You can't "replace" a Legend, put that in your head forever. This is almost like a scientific law. Like A+B. You can't go against that. Nobody can.
all i have to say to that is.... Bon Scott.
But lets stay on topic and not compare the old band to the new. Thats been done way too much...
the Bon Scott comparison falls flat on it's face. I highly doubt that had Slash died and Guns Continued on that people woudl be pissed off. People are pissed off that Slash is still around but for whatever reason not in Gn'R. Like nesquick said Gn'R were and always will be in the minds of many, many, many people Axl and Slash. Even to me that's the image I have of Gn'R. The new band is cool and all but they will never ever have the same sentimental value as the Axl and Slash Gn'R. They will never have the cutural impact, they will never have the hype, they will never have the status of the Axl and Slash Gn'R. It's just a fact. I mean Axl and Robin just doesn't have the same ring to it ya know. It's just one of those things you either choose to move past or not. For me I can deal with it. I look forward to seeing the new band, hearing the new material but if a reunion were to ever happen I'd be all for it in a heart beat no matter how good CD turns out to be. I have a hard time beliveing that there's anyone out there who would NOT want to see Axl and Slash genuinely rocking out together on stage again. I'm not talking about some money making "reunion" tour but a genuine reconciliation. Who could say no to that? Other than a few select people I can think of nobody.
The Richards ad Jager, Plant and Page, Tyler and Perry comparisons are bang on. Axl and Slash are every bit as iconic as any of them and possibly more so in terms of a duo and that's something that will never change and somthing the new band won't be able to replicate. Oh well.
The reason people pine for Slash more so than any other band member is because they were both iconic and stood out - Slash with his top hat, hair and unique style; Axl for his voice, style, stage presence, behavior. They had great chemistry, they performed well together; they were like Keith and Mick.
Watching other guitarists perform these songs is all well and good, but it's hard to feel emotionally connected to Mr. Brownstone when you know the only guy singing the song who went dancing with Brownstone when that song was written was Axl.
Seeing Appetite performed by Axl, Slash and Izzy would be an emotional experience because it would give a new life to this album - back then it was a cry for help from the streets; today it would be a revisit to their youth; they WROTE these songs together; they experienced this stuff; it was their life.
Robin Finck bless him didn't go through that experience, he had no tie to the writing of the song itself, and as such no matter HOW brilliantly he plays the songs - no matter how kick-ass his rendition is - it's still just Robin Finck covering the song that was written by people who had an emotional connection with the material.
It would be like if they went back and re-filmed Once Upon a Time in America with a new director. IDENTICAL film, identical runtime, identical actors (if we can pretend none of them aged in the past twenty years). But that was Leone's passion, and that passion and connection with the material would be missing if they had a replacement film it.
That's why.
And that's why the new GN'R needs to start playing material they actually wrote together, because then there will be a connection to the material collectively. You can see the guys enjoy playing the stuff they wrote more - and why not? It'd be like Slash being hired for the Rolling Stones to replace Keith when he dies. He'd love playing the classics but after a while he'd itch for some songs he actually wrote.
Author