Here Today... Gone To Hell!

Slash: No GN'R Reunion, No Reply To Christmas Cards, So Onward With Velvet Revolver

06.23.2006 6:00 AM EDT

Guitarist says new VR LP, Libertad, could be out by year's end. 
 

If Slash were ever to look at his Caller ID and see Axl Rose's name, what would he do?

"Oh, I'd answer it," the former Guns N' Roses guitarist said recently. "But I know he would never call me. I've actually sent him Christmas cards, just to be cordial, but he never returns anything."

In other words, rumors from last month that Saul "Slash" Hudson would perform with Rose and his new GN'R in New York were just that. In March, just two months before those gigs, Rose filed suit against his former bandmate to confirm his "ownership of his own creative works" in response to an action Slash and former GN'R bassist Duff McKagan had filed over royalties.

"I don't know where [the rumors come] from, but I haven't dealt with Guns N' Roses any more than I have in the last 10 years," which is not much at all, Slash said. "So it's not really a thing with me. I have, in the foreseeable future, no re-involvement with that band whatsoever."

Instead, Slash is fully focused on his multiplatinum new band, Velvet Revolver, and their forthcoming second album, the follow-up to 2004's Contraband.

"We're in preproduction and it sounds amazing," Slash said. "I'm just really excited 'cause hopefully we'll get this thing out before the year's over. The material is amazing and ... we've grown so much as a band."

While frontman Scott Weiland has called the material a concept album and bassist McKagan said the band will record with a variety of producers, all Slash would reveal is that the LP is coming together naturally, and "it's not phony in any way, shape or form, and the band's whole-heartedly into it."

Well, that and the album title.

"I don't want to say [anything specific about] the songs, but the name for the album is Libertad, which is Spanish for 'liberty,' " Slash said. "It's something that we feel strongly about: liberty, freedom, you know ..."

Slash did take a break from writing Velvet Revolver material to pen a song and score some music for the just-released movie "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift."

"It's one of those things where you don't really know what you're doing, but they feed you what you need to see, certain scenes," Slash said. "It's easy to [write rock material] when you're watching cars going on their sides at breakneck speeds."

In the end, Slash reported that he enjoyed watching the film's action scenes, but not quite as much as he enjoyed the footage he saw on TV of Rose getting into a fight with Tommy Hilfiger.

"I thought that was pretty funny," Slash said. "That sounds about right."

? Corey Moss, with additional reporting by Larry Carroll


http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1534896/20060622/index.jhtml?headlines=true



/jarmo

Nice read. Libertad by the end of this year? I can't wait.  :peace:

sounds very promising, he seems happy and confident.. I hate saying the album name but I just want what's on it..

I actually read once that it's his wife who sends Christmas cards to Axl every year. Anyway, whether it's Slash or Perla it's still a nice gesture. That was a really good interview and I personally think that Mr. Rose would give his seat in hell to have his original band back but I think that he has way too much pride to actually approach them!

Good ol' Slash 8)

Bullshit, it is a phony, disingenuous gesture.  Merry Christmas!  See you in court.

great news, i'm happy that Slash is happy with VR and the upcoming album, can't wait for Libertad  :smoking:

Slash is still the man.  8) I just wish Axl could move on and forget all that shit, it just makes life harder, oh well Slash will keep rockin' with whoever he is with, but I thought he left VR? or did he return? I wasn't sure.

The funny thing is I always thought I was more eagerly waiting on the new GnR album than VR's. But that somewhat turned around. I more anxious about VR's new album then GnR's. I hope they will kick some fucking ass.

he never left vr it was rumours...

I hear ya. We've heard most of Chinese Democracy and the songs we've heard have been pretty good but if the rest of the songs aren't amazing there's a good chance VR could put out a better record which would be funny because they finished it in a year or so as opposed to 8yrs.

I can't stop listening to 'Better' its a great song but I don't think it will have the commercial success that Slither had. The average rock fan is not going to go gaga over it like they did for jungle, sweet child. paradise city and even slither which is still being covered by top 40 cover bands.  I think VR has a better chance at creating timeless songs because they're a more cohesive unit. Axl is amazing but I don't trust the other guys to create hit rock songs just yet.

