Isn't it time for the New GNR to quit the side projects?

[Krispy Kreme]

Given the infrequency of GNR activity, maybe its the other way around: GNR is the side project to the other stuff. 

[Sickthings3]

Neemo, finally got to the point. Everyone else has been in place for at least 5 years and knows the songs. Ron had very little time to learn the new material, so the band was limited to what new songs could be played.

Now would be a damn good time for him to get to practice more new material. He just happens to be one of the few with not much going on before the Vegas shows. I haven't seen Robins name come up in any side projects so possibly he will be helping out Ron with new songs.

but maybe they are doing just that...the other guys could always show up for practices between gigs too...but to me it would be nice if they would make GnR the top priority...after all whats more important to these guys? GNR or a bar band or a guest appearance with some old buddies? but like Jarmo and others said too...they are adults, they can do what they please...but by them trapsing across the US doesn't seem to me like GnR is #1 on their carreer priority list...and to me that's a bit unsettling

You keep saying top priority or #1 priority. Now, they just had a summer tour where they played for about two months. Now they are doing some small gigs for about half of a month (give or take a day) and touring to maybe at most, five diffrent places.  What seems like it's TOP priority?

[requiem156]

I would think you'd know this, but band members have very little to do with mixing/mastering in many situations.

no shit....but you'd figure they'd be practicing the new songs before they set out for the tour celebrating and promoting it's release especially since the one guitarist has apparently only been there for 3 months...but maybe I'm not understanding how a band works...

No need to be defensive - no one is saying that you don't know how a band works(I'm not anyway). However, the fact is that none of us really know what the story is in GNR - considering the lack of info, they may have made some commitments prior to the dates being booked. Equally likely, they are as curious as to how this will all work out as the rest of us, but in the meantime, who in their right mind would sit around waiting for this thing to happen when it has been delayed so long already?

I think it's safe to assume that they will be rehearsing before they start the tour, and I doubt that they need over a month to do that - they do know the songs. Ron Thal is more than up to the challenge of learning some riffs on his own, from a recording, and if it's a matter of getting some crazy Buckethead lick up to speed the band would be more of a liablility for that kind of practice anyway.

[TheMole]

Some people never cease to amaze me. First some of you want to tell Axl to get back with the old band just for you, then you want to to forbid current band members from going out to play with their friends for fun.

You can sit at home and practise, or you can go out and play in front of a real audience. Which one do you think most musicians prefer?


The thing so many of you seem to want is: unhappy band members.

Axl isn't supposed to go out to have fun, Dizzy and Tommy can't play with their friends, Axl should reunite with people who sued him just so you'd be happy.

I'm saying, let them do what they want. That's when people are happy. That's a good thing for the band.

I think they know what's best for themself.




/jarmo

This isn't about a reunion man, and I don't think anyone in here is trying to make that out of it. Some folks are afraid that the current crop doesn't have the commitment the old guys had, which is a very valid concern. After all, none of them are in the situation guns was in 20 years ago. They're not living on crackers and cheap wine or anything.

Furthermore, they're not bandmembers, they're employees. You can't expect the same level of dedication from an employee as you can expect from a shareholder. I know this. You don't have to tell me. Ofcourse they should be able to play with their friends whenever they want when they're done with their work!

But don't tell me you don't see the difference between back then and now, don't tell me you don't think it might at all be possible that this has an impact on the quality of the new songs, don't tell me this is not a valid concern, and don't tell me this isn't an interesting and worthwhile subject to discuss on a GNR message board.

 

[madagas]

It's valid if you want to take it to the dead horse section because it has been discussed a thousand times in the last 5 years.

[Neemo]

What seems like it's TOP priority?

well since they are off doing their own thing right now...it seems like it's not GnR at the moment

Dizzy is doing ten dates in august-september and Tommy is doing 6 during the next 20 odd days

actually most of dizzy's dates are in or near LA and tommys has free time for 2 weeks from the 25th to the 8th so who knows whats happening for them...just personally I would wanna be jamming exclusively with the band who is gonna release a disk and tour the world on the strength of the new material

I would think you'd know this, but band members have very little to do with mixing/mastering in many situations.

no shit....but you'd figure they'd be practicing the new songs before they set out for the tour celebrating and promoting it's release especially since the one guitarist has apparently only been there for 3 months...but maybe I'm not understanding how a band works...

No need to be defensive - no one is saying that you don't know how a band works(I'm not anyway). However, the fact is that none of us really know what the story is in GNR - considering the lack of info, they may have made some commitments prior to the dates being booked. Equally likely, they are as curious as to how this will all work out as the rest of us, but in the meantime, who in their right mind would sit around waiting for this thing to happen when it has been delayed so long already?

