I love the 'after the fact' mentality people have about GnR these days where Axl is the saint who did no wrong and the other guys were doing everything possible to undermind him. Like Matt was brought in against Axl's will or something. Sheesh...
Those of you who were actually old enough to be alive when UYI came out were all creaming yourselves when there was a new drummer in GnR, don't try to act like you acted any different you bunch of fairweather fans.
Actually, I remember exactly how I felt when I bought the Illusions albums right after they came out....I didn't like Matt at all. Not only did he look like a complete dork on the inside booklet picture, but his playing style was/still is very robotic and boring. 60 takes or not, Steven's drumming on Civil War compared to the rest of the album(s) is like night and day. I was actually excited when I first found out Brain was in Gnr because I've been a fan of his since Primus dropped the Brown album.? ?
? Maybe Matt did save Gnr at the time...but it definately didn't improve his drumming style, or lack of...He's just about the most solid drummer around, but thats about it to me....