Here Today... Gone To Hell!

?Scott Weiland is like George Bush to me ? I like him now that he?s gone??

16/07/2009

Exclusive! Slash on Weiland, Velvets, and the new album?

Words: Scott Rowley

Slash was unhappy throughout his entire career in Velvet Revolver ? and working on his forthcoming solo album has given him a new creative lease of life. The former GN?R/VR guitarist has been talking to Classic Rock about the dissolution of VR and how the band?s split with Scott Weiland pushed him work by himself on a solo album.

?Now at this point I can talk about it,? says Slash. ?I always support whatever group I?m playing with ? I?ll never say anything bad about them while I?m in it. But fuckin Velvet Revolver ? that was the toughest five years, dealing with that band, just because of the obvious [Weiland] and really, really bad management. Joke management for the entire time.

?For some reason in that entire five years I could never be happy. I could never get comfortable and happy with it because it was such a fucking mess. That last tour in the UK was the first time I ever had any fun in that band ? because I knew that Scott was leaving and it was a huge relief.

?But, all things considered, Scott to me is now like George Bush ? y?know, I like him now that he?s not here. I have nothing bad to say about Scott, but he doesn?t work well with others in a group situation. So towards the end I had written a bunch of music and there were a lot of restrictions because of him writing in Velvet and a lot of stuff that I wanted to do was just sort of squelched. Y?know Slither happened and Fall To Pieces and a couple of other songs I wrote, but it didn?t have the direction that the group ? especially before Scott came into it ? really set off in. Especially on that last record ? which I still think is a good record, but was a lot mellower than [I would have liked].

?Anyway, so I was writing a lot of material and on that last UK tour I started taping a lot of stuff and when I got home I was like, ?I need to get away from this group situation ? I just need to be in control of something and do things my own way?. So it was a relief. And we?ll see ? it?s not really about trying to make the biggest record in the world, but I will support it. I?ll go out there and do what I have to do to make sure that people go out there and listen to it cos I think it?s a cool record.?

How will that affect Velvet Revolver?

?Well Duff?s on tour, I?m doing my record, so it?s sort of at a standstill. I haven?t heard any amazing submissions from singers as of late, so I might? Y?know, Velvet when it finds the right guy will be amazing, but I?m in no rush. I?m not freaking out ? because that?s how we got Scott in the first place. He was the first decent guy that came up.?

After the Norway gig everyone is going to think Franky Perez is the guy.

?I thought about that. Yeah, Franky?s fucking bad ass. You know, he did some time with Velvet but I think because I was so preoccupied with my record nothing really came of it. Anyway, we?ll see what happens. When my record comes out there?s going to be a lot of different things that I can do so what happens as far as Velvet is concerned ? we?re going to be on a hiatus until we lock together and say, ?Hey, these are our options, let?s see what we?re going to do?. I don?t know if Franky is going to be the guy or what ? he?s just a really, really good singer. Even Ozzy came up and said, ?Who the fuck is that guy? He?s fucking great!? He actually said: ?What the fuck am I doing up here? He?s the one that should be singing???

In Norway, Franky Perez confirmed that he had worked with VR in the last six months: ?I?ve probably known Slash a little under a year. We have this mutual friend and we?ve run into each other a few times but we met ? actually met, met ? about six months ago. And then I was working with Velvet Revolver for a little bit and then Slash started doing his solo record??

So you worked with VR after Weiland left?

?Yes. So I got to hang out with all the guys and started working with them and then about the same Slash had to work on his solo project and Duff was doing Loaded so that dissipated, but the great thing is that I got to have a great relationship with Slash.?

Did he realise that the internet was going to be filled with ?Franky-is-the-new-Velvet-Revolver-frontman? stories?

The singer just smiles and shrugs: ?Well, you know, if the opportunity comes around, I?m ready.?

For a full interview with Slash & Friends, see Classic Rock 136, onsale 19 August.

http://www.classicrockmagazine.com/news/%E2%80%9Cscott-weiland-is-like-george-bush-to-me-%E2%80%93-i-like-him-now-that-he%E2%80%99s-gone%E2%80%A6%E2%80%9D/


Thanks to Rage in the Cage (I just noticed you posted the link)

I didn't realize that things were that bad...for that long.  :-\

Really interesting inteview. I think it's gonna take a long time but someday VR will find the right guy.


God how many times I've heard: Slash is happy now doing VR and Axl is over there firing and hiring musicians everyday with his syndroms and behaviours....

also... this sounds familiar ?I need to get away from this group situation ? I just need to be in control of something and do things my own way?.

Good point even though in his book he constanly says he hates being in a leadership role when he dosent have to in a band so I dont know...

Good points.  Slash gave off the perception that he was happy in VR, except of course for the ill fated night when he visited Axl's house and badmouthed the VR members.  Anyone doubt that story now?  Of course I can understand him denying that story and ultimately not coming out and saying he was unhappy the whole time while it was going on.  He tried his best to make it work but it just didn't work out.

As for control, it seems that Slash does NEED that control every once in awhile.  He can take a backseat or secondary role for a bit, but not for too long.  I'd love to see VR get back together and get something good going again, but if they're all at a happier place with this time apart, that's better for everyone.  We can all wait till the time is right.

