Here Today... Gone To Hell!

Hearing this interview with Slash and Duff:
http://mfile.akamai.com/1689/wmv/bmguk.download.akamai.com/1689/VelvetRev/velvet_wma_high.asx

...it seems that once Izzy departed from GnR, Slash and Duff realized that they used to relate to Axl though Izzy. Without Izzy being there, GnR was all but over.

Steven got fired. Izzy didn't like it, Izzy quit. left was some people that didn't know how to communicate with each other plus some hired hands. crash!
so like Izzy has said several times, the real GNR was pretty much over the minute Steven got fired.

Yeah That's true, Plus Izzy was the only one who could really handle Axl's tantrums when he left  there was nobody to keep Axl in check and his ego inflated to enourmous sizes :peace:

I know that this will sound so scary but is a fact, Izzy have a stronger character than Axl, perhaps they both need each other  :yes:

Not true.   Adler wasn't able to play drums (just like today),  so they fired him and got a better drumer instead.
Izzy was sick and tired of Axl's tantrums and lateness to every concert played cause they were late due to Axl but the fines the paid for going over time was taken from everyone in the band.
Izzy also didn't like the fact his childhood friend called up the managment and asked that Izzy gets less money cause he doesn't move on stage as much as insane Axl wanted him to move.

Replace two members of an original lineup that owns chemistry and you'll have a complete different band.
Even when one of them is the main writer. It's not difficult to see that.
 

^ True, but Izzy also said he prefered to continue working with Steven, Steven got fired cause of doing drugs while everyone was doing drugs and Steven's drumming gave the songs their feel and push, without that "nothing worked".

So I think that what Izzy is saying is that they should've been more supportive to Steven and help him instead of firing him.

IMO,  Matt Sorum was way wayyyy better drummer and they sounded better with him on board...

Izzy right they should have helped Steven more then ,MAYBE he might not be in the mess he is in now >:(

is it true that steven was fired while he was on the medication to come off drugs?

There are multiple versions of the story... it's hard to tell the truth, only the guys who there know it ;) It sounds believable in my ears though.

Here's the story; www.gnrinfo.tk then go the Civil War, In Their Own Words.

that's correct. I think the guys in the band was just looking for an excuse to hire an "proffissional" drummer, they though that would give them more of an "edge"...how wrong they were!

well then, In my humble opinion, as a drummer and all....you're crazy! sorry. don't take it personal :hihi:

Didn't Slash say that Steven used to cheat and hide drugs in his house? He just couldn't quit. That's why they fired him...

"He just couldn't quit" Well, the only two persons who where completely clean at the time of Steven's firing where Izzy and Axl..

He got fired for drugproblems when everybody was on drugs. And the "he couldn't play cause of the drugs" I think that was only the case at the recording of Civil War cause of the opiumblockers, before that he could play just fine. Steven also said he never ever took drugs before playing a gig, it was always after when they partied.

i think even if Izzy stayed, it wouldve fallen apart soon enough. Axl wanted to do his material & wasnt accepting stuff like "be the ball" from Slash, he wanted to be the controller of GNR i think. Sure he would let others have there part & say in it...to an extent. Everyone in teh group had different directions they wanted to go...you can hear it on Use Your Illusion, great albums, but def all over the place in terms of style. You have your ballads & piano stuff with Axl, then the hard rockers from Slash Matt & Duff (duff even had a few different types of songs from himself) & then the old style rock from Izzy. So yeh to me regardless, it wouldve broken up.

Steven got fired because he couldnt play on drugs, Slash & Duff could, Steven couldnt...you can have a drug habit, but when it effects your professional responsibilitys then thats when its a problem your employer should concern themselves with

Doesnt seem that Izzy cared too much about that, IMO adler is better.

Izzy was angry over the way Adler was treated When he was sacked :no:

Adler got what he deserved.. Don't ever give any drugs to band's frontmans wife : ok:

I heard she asked Adler to give her the Drugs she wanted to try it

She asked Andy McCoy first but he didn't give any 'cause he knew the situation, so she went to Adlers house. Suprise, she got the drugs she wanted.

 Adlers an Idiot for giving it to her he must have known what Axl's reaction would be >:(

hmmm i read in a book that it was some guys wife who gave her heroin and adler was helping her out and axl got the wrong end of the stick and went crazy. if that is true i can understand why axl went crazy and guessed it was adler.

