Here Today... Gone To Hell!

Thursday, April 14, 2005
Alice Cooper meets Ozzy Osbourne
In an interview to Alice Cooper (on his Nights with Alice Cooper radio show) that was posted online yesterday, Ozzy Osbourne spoke about the great rock bands of the past. "How more simple can you get than "You really got me" [by The Kinks]". I bought that single and I played it until I had to buy another one" said Ozzy. Regarding his influences and the impact of the Beatles: "I don't think there will ever be another Beatles... it's melodic."

He also made a comment about another rock band: "The tragedy of the last 20 years was Guns N' Roses... they were well up there... then Axl [Rose] read the tealeaves in his cup and went nuts or something".

http://www.therockradio.com/



/jarmo

As far as rock music goes, it really is a tragedy, Ozzy is correct.

I guess this is how it looks from the outside: GNR were a magnificent band with tons of potential to become even bigger, until Axl's insanity fucked it all up. Well that's not true, not intirely, anyway

I agree with Ozzy 100%.  GNR not sticking together was the greatest rock tragedy in the last 20 years.

The real greatest tragedy of the last 20 years is how Ozzy has sold-out and become a drone following any order that his wife Sharon gives him. Thats the real tragedy.

i disagree. disappointing? yes. tragic? no.

black sabbath will always be the gods of metal. and ozzy is still a legend.

i agree with ozzy's statement. axl and slash were one of the greatest teams in rock history. they brought out the best in each other. and had they stuck it out and continued to make music, they would be recognized as one of the all time greats. they could have reached levels greater than successful bands such as U2 and aerosmith.

they are remembered more for their troubles, and for what could have been.

that is tragic. 

Ozzy a sold-out! I have lost alot of respect to that guy the last couple of years! Its sad coz Ozzy was a real rocknroll star
I guess its only Axl left! The last real rock n rol hero! from the old days hmm.. Okay, lets include slash and Duff also!
Stinson, Fortus and the rest of the band could be the new real rock n roll for today! The band have alot of potensial!

Obviously in these 10-15 years we could've gotten 4 or 5 amazing albums. But then you have to take into consideration Axl's own words, when he said that people wanting him to be with his ex band members don't realize what a hell that would be for him.

Even though we all know how great the albums would have been, it wouldn't be fair. People are together and people break up every day (bands, friends, marriages....). Things happen, even if it was the greatest friendship, band, couple or whatever.

Why stick with a band just because people want you to?  When creatively Axl was moving forward in a new direction and Shash & Duff were content doing what they were doing.

Fine, sell-out.

Sure, Ozzy may have sold out but at least he is accessible to his fans.  He records, tours, interviews, etc.  All the while Axl sits his selfish ass in his Malibu compound trying to obsessively put his shoes and socks on in just a perfect way.  Ozzy is old now, he's not going to act like he used to, it's only natural.  What is not natural is for a mega-star (Axl) to sit around with his thumbs up his ass for 10 plus years.

Ozzy is correct

It will only be a tragedy if CD is never released.

Maybe a Tradegy.  But maybe their legend and impact is magnified becasue they didn't go too long.  Maybe that helped them.  So the real Guns will never be like Aerosmith or Ozzy.

Ritz Reeves

If they broke up that would be correct....to date Axl has dragged the death out forever and are now viewed as an embarrassment.

I disagree.  I believe to most rock fans GNR encompasses Axl, Slash and Duff.  I love NuGnr but I don't think they tarnish the image yet.  If they produce five crappy records maybe.  But I think GNR is considered a 7 year time period to most. 

To go along with what Disco said regarding this entire situation being an embarrassment, I believe that the old band said it best, "Time went by and it became a joke."

This new band is a joke and so is the idea that a new album is coming.

Yeah, jokes on us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i'm just gonna copy and paste what i posted at thenewguns about this:

at least axl hasn't turned himself into a fucking vegetable.

If they produce ONE crappy record.


I'm glad you feel this way, but produce has nothing to do with this topic

anyone who thinks ozzy is fucking right by saying this shit should really read this post by russtcb from another gnr board

posted by russtcb on another forum

Let's start here; Ozzy with or without Black Sabbath has not been a top draw of any sort for years and years. Anyone who's been to Ozzfest within the last five years knows that most people leave before Ozzy or Sabbath even hit the stage. I'm not bashing Ozzy, I'm just telling the truth.