^^ Totally agree, there!

Kind of surprising statements by Slash, but it makes sense to me, considering everything. I think he made a good point when he said  "it didn?t have the direction that the group ? especially before Scott came into it ? really set off in. Especially on that last record ? which I still think is a good record, but was a lot mellower than [I would have liked]."

I think that's probably pretty accurate.  I'd like to see them go in a much edgier, harder direction and that I think that's what they did set out to do.  Started sounding very STP'ish.  Love STP, but I think VR could do better/different. I thought Contraband was very good.   Libertad was ok - could have been better.  Who knows what will happen, but I'd like to see them find the best man for the job and continue to make music together.     

Yeah, after this interview i am finally seeing why they are being so careful not to rush into anything! 

And i think we can all agree that VR would rock if they went heavier, more along the lines of slither and DLT!

It was surprising to me as well.  I thought the problems with Scott were more at the end of VR, and Scott has said "Slash and I always got on pretty well."

That is because Slash is anti-confrontational... So he is more likely to go with flow than buck system...

anti-truth is more like it

I think it's more like he didn't want to say or do anything while the band was popular and making him money. Once the vast majority of people didn't care about them any more he decided to do something. If libertad would have been a hit, Scott would still be in the band no matter how drugged out he was and slash never would be saying these things now.

Are you serious? Slash already had plenty of money long before VR. Slash could have never done one more single thing after Snake Pit and still lived nice and comfy for the rest of his life. If Libertad had been the best selling album of all time I still think that Scott would have been history. Apparently Scott was way too hard to deal with no matter how much money and popularity VR had. Look at Van Halen with DLR. 1984 was their last album together and their best selling one with DLR. At that time VH was still extremely popular and a hit album and popularity weren't enough to make them keep Dave. Getting back to VR I think that Scott made life Hell for his other band members and Slash was just more vocal about it than the others in the band.

Well he seems to be anti-truth when hes actually in the situation so there comes the anti-confrontation part. I mean its like if you were having troubles with your wife would you go around saying oh man shes such a bitch to everyone and complaining about their bad habits to people who you know are going to tell your spouse only to make things worth. Probably not, a band is a human relationship that if you have faith in it you try and are willing to compromise and not spread your stories to everyone else, so if he thought that Velvet with Scott had great potential he wasn't going to say anything hoping they could figure it out rather than just end it without trying.

the only part of slash's words that is surprising to me is the fact that he didnt abide by his usual "cool guy" image. what is so hypocritical about this statement is that he keeps saying that he "has nothing bad to say about scott" at the same that he's comparing him to george bush, saying that he's not a team player and that slash just couldnt wait to get rid of him as soon as the tour ended.

scott weiland wasnt an imposition from the outside. matt, slash and duff chose him out of countless candidates knowing his drug problems very well. he literally walked out of court-ordered rehab to work on Fall to Pieces and then went back. its interesting that weiland's drug problems became intolerable when, by slash's own admission in his book, he himself was battling an OxyContin addiction at the time and duff had a short struggle with painkillers. matt too according to weiland had trips to rehab.

it seems that slash's statements take whatever form that is convenient at the time. here he says that Libertad was a creatively stifling experience for him but in his book he said that the chemistry during the making of that record was even more amazing than the making of AFD and everyone was contributing in an extremely nurturing and positive environment. its one thing to publicly make things sound all nicey nice for the sake of your band but its another to make such a hyperbolic statement in 2007 and then express complete unfulfillment two years later.

it was 3 against 1 in VR and the idea that scott somehow forced the others to follow his vision is a strange idea. conveniently, it absolves slash from all responsibility for the failure of Libertad. 

Actually Slash was the one who said he wanted to do VR for the money. I believe he said it during the VH1 documentary thing they did (or some interview where he was in the back of a limo).

I'd have to see a link cause I don't remember that at all.



I pride myself on being "Real" and fair on these forums whether it is Axl, GNR or what not, so I am going to continue that.

This interview makes Slash look bad in my opinion. Now before someone tries to call me a Slash hater which would be the most ridiculous thing ever, It just paints Slash in a very bad light. I don't like this much the same way I didn't like Axl calling Slash a cancer.

Slash had a drug problem, THEY CHOSE Scott knowing what they were getting. He also made Libertad to be the greatest album ever, Completely happy with the guitars *the last guy on CB didn't know how to record guitars but Brendan does etc

So I don't like Slash's backtracking here. I think it makes him look bad and not as credible.

Nice post, completely agree.  Slash seems to backtrack quite a bit these days.  Maybe that's a product of being SO accessible to the media.

I agree, if Libertad was a huge hit, Scott would still be in the band and Slash would still be pumping it as the best album ever instead of blaming Scott for its lack of success.  I don't remember hearing any of these negative comments (aside from his visit to Axl's house which he denied at the time) until the writing was on the wall for VR.  Coincidence?  I think not.

D?j? vu!





/jarmo

Needs to let sleeping dogs lie.  No need for Slash to keep talking about Scott.... Focus on the future...