Nobody knows exactly what happened there except the people who where there..

Andy knows : ok:

Yeah, but it's logical he's backing up Angela  ;)

Steven gave his side of what happened with Erin and he said Angela McCoy (wife of Andy McCoy from Hanoi Rocks) had given Erin Valium earlier and then told him to give her heroin. He also said he did nothing to Erin (Andy McCoy said Steven tried to abuse her sexually while she was unconcious). There's also appearantly an Erin interview somewhere out there and where doesn't say anything bad about Steven.

Some excerpts:


SA: Exactly. Yes, and what do you do when you have a little fight? Hey, you go out and make a solo record, and then you get back together again. You know shit happens, but, I never did nothing to Axl. Axl thinks I gave; this is why I hate Andy McCoy?s fucking wife. Okay, Andy McCoy?s wife gave Erin Everly all these fucking pills, these KLONOPINs and these CLONIDINEs, because Axl got
in a fight with her. She told Axl, I gave her heroin. I ?m the one who called the ambulance cause they brought her over to my house.

MS: Erin you mean?

SA: Yeah, Andy McCoy?s wife. Me and Andy were in my studio in my backyard, we were writing songs okay. And his wife, cause he lived up the hill from me,
in Laurel Canyon. So, fucking the wife comes down with Erin, she?s all, she can?t stand up barely, she?s all blah, blah, blah.  And I said: ?What the fuck did you give her?? She said: ?Well Axl got in a fight and beat her up. So she came over and I gave her all these KLONOPINs and shit.? 

MS: Did you say Axl beat her up?

SA: Yeah, cause this was Axl?s girlfriend, or wife at the time.

MS: Erin was.

SA: Yeah.

MS: And then Andy McCoys wife gave her what kind of pills?

SA: KLONOPIN and CLONIDINE.



MS: What are they called?

SA: KLONOPINs and CLONIDINEs. And they?re MAJOR downers.  She?s all fucked up, And I?m going; ?What's wrong with her?? And she?s: ?Blah, blah, blah, I gave her all these pills.? I?m the one who carried her, and put her in my bed. And called the ambulance and saved her life. The whole time this bitch is telling me to; ?Give her some heroin, give her some heroin.? And I?m all; ?Fuck you bitch!? I?m not giving her fucking heroin. For one, I only have a little bit left, and if you?ve ever been a heroin addict, you ain?t giving your last bit away. Two, this was Axl?s fucking girl. 



(Editors Note: Notice the priority order of Steven's #1 & #2 above. Not funny, but kind of ? as long as everyone is still alive.)



MS: Right.

SA: And you never fuck, with your fucking, your band mates. Your mates woman.  Okay. And I would never do that to anybody in the first place. I called the ambulance and saved her, this bitch tells Axl I gave her heroin.  He calls me up and says he?s coming over with a shotgun to kill me.

MS: With a shotgun to kill you?

SA: Yeah. But he never did anything. So that, I mean, I never did anything to Axl. Axl didn?t do anything to me, for me to hate him, I mean, I?ve been disappointed in him when we would do shows, and he would just, just leave the stage after the first song, or in the middle of the first song - because that?s not right. I play for our fans, and I play for people because, I enjoy making people happy, It makes me happy. These people fucking work for months to save up enough money?

I wanna wish you much success on your upcoming tour. You're gonna get to play with Hanoi Rocks, man!
I played with Deep Purple, Cheap Trick, and Rose Tattoo. Now we're blessed to play with Hanoi Rocks. I have a little history with Andy McCoy. Wanna hear that?

Dude, let's hear it!
His wife - if she's still his wife - used to be Izzy's girlfriend back in the day. She's the biggest cunt, slut, whore, loser, piece of shit I've ever met in my life! After they let me go from G 'n R, Andy was living up the street from me. We started writing together. He would come down and I would say, "Do not bring that goofy wife of yours!" I'd be in the front yard and I'd see him up the hill and I'd flip him off because he was bringing her. One afternoon we were playing and I had a locked gate. The wife and Erin Everly come over. Axl and Erin had got in a fight. That's what really did it. This girl gave her valium and some other stuff and kept telling me to give her heroin. There is now way in hell I would ever do anything to Erin, even sexually. The closest we ever got was eating sushi in Studio City once. Three guys came in with shotguns and robbed the place while we were there. They took everybody's shit but ours! I've always been a big fan on Michael Monroe and Andy McCoy. Micheal got to play on the Use Your Illusion stuff. Me, Slash, and Duff wrote the music. I only got to play on Civil War. We're doing that one live, too.