As far as overall talent and productivity goes, Ozzy is in no position to speak to anyone on the subject. What was the last *good* Ozzy album to be released? It was "No More Tears" way back in 1990. Since that release we've seen two live albums, two greatest hits, two terrible studio albums, a horrible "family compilation" cd, a terrible box set, two Sabbath live albums and a Sabbath box set. Not to mention that during that period Ozzy has turned himself into a running joke within his own metal community and all throughout the world through a television show.

Now, am I saying all of this just because Ozzy attacked Axl? No. These are just facts that people should consider before they open their big fucking mouths. Sure, you might say "Yeah well, Axl hasn't released ANYTHING in all that time" and you'd be right. However, does that make Guns N' Roses the "tragedy of the last 20 years"? I don't see how it could. Why are they a tragedy? Is it because Axl isn't having dinner with the president and making an ass of himself? Or maybe it's because Axl doesn't have any children using his name to make money for themselves and invade mediums they have no right to. Is it because he hasn't thrown the original GnR back together just to make the cash (which by the way would DESTROY any ticket sales Sabbath could put up)?

I made this point a few weeks ago about Scott Weiland and again about Trent Reznor; why in the fuck do people use putting Axl Rose down to try and better the way they look? To me that says something about the guy you feel you need to bring down and what you feel your own status is. It kills me that Ozzy said something stupid like "reading the tealeaves" when he personally has to have his all important MTV checks read to him.

To go back to my original point (because I know it's coming) I'm not saying any of this just because someone said something bad about Axl Rose. I'm just making sure that people are keeping an accurate score. If anyone wants to, please find for me the last time Axl Rose said a negative word about any other entertainer in public. I might be wrong but barring any *defensive* comments made on the 2002 tour about the old lineup, I think it was somewhere around 1993 and it was about Izzy Stradlin.

Axl has always been very reactionary with his comments. Even when he would make comments about the Crue or Nirvana and what not, it was all after the fire had been started by the other parties.

Hey here's a thought; maybe Guns N' Roses being in the state it is isn't Axl's fault entirely. WOW! THERE'SA THOUGHT! Maybe guys like Slash, Matt, Duff and Izzy are doing what they want to do. Which is NOT carry on the Guns N' Roses name. If Izzy Stradlin wants to play street corners and bars at 3AM, how come THAT'S not the tragedy? If Matt, Duff and Slash want to make sub-par STP records instead of groundbreaking rock n roll records, how come THAT's not the tragedy?

Because it's easy to poke jabs at the leaders and the ones who go against the grain, that's why. I wouldn't expect a washed-up, pussy whipped MTV icon to understand that.

http://www.thenewguns.com/MetaBB/viewtopic.php?t=1209

I personally think that is an excellent post on this situation, better than I could have put it.

Yes.


 ::)


Precisely. GNR broke up, the band. This is the tragedy of this band.


Because a lot of people loved them, or at least had the curiosity to see what would come next with these guys, and wanted more. the expectations and sadness that it all ended for good the way it did warrents a musical tragedy for rock.



Look, Ozzy is dissapointed and he just feels that axl the nutcase, a fairly common perception of him is responsible. And this ended the music, this band, and thus the tragedy.

I'd say a tragedy if someone died.

Think whatever you want about if he was coming to Axl's defense or not but what reynics 22 posted was right on.

The old band burned out.? Period.? Whether Axl is the biggest nut in the history of the world is irrelevent.

Yeah Guns N' Roses fans "wanted more."? But too many just assume that even if the band had stayed together, whatever they might have released would have been worthy of them.  Not necessarily so.

Well, someone didn't die, but SOMETHING great did, GnR were huge back then and after seeing GnR in 2002 and VR just last month all I could think of was, "wow, it really sucks that I couldn't have seen GnR back in their heyday, back when the original band was together" not "Oh man this is awesome! I saw Axl 2 years ago and I just saw Slash and Duff and Matt!". The chemistry between Slash and Duff and Matt was incredible, like they fed off each other's energy, I really would've liked to witness Axl in that mix (and Izzy too!)

