Burn out or Fade Away?

[gilld1]

As the great Neil Young once said "It's better to burn out than fade away."  So my question to each of you is would it have been better for Axl, Slash or any of the guys from the original band to have OD'd than this current limbo that we are all in while waiting for a supposed album.  I am not wishing any ill will upon any member past or present but I would have rather seen the band torn apart by tragedy than to fade into oblivion as we are seeing now. 

Look at it like this.  I am not sitting around wondering about the next Hendrix album, or Alice In Chains, Sublime, Blind Melon, etc.  There is a strong degree of closure for the fans of those bands which GNR doesn't have.  Axl has made GNR into a missing child of sorts.  You always have the hope that they will be found but deep down you know that they are dead. 

[Booker Floyd]

No.

[gigger]

Kurt Cobain obviously thought it was better to burn out - as he quoted this lyric in his suicide note.

[WARose]

i think w?`ll see what would have been better after a release of chinese democracy....        if we`ll ever have this situation....

[Dr. Blutarsky]

As far as any music legacy goes, burning out is more profitable than fading away. Kurt Burnt out. His status jumped after his suicide. Poison faded away, still releasing albums in the `90s, each selling much less than the previous one. THey aren`t held in very high regard. ( bad comparison, poison sucked from the begining)

[Skeba]

No... How can you think like that?

Fuck. These people have lives to live! "You know what would really suit you? Death... You know.. Something to shake things up a bit.. You need something new to feel good again.. Dying... That'll put the twinkle back in your eye."

And how does the sentence " am not wishing any ill will upon any member past or present but I would have rather seen the band torn apart by tragedy than to fade into oblivion as we are seeing now. " make any sense? You're basically saying that I wish them no harm but it's a shame none of them killed themselves.

You still have the records... Listen to them. Don't worry about their reputation or about GN'R fading away. It's really not your problem.

[gilld1]

I expected some replies like that, Skeba, but I am speaking hypothetically here.  I don't have a time machine to go back and make Axl od on heroin.  I think it is a legitimate question.  Several artists have been drastically more successful after death or tragedy.  Tupac has release about 50 albums since his death.  I didn't want Layne Staley to die but his death was sure better than the life he was living.

[Skeba]

So the question you're asking is would they have been more successful if one of them had died??

Could be. But I don't waste my time thinking about what could've been.

[Rob]

I'd rather them be Poison then Nirvana. ?I still get to see Poison put on a great live show, and I still get to hear new Poison songs. ?I've never had the chance to see GN'R live. ?As long as they're not dead I'll keep hope alive. ?GNRFL, I'll spare you the hair metal rant. ?If you all don't get it now you never will. ?Maybe I'll just start a hair metal thread to educate you guys. ?Sure if Axl were to suddenly die, he'd receive the Cobain treatment, but I'm pretty sure most of the people around here would rather have Axl around (even if he's faded), than not have him at all.

[jarmo]

I am not wishing any ill will upon any member past or present but I would have rather seen the band torn apart by tragedy than to fade into oblivion as we are seeing now.?

What oblivion? The "Greatest Hits" sold million world wide. Young people today are wearing more GN'R shirts than a few years ago. They had a song in a hit video game. GN'R gets mentioned in more article as one of the greatest bands of the late 1900s.

Your question is five years too late. GN'R is more popular now than they've been in years.




/jarmo

[Buddha_Master]

Man, what is with all this Poison gay talk in here. I don't see how you can like musicians who can't play there instruments and be allowed to speak in a GNR message board. There should be a HTGTH Law against this. If you are a fan of the Backstreet Boys and the Posisons of the world, there will be an immediate ban and you have to retire to the Timberlake boards with the rest of the 13 year old girls and gay dudes.

[nesquick]

Your question is five years too late. GN'R is more popular now than they've been in years.

yes, the old band. I think we shouldn't forget that the recent rise of GN'R popularity is all about the old band. The younger generation love... the old band. I guess it's part of the "retro Rock" trend, and for them GN'R is part of that. They like what Guns N' roses used to be, they like how GN'R music used to sound. They also have eyes and ears, they know who Slash is...

I said it several times, I think a lot of people on this board underrate Slash's influence in GN'R in term of popularity. people think it will be easy to sell million copies of Chinese Democracy because the GH sold millions but No, it will be much more difficult than you think without him. To tell you the truth, if it doesn't fail without Slash, it will be a miracle.