But what ever Adler says, I dont believe him. He's just that kind of a man..

You can believe what you want, but there are several sides of the story and we don't know which ones true.

But... if Steven indeed gave her drugs it's not only his fault, it's Erin's aswell then cause she accepted it.

You're 100% right, in this case no one knows what's the truth so..
But if Andys story is true, I hate Steven even more as a person than I did before. And Steven has lied/talked bs so many times that I dont trust that guy.

Different stories always get Confused when it comes to GN'R you can't tell what's lies and what is fact half the time ;D >:(

You're 100% right, in this case no one knows what's the truth so..
But if Andys story is true, I hate Steven even more as a person than I did before. And Steven has lied/talked bs so many times that I dont trust that guy.

I really don't mean to be rude but do you know steven? if so then fair enough but if not how can you hate him as a person and there are so many different stories about everything with guns n roses how do you know he lies all the time. for all we know he might be being 100% truthful and axl and that lot could be talking a load of shit no one knows apart from the guys involved if you were involved apologies i take it all back.

Ok, so I have to really KNOW someone or I cant hate him? Right? I mean.. it's not just the 'lies' why I hate Steven. Almost everything he says in interviews makes me sick/laugh/sad/etc. I just hate the guy. I dont have to know him to hate him.. I hate George Bush, but I dont know him.

This is what Adler said about CD last summer:
"If he puts it out he thinks he'll sell 20 million copies. Well, maybe he's lucky if he goes gold. There's no hits on it, it's crap."

This is an example for "laughable" Steven-quote.

Well Im with katlovesjoe on this one you cant hate someone you dont know cause that implies for you to know the person, for instance I hate bon jovis music but I dont hate the guy I mean Bongiovi dude, he can be a really great guy who knows I havent met him but I really hate his music, perhaps you are being influenced that he is way so bitter in all his statements against Axl, but thats a differnt history, anyway I think you can hate anyone you want to but at least give the man the benefit of the doubt  : ok:

Yeah, Steven might be a real nice guy, but.. well.. aaaah forget it. I just hate him. But one thing I can say; Steven is an awesome drummer : ok: I dont hate his music at all, I just love his work on AFD and club shows, so the reason for hating him comes from totally another direction.

See it wasnt that bad right?  ;)

But I still hate him :hihi:

I don't hate anybody (apart for Child killers and Rapists),But i do think you can a get a sense of sombody's personality by their actions and then make a jusgement on how you feel about them,But as It goes i don't hate Steven atall I think He got a raw deal when he left GN'R  being a Junkie or not

Blah!! I drop the towel  :P
 :hihi:

Well yeah he might have a rough time I only hope he can do better than just remember old glories

FROM HARD ROCK MAGAZINE JUNE 2001 (FRANCE)

Q: Does GNR success made loose contact with reality?

Izzy: Yes a little bit. I didn't know what to expect, I just wanted to
play in a rock band... None of us even thought that one day we will be
playing out of LA. And I can assure you that as we were really simple
people, there were no way to prepare us to success. The only rock side
that we used to have was to be stoned. Our kind of life so strange, and
when we started having some success, it only became worst. When we came
back from tour, we all bought a house, and we got stoned even more... But
one day when I wasn't stoned I thought :" Izzy, something is wrong, we
are fucking around." That was in 88 or 89. I took the decision to go back
to Indiana and see my friends... Before the tour we didn't have money,
when we came back, our bank account were full, everybody wanted to sell
us drugs, weapons, crazy stuff.

Q: Before the recording of UYI 1 & 2 , did you ever think of leaving
the band?

Izzy: Yes, from time to time, but not every day. It's true that sometimes
 the situation was so "grotesque"; Axl was leaving the stage after 2 songs
 and I used to think:" Hey we look like stupid assholes". But I wasn't
convinced yet to leave. Music was still uniting us. Slash, Steven, Duff
and I were living very close to each others and we were playing a lot.
So I wanted to do another album, and that what we did. It was a double...
 or a triple I don't even know.

