SOUNTRACK OF OUR LIVES

[Alan]

SOUNTRACK OF OUR LIVES

M. Shadows (AVENGED SEVENFOLD)
BAND: GUNS N' ROSES

WHY THEM?

"Just everything about them to me is the pinnacle of musicianship and what a live show should represent. You could tell that band were from the streets of LA, and at any moment they could break up - and look what happened to them. They went crazy and it destroyed them, but to me they were the perfect, rock 'n' roll band."

HOW WERE YOU FIRST INTRODUCED TO THEM?

"Through my dad, actually. I was a little kid, and after he saw the 'Welcome to the Jungle' video on Headbangers Ball, he went and got the tape and played me some songs - obviously not everything, because there were the cusses and stuff. I stole the tape from him and fell in love with Guns N' Roses and listened to it everyday pretty much."

HAVE YOU EVER SEEN THEM LIVE?

"I've seen every video, but i never saw them live with their original line-up because obviously i was too young. I have seen the other G N' R band with Buckethead and other people, and I've obviously seen Velvet Revolver, but I've never seen Guns N' Roses with their original line-up which kills me."

HAVE YOU EVER MET ANY OF THEM?

Nope. We're playing with Velvet Revolver in Germany and I'd like to meet them. We were rehearsing got out next album next to Velvet Revolver while they were doing a Making The Band-type-thing for MTV, and Slash would come by and say, "What's up". But we were never bold enough to go up and actually start talking to him. We'd just nod when he went by, but it was kinda exciting just to see those guys in person, they're like idols to us."

ARE YOU GONNA BE TOO SCARED TO TALK TO HIM WHEN YOU PLAY WITH THEM?

"No, I'll be able to talk to him then - it's a better setting. I think we're playing the same stage as them and they're probably playing a bit after us, so I think it would be appropriate to go talk to him about playing."

WHAT WAS THE HIGHLIGHT OF THEIR CAREER?

"If I had to say the highlight, it would probably be somewhere between the Appetite For Destruction tours, maybe the Metallica / Guns N' Roses headlining tour they did - that was a huge thing in the States. I'm sure that was one of the highlights, although I really don't know how they were getting along."

ANY LOW POINTS?

"I think when they put out The Spaghetti Incident. It was sorta the wrong record to put out, there were a bunch of covers on it. It was one of those things that they put out when they were on a downward spiral with each other - they hated each other - and they put that out and then ended the band, which is kinda unfortunate. They always said shitty things about each other, which kinda sucked, but that was the danger about them."

HOW HAVE THEY INFLUENCED YOU?

"I think musically they've influenced us, especially on this new record. In terms of attitude and how to pull off vocals, Axl doesn't make his voice sound as good as it can; he gives it al ot of attitude and grit. It's not perfect, so that's one thing I learned when I went to my vocal coach, who taught Axl Rose. It's about getting that technique where it doesn't sound like technique at all"

RECOMMENDED LISTENING?

"'Use Your Illusion II', if I had to pick just one... For me it's the big rock record of the last century."

[Will]

We're playing with Velvet Revolver in Germany and I'd like to meet them. We were rehearsing got out next album next to Velvet Revolver while they were doing a Making The Band-type-thing for MTV, and Slash would come by and say, "What's up". But we were never bold enough to go up and actually start talking to him. We'd just nod when he went by, but it was kinda exciting just to see those guys in person, they're like idols to us."

Wait, how old is this interview? Is it from last year?

[coolman78SLASH]

interesting...  Hope Axl dosent read this, but in all fairness he dident say anything bad..

[supaplex]

We're playing with Velvet Revolver in Germany and I'd like to meet them. We were rehearsing got out next album next to Velvet Revolver while they were doing a Making The Band-type-thing for MTV, and Slash would come by and say, "What's up". But we were never bold enough to go up and actually start talking to him. We'd just nod when he went by, but it was kinda exciting just to see those guys in person, they're like idols to us."

Wait, how old is this interview? Is it from last year?

i thoght so also. didn't m shadows meet axl at the korn party?

[LaTeRaLuS]

yea he met him at the korn party, this interview obviously took place b4 then

[Alan]

We're playing with Velvet Revolver in Germany and I'd like to meet them. We were rehearsing got out next album next to Velvet Revolver while they were doing a Making The Band-type-thing for MTV, and Slash would come by and say, "What's up". But we were never bold enough to go up and actually start talking to him. We'd just nod when he went by, but it was kinda exciting just to see those guys in person, they're like idols to us."

Wait, how old is this interview? Is it from last year?

it's a while old, but i'd never seen it before, and assumed alot of others here also wouldn't have, i'll find the month shortly

[killingvector]

Isn't the song Soundtrack of Our Lives from that O Town castoff, Ashley Parker Angel?

[The Dog]

^^^ Thats a good song.

[Continental Drift]

Cool interview man.

This guy clearly knows his GN'R... I agree with just about everything he says...

I think the Summer of 1991 when UYI was getting ready to drop, "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" and "Civil War" were available, "You Could Be Mine" was on MTV all day, T2 was dominating at the box office, and they were hitting the road in the USA as headliners with Skid Row was the pinnacle though... they were crushing everything in their path.... and EVERYONE fucking loved Guns N' Roses....

Izzy was gone, grunge was emerging and the wheels were pretty much off by the time the Metallica tour came around... even though they still were the biggest band on the planet...