New Slash interview in Guitar Edge Magazine

[Jim Bob]

It should also put to rest the 'Axl wrote the whole of Appetite on his own' brigade.

nobody claims that man.. 

the only thing people claim, is that he had the most input,  and the fact that 42% of the royalties are his and this was based off of a formula slash came up with, theres little to debate there.

give this interview to any other of the 4 guys, you'd get different answers, from each guy.   its from their POV.

[CheapJon]

It should also put to rest the 'Axl wrote the whole of Appetite on his own' brigade.

nobody claims that man..?

the only thing people claim, is that he had the most input,? and the fact that 42% of the royalties are his and this was based off of a formula slash came up with, theres little to debate there.

give this interview to any other of the 4 guys, you'd get different answers, from each guy.? ?its from their POV.

exactly
I can't understand why some people who are fans of axl must hate slash, and some slash fans must hate axl, WTF

I love 'em both just that i love axl more but i never start shit about the 2

[darkmonth]

the only thing people claim, is that he had the most input,  and the fact that 42% of the royalties are his and this was based off of a formula slash came up with, theres little to debate there.

Whereas the real truth, and I've read this from Axl as WELL as the other members, is that on Appetite, the system used was a 5 way split.  The newer system was used on Illusions.

Fact is tho ... great interview!

[luciano]

**********
GREAT INTERVIEW, THANKS A LOT! Guns n' Roses wrote Appetite! And it is the best record ever!
WOW!!!!
**********

[estrangedpaul]

Great interview: interesting that where the latter years are so full of contradictions from the different members the views here seem consistent with other members. The story about It's So Easy was exactly as Axl described it on the Trunk interview last year. He also used the word Beatnik to describe the original version, which i'd love to hear, if they ever recorded it.

I agree about the beginning, middle and end part. They always had great intros, and the outros where the song usually went into double-speed with Slash playing sleazy lead solos and Axl repeating a chorus line. It was an awesome trick they used over and over.

Based on this we can probably revise the songwriting credits slightly

Welcome To The Jungle (Lyrics: Rose, Music: Slash, McKagen)
On HTGTH its just Slash & Rose.

It's So Easy (Lyrics: Arkeen, McKagen, Music: Arkeen Slash, McKagen)
Axl backed up the claim about Slash writing the heavy riffs in It's So Easy. Slash says Axl wrote a lot with Arkeen, but it's unclear if that was also on this song.

Nightrain (Rose, Stradlin', Slash, McKagen, Adler)

This one seems like a band effort more than any other.

Out Ta Get Me (Lyrics: Rose, Stradlin', Music: Stradlin', Slash)

Didn't Axl say Stradin came up with the chorus during the last tour?

Mr. Brownstone (Lyrics & Music: Slash, Izzy)

Paradise City (Rose, Slash, Duff, Izzy, Adler?)

Interesting to hear Slash never liked the Synth part. Sign of things to come I suppose, I bet he never thought there would later be a member of GnR dedicated to synths alone!

My Michelle (Lyrics: Rose, Music: Slash, Stradlin')

Interesting to hear Slash claim the big riff, Stradlin' was always credited as the main writer of the music.

Think About You (Lyrics & Music: Stradlin')

Sweet Child O' Mine (Lyrics: Rose, Music: Slash, Stradlin', McKagen)

The way Slash says "Lo and Behold, Axl heard it" is funny, its's as if he regrets that moment forever coz he hates that song so much.

You're Crazy (Rose, Stradlin', Slash, McKagen)

Anything Goes (Rose, Stradlin', Weber)

Rocket Queen (Rose, Stradlin', Slash)

Anyone else think that 'Chorus' part Slash mentions is completely different to the rest of the song is actually the 'i see you standing' part, with the melodic arpeggios rather than the actual chorus. It would make more sense. I love the way the two different parts are put together. The first half very sleazy about sex, the second half much more sensitive, i.e. Guns N Roses, that song kinda sums up the band from a musical point of view, and is a perfect finish to the album. Possibly my favourite from Appetite. Well, apart from Paradise City.

It should also put to rest the 'Axl wrote the whole of Appetite on his own' brigade.

nobody claims that man..

the only thing people claim, is that he had the most input, and the fact that 42% of the royalties are his and this was based off of a formula slash came up with, theres little to debate there.

give this interview to any other of the 4 guys, you'd get different answers, from each guy. its from their POV.

It's like this. For most of the songs Axl wrote the lyrics, vocal melodies, had a say in the arrangements and wrote the Synth part for Paradise City. The rest of the band wrote the music, mostly Izzy and Slash. They also had a say in arrangements, and Slash wrote the solos. It's unlikely Axl wrote much music because he didn't play any instruments. But, his lyrics, vocal melodies, and just the way he sings is what makes the songs what they were, even on songs where he didn't write the lyrics. Also, the SCOM story illustrates his ability to recognise the potential in stuff other people don't. But I don't think he wrote as much of the album as people say he did. You can't argue who was more important. I mean which is more important: the intro riff to Sweet Child, or the vocals. The riff in WTTJ or the vocals. You can't. It's a pointless argument.

