I was just watching the video for November Rain. I never noticed this before, but Slash is smoking in the church. Slash is probably the only person who could get away with this, even in real life. Nobody would even say anything to him about it because for Slash, its almost like an accessory that goes with his tophat and outfit.

Slash is the fucking man.

ross_rifle113 wrote:

He's publicly refused England's smoking ban in public places. He said he'll just pay the fine for every show he does in England. He knows he can afford it, and shit, he probably knows people would feel cheated if he wasn't smoking.

That awesome. That's how Slash rolls. Like I said, its almost like an accessory for him. Cracks me up that he was smoking in church. I never noticed that before last night.

anorexorcist wrote:

Slash is godly on the guitar, but I'm not a big GNR fan, I know some of you guys are and I may take some heat, but Axl is a fucking douchebag. Other than that, it's a great band. Slash just doesn't seem quite as godly in Velvet Revolver though, which is dissapointing because theres a lot of untapped potential in that band.

You're not going to catch heat from me and I'm a big of a GNR fan as anybody. I say to every man his own.

Here are my feeling on GNR and Velvet Revolver. A lot of people say GNR is nothing without Slash. I say fuck Slash...even though aside from Mr Van Halen, he is my favorite, fuck him anyways. What I mean is GNR doesn't HAVE to have Slash. Axl is the one who HAS to be in GNR.

Its not like there is nobody who can copy Slash's sound, if that was even necessary. You won't get anybody who sounds like Axl. And after listening to the leaked songs from The Chinese Democracy, I've gotta say I like some of that better than I like anything from Velvet Revolver, which is pretty much GNR sans Axl.

Personally, I always said if Slash would never go back to GNR, I would like to see Tracii Guns come back. But I like the way they sound now. That and he, like everybody else, apparantly couldn't get along with Axl.

Also, I like VR just fine, but I always wondered what it would have been like if Sebastian Bach would have been the frontman.

anorexorcist wrote:

Bach as lead man would have been SICK. I really like, oh god damnit what's his name? Stone Templ Pilots singer. Anyway, I like him, he has a great voice, but he's too much of a junky.

Allegedly Bach was considered for the part. The thing is, I always like GNR and STP. So I thought, oh this should be awesome. I do like VR quite a bit. But I don't know if I expected too much or what, but I didn't like it the way I thought I would. I think a lot of it was that Scott Weiland just didn't live up to how good he would be. I think maybe I set the bar too high.

So when I listen to the leaked GNR songs, I think it still has that GNR sound. The band plays a little different. But they are still good and overall the sound isn't so far off from the old GNR that it turns me off. But then again, where I had overly high expectations for VR, my expectations weren't that high for GNR's new stuff. So they actually exceeded my expectations.

As for Sebastian Bach, I found this on Velvet Revolver's wikipedia page.

"On May 6, 2008, ex-Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach was interviewed on "The Buckethead Show" on Tampa's 98 Rock radio station about the rumors concering him being considered for the position of lead singer in Velvet Revolver, after the split from Scott Weiland.
He said that he actually spoke to Slash recently, but also that joining Velvet Revolver will be very awkward for him and unlikely, stating he prefers his latest solo record "Angel Down" material to the songs on all of Velvet Revolver's records, and that since he is very good friends with Axl Rose, he said he would feel uncomfortable to sing Axl's songs (refering to Guns N' Roses covers that the band performs on live shows), although he finished off with saying "I love Guns N' Roses material, but I've got my own old songs — Skid Row — so for me, it would all depend on music. I wouldn't just join the band just to join the band. If we came up with some incredible new songs, then maybe I'd think about it." [11]

Bach confirmed in an interview with the band that he does not want the Velvet Revolver gig due to his close relationship with Axl Rose." [12]"

anorexorcist wrote:

I might like GNR if it wasn't for Axl's personality. Weiland, that's the guy. He split from VR?

Is is getting back together with STP and I think he is gonna do a solo album too.