Another reason why I can never believe a word that comes out of his mouth.

It's nothing personal, it's just the way it is.

I agree, shit like this makes my GNR breakup needle tilt a little more in Slash's direction........

Well Some of you guys are ridiculously hypocritical!  You all complain that Slash "knows how to handle the media" and then after this interview your all like "oh what a lying asshole".

Where you all there? 

Maybe the chemistry on Libertad was awesome?  Maybe it was inspiring?  The guy says that it is a good album but just that it wasnt heavy enough.  It was clear that these guys had problems with Scott so why keep him in the band? Its clear that after libertad failed they all stopped caring.  Scott being the first to run back to his old band. 

Its also funny to see the Axl fanboys posting about a band they don't even like!  :rofl:

i dont see why comments like this are necessary.

this isn't a slash site.  this isn't a vr site.   This is for GnR fans and we are free to comment on whatever the fuck we want. 

That's all well and good.  My only point is bashing Scott at this point seems a little over the top.  He's using him as the scapegoat for why things went south for VR and why the record failed.  I have a hard time believing that ALL the blame should be placed on ONE person.  I haven't heard the other guys bash Scott quite as much as Slash.  Some things are better off left unsaid.  Lots of people, recently childhood friend of Slash's Marc Canter, have said that Slash didn't push himself enough on Libertad.  But Slash doesn't see it that way, it's easier just to blame Scott.

Slash WAS excited about the record, and still believes it was "good", but since it didn't do well he's looking for someone to blame.  Easy enough to pick the guy who is no longer in the band.  I still believe if the record was hugely successful that Scott would still be in the band and Slash would still be saying how great things are and how they're writing some killer stuff.

What are you doing reading this thread if you don't like VR?  cos id seriously like to know why you waste your time if you hate them so much.


A lot of Slash's comments do add up though.  Contraband was cool and heavy.  They had most of that material written pre scott.  (probably not lyrics).  But they really did make compromises and the second album was just too easy listening.  Personally, im glad they're rid of Scott.  I don't think Slash is really blaming him either, just pointing out that they made compromises which makes sense to me from the way the music went.

He's not the only person in the world that has pointed the finger for an under performing album.

Take off the white wigs

Well Scott could never win in VR because it was always 3 against 1 (with Dave being neutral) even though he was the frontman.  Really it was destined to fail and I hope when they get a new singer they all get along a little better.  And I agree that Libertad was more Scott influenced, but they seemed to be in favor of that at the time, UNTIL it didn't sell well.  If they didn't like what was going on while recording the record, they easily could've made the necessary changes since they had the 3 to 1 advantage.

I got the impression that they were all fed up with each other at the time they were making the record, and so it wouldn't have been 3 against 1.  It seemed more like 5 people doing the absolute minimum they needed to do to get a record out there.  It's just that Scott was the only one they couldn't seem to reconcile with.  Although I do agree with some of the analysis... not all of it.

Speak of the devil, the ultimate fanboy makes an appearance.

I agree that VR were always destined to fail.  I think that this interview proves that they never really got along.  In that situation, all is good when your successful but once all the success ended they couldnt have been bothered with each other.  Scott was already plotting his return to STP.  So i do agree with you to an extent.

But, i think that the 3 of them really didnt wanna be part of another big band breaking up due to issues with the singer.  And I dont mean just the singers issues but the whole musician/singer relationship. Unfortunately, that is what happened.

He must be a secret Slash worshipper!   :rofl:

Aren't you posting in the GN'R section with your Slash avatar?

Hypocrite.



Obviously for you Slash fans it's more convenient to talk about Axl's fans than to talk about the issue.



Your hero has once again changed his story.

The band experience sucked for some in that band. It wasn't "the gang" they all wanted you (their fans) to believe.



It's all Scott's fault. They chose him to be in the band and yet it's all his fault. They knew his history, it was actually being written as he joined the band.


It seems like there's been something wrong with both VR album recording sessions if you believe Slash.

I guess it costs money to get what you want. It's better to save money on the art....  ::)




/jarmo

Cos God forbid you can like Slash and be a fan of GNR  :confused:



If he is trolling and adding nothing to the thread, of course we will call him out for his secret Slash obsession.
And in Axl's last interview, apparently he found it "more convenient" to talk about Slash than his new band/album.



If you're reffering to Slash, i don't see how he "changed his story".  He just said the lastest album was mellower than anyone would have liked.



Maybe he hasn't been totally happy with the recordings?  its not like your lil hero doesnt point the finger of blame!
Slash wanted to take over Guns.  He is a cancer.  The record label failed with A, B, C and wouldnt give me a marketing plan.   

Sounds like pointing the finger to others to me!

