You are not logged in. Please register or login.
- Topics: Active | Unanswered
#1591 Re: Dust N' Bones & Cyborg Slunks » Q&A: Slash » 772 weeks ago
Doug Goldstein, aka the barrier between Axl and the rest of the world at the time.
#1592 The Garden » A visualization of US Debt in 100 dollar bills » 773 weeks ago
- apex-twin
- Replies: 1
The first thing that struck me was, 'Use Your Illusion'.
#1593 Re: Guns N' Roses » Azoff-Axl Lawsuit Settled: Includes "comprehensive touring agreement" » 774 weeks ago
Morrisey is Axl's British, effeminate alter ego.
To think Merck managed them both up to 2006.
The mind boggles.
#1594 Guns N' Roses » Anatomy of an Implosion » 776 weeks ago
- apex-twin
- Replies: 16
Psychology Today makes nice enough reading, even if they gleefully promote their therapy sessions and whatnot. While some of the articles venture to the fluff side, they can spur up some interesting conversation. A recent one I noticed was about how famous people fuck it up at the peak of their power, and why (Tiger Woods and Dominique Strauss-Kahn, please stand up).
The article (available here) doesn't as much as hint towards Axl or the CD saga, which is why I thought it might be interesting to look at it from a GNR fan perspective.
If the shoe fits, what would appear is not an all-encompassing explanation to Axl's mental state, but rather, it would show the general outlines of what people go through when they seemingly "flip" at the height of their fame and let their past accomplishments slip through their fingers.
Famous people who fall are classic examples of the life pathway I've labeled "Downward Slope." People on this pathway may be outwardly successful but inwardly they lack a solid sense of identity. They make poor and self-defeating decisions that cause their lives to implode.
...
How do we know someone is on the Downward Slope? Here are three of the criteria:
1. Major decisions that you regret. People on the Downward Slope believe that they have taken too many wrong turns and that their lives have spun hopelessly out of control. They live in a past filled with feelings of personal remorse and get stuck in the conviction that there's nothing they can do about it.
From Izzy to Slash to Stephanie Seymour, Axl has been known to mull over big changes in his personal and professional life for a good while.
2. "Selling out" on your dreams of youth. Some of the participants in my study who fit the Downward Slope criteria were highly successful and seemed to have it all. Inwardly, however, they were miserable because they had left behind their youthful value systems. Perhaps these highly successful men had lost touch with their true selves-- the ones that inspired them to pursue the careers they did.
One word. Yoda.
3. Feeling that your life was harmed by random forces outside your control. People on the Downward Slope believe that they are where they are because of something that occurred over which they had no control. In his press conference, Weiner stated that he has a sex addiction. Rather than taking the responsibility for the poor decisions they make, people on the Downward Slope tend to blame outside forces rather than their own personal failings.
Axl never does this. Ever. 
One of the ways that we get on the Downward Slope is by engaging in what I call "shoot yourself in the foot syndrome," otherwise known in professional terms as survival guilt. People who are incredibly successful sometimes believe that they don't deserve to do so well.
People on the Downward Slope don't believe in themselves. Once you start to develop a stronger inner identity, you won't feel the need to make decisions that reinforce your inner lack of faith in yourself.
Deep-seated insecurity and no firm professional identity as a musician outside Slash-era GNR. Does this sound like our man Axl (at least up to 2008)?
If Axl's sentiments towards, say, Slash, are observed as a textbook response to survivors guilt, much of the venom would be blame directed to the top-hat, in terms of "you left me all alone with the band, the fame, the money - and I had a horrible time dealing with all that without you there with me."
This blame would manifest from a fear that GNR wouldn't be a valid band without Slash and that one day, people would learn about the ruse and Axl would lose the band completely.
The outcome is fairly obvious: the album would take years to reach his personal standard - and if you throw in a concerned record label, which shares his sentiments, you're in for a long wait.
At least he feels happy with the current lineup, but as far as another album is concerned, it's anyones guess. One may hope the resolution of the Azoff conundrum will allow them to tour and brandish their stateside net profit at Universal, but the more important question is, does Axl feel secure enough to release an album, and moreover, does he feel the creative urge to do so?
My personal opinion is that by making peace (if not reuniting) with Slash would help things out a lot, in that Axl would feel more secure with carrying on the GNR name with Tommy, Ashba, Bumble and the likes and keep churning out songs simply because the music matters on its own right.
The strangest thing is that so many wounds could be healed with a single phone call.
#1595 Re: Guns N' Roses » Guitarist DJ ASHBA: I Have No Reason To Kiss Axl Rose's Ass » 777 weeks ago
I Have No Reason To Kiss Axl Rose's Ass
...It's just second nature.