I like Weiland. But he is too erratic. Its like he sounds different all the time. So he never really establishes a unique sound IMO.

ross_rifle113 wrote:

Appetite For Destruction is my absolute #1 favorite album of all time. I've bought probably three copies just for myself, and all my friends' copies were gifts from me. It was the first album I ever heard, and is my blood. I'm going to get the cross from the album cover tattooed on my back. Anyway, that album is the reason people think new GNR sucks and why they think GNR is nothing without Slash. I say it doesn't really matter. I just know that I have to see Slash in some band before I die. We were given 5 spectacular albums by GNR, with only one real shit song ('My World') out of the five albums' worth. Let's appreciate that.

So what do you think about the new GNR? Like I said, I had low expectations because I heard a bunch of people say they didn't like the new stuff. But when I heard the leaked stuff, I really liked it. I especially liked Better. I burned all the leaked songs to a disc and let my buddy listen to it, who is a HUGE GNR fan. He listened to it for a minute and he says, "This sounds just like old GNR." I didn't know if he would like it or not because Slash is like his all time favorite ever. But he liked it a lot too.

ross_rifle113 wrote:

I'm not sure. I heard Better and liked it, and I really like Madagascar, but nothing else really popped for me. But it's been a while since I've listened to the songs. I'm getting pretty pissed off about the whole 'Chinese Democracy' thing, but if it ever comes out I'll definitely buy it, because I don't feel that Slash, Duff, Matt, Izzy, Gilby, or Steven need to be in the band, but those are the best lineups. It took Iron Maiden 4 albums to perfect their lineup, and that lineup was apart for almost a decade, but that doesn't mean the stuff that isn't by Bruce, Steve, Dave, Adrian, Nicko, and now Janick isn't good.

Yeah, I think that is the best lineup too. But I always like to point out that its harder to replace a frontman because their voice is unique to them. With instruments, even though people have their own styles, they can be cloned, replicated, or whatever you want to call it. And I'm rarely pleased about changing the lead singer in a band (Van Halen would be an exception. But I was too young to remember it actually happening so I grew up with Sammy in Van Halen), so I think they are the most important piece. But I'm keeping my fingers crossed that once it all comes together that Izzy will rejoin.

I was trying to decide if I were in charge of making the lineup for GNR, but had to do it without Slash, Duff, or Sorum (for obvious reasons) I would bring back Tracii Guns and Izzy. The original bass player (from LA Guns) is dead and Duff and Axl most likely will never work together again. So the only other choice for bass I guess is the current guy, Stinson. I'd like to say bring back Adler, but he seems to be the most vocal about a GNR reunion, and yet he isn't a part of GNR or VR.

ross_rifle113 wrote:

shit really? That sucks, becuase I'd love to go out there and play a guitar solo. Good ol' Tracii Guns eh? Thanks for bringing him up, he's far too unknown. I'm not entirely sure his style would work for what Axl currently wants though. Back in the 'Appetite' days, as well as on 'The Spaghetti Incident?', Tracii would have made the songs sound different, but they'd still be crunchy and sleazy. I couldn't see Tracii playing something 'Estranged'. I personally think Axl should just reform Hollywood Rose. They've only released 5 songs, but damn those songs are tight.

I'm not even sure I would like them with Tracii Guns. I think I'm just curious what they would have sounded like had he stayed in GNR. Can you imagine how different GNR would have been had Guns never left the group? It would be completely different. Didn't he leave over creative differences to begin with?


Reforming Hollywood Rose would be interesting. I actually found this on wikipedia.

"In 2007, Jimmy Swan and Chris Weber, have reformed the second line-up of Hollywood Rose, and have recently added Kaptain, a drummer who almost made the final line-up of Guns N' Roses and who was the original drummer for New Improved God - another L.A. Band from the late 80s."

It also says that they tried to just replace Axl after he formed GNR, "but the band never got off the ground or established a record deal."