I'll be the first to say we don't know how good the record is or will be.. I don't want to get int a cd vr thingy where it becomes a big argument

Yeah I know that as well as anyone and I don't intend it to be. I'm just saying what I think from years of following these guys and trying to be as objective a critic as possible. If Axl is holding back the big guns then surely CD will become a timeless record

I'm happy Slash spoke about the rumours and reunion concerning GN'R.

Wow.  Didn't think of it that way.  How sad would that be?  Still, there's a lot to be said for the power of Axl's voice, which hasn't been heard by the general public in a long, long time.  When GnR fully comes back, I think it's going to be quite a wake up call for many...

Yeah, I think VR's new album will be awesome, considering the fact that it only took a year opposed to eight years as some of ya said, I agree with the fact that you can't trust the other members of G n' R to put out a solid hit record, Axl is still great and sounds amazing but he needs to let things go and forget the past, Slash is one of the most awesome guitarists in the world, I seen him on the tribute to metal concert on VH1 and I was amazed, he was awesome, just no one like him that could ever take his place in G n' R, ever. Some of the new songs are pretty good, but I think they won't get their play as other songs might...I don't know, who knows what will happen, just have to wait and see.....

This thread is from VH 1 which is sent for free to anyone who signs up for news about the bands they like....
Finally, the reunion rumors are put to rest so we don't have to read all that bs speculation anymore.

Shame Axl never sent a Christmas Card back  :'( :hihi:

Slash "I've actually sent him Christmas cards, just to be cordial, but he never returns anything."

what an old douch bag Axl is  :hihi:

it appears Axl really couldn't give 2 fucks about his old band members. I would say friends, but i don't think they mean that much to him. I sure hope VR produce a good 2nd album and while Chinese Democracy is sounding interesting from the leaks, i'll probably download it rather then buy it, just out of principle  ;D

I too remember reading an interview from Slash and he said it was Perla that sent the christmas cards to Axl. I somehow think this all got turned around.

As for the rumours, well they were just that, rumours.

And what, is the significance of that? It's not like Perla would send cards to someone, without her husband's permission, especially Axl. I suppose it isn't a significant gesture unless he doesn't do it himself, eh? Maybe he should take a break from writing material for the new album and start sending cards to everybody?  ;)

Bad news no reunion on the forefront, great news that a new album is on its way. ?I wish Axl and Slash would do the right thing and make up and make music. ?They both must have some amicable feelings toards each other. ?They must have some good memories they can share. ?


I think Libertad will be better than Contraband, and we don't have that much longer to wait for it! ?It would be cool if VR and NEW GNR released albums at the same time, but I think that is highly unlikely. ?It would be good for rock music though.

I'll download it too - I dont feel like Axl Rose should get any more of my money. Anyways, we've heard a load of the songs off CD already - and to these ears, they dont sound too hot with the exception of TWAT. 8 years plus to write Rhiad and Chi Dem etc - jeez.

CD cant be that amazing if its taking so long to make, it just shows, to me, that Axl either hasnt got the ability to write songs without Izzy etc, his band arent good enough, or that he isnt comfortable with his material. Or he's just nuts and/or lazy. We'll probaly see loads of 'Co-written with Bernie Taupin' credits - lol......

'Once there was this rock n roll band rolling on the street. Time went by and it became a joke' - that lyric sums it up for me.

Roll on Libertad - I bet its gonna be great, especially if Scott can write some decent lyrics this time round. There were some turkeys on Contraband thats for sure. Some good ol ripping solos from the Slashster would be ace too.

I wonder what Slash wrote on the xmas card


Hey Axl best wishes, merry xmas , happy new year and I hope my lawyer kicks your ass


I find it odd that Axl never answered it
what a jerk, we should kick his ass

it baffles me as to why this isnt on the main page listed as news, but GNR being mentioned on Talking Metal Podcast was a headliner.  I am quite certain there were at least some GNR mentions in this article. 

Great to hear Slash so excited about the new album! ;D

Hopefully it IS out by the end of the year...

CD will probably come with a book as thick as the bible containing the credits  :hihi:

5 pages for guitarists at least!

And another 20 pages for Pittman's contributions, lol - or maybe just 'we left the phone off the hook and recorded those noises instead'.

For the past year or so I haven't really thought about VR that much, but articles like this get me pumped for the album to come out.  I guess they're sticking with "Libertad" as the title, which is fine with me.

I have a feeling this CD will be the band's "Purple" (Contraband being Core).