Does anybody know of anyone who says, "this guy who's in my band is a complete nightmare, it's not fun, and I don't think we're working at our best", during an interview, even when there are obvious troubles in the band?  It just doesn't happen... mainly because making things public is not going to help matters.  Keeping private matters private is just common sense.  When it became obvious that things weren't ever going to get any better - ie: when they fired him - he was free to say these things.  Of course, I personally still have issues with the man airing his dirty laundry out in public... and did back in April 2008 when Slash and Matt were both holding "exclusive" interviews in order to talk about nothing but how much of an asshole Scott is.  Character assassination does seem to be Slash and Matt's primary way of dealing with it when they fall out with bandmates... but I can understand why he wasn't saying whilst Scott was still in the band.

i agree with you.  I dont think the guys wanted to have another big band fall apart because of the relationship with the singer.  And obviously they werent gonna go public and say it while the band was together.  Once that was done by Matt, the band was dead.  After they broke up with Scott i seen clips of STP performances were scott looked out of it so im happy they put that behind them. 

Didnt scotts wife also leave him during this period because of what he was going through.

And he started going on stage late towards the end of VR which them guys will NOT put up with again.

It's the same shit year after year.

Every band he's been in. It's "it was impossible/horrible".

Even his "fun" band Snakepit2!



When will people realize it can't be a coincidence that the guy says the similar things about his former band mates?

Every band is always "things are great, we work so well together. It's a democracy!" until he quits or somebody else quits, then it's "it was a nightmare!".


He can play the part of the laid back guitar player all he wants and some of you obviously buy that, but he does want to be in control.



And Jim Bob can't be a GN'R fan who finds Slash's comments humorous because he's seen them somewhere before?





Poor you. He said what had to be said because some of you won't get it.





Turns out Scott wasn't as great as they told you! Or maybe they don't want to take any blame for the meltdown. After all, if four guys agree, it must be the fifth guy's fault!

Turns out the album wasn't like he originally claimed....






Nice try.

Slash is the topic.


The same guy who wanted to save money on studio costs so he got a cheaper one to record his guitar parts for Contraband. Then complains about how he didn't get the sounds he wanted in his book.




Don't fool yourself. These guys picked Scott. Everything was great as long as they were making money and got attention.

Then when the interest decreased, Scott was the problem.

Most of them had addiction problems but only Scott's was a problem? The same problems that weren't a problem when he joined the band because they were all there for him?



/jarmo

I don't think I ever said that I believed Slash in my post.  Or even that, I like that he said it... in fact, I think I pretty much made it clear that I didn't, especially when I said, "Character assassination does seem to be Slash and Matt's primary way of dealing with it when they fall out with bandmates".

Was just saying that there's a very good reason why he acted like everything was fine to begin with... and it's the same reason as every other musician who act as if everything is fine in their band when it clearly isn't.

Sorry, my post wasn't aimed at you personally.



Of course. As long as you're making money and people notice you, you can put up with somebody overrated like Weiland.




/jarmo

Oh please, there is a difference between pain killers and heroine!  Didn't you hear!



When he said that about Guns he was reffering to the later stages when his and Axl's relationship broke down.  He never said the whole thing was hell.  Even though they had to put up with a front man who couldnt make it onstage on time. 



HAHA!  Are you offended cos im right?

Didnt Axl  try and point the finger for CD flopping?

The record label, Slash wanted to take over Guns, Izzy didnt care! the leaks!

Your a hypocrite for talking about slash when Axl has blamed more people than anyone else!

OxyContin is similar to heroin.

Just because you don't shoot up doesn't make it less of a drug.




Offended? I'm only offended by your obvious stupidity of trying to bring Axl into this conversation even after you were told not to.

This has nothing to do with Axl.

You troll!  :rofl:







Get over yourself.

If you don't want to talk about Slash, then feel free to go look up some other thread.


That goes for all of you Axl haters who feel uncomfortable enough to talk about Slash in a thread that once again proves that he's not the guy you think he is.

I don't have any problems warning more people if you want to keep this shit up.



/jarmo

Bring on 10 years of Slash bitching about Weiland, followed by Slash hiring Pete Doherty as the new VR frontman, and then repeat..

I think the main problem with VR was that Slash and Co. look at it like a 4 guys plus the singer type situation while someone who has had success (and ego) like Scott is going to come in and want more control. I imagine they were bickering over money too, that's usually par for the course in these supergroups.

I found it funny that VR seemed to want this dangerous image by getting a wild card like Scott Weiland to front the band but then didn't want to deal with any of the actual consequences that brings with it.

As far as I remember from years ago, they openly talked about his issues when he joined!

Like it was no big deal.... It all fit nicely with the unpredictable real dangerous rock n' roll image.


Then a few years later, they all got addiction/drug issues (except maybe Dave).



/jarmo

Well this quote just sums you up Jarmo.  Why does it have to be so black and white with you.  Im an Axl hater just cos i point out that he has blamed many others for his own album flopping?  

I just find it amazing that some people think this is SO bad that Slash tells it like it was!



Don't you guys really hate people talking about Slash in the GNR section?  If you hate him SO much, why come here to speak about him.

You're quite obviously a blind defender fanboy of W.Axl Rose.   : ok:  

Hell, Scott got arrested for drugs while they were recording Contraband and no one seemed to mind then!!

totally. It seems that he left when GNR didn't seem as cool as before.

also he seems quite a backbiter.