Q: What was the last straw that made you leave GNR?

Izzy: After the first leg of  the UYI tour, Axl wanted to make me sign a
contract which meant that I was less involved and less paid. I couldn't
believe it. This contract was coming from someone I grew up with for fuck's
sake. We always considered GNR as a best friend band, and now Axl was
telling me:" now we are doing business." Why should I carry on? Where was
the fun? That was the last drop. But other things happen before like in
Donnington where to kids died during the show. What the fuck is that? Is
that rock n' roll? To read in an airport newspaper that kid died during
one of your gig? What the fun to play in stadium every night and to start
a riot in Saint-Louis because your singer is fucked up? You come to a point
when none of all this is funny anymore. Axl wasn't doing his front man job
anymore. As for the others, there were all stoned and wasted, I wasn't
even able to make them learn covers: We could have play covers while Axl
was away waiting for him to come back, entertaining the kids. No. We came
up with drum solo. What's more boring than a drum solo???

Q: You were his best friend. Was he listening to you?

Izzy: When he started earning big money and getting laid, he was out of
reach. Everybody was so stone. I was able to control myself, but I was
looking at Steve, Slash and Duff killing themselves in front of me. I
don't even remember if Steven was still in the band by the way. What was
this bullshit anyway? A musician is sack from GNR because is doing to much
drugs when you that drug was the main occupation of this band? Me I stopped
all that one year before I quit. So during that years I was a witness of
them trying to kill themselves. I didn't wanted to be an accomplice to
that; I didn't wanted to wake near Slash's dead body. Thinking that I was
indirectly responsible for that, so I quit GNR.

Q: But you came back later on to replace Gilby?

Izzy: Simple. I was back in Indiana, living quietly when Axl rang me.
He asked me if I could help them out for a few shows. I asked where were
those shows and he said Istanbul, London, Paris, Athens... You think I
would have hesitated. I like to travel and see new country. Meanwhile,
Alan Niven, my manager, who was GNR manager at a time, told me that the
band was still owing me money. I told me to accept if they were give me
my money. It is only after that I realise that Alan will have 20% of the
money ( he laugh). I did those shows and didn't have a lot of fun because
Slash and Duff were still stoned. I don't want to call myself a saint, I
did it all myself, but when you are not stone there is nothing funny in
seeing your friends like that.

Q: Do you still see Steven, Slash and Duff?

Izzy: Yes, I spoke to them on the phone three days ago, I even have lunch
with Steven last week. He is clean now but physically and mentally...
Slash is well, so is Duff: he just did the Hawaiian marathon! A fucking
marathon. Not bad for a guy whose pancreas exploded because he was drinking
3 1/2 liters of vodka every day? He is my band by the way, that is very
cool. The only who doesn't speak to anybody is Axl. He doesn't call the
people back on the phone. I like to ride my bike and I know where he
lives. Once in 1995, I went there and ring the door bell, he opened the
door, we took each other in our arms, he made me visit his house and we
had a chat. Cool. We called back each other after that, but one day the
old Axl was back; He was taking notes on the phone of what I was telling
him, and then, no news. Since then I go to his place, that makes me laugh:
I ring the door bell and there is always a bouncer telling me he is not
there! I am happy anyway that he did two gigs in Vegas and Rio in the
beginning of the year. I am especially happy that his microphone did work
properly. Who knows, He might have left the stage (he laughs).

Cool read
I havent read it before  : ok:

I'm with Izzy on this. They were all doing drugs. They should've supported Steven but because he was "only the drummer" they cut him loose.

Or, maybe Steven-the-drummer couldn't play.

Or maybe Axl want Steven out of GNR because he wanted to

Steven has said that the drug abuse became really out of control after he was sacked from GN'R, cause he was depressed about it.

Also I doubt Steven was fired only cause he wasn't able to play drums.. He lived for the music, playing drums and I doubt cause of the drugs he was unable to hit his skins. And he said himself it was part of the opium blockers that made him sick.

Also it took a year after the music when the vocals where recorded, they should've helped him. Hell even Slash said dumping Steven was a mistake and it was the beginning of the end..

So why was he so fucked up on drugs while they were doing the Farm Aid show? He was all over the place with his drumming there...

