GPFontaine wrote:

I have tons of shit from the band. Books, articles, audio books, cds, dvds, vhs, etc... Syd is dead on about Axl's mental state. He has terrible self esteem. Also, after reading Slash's book, I actually believe that both Axl and Slash don't really remember very clearly why they are so mad. They were on so many drugs, in horribly real circumstances in unreal conditions, and they had no one guiding them towards making good decisions. Do I think that Axl pulled a power play on the Illusions Tour? Yes. I do. Do I think he did it because he was terrified that his world was collapsing around him and that if he didn't he would be miserable? YES.

The book I'm reading makes it sound like a lot of the problems on the UYI tour was after Guns had played with the Stones and Axl saw the way Mick Jagger was running things. The way a small band had turned into a big production with horns, keyboards, backup singers, etc. The way Mick was in control of everything that was going on. I know a lot of the other band members were pissed with the changes because they talked about wanting to stay a 5 piece guitar band. They said they were even skeptical when Axl brought in Dizzy Reed.

The book did say Dizzy was almost in the original lineup. But it also had various quotes from the other band members where they talked about it no longer being a guitar band anymore once there were keyboards and pianos and organs and how the band wouldn't be the same.

As far as the Mick Jagger thing, I don't believe there were actual quotes from Axl in regards to it, but here is what the book says.

"Axl watched, fascinated, as Mick Jagger ordered his troops around like a general on a battlefield. The once primal Rolling Stones, originally a five-piece guitar band, now consisted of fifteen onstage musicians, with a touring crew of around two hundred people backing them up."

It was after this that he went and started getting the horn girls, backup singers, Dizzy, Teddy Zig Zag, etc. There are quotes from other band members saying they didn't want any of it but Axl did.

"Axl Rose noticed that between rehearsing some of the Stones' new songs Mick reviewed documents from aides, signed checks, took calls from Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty. Axl aslo noticed Jagger's new keyboard player, Matt Clifford, who seemed to be the musical director of the Stones-on Jagger's authority. Axl considered, he too shoud have a keyboard player in Guns, to keep him on pitch, like Mick did. And if Mick Jagger could be a total fucking dictator, and call every fucking shot there was to call, maybe it could work that way in his band too. Some changes would now be made."

This is where I was getting that from. Then in the rest of the chapter, it talks about Axl doing things differently and making a lot of changes which was at odds with the rest of the band.

Syd Lexia wrote:

I'll see if I can't find the direct quote. But there was definitely an interview where Axl talked about not wanting to be Mick Jagger. But drugs and drinking were definitely issue. There's a recent interview with Duff that sort of touches upon it: "It's a miracle Slash is alive. It's a miracle I'm alive. Or even Axl — although he was probably the least [hedonistic] of us. He always sort of stayed away from going too deep into it." http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/interviews/duff_mckagan_on_axl_rose_hes_just_a_guy_caught_up_in_events.html Also, in the mid-90s, Slash became the official spokesman for Black Death Vodka and got cases and cases of the stuff for free. Axl has alleged that Slash was drunk, unproductive, and uncooperative during this period, which led to all sorts of fights, because he (Axl) DIDN'T want to write all the songs and melodies by himself. This led to him bringing in his friend Paul Tobias on rhythm guitar to work with him and Slash on songs. This didn't work. When the band went into the studio to record their cover of "Sympathy For The Devil", Slash was too fucked up to play the solo properly. After several takes, a frustrated Axl said the track was fine and everyone went home. Then he had Paul Tobias play the solo, and dubbed it over Slash. This was supposedly the incident that directly led to Slash quitting.

That's some good stuff. When I finish the book I'm reading now, I will probably pick up Slash's autobiography. Do you know of any other GNR biographies that you could recommend?