I think it's safe to assume that they will be rehearsing before they start the tour, and I doubt that they need over a month to do that - they do know the songs. Ron Thal is more than up to the challenge of learning some riffs on his own, from a recording, and if it's a matter of getting some crazy Buckethead lick up to speed the band would be more of a liablility for that kind of practice anyway.

and dude axl has been staying in europe since the tour ended and the solo dates start today..not much time left to rehearse anymore.

I'm not getting defensive..well not much

@ madagas...we're talking current events now though, hardly dead horse IMO

[requiem156]

Yes, they aren't living on crackers and cheap wine. A lot of things about the world function differently in 2006 than they did in the early-mid 80's. I don't think that has any relevance to the level of commitment that we can expect from them. What we do know is this - when they play shows, they come correct. There's no lack of professionalism or musicality(though some might say otherwise) - actually, as far as professionalism goes, you were a lot more likely to find a band member wasted onstage back in the crackers and cheap wine days. Getting addicted to heroin doesn't exactly show commitment to a band, does it? It didnt matter, though, because the songwriting was inspired. I don't think playing some gigs with Soul Asylum or Hookers 'n Blow is any indication that the songwriting won't be up to par in Guns anymore. In theory, these songs have been done for a while, right?

Neemo - two things - 1) Axl has never rehearsed a lot with the band anyway. They can definitely get that kind of thing done without him. In my obsevation, that's a very common lead singer thing to do - right or wrong. 2) There would be no point to rehearsing everything to death now, and then not doing anything for a month. It's not like that kind of tightness stays with you, if you didn't have it in the first place. Ok - 3 things - it's isn't like they have shows scheduled for every single day between now and the first Guns show. They don't need to rehearse the old songs, aside from a quick run-through, and a few days should be sufficient to get all cylinders firing if they a) know the songs, and b) don't suck.

[Neemo]

all good points requiem...but there is a difference between being competent and being tight and the way you get tight is by playing with each other and hanging out together constantly IMO

i think a few hours a day 3 days a week for a month or so would be a good amount of practicing to go over 13 album tracks and a few "new" old songs from the back catalogue...Obviously they were not tight enough to perform TWAT on a regular basis and they never managed to work Rhiad in..then there are 7 other tracks that they need to relearn.

I'm not saying practice for a week and take a month off...personally i thought that the band would be out of sight for a month and then appear @ vegas...Vegas is a month from today BTW

I think the soul asylum dates are all up the western side of the US so it's not like he's gonna go from Seattle to LA to practice overnight  then go back to SA...when he's on the road with them he's a write-off for GnR.

as for the songwriting being done...god i hope so it better be for CD at least

the orig band got hooked on herion as a group....it made them closer and more "tight" as a group of buddies...that kinda tightness doesn't exist with the current incarnation...the orig band went from rags to riches...or so they say the new band was assembeld over time. in time they hopefully will accomplish something together but to date they haven't scratched the surface of the accomplishements of the orig group...that is why as of now (and it doesn't mater who has been in GnR longer) Robin doesn't touch Slash's legacy with the band at least in my eyes

[jarmo]

all good points requiem...but there is a difference between being competent and being tight and the way you get tight is by playing with each other and hanging out together constantly IMO

Did you see them on the European tour?

They seemed to know how to play the songs pretty good....


Once again, you're telling them what to do regarding rehearsing songs. Maybe they thought differently?

Besides, if they managed to add songs to the set while on tour in Europe (the covers they played), don't you think they can manage to do the same during the US tour? If they feel like it...



/jarmo

[Neemo]

all good points requiem...but there is a difference between being competent and being tight and the way you get tight is by playing with each other and hanging out together constantly IMO

Did you see them on the European tour?

They seemed to know how to play the songs pretty good....

Once again, you're telling them what to do regarding rehearsing songs. Maybe they thought differently?

Besides, if they managed to add songs to the set while on tour in Europe (the covers they played), don't you think they can manage to do the same during the US tour? If they feel like it...

/jarmo

prolly....but if they can't pull off Used to love her by winging it that also has to say something..no i didn't see them in europ un fortunately but i saw them in 2002 and the "tightness" of the band was nothing compared to how Dave, Scott, Slash and Duff interacted with each other when i saw VR live

I don't mean to say that they should do that i just figured they would be rehearsing for the US tour...so I'm a bit shocked to see them revert back to the same old habits they had before rehearsing for Europe btw how long did they rehearse before the Hammerstien shows anybody remember? i know that they have been touring for 3 months but I'm just curious as hopefully they will be playing a Chinese Democracy heavy setlist at some point during this upcoming leg and one would think (or hope) they will rehearse those tracks

[requiem156]

all good points requiem...but there is a difference between being competent and being tight and the way you get tight is by playing with each other and hanging out together constantly IMO

i think a few hours a day 3 days a week for a month or so would be a good amount of practicing to go over 13 album tracks and a few "new" old songs from the back catalogue...Obviously they were not tight enough to perform TWAT on a regular basis and they never managed to work Rhiad in..then there are 7 other tracks that they need to relearn.