I don't think Duff's "issues" really count.  An incompetent doctor prescribed him anxiety pills that any doctor should know not to prescribe to anybody with a history of drug or alcohol abuse, and was told to take them whenever he felt he needed them.  After a few days, he felt himself becoming addicted, so checked into rehab before he did.  But Slash and Matt's relapses were definitely on a par with Scott's... in fact there's an interview with Slash in which he states he deliberately started doing Oxycontin, because his wife was away in rehab for exhaustion, and there was no one around to stop him.
Special attention should be paid to the fact that Perla had left their children in Slash's care during this time...

It seems like I have to use some kind of extreme phrases to wake you up.

You don't seem to fucking get the simple fact that Axl has nothing to do with this topic.




"Tells it like it is" and Slash doesn't mix.

"Tells it the way it fits his current agenda" is more like it.  : ok:




If that makes you feel better, sure!

I have no problem admitting that I'm a GN'R/Axl fan that post on a site dedicated to those two.





/jarmo

Could it be that things weren't that bad in the beginning but towards the end were intolerable and this is what he's talking about.  Maybe that part of the interview was taken out of context.  Wait that never happens.

I've never believed the breakup was all Axl's fault. Axl wanting to make an amazing album can be seen as being "tough" to work with just cause he doesn't want to settle for ok.

I blasted Axl for calling Slash a cancer, so when Slash after 2 years now without Scott tries to put all the blame on Scott, I have to call it like I see it.

Slash raved on how great Libertad was, Just cause it didn't sell shit, doesn't mean u can all of a sudden point fingers and blame it on this or that.  I don't give Axl a free pass on this kind of thing and I don't give Slash or anybody a free pass either.

Slash is the "leader" of VR, the second he allows stuff to go on the CD it becomes his responsibility. If he didn't like something, he should've spoke up and not talked about it years later.


Now does this mean I hate Slash or think he is a liar all of a sudden? Of Course not

but in any breakup situation, there is usually more than a fair share of blame to go around.

Oxycotin is called Hillbilly Heroin for a reason and yes a lot of people shoot it up.

I've always said that Slash's biggest problem is he has poor communication skills and the inability to voice his displeasure

Here is how I look at this and GNR

GNR and the label CHOSE Best Buy therefore u can't bitch about Best Buy being the reason for poor sales

Slash can't bitch about Scott because he knew what he was getting when he signed him up.


I think Slash's solo album will be awesome, but every artist proclaims what they are working on to be the best thing ever.

I wish Slash would just say "We went in a different direction with Libertad" we failed, we are getting back to our roots for the 3rd instead of seemingly pointing the finger.

Last I checked Scott doesn't play guitar and didn't write the riffs.

Doesn't seem like it:








/jarmo

You're right. 

I read the interview the other day and didn't remember it exactly.

typical slashite garbage.    you don't want to talk about slash in a slash thread, you just want to bash Axl.  : ok:

i dont think any single person here has demanded that slash should have been calling scott a nightmare or anything remotely resembling that while he was in the band. but there's a big difference between keeping your dirty laundry to yourself and wildly over-selling an album by endlessly milking comparisons to AFD and the aura attached to that.

like i said, Slash's book came out in 2007 and slash was done making libertad by then and he expresses his pride in that record in the book. he  holds up the making of the record as an example to all young bands of how to do things in the most ideal environment (everybody in the same room, super competent producer, everybody supporting each other in the best creative ways possible). he said that the recording sessions had the same kind of magic as the making of AFD.

nobody says that you badmouth your frontman in public if youre having trouble with him but there's no requirement whatsoever to make such extreme over-the-top statements and promise the moon. that is not making the best of a bad situation- it is an obvious marketing ploy.

 I think its kind of karmic and funny how Axl had to put up with drug addicted, heroin addict Slash and then Slash turns around and has a problem when he has to put up with a drug addicted heroin addict Scott.

kind of hypocritical I must admit.

From everything i've encountered it seemed as though Slash seemed to curb his heroin addiction when he was needed (touring and recording) and was able to cut back for that, but when he had free time is when he got most in trouble, maybe Scott couldn't do that.  I'm just going by stuff I remember and I know there is going to be the legion of people out there pulling up articles to prove me wrong, but I don't spend my time memorizing every sentence by members of Guns N Roses to debate who is the bad guy in that band, I'd rather use my mental energy for something productive... Maybe we should spend our energy on finding alternative energy sources instead of who was at fault for the demise of Guns N Roses.

i love how you cling to whatever version of events points the finger at scott, exactly the same way slash does. its interesting how the break-up of scott's marriage is used as a dart to throw at him when by slash's own admission, his own marriage to Perla almost fell apart during his OxyContin days. as for scott being "out of it", he has managed to tour with STP, complete and release a solo album and is now working with STP. for all the claims about how dysfunctional he is, thats a substantial amount of productivity.

slash admits in his book that problems arose when HE chose different management than the rest of the band. of course he defends this decision but it soured relations among them to the point that when axl's press release about slash visiting his house and badmouthing the other VR guys came out, everybody believed it and by slash's description he became a pariah in the band. this reflects how little trust his own band members had in slash. he had to start by patching things up with matt and then duff and scott.

its instructive that slash doesnt just go after scott in this interview- he says that the entire 5 years were a miserable expeience. it might be convenient to you to simplify everything into an anti-scott tale but the fact is that according to slash's book itself, he himself was at odds with everybody for a substantial period during VR.

its not a matter of memorizing every detail. its a matter of setting the record straight.

acccording to slash, he was shooting up in Matt's bathroom when he went there for rehearsals, leaving blood on the walls. he would show up so out of it that he would "nod out" as they worked. he became the "dark horse" of the band to the point that "everybody went quiet when he walked into the room". the band showed tolerance towards his troubles, a courtesy they did not show to scott.