To sum it up. ?I agree with Ozzy's comments on the breakup as being a tragedy, if I didn't feel excited after see my musical idols from when I was a kid, but regret for not seeing them together, then somethings not right. When Slash left gnr, the Arguably greatest Rock band of all time ceased to exist, these musicians are superb as indiviuals, yes, But as a unified group they were unstoppable.

right on about what?


Hey, very valid, it is irrelevent, wheather he's nuts or not.



Whatever they might have released is irrelevent, because they didn't release anything together again to satisfy the hunger people had. People, when they have something they like don't want it to end. people don't want our heroes to change, they want them to remain at a peak they have of them in their minds.

Of course anything they may have released if the break didn't happen may have been shit, but you'll never know.


Some idolize cobain/nirvana, and find it a tragedy for rock music that he died. Some may even be angered at him for ending the music cos he's dead the way he died. Because the music ended.

The potential of a band, the anticipation, the shock, doubt, sadness that many have is natural when it ends.

And, cobain was sick of nirvana anyway, and was gonna nix the band, and it;s kinda common knowledge, but to have a beloved musical entity to stop dead in it;s tracks (GNR release-wise) is tragic to some, and tragic to ozzy.

Ozzy feels it's a musical rock tragedy.
And happens to blame axl for the end of the music that were gnr to us.

what if? what if? what if?
u gotta remember, rock n' roll is unpredictable...it was expected that gnr would crash and burn even b4 the release of AFD.  I think a lot of ppl were amazed that they released UYIs (and that they were so artistic/different).  I think we should be happy w/ what we got out of it.  Look at other rock acts, usually they only put out a few albums and then burn out (or OD, or commit suicide, or split up...) (w/ the exception of a rare few)
so remember, Ozzy, "nothing lasts forever..." (as Ax sang)

Ozzy walkin around pickin up dog shit and totally losing his dark mystique is probably more tragic than GNR.


i never was a huge Ozzy fan but his show and his kids are pathetic.

I appreciate and respect Axl for what he has done.

Ozzy is a legend but was never the frontman Axl was/is.

Without saying ANYTHING about Ozzy and his life, I'd say he's right. It was a tragedy that GNR ended like it did..the old GNR. I dont blame Axl more than anyone else in the band..it's not the point. It was a tragedy that GNR couldnt keep it togheter. Axl's been dealing with it ever since, kind of like setting togheter a house blown to pieces by an atomic bomb.

Ozzy has a very valid point.
Regardless of what you think of him today, his opinion must be respected. He has enormous experience as the front man of the band that invented the genre of heavy metal. He has experienced the highs and lows of band success and failure, inter band relationships, fights, egos, fall outs and reunions. He has also been a terrible alcoholic & drug addict...he has gone through and eventually gotten past all of the things that GNR and its old members could not hget over as a group.

To say it is not a tragedy that GNR have not released anything in 14 years is just dumb. Of course it is!! Each member of the original band got nothing of musical merit done in their thirties. This could have been a fantastic time for GNR as adulthood would have finally arrived and God knows what material could have come our way if they could have sorted out their power trips, drug and personality  problems and got back to what they did best..writing music.
How can any GNR fan be happy with virtually NOTHING, no matter what Axl has been promising for 5 years now????

I have seen both incarnations of the band live and I missed the fizz of pure adrenelin between Axl, Duff and Slash out front. THAT magic you do not see in full in VR or in GNR, just a diluted version which is great but just not the real deal..
I think Ozzy saw that magic and that one in a million combination is what he's talking about, to squander that gift is the shameful part of the GNR break up.
peace,
Intercourse.

I envy you for seeing the orig band, mostly because it makes my suspicions true. Both VR and NuGnR are Awesome but not as great as they could have been or once were.   :no:

ozzy has a point there but what has he done? reality tv and package tours.. nothing that good/original!!  we'll see ozzy.......

Just as a foot note to what I've been babbling on about:

Part of a great bands life is to evolve through playing life and working in studio. Evolution requires making mistakes and all the greats have done it with dud albums etc and stuff fans didn't like.
I would have loved to see how GNR would have evolved in the face of grunge and how they would have moved forward through the last ten years.

Think of all the knowledge they could have gathered over the years of touring, collaborating and writing etc....never to be. All the members walk around in the shadows of their former glories no matter what they do and that is sad for them.