His drumming was fine at Farm Aid.. if you're refering to the tripping on the drumriser, that's human ;)

how can axl come up to izzy and want him to sign some paper in which Izzy was going to receive less money just for not moving as much as axl did, fuck!!! he wrote songs as much as axl did, if not more.......

i also think that izzy leaving created an unbalance in the songwriting too, cause maybe  if he would have still be there, axl would have accepted more opinions from the other members, but i got to admit that there is also a chance that even with izzy stayin, all the shit that went up to axl?s brain would have fucked up the band anyway, let?s keep in mind something, axl wants a band that does whatever he says and wants, that?s not how it works, a band is five heads thinking instead of one, that makes de armony. When musical directionsare different it?s something really hard to deal with, ok, but you can always try to find some middle point, to try to make things stay together and respect other people?s opinion, axl wouldn?t do that, instead he just wanted them to play whatever he wrote and not say a thing.... that?s why Izzy?s departure was so important for the ending of GN?R.

i heard izzy left because of the pressure of touring, and quit because he was taking too many drugs to cope with the pressure

yes you heard that, sounds like gossip, what?s been said here is the truth, so read a bit, you couldn?t be more lost :peace:

Steven's drug abuse was really bad before he was sacked, and in private he will admit that, but in public he wants you to feel sorry for him.  And everyone did try to help him even to the point of waiting for his drug dealers (Steven was such a good customer they delivered right to his home)  and threatening them with loaded guns - Steven chose the drugs over the band.  He has said again and again, at first it was sex, drugs and rock n roll - then it became drugs and rock n roll and then just drugs.  You guys need to stop blaming everyone else in the band for Steven's behavior and place it squarely where it belongs, at Steven's doorstop. 

How was he supposed to quit when the rest of the band were all doing drugs too. I think it's really harsh what they did to him, they should have been more supportive.

How much more supportive would you like them to be?  They were there with guns, trying to keep the dealers away - that's pretty fucking supportive.  Should they have killed the guys and gone to jail for Steven?  The other guys helped Steven get into rehab which he walked out of time and time again - somehow the other guys got through it, Steven didn't, stop blaming everyone else, it was Steven's choice, he made it, now he's living with the aftermath - oh well.  Let's not forget that Steven chose to spend his millions on drugs, not rehab - again his choice, no one else's.   

Amen man.

That's not right cause Izzy was clean since 1989, he left cause of Axl's tantrums and Slash/Duff slowly killing themselves with drugs n booze. He said it was hard to deal with junkies when you're clean. He said he didn't wanna wake up one day next to Slash's body.

ok, but what i meant was you can't expect someone to quit when all his friends are doing them too. That's whats harsh.

Isn't there a video from the court when Steven sued Gn'R? I remember seeing it..

I don't know where it could be found but i would love to see it It would So be worth wathching : ok:

I might have it on my hardrive, but I cant found it. It was like ~20min long, and there was some interesting stuff on it. Now I have to find it :hihi: Just wait..

actually, this isn?t a steven topic, have you noticed? :-\

yeah I was thinking that, but even when people start talking about izzy it always goes back to Steven.

Actually, yes. But we were talkin' about how did that Steven-incident affect to Izzy's decision.

Yeah Because Izzy said sacking steven was a mistake that most probaly influenced his descision to leave  :smoking:

Slash has said the sacking of Steven was the beginning of the end. And with Izzy leaving it really turned into Axl's trip cause he and Duff use to "communicate" with Axl thru Izzy. And Duff said that when Izzy was gone the family bond was gone.

could be, but still, too much steven talking

Let's supposed Steven hasn't gone and he appear in the UYI albums even though they were destined to be such a great albums after that the drugs abuse and stuff could've been so indispensable that GNR also could've fall apart, I think the major problem was Steven drug abuse and they should've have deal with it first.

actually they dealt with it, steven seemed to refuse any help possible, addiction was stronger than the will to remain in the band, sadly.

Yeah but how much did they deal with it that's the question. Steven's version of the Civil War recording is that they knew he was sick from opium blockers and still they couldn't wait with recording cause it would cost money. Yet it took a year before Axls vocals where finished.

www.gnrinfo.tk

In Their Own Words

Slash: We did "Civil War" with Steve Adler, and before I could put the guitars on, we had to edit the drums because he was so out of time. He couldn't keep his meter together. So it was another one of those situations where I had to judge when he was gonna come in.