#1596 Re: Guns N' Roses » DJ ASHBA Recalls 'Funny' Bar Fight Involving AXL ROSE - » 778 weeks ago
Well if that's true, then NO ONE since 1993 has been on the level to be in the band. Maybe that's why they haven't replicated their success?
Robin Finck (the Paul Huge of NIN)
Paul Tobias (who?)
To many/most NIN fans, Robin is hardly a 'who'.
He did their breakthrough tours (for The Downward Spiral & Fragile), and performed / recorded with the 'farewell' lineup.
I daresay he's the fan-favorite out of all NIN live guitarists.
I get your analogy with going from complete obscurity to a big band, but wanted to point out the differences between Robin/NIN fans & Paul/GNR fans.
#1597 Re: Guns N' Roses » Alternate artwork (NEW scans inside!) » 779 weeks ago
Yep. Those were not demos. They were finished tracks for the album in 2002 had it materialized. I find it insane how such a minority of fans realize this.
This is why I find Apex(and others) comments on finishing the album in 2003 onwards to be absurd(no offense, you make great points on the subject). I get what you guys are saying but I disagree. The album was finished in 2001-02. Axl himself stated this. Track list was finalized, had been mixed/mastered, cover art/liner notes also finished.
For the umpteenth time...
I do believe there was a release-worthy album in existence in around 2002. By this I mean it had all the characteristics of such; track listing, artwork, liner notes, mixing... Axl did say it out loud, yes. Tom Zutaut's Classic Rock interview also supports this.
I also happen to believe the same applies to the time when OMG was released. They could've had an album out in late 99/early 00, if only Axl had opted to OK it.
The released album has little remaining from the work put on by Zoot/RTB (2000/2001). The liner notes mention Sean Beavan (98-00) as a pivotal figure, while the end result is obviously mostly Axl and Caram Costanzo. They didn't release the OMG-era album.
They released the album Axl and Costanzo crafted from the material accumulated through the years. Some of the additional recording got pretty superfluous (like Baz on the chorus of Sorry), some carried a distinct aesthetic purpose (Ron's fretless on CD).
To me, CD travels way beyond any reason or artistic license when Geffen cut funding in early 2004 and Axl still managed to tinker on the album for over three years, both on his own money and the contributions of Sanctuary Group.
Three years on finishing touches? Call the spade for what it is, the man was obviously having a good deal of issues with the protracted recording process and was searching for a way to end it. And that's putting it nicely.
#1598 Re: Guns N' Roses » The Tommy Stinson Thread » 779 weeks ago
I think the Axl/Yoko ego trip came to a point, when even Matt Sorum had enough. And it says it all.
Your theory backfires a slight when considering Duff was in GNR around six months after Matt was fired.
And come to think of it, Matt's problem was likely the fact that the new guy was getting more props than he did. Matt was always the "first recruit", the original hired gun.
One thing I can see Matt having a problem with, would've been Paul not looking up to him as a senior member.
#1599 Re: Guns N' Roses » The Tommy Stinson Thread » 779 weeks ago
I wouldn't trust Matt as an objective source in the matter. Back in the day, he downplayed Snakepit Mk 1 after Axl recommended he (Matt) shouldn't tour with them. Slash mentioned in his biography that the first Snakepit incarnation was mainly his and Matt's baby, but Matt was ready to let it slide to accommodate Axl.
Axl later "rewarded" Matt for his loyalty by letting him & Duff have their way with Neurotic Outsiders. Matt then went on in the press saying how cool Axl was and how proud he was about being in GNR and how it still allowed him to have sideprojects.
Matt was fired, yes, but not before he had gone into lengths to maintain his job, even risking sour grapes with Slash to maintain the GNR drummer slot. After he was fired, he kept leaving messages to Axl for the remainder of the 90s, letting Red know he would cave in and sneak back behind the drumkit if needs be.
I can believe he had an argument with Paul, sure. Maybe even for sound reasons. But going head to head with Axl on the day he was fired? He hadn't done so before and had been desperate to cling on to the gig. A likelier possibility was that Matt & Paul were having a fit and Axl happened to walk in to the room unprompted.
Of course, Matt would like to portray himself as the hero of the story, and not just another yes man, which he had most certainly been up to that point anyway.
#1600 Re: Guns N' Roses » Ron Thal Survives Potentially Fatal Car Crash » 779 weeks ago
Some people at the NME boards and other places seem chronically disconnected from real life.
Tis sad.
However, the fact that we can pride ourselves for having some common courtesy which other parties like some NME punters don't have, says a few frightful things about the internet in general.
Sometimes, it's better to log off and leave the internet to its own devices. I'm fairly sure it can handle it.