U2 have done several albums far inferior to 'The Joshua Tree' but remain legends because of this epic journey the band have taken through teenage years, twenties, thirties and now forties writing music all the way, which is all a fan wants.
We never got that with GNR and I for one would have loved it; good songs, bad songs, them all. We never got them and that's the tragedy I think Ozzy is talking about.
peace again!
Intercourse.

They were quite simply stunning, plus they were so fucking young!! I saw them in Germany in 1991 before UYI came out and I don't think I could think straight for about three days afterwards. Amazing.

Bastard!  ;)

I know after VR my ears were ringing for 6 days. I have always heard GnR were the loudest live band around but thought whatever until I saw VR. Now I believe it.  : ok:

Ultimately that's true.? However I think one can make a pretty "educated guess."

You managed to avoid my main point.? The old band BURNED OUT.

When a band burns out there is nothing left to work with.? They still might plop something out but, inevitably, it will be sub-par.

The Spaghetti Incident was the "last gasp" of the old GN'R.? And yet to this day so many fans are still under the illusion that, if they had not broken up, we all would have eventually been rewarded with Appetite II.

I think there's no reason to state they had burned out. It only makes you easier to cope with the break-up. How do you know for so damn sure that if they had been able to straighten out, they wouldn't have written any good new material?


Readin all the above, Ozzy's ultimately right: Of course, you can make his words more exact, but after all he's right.

And I see no reason why the things Ozzy did or didn't do lately has any relevance with this two phrases. If it was a quote form our local butcher, I'd agree with it too.

I don't think so man, even Axl said Slash was writing some of the most bad ass blues based guitar riffs ever before he left GNR. The band BURNED UP rather than BURNED OUT. Slash gave up on trying to temper Axls desire to follow trends of the time plus he couldn't live with the inclusion of Huge. The others eventually ran out of patience with the way things were being run (Axl not coming into studio until 2am, having full veto on music being written, Huge in his ear etc).

These guys needed someone to come in an kick their arses after the UYI tour.  A good manager has the power and personality to do that (just read about Zepplins manager.....YIKES!!!). I think if they were sat down,  made to take a hard look at themselves, their behavior toward each other and their drug and alcohol abuse, we may still have them together today. Instead  they had bags of 'yes men' and hangers-on with personal agendas filling their heads with shit.

Every great band in history has kicked the crap out of each other and you will find that the ones that survived (The Who, U2, Aerosmith, Queen, Stones etc) all took it in the chops from a manager or trusted friend who had the balls and where-with-all to sort the shit out and make people realise what they had as a team.

I think  the whole situation was summed up brilliantly by Duff when he said that he looks back at pictures of himself vacant and bloated stumbling around the stage on the UYI tour and wonders "why did nobody say anything?'  or try to help him.
The fact of the matter was too many hands were too busy in the GNR till to care about the band themselves and this is where we are today.
peace and an IRS weekend gunners,
Intercourse.

I think we might be splittin' hairs here with the "burned out" vs. "burned up" talk.

Yes Axl had some great things to say about Slash's guitar work before he left GN'R.  Hell, Slash's is a riff-master who's playing is almost always great.

But even with Axl's involvement, I still see little if any reason to believe those two would have come up with anything worthy of the old band by that point.

Not only were Axl and Slash going in different directions, the crucial third song-writing component they had in Izzy was no longer available.   

Read what I wrote above.

And for the record, if anyone uses anything to "cope" with the break-up of GN'R, it's the fans who will go to their grave cursing Axl as the sole one to "blame" for the demise of their beloved band.

For the record, i just want to clarify that I do not soley blame anyone for the demise of the band.

I was just trying to open up what ozzy said to show what he really meant.

RANT, so you don't beleive that GNR's death (in 94, in all intents and purposes) was a trajedy for rock music?

I agree with ozzy on this one and it ends there. Screw who's to blame, and the fact that they may or may not have burnt out as a creative unit, which is irrelevent as you deemed ultimately correct.

I didn't avoid your point, you may have misinterpreted mine.. :peace:

I think the GNR breakup was a great thing

I love Velvet Revolver, they kick fuckin ass

and what ive heard from Axl kicks fuckin ass

so we are two time winners

no losers here.

Axl is gonna give us great,new innovative shit

VR are gonna give us classic kick ass rock

evolution happens but the breakup spawned two great bands instead of just one.