[jarmo]

Your question is five years too late. GN'R is more popular now than they've been in years.

yes, the old band. I think we shouldn't forget that the recent rise of GN'R popularity is all about the old band. The younger generation love... the old band. I guess it's part of the "retro Rock" trend, and for them GN'R is part of that. They like what Guns N' roses used to be, they like how GN'R music used to sound. They also have eyes and ears, they know who Slash is...

But the question is about the original band.....

If somebody had died (thank God nobody did), we've gotten the same kind of effect Nirvana had.


Oh, and who says the member wouldn't have been replaced?




/jarmo

[conny]

Why do some poeple care so much about the "status" of a band?

Does it make you feel better if you listen to a respected and cool band?

Just curious...

I for one don't give a fuck about what other people say about the music I listen to.

Hendrix once said that a true artist will only be appreciated when he's dead, and he was right.

Have you been around and awake when Kurt Cobain was alive? Well I was, and let me tell you a secret: They were just another band. Popular and succesful, yes, but far from the (IMO overrated) legend status they have now.

It has something to do with people always wanting what they can't have.

As long as something is available, it will always be taken for granted - until it is gone.

Unfortuantely, for most people that's where the true attention and appreciation begins.

And that's a shame, but that's how it is. I don't know why people's minds can be working or being manipulated like that.

If Hendrix was alive he'd probably not be considered the genius he was. Same with Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain and others. But I tell you I'd much rather have the guys around putting out music than discussing about their fucken reputation and all.

Does anyone understand what I'm trying to say?

Well...anyway.

[nesquick]

I agree on the Nirvana status. Back in the early 90's, they were a successfull band among others, but there was nothing special. They were much less popular and big than GN'R.

[Axl4Prez2004]

Your question is five years too late. GN'R is more popular now than they've been in years.

yes, the old band. I think we shouldn't forget that the recent rise of GN'R popularity is all about the old band. The younger generation love... the old band. I guess it's part of the "retro Rock" trend, and for them GN'R is part of that. They like what Guns N' roses used to be, they like how GN'R music used to sound. They also have eyes and ears, they know who Slash is...

I said it several times, I think a lot of people on this board underrate Slash's influence in GN'R in term of popularity. people think it will be easy to sell million copies of Chinese Democracy because the GH sold millions but No, it will be much more difficult than you think without him. To tell you the truth, if it doesn't fail without Slash, it will be a miracle.

 
  Nesquick,
      You're a reasonable guy and I respect your opinion...but I don't agree with you here.  Yes, Slash was to Axl what Keith Richards was/is to Jagger...with one huge difference.  Slash and Axl will never perform/produce/collaborate ever again.  Never, ever, ever.  Also, this statement you made, "To tell you the truth, if it doesn't fail without Slash, it will be a miracle," is misleading.  It assumes that if New GNR fails, it's because Slash isn't there.  I think a more likely scenario for failure would be poor marketing, a reclusive front-man who won't appear in public (much less give interviews), or the powers that be in the radio world refusing to give New GNR air-play (I'm sure Clear Channel will want revenge).   

      You say, "They also have eyes and ears, they know who Slash is...," but that definitely didn't translate into sales of Slash's Snakepit garbage.  It took Stone Temple Roses/Guns N' Pilots with an established front-man to get sales.  Also, I have eyes and ears, and what I hear from Slash with VR is cool in Slither, but downright awful in Fall to Pieces...the rest of Contraband is very hard to listen to, just my opinion.   

     Now, Gilld1, no, I'm glad all former and current members of GNR are alive and well.
 
   

[RichardNixon]

IMHO, GN'R is unique in that they neither faded away, or burnt out. They just sort of stopped, right in the middle of their career...and the world has been waiting ever since.

[Axl4Prez2004]

IMHO, GN'R is unique in that they neither faded away, or burnt out. They just sort of stopped, right in the middle of their career...and the world has been waiting ever since.

Right on RichardNixon!  Axl and the GNR Experience is truly unique.    

[SLCPUNK]

Whatever Axl is doing in regards to CD I think he is smart to not talk. It creates mystery and people want what they can't have...in this case: information about him and CD.

When he is ready, I believe he will drop the album, honestly.

[jameslofton29]

Richard nixon, good point. That is why people are still waiting on GNR. If Axl had followed Def Leppard and released a 'Slang', nobody would give a fuck anymore. Its the fact that GNR disappeared that keeps people hanging around. If an album had been released in 1995-96, I think its safe to say that 90% of the people here wouldn't be here. I'm in that 90%. This album is gonna bring major closure to peoples' lives, and its gonna be great. Its like reading a book and there's a chapter missing, and years later you finally get that missing chapter.