Cool Steven interview from 1988

[Izzy]

I'm a massive Steven Adler fan but one thing we must always bear in mind is that Steven got himself fired at the end of the day - okay the rest of them betrayed him but it was Steven who was doing the drugs that prevented him from functioning, it was Steven who had been warned about this for years - he wouldn't have been fired if he had got his act together.

It wasn't as if one day they all decided to do away with him - his dismissal was the culmination of 2 years worth of efforts by the other members to get him sorted out - while the way he was sacked was very wrong ultimately he was failing in his job - and that means u get fired.

Maybe that is being bit unsumpathetic to a man that was suffering from a criplling addiction - but it was possible to give up as the other members demonstrated - and he had been given the time to do so.

[Dizzy]

It wasn't as if one day they all decided to do away with him - his dismissal was the culmination of 2 years worth of efforts by the other members to get him sorted out -

Two years, really? ?And what 'other members' do you speak of? ?That's funny, because during the documented 1989 writing/demo sessions in Chicago, Slash, Duff, and Steven were the only ones there working on new material. ?Axl and Izzy were off cleaning themselves of a heroin problem, something Izzy openly admitted. ?According to both Slash and Steven, Axl didn't even show up there until the very end of those sessions, and Izzy apparently never showed up at all.

Also...ever notice that Axl and Izzy aren't in very much of the "Paradise City" video (excluding the concert footage)? ?According to Steven, that's because they were off doing heroin while he, Slash, and Duff were on set shooting the "backstage" portions of the video. ?If you watch the video, you'll notice that Axl and Izzy are only in maybe one or two shots of the backstage part of the video, while Slash, Duff, and Steven are all over the place in it.

Also, Izzy was cleaning himself of the heroin addiction right around the time Steven was fired, and Izzy barely played at all on the UYI records, which we know pissed Axl and Slash off. ?So why wasn't Izzy fired too? ?Why wasn't Axl fired for hardly attending the 1989 Chicago sessions? ?I guess it was okay for the two of them to delay the UYI records, eh?

I was sick and couldn't go into the studios much [in 1990, not the Chicago sessions], and they were frustrated with me. ?If one of them was sick, it would have been postponed. ?We just weren't a team anymore.
--Steven

[Izzy]

It wasn't as if one day they all decided to do away with him - his dismissal was the culmination of 2 years worth of efforts by the other members to get him sorted out -

Two years, really?  And what 'other members' do you speak of?  That's funny, because during the documented 1989 writing/demo sessions in Chicago, Slash, Duff, and Steven were the only ones there working on new material.  Axl and Izzy were off cleaning themselves of a heroin problem, something Izzy openly admitted, and something that Axl wrote "Coma" about.  According to both Slash and Steven, Axl didn't even show up there until the very end of those sessions, and Izzy apparently never showed up at all.

Also...ever notice that Axl and Izzy aren't in very much of the "Paradise City" video (excluding the concert footage)?  According to Steven, that's because they were off doing heroin while he, Slash, and Duff were on set shooting the "backstage" portions of the video.  If you watch the video, you'll notice that Axl and Izzy are only in maybe one or two shots of the backstage part of the video, while Slash, Duff, and Steven are all over the place in it.

Also, Izzy was cleaning himself of the heroin addiction right around the time Steven was fired, and Izzy barely played at all on the UYI records, which we know pissed Axl and Slash off.  So why wasn't Izzy fired too?  Why wasn't Axl fired for hardly attending the 1989 Chicago sessions?  I guess it was okay for the two of them to delay the UYI records, eh?

I was sick and couldn't go into the studios much [in 1990, not the Chicago sessions], and they were frustrated with me.  If one of them was sick, it would have been postponed.  We just weren't a team anymore.
--Steven

Yes all of them were battling away with drugs but the rest of them were atleast starting to bring their habit under control, as you yourself mentioned in your post.

Don't put to much faith in Steven's comment at the end - that smacks of bitterness

Also u refer to why Izzy wasn't fired for never being around - well i'm sure you remember Axl was working to reduce Izzy's 'pay' because of this - the infamous new contract that pushed Izzy out of the band - maybe they would have taken more action if he was as far gone as Steven was.

At the end of the day Steven's problem was far worse than the rest of them - the other members refer to such on many occaisions, thats why a different response was needed.

[AdZ]

Axl and Izzy were off cleaning themselves of a heroin problem, something Izzy openly admitted, and something that Axl wrote "Coma" about

____________________________

Also, Izzy was cleaning himself of the heroin addiction right around the time Steven was fired, and Izzy barely played at all on the UYI records, which we know pissed Axl and Slash off.  So why wasn't Izzy fired too?  Why wasn't Axl fired for hardly attending the 1989 Chicago sessions?  I guess it was okay for the two of them to delay the UYI records, eh?

