Here Today... Gone To Hell!

http://metromix.chicagotribune.com/music/mmx-050407-musickot,0,5366876.story?coll=mmx-music_features

On working with Tommy Stinson: "Tommy, [drummer] Josh Freese and I cut the opening song for the animated movie. It was fun, but it felt a little weird too, because he and I hadn't seen each other in about eight years. We were both a little uncomfortable. But I saw him in L.A. again last week, and we went out and hung out a little bit. I've got a few more things going on now, and he's turned a corner where he's realizing there's money to be made. It's a waste of his obvious talent and time hanging around with the other guy [Stinson is a member of Axl Rose's decade-plus-in-the-making Guns N' Roses album]."

ah shat ap, Westerberg!  Didn't Tommy release a solo album in the meantime?  And don't u think a part of the reason he had the luxery of making that album was b/c of the $$ and time Axl had g'n him?  And I wonder exactly how many people who bought Tommy's album were gnr fans?  Or those that went to his concerts were gnr fans (myself incl')?  And were introduced to Tommy via knowing him from gnr???
What would have Tommy been doing if he hadn't joined gnr I wonder? (sure he could've made a solo record, but apparently VGH was influenced in some ways by Axl....i.e. Axl encouraged him to be more creative/daring on his solo effort, according to Tommy)

Being associated with Axl is getting his music noticed, not re-teaming up with Westerberg.

Here is something  you can bet on. There are more gnr fans at tommys shows than replacement fans.

This is becoming some bizarre love triangle. Paul Westerberg is coming off as the bitter ex who wants to mend his ways while axl is the new exciting love. Much like that south park episode in which Satan questions his relationship with Chris when Saddam comes back to hell.

That's entirely untrue.


That, on the other hand, appears very true to me  ;D

WASTE OF TIME????

make an awesome solo album and doing a wonderful solo tour it's not a waste of time neither of talent

westerberg can suck my dog's dick

Being with Axl did afford Stinson some notice and an album.  That being said, come on guys, if Axl doesn't release something soon, it's a waste of TS's time to keep hanging around for years of inactivity.  Sounds like a Replacements reunion is not out of the question.  You see how well bands like the Pixies are doing right now. 

I repeat: solo works are not inactivity

Yeah, he put out a solo album and toured it, now what?  I think he's tried to be loyal to Axl and given him plenty of opportunity to follow through, but with no results.  I don't think it would be that hard for Westerberg to lure him away.  Hey, this does sound like a love triangle.

I don't think Westerberg is necessarily a bitter ex, maybe to a degree but not entirely. 

Maybe in his mind, (not saying it's right or wrong) Axl represents everything he hates about music and the industry itself.  Big corporate LA scene 80's schlock.
The absolute opposite of everything The "Mats stood for.  Very much an indie/alterna rock elitist attitude but an attitude that's still very prevelent.

As for more GNR fans being at a Stinson show than "Mats fans, who knows?  There's probably a fair amount of "Mats fans that love Stinson and will support him unconditionally, there's another faction who have left him for dead sheerly on his association with GNR.

Wanna bet on it?

I dont really see the relevance...If Tommy was in GNR  to get people to his solo shows then he's a leach anyway , If he's in GNR to make and play music then Westerbergs statement that his talent is wasted is 100% correct.

Wanna bet on it?

Bet? I don't have to bet on it, I know it's a fact. Besides, I don't really see how you could prove your point.
Look, I'm not saying there are no GN'R fans at his shows. There are some obviously, and that's very cool for him, because they can be a little more objective and not look at him as "that Replacements dude". But saying there are more GN'R fans than Mats fans at his shows is a huge exaggeration to say the least. Being a fan of both bands and in contact with members of both "camps", I follow that very closely and can assure you that except in Europe, where the Mats are virtually unknown, the biggest part of his audience is people in their mid to late thirties, which is what the Mats fanbase mostly consists of.
As Falcon said, there are indeed people who gave up on him because they feel he betrayed their indie spirit or some other inane shit, but others still go see him just like GN'R fans would go see any ex-GN'R member. You'll always have some drunk guy calling for "Tommy gets his tonsils out". I haven't yet heard of someone calling for a GN'R tune old or new, unless it was sarcastic..
Truth of the matter is, until CD is released, he will always be primarily considered as Westerberg's sidekick.

