 11 weeks ago
It's interesting how some of these get traction and others don't.
Like harvey weinstein is not the only guy like him in hollywood.
Vince Mc Machon isn't the only person to have done the kinda stuff he is alleged to have done.
Opening the book on rock stars would be a very deep dive into depravity. I would speculate far worse than people realise.
Who knows, would we all act like them in their shoes? Or is their deprativty a side effect of the nerodivergence that made them irregular people in the first place, which caused them to succeeed in the rigged game we call life?
What are we going to do when everyone who has achieved something awesome in life also turns out to be a piece of shit in another way? What happens if the guy who solves the equation for free energy also likes raping people? We have this weird mindset where people are either good or bad, but I think truthfully a lot of people are both.
#7 Re: Guns N' Roses » The General and Monsters » 11 weeks ago
I just re-read the lyrics and I'd forgotten what a beautiful song it is.
The ending "What this means to me" is a great example of one of Axl's great outros too that takes it to another level.
To me the song is about being in love with an innocent seeming girl and heartbroken to have lost her, then seeing she's changed or worse perhaps even that she was always darker than you thought, realising you are pining and projecting a love for someone who doesn't exist anymore if she ever did. So to me it seems it's likely to be about Erin or Stephanie but who knows...as we were saying earlier these songs are multidimensional sometimes.
I look forward to the next album about Sasha, Trump, Azoff, Tommy Hillfiger, and that bouncer dude he bit the ear off in Europe, that doubles as a note to pitman and robin.
#8 Re: Guns N' Roses » The General and Monsters » 12 weeks ago
. I think he wraps a lot of people together in songs
I always got the feeling some songs examine an emotion from a variety of circumstances.
Like hypothetically, in a song about betrayal, there could be a line where he is the betrayed and then another part where he is the betrayer, and different lines in it might swap between different people or circumstances that share something in common about it all.
So in a way a song is not about Slash or Steph or whoever kinda, but at the same time they are, all his writing is very real, very personal, and sort of inspired or caused directly by the real people in his life and actual events.
So it creates a weird thing where a song may be kinda clearly about something we know happened to him like his breakup with Erin or something but it also doesn't mean every word is directed to Erin or anything like that.
Like in the general I notice how there's the shift from "I swear I won't" to "the hell i won't" - is that the difference between a child frightened of abuse then becoming a teenager and rebelling against abuse, or perhaps it's the difference between an abuser promising to stop then getting angry again in a jeckel and hyde way? , or maybe an abused person becoming abusive themselves later?
It was fun when Axl did the chats that time and talked a little bit about Catcher and Shacklers and stuff to get more info on what's going on with these kinda things.
#9 Re: Guns N' Roses » The General and Monsters » 14 weeks ago
I agree back in the day Axl had no rivals.
I saw some classic footage in a group chat the other day of Axl back in his prime and even though I know they are good you just forget how mindblowing it really was back in the day.
Anyways, I didn't mean to be shitting on Axl. I'm just saying the modern band is enjoyable but they are not peak-them anymore, I think that's fair, I'm not peak-me either 
I know people hate Motley Crue too but I think they are a great band, and as I was saying, while Vince has been 'objectively' bad for years (thousands of videos to prove it) I subjectively find it doesn't harm the show much due to the kinda "casual fun" party vibe nature of a motley show. In fairness I always have fun at GNR too. I was just saying I think a vocally worrisome version of NR is harder to deal with than a vocally worrisome version of Dr Feelgood - just because of the mood of the songs. But my point really was that neither band is prime, but they do compliment each other, if they do it and tour here I would go 100%.
John 5 replacing Mick Mars is curious, as it's a real demonstration of X factor. Like John 5 is a formidable guitarist, endless respect, and further - he has the respect for the fans enough to play the parts properly to the recorded melody (something I think would have improved 2002 GNR immensely) but never the less, even though he plays it note-perfect, the sound does lack Mick's kinda agressive feel and tone or something. Hard to define. Not shitting on John though - i think given Mick was calling it a day he's a great choice and I'm excited for their new EP with bob rock supposedly coming in 2024. But it's interesting in the "what makes a band a band" sense.
As for Hendrix, it's hard to kinda rate him against Axl as guitar and vox are different animals. He was a great guitarist very innovative that's for sure. Hard to rate even guitarists against each other at this point as everyone is good at something and it's sort of like there's points for innovation, points for chops, points for creativity.
Like EVH changed how people play guitar, and I love his solos, but i think Slash plays better solos in terms of how they elevate a song overall - like solos like NR and and SCOM define the rock sound. Likewise Hendrix invented a lot of stuff - like purple haze and voodoo child etc are amazing - but then at the same time you look at what the modern youtube shred guys can do and in it's own way it's better than all famous people. So it's kinda hard to get a lock on what's what. But they're all great in different ways.
Anyways, roll on the GNR/Motley tour....and if both bands could drop an EP in 2024...well then I'd start to understand why I became a fan of rock music instead of learning to quilt or something
#10 Re: Guns N' Roses » The General and Monsters » 14 weeks ago
monkeychow wrote:The elephant in the room is what happened to the songwriting.
Obviously we know he's one of the greatest songwriters of his generation and indeed probably all time...
I no longer believe this.
An incredible singer with a unique voice and insane charisma who showed flashes of brilliance creatively.
The majority of his career, including what should've been his prime/second act, completely squandered on a project he couldn't even finish.
Yeah it's tragic.
Like if they had not fought GNR could have done a monster album in the late 90s, or even if not then had the reunion happened in 2005 or 2006 we would have seen some amazing things.
But still, despite all the fuck ups, I have to pay him his credit for his early career, like AFD and UYI are some of the best rock albums of all time. Most people can not sit down and write a "November Rain" for instance, so I still believe him to be one of the greatest of his generation.
But it's interesting how he was so deeply creative and then seemed to hit such a profound wall that he never even finished most of these ideas.
It makes me think - like all those sad cases in the 27 club who died and people are always like "imagine what else they might have done" but it makes you wonder - like maybe if the Kurts and Jimis etc were alive they would have hit a similar wall and never done much new either.
Mind you I think Axl has it worse as his background and mental health seemed to have caused him a lot of pain. Who knows, maybe it's like we can have unhappy and creative near death Axl, or an alive and happy and just likes doing shows and playing old hits Axl. I'm glad he made it.