Don't you know that if the mystery of why Guns broke up is solved then they will reunite and the power from their combined energies and performance will be our answer for coal and oil.

This.

i agree that their personal differences seemed to involve all of them and not just center on weiland. but in terms of deciding the musical direction of the album, it would still have been 3 against 1 if scott had been trying to force a mellower sound on the others. slash, duff and matt are all on the record preferring a harder approach. matt made that "whats with the piano" comment about Axl and November Rain, duff spoke about how he, slash and steven had opposed SCOM because they didnt want to do ballads. so there's no way that scott could have made anybody do what they didnt want to do.

to me, it seems that they made a calculation that they would be more "current" if they went with a more muted rock sound which has been prevalent on the scene with the likes of Nickelback, Coldplay etc. Brendan o Brien who produced STP, Incubus and Augustana was chosen for Libertad and he seems to have Slash's full praise and support in his book.

he still says Libertad is a good record, remember

I have to agree with jarmo here, its obvious that slash changes his stories pretty freakin' often. Like any good veteran celebrity, he's an amazing spinster and fast talker...

So if want to try and extract OBJECTIVE truth from what he says, we must analyse his spinster motivations
I.E  -  when he's making an album, he is motivated to create a hype, so taking his word for it that the solo album will definetly be "awesome" and "really fucking cool" is probably stupid.

Just like when talking about VR and 2005, his motivations are to appear like a with-it, happening and exciting new thing  -  "yeah its all going really well, we're working together, and we produced a great fucking new album"

So now, reading this interview, what are his motivations - not TOO many. Look focused and with it, make VR still look like a viable project and as always, make himself look good. So, I think we can probably believe that there were always problems and tensions in the band - slash doesn't really have a motivation to lie about this now... we probably can't believe that it was all scott who had a "problem working with other people"...

So instead of bickering about slash being consistent or inconsistent - he's obviously inconsistent at times, especially when he has different motivations. But why HATE him for this, or rip on him for this??? Just accept that he's a media god and a great fucking guitarist...

I am hating on him for this but he is still my favorite guitar player ever and i still love the guy and his music.

but like I said, I call shit like I see it.

and Slash is full of shit on this one.

This is an important sentence that most people seem to have missed. 

Maybe if Slash had a backbone his ideas wouldn't have been squelched.

Or maybe cos others couldn't/wouldn't work on them!  : ok:

Well, that's his fault for choosing to collaborate with musicians unwilling to accomodate and embrace his ideas : ok:

Well thats why they got rid of him and why he is saying they got rid of him!

not really. Slash's press release announcing scott's departure mentioned his "erratic behaviour" and "personal problems". never any musical differences.

one would imagine that after complaining that his guitars werent recorded right for Contraband slash would have ensured that things were done right for Libertad.

You reap what you sow.

Unless Slash fell off the turnip truck yesterday, he should have been previously aware of Scott's problematic nature, so collaborative difficulties inevitably arising shouldn't have been much of a surprise.

don't think anyone likes working with scott.  Even Robert De Leo hinted that they only reunited for money lol

I find it hard to believe anyone in a position such as slash would sit around in a band he was miserable in for 5 years. It was obviously good to begin with then deteriorated, as these things do. This is just Slash trying to save some face for what seems to be no reason.

If Slash had said this from day one it would have been fine, because we all knew Scott had many issues, couldn't sing that great, and was a liability live.  I never really liked Scott in VR.  I like many STP songs, but they settled for his ass and tried to tell us he was "the one" when we all knew they could do better, then he tells them their songs suck.....  The time to be pissed was then, but, they wanted a band so bad they just put up with it.... To talk shit now is lame, however there is probably some truth to what Slash says about always resenting him, etc....  Slither and FTP are two of VR's best songs, and those are Slash songs....

Pretty much the same thing he said about the Snakepit1 stuff.

He just says he didn't get to work on the material. He doesn't say why, how, when or anything else.

Just like with his past band, he leaves out vital information. There's probably a lot more to that comment than he wants you to know.






/jarmo

I personally think Scott is great and to be honest everybodys input to a track is what makes it great, not just who came up with the intial idea. I just think this is a case of something to say being blown up to something worth discussing cos we got fuck all else to talk about :hihi:

Yeah i agree!  No solo album til the new year, no VR singer, nothing happening in GNR so lets take this standard interview and over analize every sentence.  :)


Because of Scott's restriction's.  Slash knows now that Scott was a bad choice, he was always more Duff's guy.
Maybe 3rd time lucky though!  
I hope they take their time and get a good guy in.  They deserve to have a singer that they can write/record/tour and get along with.