Steven: I had to play it like 25 times until it was useable. My timing was so up and down because I was so weak. The whole time I kept telling the guys, "I don?t feel good, I?m really down" and they kept saying "You're just fucked up", "I?m not fucked up!" I was sick from an opiate blocker I got from a doctor that Doug Goldstein took me too. I think he knew what effect it would have on me...I wanted to wait another week or so before we went in to the studio to record. Slash says that we couldn?t waste the money, and we had to do it that day. They all knew I was sick....it?s a great song, it came out great, but I?m sure had I not been in the position that they put me in I would have nailed it in one take. Slash called me on a Thursday, knowing that I was sick, and said "We?re going in the studio this weekend" I said "dude, you know I can?t go, I?m sick from this bullshit medication". He said we can?t waste the money, an I said don?t even tell me about wasting money, we know somebody who wasted plenty of fucking money! If one of them was sick, it would have been postponed! We just weren't a team anymore.

Both Slash and Izzy have stated that firing Steven was a mistake... what more do you want?

Anyways, I wish Steven was on all the UYI songs. They wouldn't sound so stiff with him on drums..

"They were written with Steve playing the drums and his sense of swing was the push and pull that give the songs their feel. When that was gone, it was just...unbeliev- able,weird. Nothing worked." - Izzy Stradlin' 1992

so the main reason, behind gn?r falling to pieces was firing steven? Izzy?s departure was a consecuence of that? I agree it could be, besides if Izzy says so, it?s that way.

No no, I wouldn't go that far ;D Imo the main reason behind GN'R falling to pieces is the departure of Izzy... he was the glue that held everything together.

And Izzy's departure was because of a number of things; The firing Steven, Axl's tantrums and Slash/Duff drugs and booze abuse. He just didn't enjoy it anymore and he left.

http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Lobby/1117/duffsbeautif3.html

MG: Was it the drugs? 
 
 DM: Not so much. You know what it was? It was the fame. It was the press. It was the almost unlimited power. We got too f.ckin' huge, too fast. It got so big, so fast, that in most countries, we couldn't even go out after the show when we were on tour. I remember we'd all be sittin' in the damn hotel room watching CNN just to see what was going on. It was that kind of isolation, that kind of fame ? And, of course, us trying so hard to be bad boys like The Rolling Stones. For me, personally, it was one of the darkest points of my life when we were that big. It was so unreal. Izzy left halfway through the Illusions tour. We still were holding on to that band family thing. And like a trooper, he came back out on the road with us -- even though his heart wasn't in it -- when Gilby broke his wrist. Later, he told me we were like zombies. Nobody on the stage was even talking to each other. It wasn't because we hated each other, we were just kind of going through the motions. So scary. In Europe and South America, especially, it was fanatical, and we were just dazed. WE WERE F.CKING ZOMBIES! Izzy couldn't believe the change. I mean, we were hell-bent on doing whatever we had to do to continue. There were riots in the streets. We couldn't go from our cars to the gig. That shit scared the hell out of me. Yet, through it all, I still thought we were gonna pull it together after we got off that long tour. It started to happen again for a second for us. I got excited again ? For about a minute. But no, it was just too big a business, and none of us had the training for that. 
 
 MG: At what point did you think it was gonna come back together? 
 
 DM: We started going to Slash's house. I'd gone out on the road promoting my first solo record [1993's Believe In Me]. I was touring Europe and Japan, then I got sick. That's when I started visiting Slash at his house. He has a little studio there and we had a batch of songs. But ya' know what? Without Izzy, we just weren't writing the old way. We had a bunch of great songs, but the way we used to write wasn't all sitting in a room and trying to force ourselves to be a family. We just were But there was a point up there where it was looking good and we started cranking out songs, but it just started falling apart.

yeah that?s my opinion, Izzy left and it all fell apart, due to many reasons, i totally agree, and it makes me so happy that they were a family, and i like the way duff and slash speak of him, that shows the real value of izzystradlin.
and so sad that they arenot together

Yeah I think so that Izzy was the one that kept the guns together after he's gone, hell broke loose  :no:

Hell Yeah he was <When he decided he hah <had enough of it there wasn't any hope of the band staying together :no: