If Axl is NOT hard to work with and does NOT need to do things his way in his own time, then why has it taken him 10 years to make an album and why has he gone through a million different players?
They don?t work only with him. Those players are a million mile different to each other.
For instance
I heard it was Zakk & Slash that didn?t get on.
They both tried to kick each others ass with their playing and it didn?t workout.
Apparently people of such different musical backgrounds are hard to work together in harmony and the work doesn?t proceed smoothly. Therefore usually people prefer stay with their own kinds. But GNR is an unusual band.
In GNR each player ought to transcend the differences to sublimate conflicts into art while keeping one?s individuality. Like Indy said, it takes time, sure.
I think Guns n? Roses aims at taking up varied elements from guns to roses and making something mind-blowing from them.