When a band goes in to make an album, everyone brings in ideas, I'm sure a lot of them get turned down-he's not making any big revelation here, I'm not sure what the big deal is

there is no big deal, some people here have to much spare time in here, thats why this shit is discussed...
All of you have to realize one thing: The personal life, and their private emotions between eachothers in a band is really non of our business, we all look like fools for spending so much energy discussing shit like this.
Some times this board is so boring and its history repeats all the time..  Slash is a musician, thats why we have heard about him, lets discuss music, and stuff like that. Remember a message that most big artists have tried to tell all their fans during the times: Dont belive all the bullshit you hear from the media!! Judge them by their albums, their performances on concerts, and fuck the rest!  : ok:

Slash couldn't have said this from day one because at that time VR was working on an album and putting a tour together. Slash and co had to be cooperative and get along. Besides, at the beginning of VR Scott was probably on his best behavior and everything was ok. By Scott's own admission he's bi-polar and doesn't take his meds. Who could deal with someone like that for very long? I don't blame VR for taking more time this time around to find a singer. Oh and another thing, Slash has recently admitted that they need to take more time in finding a singer this time around because being too anxious to find a singer before is how they got Scott.

God Forbid classic rock would want to interview a classic rock star.
God Forbid that that classic rock star would talk about what happened in his last band and what his upcoming endheavours are.

What is it that the guy needs to do?

He gets bashed for doing charity, playing with other musicians, talking about bands he was in, promoting his book.  (only by some in fairness)

I just think its really funny.

At least he seems to have moved on from Guns and didnt mention that.

Funny how the Slash hating increased ten fold after a certain interview.  :hihi:

^^^yeah, and if Axl had said nice things about Slash all the sheeple on here would be raving about Slash.

I will actually give Slash a little credit here.   I think his words could have been misinterpreted.  "The obvious" could have just been that they are a bunch of big names in a band together, different musical backrounds, or their drug problems, but they reference Weiland.  Same with Libertad when he says it's not as heavy as...I think he meant Contraband but the journalist says (as I would have liked.)  I guess he was still talking shit about Scott but it was just kind of vague in doing it, which is probably why the author had to include that (Weiland) thing. 

 It is still funny, though, how Slash tries to take all of the credit for the songs.  Like, "I had written a few songs before... like Slither and Fall To Pieces"  Just say that you wrote the hit songs, Slash. Don't vaguely mention the two best song and act like "oh I just happened to have those laying around."  Sure they have some good guitar work, but Scott's lyrics are just as important on those songs.  If not for him, they may not have even been as good.

It's obvious he chose Weiland for the same reason he has Fergie on his new album.  He is hoping for a hit song. 

when an album comes out every band says it's the best album they ever put out, it's our heaviest effort-when the Illusion records came out Axl didn't come out and give the story about how he felt My World was not finished, about how you can hear the band dying on the records, and I understand that-Axl said he could not talk about it at the time, and was hoping things would change

Lets don't lose sight. of Course Scott has a lot of the blame in this also.

I mean it is Scott's fault also and maybe more his fault than Slash's and maybe that is why Slash went to Axl's house?

Maybe he realized that "FUCK, if this is what I put Axl through all those years, I see why he acted how he did"

Problem is, Scott was supposedly sober at that time. And Slash was drunk and using drugs when he went to Axl. Plus he and Duff weren't getting along either.  I think he was just thinking that the risk/reward scenario with Axl looked a lot better than that with Scott.

Nah, Perla made him go.

Reunion = Big bucks.

I have friends like Slash, and if I could use one word to describe them, it would be "whipped."  :yes:

I did not like the tone of this interview... its like telling the fans of a talk show that the actors never had fun doing that and made it out of an obligation.

It tastes bad.

Kinda like they FAKED the whole thing.

agree

but I think Slash is one of those "Cool" kids

u know the one that wore Fubu back in the late 90's early 2000's and then when people came out and said "Fubu" is gay

he is one of those like "YEAH" fuck Fubu, it sucks even though the person wears it for years


Same with this

VR were amazing when they were winning grammys and kicking ass

Libertad flopped Scott went to hell and now to save face he is like "That shit sucked, i was so unhappy blah blah blah

that isn't what u said in interviews........

i don't like shit like that.

just say ok, we went in a different direction and it didn't work out.

Offtopic: D, that avatar thing,..... man that made me laugh!!  :hihi:

your hysteria is getting tiresome. nobody has questioned slash's right to give an interview. the problem is slash's double-speak in saying "im not saying anything bad about scott" and then dumping on him in the same breath plus his continuous habit of refusing to take responsibility for his own musical products.

if he believed enough in his ideas, he would have fought for them rather than letting them get "squelched". weiland being bi-polar, addicted etc were all well known to slash and co when they chose him. slash sang praises of scott's "swagger" when they first got him but if you want a frontman with personality then he's not going to be your little whipping boy. he's going to make demands, there's going to be disagreements over musical and other choices. deal with it maturely rather than playing the victim.

again, there's a huge difference between keeping your band's internal fissures to yourself and continuously parading the ghost of Appetite for Destruction for personal gain which is what Slash did when he compared the chemistry during the making of Libertad to that during AFD.

axl expressed faith in UYI but nowhere did he say that the making of the album was an example to all young bands of the ideal way of how things should be done in terms of band dynamics which is what slash says in his book about Libertad.