Now why did I ramble on like that?  ;D

Westerberg is a spoon

There is absolutely no doubt about that.? I'm not sure even the release of CD will ever change that preception.

Didn't Tommy imply in some interview for his last round of gigs that he'd consider a reuinon with the Mats' if the money was right---like what they gave to the Pixies? Paul might be a dick, but I really believe that Tommy is exploring other options in case the record doesnt come out this year....and if he bails, well, goodnite GnR.

I remember something like that as well, someone will dig up the quote.

I'm sure all current GNR contributors keep their options open, nothing's a sure thing.

There's no way the Mats will get Pixies type of money.

Ironically, the vast majority of those indie/alterna rock bands with the elitist attitude just plain suck.

Go figure.

All a matter of personel preference.  It's no different than the LA scene in the 80, but with the notion of credibility.

Look at it like this.? If tommy was not in gnr his solo album would not have sold nearly as much.

That's incorrect. Tommy recorded what he feels is one great fucking album, and the only one that can say if he's wasting his talent or not it's him.

He's still with Guns right? So...

I never denied that Dave. The GN'R fans certainly helped. That statement is much more reasonable than what you said earlier  ;)

i agree with westerberg...axl had his chance and he blew it...if that fucking album doesn't come out this year, i think all the band members should ditch axl for something REAL

In the context of Guns N' Roses, until we have that album in our hands, everything he has put to Guns N Roses (didn't Axl refer to him as 'The General'?) has been a total waste. Yeah, he has a solo album, but he could have done that regardless of whether or not he was in GnR. What he brings to GnR is what has us interested....

Westerberg has to get his name in the press somehow right? Why not diss Axl. Seems to be popular this week. Ozzy did it too.

Where there's smoke there's fire, cheesy cliche, but i think it fits here.

This is just one more reason that axl needs to get his shit together before the money runs out and these guys realize there's other projects that are much more fruitful.

sitting around for years on end waiting for an album to come out is certainly a waste of time. god some people on this board are so oblivious it makes me wanna puke. get your lips off of axl's dick so that you can taste something else, reality.

I'm a huge Axl fan, but all the shit he is getting right, he pretty much deserves.  We haven't heard from the guy in a year, and he is just flat out taking way too long to put this album out.  Maybe if he would update his fans or let people know exactly what is going on, it would be a different story, but he hasn't. 

I still believe he will have the last laugh when all is said and done, but you can't question why people might diss him at this point in time. 

agreed

Its just sad that some people genuinly think that Tommies yrs of unfulfilled effort isnt a waste, I mean c'mon.

All I know is... if Tommy Stinson is actually "hanging out" with Paul Westerberg and bitching about the lack of activity in Guns N' Roses... things are VERY bad in the GN'R camp.

Westerberg has been known to embellish though.... from time to time.

No... Paul thinks Tommy is wasting his time. Tommy knows what he did with Guns N' Roses and in every single interview with him that I read he seems very happy with it.

Dave, I don't know if you were at Tommy's Middle East gig this past January, but with the exception of myself, my two friends and one other person, pretty much everyone there seemed to be a Mats fan.

Ok do you seriously think that Tommy is going to be 100% honest about his feeling s in an INTERVIEW????

This guy has a gag order preventing him from even being open about music he has helped to create. Is there just the slightest possibility that he expresses frustration to friends behind closed doors???

OR is it more plausible that Tommy is content with the way things have gone with GNR???.......truthfully answer that.

Paul Westerberg is a dick. He can have an opinion, but to say that someone who's in nuGn'R is wasting their time... that's just being mean... it could have an effect on Tommy, and he'll think "Maybe I AM wasting my time..." and so on and so forth. And so we'll all lose ANOTHER couple of years while we wait for Axl to find a replacement for Tommy, and maybe re-record his stuff. I don't know, this is just a hunch, but... has this happened a couple of times before...  Buckethead. Gn'R were gunna release CD in November, and then Buckethead left. Now there's the threat of Tommy leaving.... Thanks Westerberg, thanks a LOT! If ChiDem isn't released because Tommy leaves, then I'll know who to blame, and don't any of you motherfuckers say Axl!