I'm not saying practice for a week and take a month off...personally i thought that the band would be out of sight for a month and then appear @ vegas...Vegas is a month from today BTW

I think the soul asylum dates are all up the western side of the US so it's not like he's gonna go from Seattle to LA to practice overnight? then go back to SA...when he's on the road with them he's a write-off for GnR.

as for the songwriting being done...god i hope so it better be for CD at least

the orig band got hooked on herion as a group....it made them closer and more "tight" as a group of buddies...that kinda tightness doesn't exist with the current incarnation...the orig band went from rags to riches...or so they say the new band was assembeld over time. in time they hopefully will accomplish something together but to date they haven't scratched the surface of the accomplishements of the orig group...that is why as of now (and it doesn't mater who has been in GnR longer) Robin doesn't touch Slash's legacy with the band at least in my eyes

Well it's a little soon to judge Robin against Slash, considering that he hasn't released any professionally recorded versions of his contribution. Of course they haven't touched the accomplishments of the original group so far - that goes without saying, and it's a fairly big yardstick in any case. The new band has proven that they play the songs well, and with feeling. They'll always be 2nd best to the guys that wrote them by default, even if they play tighter than the band did in 1987, which they probably do. That's why the album needs to come out! Once there is soemthing concrete, these comparisons may have some weight - until then, there's really nothing to compare. They are doing a good job with what they have to work with.

Assuming that they should have been able to learn Used to Love Her on the fly pre-supposes that they are all familiar with the song. It's not exactly the flagship of GNR songs, though is it?

I have been in more than one band that had plenty of chemistry in the rehearsal space and onstage, but never hung out when we weren't working. I'd say that is more the norm than anything to tell you the truth, although I'm certainly not implying that you don't know how bands work. 

[Neemo]

Assuming that they should have been able to learn Used to Love Her on the fly pre-supposes that they are all familiar with the song. It's not exactly the flagship of GNR songs, though is it?

I have been in more than one band that had plenty of chemistry in the rehearsal space and onstage, but never hung out when we weren't working. I'd say that is more the norm than anything to tell you the truth, although I'm certainly not implying that you don't know how bands work.?

used to love her is like 3 chords in it's simplest form

maybe I'm just an idealist that thinks band members should be buddies as well as colleagues

[requiem156]

Assuming that they should have been able to learn Used to Love Her on the fly pre-supposes that they are all familiar with the song. It's not exactly the flagship of GNR songs, though is it?

I have been in more than one band that had plenty of chemistry in the rehearsal space and onstage, but never hung out when we weren't working. I'd say that is more the norm than anything to tell you the truth, although I'm certainly not implying that you don't know how bands work.?

used to love her is like 3 chords in it's simplest form

maybe I'm just an idealist that thinks band members should be buddies as well as colleagues

Yes, it's an easy song. But, if you've never heard it, you might not know the form. Plus, it's easy to confuse it with other songs! I've started playing Dead Flowers more than once when I was shooting for that song, because in the moment, after a couple of drinks, it's all D-A-G. Do you go back to the D(no) or to the A(yes)?

You are clearly an idealist. I appreciate what you're saying - many great bands have had chemistry on a friendship basis. On the other hand, I was just reading a quote from Pete Townsend where he said that he and Roger never see each other when they aren't recording or touring. Roger Waters and David Gilmour fought all the time, which is an entirely different type of chemistry, but they sure got stuff done when they were working. Anyway, my only real point is, let's see what happens. I'm not going to love it if it sucks, but I'm optimistic that it can be really good.

[jarmo]

prolly....but if they can't pull off Used to love her by winging it that also has to say something..no i didn't see them in europ un fortunately but i saw them in 2002 and the "tightness" of the band was nothing compared to how Dave, Scott, Slash and Duff interacted with each other when i saw VR live

I saw VR in 2004 and 2005, then I saw GN'R in 2006..... I don't recall VR interacting more with each other than any other band.....




/jarmo

[Kujo]

I'll second that observation.

I saw VR at the Hard Rock in Hollywood, FL. It was a good show and Scott was all over the stage. Slash and Duff however were firmly planted at their spots on stage. You'd have thought they just met that day.

[Neemo]

I'll second that observation.

I saw VR at the Hard Rock in Hollywood, FL. It was a good show and Scott was all over the stage. Slash and Duff however were firmly planted at their spots on stage. You'd have thought they just met that day.

hmmm odd.. when i saw them they were really energetic and moving around and almost posing together for photo ops and stuff.

@ requiem I dunno about a tension between the members I'm not saying it's that bad at least i hope it's not like that

whatever...less than a month away...I hope the North American tour is a huge success