Lol...I don't think Axl has ever been too shy about keeping a band's internal issues to himself-I would go back and re-read some of his interviews where he trashed Izzy for not giving an effort that was up to Axl and Slash's standards(????)-even I'm not a big fan of some of the things Slash may have done (Snakepit 2000) or said, but when there was a world tour in the works in 1992 to help pay for mansions in Malibu and the like, you will put up with people years later you suddenly hate

lol! so now you have a problem that axl was too open? you just contradicted yourself there.

izzy had left by the time axl gave the interview. plus axl was responding to the perception that existed of him having pushed izzy out- he is entitled to defend himself. he obviously didnt go into the sordid details of just how messy the band's internal dynamics had become.


slash was criticizing axl heavily and attempting to paint him as a bandwagon jumper in his 94 interview while he was STILL in the band. during the making of November Rain, slash didnt go to the camera and say young bands everywhere, take note of how the ideal band chemistry works. he barely showed up on screen and was reticent at best which would make sense considering he apparently didnt like the wedding theme etc. a far cry from the overselling he was doing in the fractious days of VR.

Where did I say I had a problem that Axl was too open? Let's stay on topic-if people are getting on Slash for not complaining about Scott while VR was still touring/recording, I'm saying  more often than not most bands do this-including GNR-I have no  problem with that-if GNR's internal dynamics were that bad in the early 90's, why did Axl go into new recording seesions with everyone except Gilby? Even Matt, whom everyone bashes here these days, hung around until '97, when he went in "wanting to be fired", according to Axl-I consider myself a diehard GNR and VR fan, but I honestly dont get too hung up on what any of them say-if I see VR in concert, I don't thing "well he lied on page so and so about this"-amazing

There is a lot of things that Slash/matt get bashed for that Axl also does but lets stay on topic - people shouldnt ever speak out against Axl.  :)
Funny how certain fan's jumped into this thread with the bashing and when others bring up other people its a different story  :D

I'll say it again, there are to many in here just overanalyzing every single word that gets printed in the media, and dont get me started on the media, you all know damn well that more often than not, a journalist will be..eeh creative/or just straight out bullshiting you to sell more magazines, get more viewers/listeners/readers, so take everything with a critical mind,just ask Axl, he'll tell y'all!  : ok: and by the way...  I would love for this board to talk about the musicians both new and old, and not so much shit regarding their private lives/persona..  ::)

then what was the point of mentioning axl's comments about izzy?

again, you continue to misrepresent what people are saying again and again. nobody here has demanded that he should have been berating scott in the press for 5 years while working with him but there's A LOT of room between putting on a good face for the media and going hyperbolic by claiming that the chemistry in your band is some kind of gold standard by comparing it to AFD type chemistry- cynicaly milking AFD for all its worth is a marketing ploy, not a necessity of being in a band. axl was working with matt etc in the studio but not going to the media simultaneously claiming that hey this is the best that things have ever been etc.

slash distanced himself from the guitar sound on Contraband saying the engineer didnt record it right. now he's distancing himself from Libertad saying his ideas were "squelched". the two songs that he attach himself to proudly are (no surprises here) the two big hits Fall to Pieces and Slither. 
there's a clear pattern here- take credit when things work, say "it wasnt me" when it doesnt sell.

also, there's no contradiction between enjoying some band's concerts and being also aware of the annoying media tricks they play. their musicianship and their media management are two separate things.

It's all good, it just surprises me the hatred people have for the man-he lies? So be it, he's still the best, IMO-is he milking AFD? Probably-God bless him, it's his business-if people don't like him, or what he says, maybe it's time to move on, and stop reading his interviews, don't buy his books, albums (I guess his media tricks worked on some people)-he is what he is.

once again, this constant exaggeration is entirely unnecessary. i dont see anybody here saying that they "hate" the man. this board is meant to discuss GNR, VR etc and thats precisely what people are doing. we are well within our rights to read his interviews, listen to his albums etc and then express love, annoyance, disappointment etc. being a fan doesnt require being 100% in love with everything about a musician.

and no i dont agree that cynically exploiting AFD to sell Libertad one day and then turning around and saying that the process of making Libertad was stifling is simply "his business". its annoying double-speak.

I totally agree with you on that!  A lot of things around here are black and white though, which is a shame.

Fair enough, no harm done-it's just discussion, which is always good-I sometimes get overly defensive when it comes to GNR, VR whatever-I agree you dont have to love him-I still think Sankepit 2000 is the worst album any current or former member of GNR put out, but I forgive him

You know, i know a lot of people that really loved Snakepit but I agree with you.  I bought the second snakepit album and i never even listened to the whole thing cos i just didnt like it.  Didnt really like the first one either.  Thought Contraband rocked though!  and Libertad is quite cool but not brilliant.

Loved the first Snakepit, just did not get the second one