Actually I think Axl wrote it about ODing on pills:
Axl: I started writing about when I OD'ed 4 years ago. And the reason I OD'ed was cos of stress - I couldn't take it. And
I just grabbed this bottle of pills, in an argument, and just gulped them down. And I ended up in the hospital. But I liked that I wasn't in the fight anymore. And I was fully concious that I was leaving. I liked that. But then I go - all of the sudden my first real thoughts were that 'ok, you havn't toured enough, the records not gonna last, it's gonna be forgotten, listen man, you have work to do. Get out of this!' And I went 'no', and I woke up, and pulled myself out of it.

____________________________

Maybe Izzy wasn't fired because he contributed more to the band? He certainly wrote a lot more songs.

[jarmo]

Axl and Izzy were off cleaning themselves of a heroin problem, something Izzy openly admitted, and something that Axl wrote "Coma" about.

That's the first time I heard about that.

I heard Axl was in Paris or something.....



/jarmo

[Dizzy]

Yes all of them were battling away with drugs but the rest of them were atleast starting to bring their habit under control, as you yourself mentioned in your post.

Steven was obviously sober enough in 1989 to attend the Chicago sessions, where he was rehearsing and writing with Slash and Duff. ?So where were Axl and Izzy then, when Steven was ready to record the new material (and did record some demos)? ?It's funny how those two were given time to clean themselves up, even though the other three guys were ready to work on the UYI albums in 1989. ?No matter how long the UYI albums were delayed, the other guys were given the time to sober up. ?But then when Steven's problems worsened, it was suddenly urgent to record the albums right then, no matter how much time and studio money Axl and Izzy had wasted during the previous recording sessions.

Don't put to much faith in Steven's comment at the end - that smacks of bitterness

Actually, it "smacks" of what is obviously the truth, because Izzy wasn't fired for the delays he caused in the UYI albums, neither was Axl. ?Rather, Steven was the scapegoat for the entire band's problems.

well i'm sure you remember Axl was working to reduce Izzy's 'pay' because of this - the infamous new contract that pushed Izzy out of the band -

This is incorrect. ?Axl wanted to reduce Izzy's pay because he didn't move around enough onstage during their shows.
 
The final straw was Axl, who was like Adolf. ?[He] had a contract drawn up that said my wages should be reduced because I didn't move about enough on stage. ?When I heard that, I was like 'fuck this guy'.

--Izzy

At the end of the day Steven's problem was far worse than the rest of them - the other members refer to such on many occaisions, thats why a different response was needed.

Yes, Steven's problems were so much worse that Slash admits he doesn't even remember chunks of the UYI tour and Duff's pancreas exploded in 1994.

Actually I think Axl wrote it about ODing on pills:
Axl: I started writing about when I OD'ed 4 years ago. And the reason I OD'ed was cos of stress - I couldn't take it. And
I just grabbed this bottle of pills, in an argument, and just gulped them down. And I ended up in the hospital. But I liked that I wasn't in the fight anymore. And I was fully concious that I was leaving. I liked that. But then I go - all of the sudden my first real thoughts were that 'ok, you havn't toured enough, the records not gonna last, it's gonna be forgotten, listen man, you have work to do. Get out of this!' And I went 'no', and I woke up, and pulled myself out of it.

Could be, I just read that Axl had battled with heroin, and Steven had said that was why Axl and Izzy weren't in the 1989 video shoot for "Paradise City", so I was thinking he'd written "Coma" about that.

Maybe Izzy wasn't fired because he contributed more to the band? He certainly wrote a lot more songs.

Oh I see. ?So because Izzy contributed more, his problems were tolerated. ?So this implies that Steven was fired not because he was a guy with a problem, but because he was a "guy who didn't write as much" with a problem.

[Koskenkorvasieni]

Wow, there's a lot of stuff in this thread that I never knew about. They really fucked Steven over big-time. Then again, Slash and Duff were probably so wasted that they were easily manipulable by Axl, or unable to think rationally by themselves..

[Dizzy]

Wow, there's a lot of stuff in this thread that I never knew about.

Hey, I'm always happy to provide the story of my favorite band to those willing to learn about them.     Notice how, ultimately, I am unchallenged in my arguments.  Nobody can top the bitter old man when it comes to frivolous pop culture knowledge, and Izzy (the poster) and Chinasky know it!   

[Ignatius]

Wow, there's a lot of stuff in this thread that I never knew about.

Hey, I'm always happy to provide the story of my favorite band to those willing to learn about them.? ?? Notice how, ultimately, I am unchallenged in my arguments.? Nobody can top the bitter old man when it comes to frivolous pop culture knowledge, and Izzy (the poster) and Chinasky know it!? ?

Oh lord...I thought we had enough Steven's threads already. Frivolous pop culture knowledge? totally agree, imagine the bitter old man singing " Heaven is a place on earth"??

I know you are obsessed with Belinda Carlisle!!!!