Too true, and at least Axl can sing better than Ozzy, and write better songs, and perform live on stage better.

In one sense, absolutely.? Guns N' Roses truly were the last great hard-rock band.? They were as big and probably better than just about any other group of their kind.? Ever.?

While there has been some great stuff that other groups have released since, nothing has yet even become to come close to being on par with GN'R.

So yes, it is a tragedy for rock music.?

However, not as big a tragedy as if they had truly been able to carry on.? In my opinion, all the evidence simply points to the fact that we got everything we possibly could out of the old band, and so there was never any reason to expect anything further.

i have to agree with AXL'SRANT , its a tragedy because Guns was great but the reality its that as a band they were done , they wouldnt be able to carry another album and less another tour , they were sick of each other , so it would be difficult to be creative with each other and wrote great songs together .

the tragedy its not that Axl went nuts , its just that the band couldnt give more in that petiod of time .

For fuck's sakes , Ozzy O is ENTITLED to his opinion, so why do some people compare his singing to axl's or compare the degree of bipolarity between the two ?

Jeese, the guy's been in the business long enough to have a say and it's a free world. :confused:

I think it's pretty safe to say that GN'R was in HORRENDOUS condition (physically, personally, legally, etc.) after the UYI tour. Any notion that they could have easily just sat down in '95 or '96 and cranked out AFD II in four months or whatever is pure fantasy... especially considering the rise of grunge, punk and goth/techno. They should have just gone into a "semi-retirement" of sorts for at least five years in '94 and not screwed around with the Zach Wild and Paul Huge sagas.

Perhaps, in '99 they would have had a "window of opportunity" to get back together refreshed and would have had a slightly changed musical landscape working in their favor (remember SPIN's '99 "What the World Needs Now is Axl Rose" article?). They would have all been still in their 30's and maybe even would have been successful in getting Izzy back as at least a song writer. I guess, this to me is the "tragedy" of GN'R. That they didn't just have the sense to let it lie until it all felt "right" again... 94-96 was just too damn early and the wrong "time" externally (music wise) from them to be back in the studio... and that's when Axl really freaked out about the changed musical landscape and the dominos began to fall.... Gilby (Fired), Slash (Quit), Matt (Fired/Quit), Duff (Quit)....

Nevertheless, I do continue to believe that Axl and nu-GN'R are fully capable of delivering a phenomenal album... whenever they get around to it... :nervous: 

I believe it is a tragedy that the old band broke up... its not just because the world was deprived of another great album from a great band, but because a group of friends who had been friends for years decided they didn't want to be friends anymore. That's the tragedy for them anyway.
Sure, everyone wonders what could have been, but it didn't. Now, instead of one insanely great band, we have two bands, one which is a mediocre hybrid between hard-rock and grunge, and one where every song seems to sound different.
Is it just me, or when you listen to Gn'R, do you look out the window at random cloud formations and imagine its a huge great stage and the old band is playing there, and then feel sad, while you think to yourself "Man, they were so great... *sniff*".
I do.
Anyhoo, I have two different opinions of Ozzy. I respect him for inventing heavy metal, but I don't for selling out and agreeing with everything Sharon says to get more money. And I hate Kelly and Jack because they're just using the show to get famous. Aimee isn't so bad in my eyes seeing as she isn't an attention seeking fame-grabber like Kelly and Jack.
Anyhoo, it ain't stopping me from listenin to Black Sabbath and the solo albums. my fav is the Tribute to Randy Rhoads album, man that guy's guitar solos fuckin rocked! I get goosebumps every time I hear that lick in Crazy Train!!

One thing more about Gn'R and then I'll shut up - it never fails to amaze me that every time I listen to Appetite, it always sounds new. It NEVER sounds dated! It fucking rules. Yes I know everyone knows that, I just wanted to say it again.
Bye bye!!

I only read the first page of posts but as far as anyone getting offended on axl's behalf because of what ozzy said..I think you're missing a big part of it. He is complimenting guns n roses and saying they were great and axl was a large part of that so it goes to him as well. And ya know what? It does suck that Nothing by any form of guns has come out in so long I don't care what anyone says. And I am not knocking the new band, but we have yet to hear anything real from them besides OMG. So...whatever....and ozzy selling out is completely off-topic.