I hope there isn't a reunion.  I know you can't believe what the band members say.  But I think the best thing for both bands is to get our their new cd's, tour and rival each other.  It would be great for rock to have two awesome bands just kicking ass, and it would also be the biggest compliment to the GNR/VR fans to know that the best bands in the world are derived from Guns N' Roses.  In the 80's you had GNR, Metallica, Motley Crue ... in the 90's you had nothing.  Now theres alot of potential with having VR and GNR, so the best thing for both bands is no re union, just continue to kick ass on there own, and maybe even tour one day, Id definitly be the first online for a GNR/VR tour.

well then you are just an asshole. 

Why would Axl send christmas cards to someone who had 2 lawsuits against him at the time  ???

Those songs were written some time between 1998 and 2000.  Nice math

The biggest problem for the new GnR isn't the band itself but the reputation that Axl has carved out for himself or been unfairly given. Not to run off topic here, but I think there are alot of people out there who have made up their mind about Axl before hearing any of the music. That prejudice alone could sink the record.

I really hope Libertad is not about Bush b/c Weiland's wacky politico ramblings should not be packaged up for the public to digest; in fact, they should be buried in the most expediant method possible. My advice to VR: dont' lose focus with garbled messages, stick your bread and butter.

I'll give you 10:1 odds that if he wasn't calling the band GNR that the situation you described above would not be nearly as bad as it is. But he knew that going in and it comes with the territory. I actually think some of the material is strong enough it would be getting across the board praise if there wasn't that entire sideshow going on about the name. As a stand-alone band they are great when compared to today's music environment, but instead he is being judged against arguably the best band to hit rock scene in the past 25 years (original GNR), and arguably the best album (appetite) because of the name. Those are impossible odds for any new band making a debut record. The comparrisons would have been there regardless, but not to the degree he is/will see whenever he releases his album.


I agree whole heartedly. Beside the fact I don't want to hear about it, nothing dates an album quicker or makes it irrelevant like ranting about a stationary moment in time like the war or any current political situation.

Its not really a debut tho.  Its the follow up to the Illusion albums, just some members replaced.

just some, you mean the lead guitar player and bass player the only two original members that were left..  :hihi: That would be like saying jimmy page left zepplin

How do you know that Perla would not send a Christmas card to Axl without Slash's permission? Perla seems to me like she has a very strong personality. I doubt that Slash could stop his wife from doing anything that she really wanted to do.

well having never known axl I doubt she would send xmas cards out without his permission... he would have had to at least mention it to her..

that's my dream, time should heal everything... They might not agree business wise, but that's what happens when you continue something that was so big with other people while still using old material/...

I would love to see them be friends at least and play something, maybe like a page plant type thing

Hmmm... I don't buy it. Axl didn't want to work with Slash anymore : his choice, his mistake.

Good post...

I won't be buying or downloading CD and I am a huge Gn'R fan... There was a time when I was excited about Axl coming back around 99 up until Rock In Rio... It just took too long and honestly I do not like 1/2 of what I have heard and haven't even listened to some of the latest.. A mix of that and things like Axl saying he knew nothing about that first canceled tour and the no shows, the fanboys all turned me off. Also I went to see them in 2002 as a final chance and it didnt do it for me.. Calling this Gn'R will always bug me too.  It is soo far from what they were that it is silly. So that is that..

I agree with your VR comments too...

well no, it was slash who left.. he didn't get fired by axl, matt got fired but duff and slash left i think and i'm pretty damn sure about that

I can't believe anyone thought Slash would rejoin a band who are putting out an album of songs he didn't write.

I agree....

No one really did, it was just the gnr fan in eevryone wanting the lead guitarist who is the sound of the band in that dept..

and hoping he would turn up to "guest" on a few songs at a gig or two, like Izzy has...

i find it weird, every time i hear slash talk about the whole guns thing he always says he has had no involvment with the band since they split, but he never rules out going back to the band....

is that where slash's heart lies?

does he want back in....??

I think deep down he would love a reunion if it could actually be pulled off smoothly with no drama.

I guaran-friggin'-tee you'll buy Chinese Democracy.   :yes:

I haven't even downloaded the new shit, why would I buy it?

EDIT: I heard IRS on the radio once and a friend sent me the leaks of of "IRS" and "Better" because she thought it was funny how bad they sucked and she thought I was still a fan.  I  also saw Better on aol... That was enough. The shit sucks IMO..