[novemberparadise23]

great read

 slash will always be cool in my book and hopefully both him and axl are done with there bands  that eventually they get back together with other originals

but for now lets have some democracy and libertad

[tomass74]

Great read...... I wish they could all get together and do one of those classic album episodes.....

[Neemo]

I'm glad you are all enjoying the article it's my pleasure to post it for y'all

It should also put to rest the 'Axl wrote the whole of Appetite on his own' brigade.

nobody claims that man..?

the only thing people claim, is that he had the most input,? and the fact that 42% of the royalties are his and this was based off of a formula slash came up with, theres little to debate there.

give this interview to any other of the 4 guys, you'd get different answers, from each guy.? ?its from their POV.

exactly
I can't understand why some people who are fans of axl must hate slash, and some slash fans must hate axl, WTF

I love 'em both just that i love axl more but i never start shit about the 2

I agree Cheapjon both guys are amazing i never understood hating one and liking the other.

also JB is correct....Slash came up with the formula...and remember it was to give adler as little imput on the album as possible for royalties sake..also i'm sure they never expected to break up and fight over the song rights amongst themselves. Most people register the vocals mostly on a song so it stands to reason why most peopel think the singer is the most important member

@ estranged paul....yeah that breakdown part is what he is referring to and also remeber slash is reminiscing from 20 years ago...i'm sure parts of his memory are clouded on some points fact is we'll never know who wrote what cuz at the time they were about the music and making it big and not concerned with how much $$$ each person gets when a disk is sold...to me when there was individual credits on UYI i knew it was the beginning of the end even back then...i remember being a bit sad when i read the cd insert

[Smoking Guns]

What I love is that eventhough Slash did not like Sweet Child at first, he was still a pro and wrote beautiful fills and solos.  Now, he did say he liked the solo session, I would assume cause it rocked.  It rocks big time.  Possibly his greatest solo ever is on a song he didn't like at first, but now loves!

[GnR-NOW]

Great interview, great look back.  I for one, do not want a reunion, Im happy with the current GNR and VR.  But I would like to hear alot of the unreleased material from the original band.

[Neemo]

Great interview, great look back.? I for one, do not want a reunion, Im happy with the current GNR and VR.? But I would like to hear alot of the unreleased material from the original band.

unfortunately i dont think there is much if any completed tracks by the orig band that arent readily available through DL...maybe some guitar and bass tracks or something with rough duff vocals on it but i doubt much more than that

[jarmo]

So even though Slash admits that he might've gotten things wrong, many of you see this as the truth and are ready to re-write the writing credits for AFD?




/jarmo

[Neemo]

So even though Slash admits that he might've gotten things wrong, many of you see this as the truth and are ready to re-write the writing credits for AFD?

yeah we shouldnt even assume anything cuz i think the writing credits were legally worked out at the adler trial....and they all agreed to it.

i posted it cuz i thought it was an insightful look at how AFD was written from slash's perspective...and, jarmo, even though it may not be totally true or some parts are clouded, i'm sure alot if it is accurate...i doubt slash is lying intentionally to make axl look bad. and what we do know from other interviews from UYI era's and the little we know of the recording of CD, axl is barely at the music recording sessions...he pretty much just shows for vocals...so it seems plausible, doesn't it?

[GnR-NOW]

I don't know who's right or who's wrong in all of this.  But I'm pro new GNR which probably means Im pro Axl.  So if I were to believe one side it would be Axl's.  He touched on a lot of interesting stuff during the Trunk interview, didn't get into detail, but made you wonder what really went on.

[darkmonth]

I'm lost ...

Where did sides come into this?

Axl is not made to look bad in the slightest in this article...

So stop with the bullshit credits crap!!!

 

[Grouse]

Funny how someone always feels the need to bring up the whole sides issue. It's even more ironic now, considering who's the one doing it....

[freedom78]

I'm lost ...

Where did sides come into this?

Axl is not made to look bad in the slightest in this article...

So stop with the bullshit credits crap!!!

 

Some people are so sensitive to this shit, because they think it's a competition.  So, while you and I enjoyed an article reminiscing about AFD, others saw a pro-"old GNR" piece or an anti-"new GNR" piece (depending on the extent of their Slash allergies).  Are all the facts perfect?  Probably not.  And, I'm willing to accept heroin abuse and Jack Daniels sour mash whisky as acceptable explanations for differing accounts of those days.     

[IzzyDutch]

So even though Slash admits that he might've gotten things wrong, many of you see this as the truth and are ready to re-write the writing credits for AFD?

/jarmo

The stuff Slash mentions isn't that far away from what's mentioned in other interviews, there's just some stuff added here and there like Izzy coming up with the riff of Outta Get Me etc. and there isn't any stuff he mentions that's radically different then what we thought or knew earlier. Eventhough he says he might've gotten things wrong which could be the cause with a few things the majority seems to be right..

[jarmo]

So even though Slash admits that he might've gotten things wrong, many of you see this as the truth and are ready to re-write the writing credits for AFD?

/jarmo

The stuff Slash mentions isn't that far away from what's mentioned in other interviews, there's just some stuff added here and there like Izzy coming up with the riff of Outta Get Me etc. and there isn't any stuff he mentions that's radically different then what we thought or knew earlier. Eventhough he says he might've gotten things wrong which could be the cause with a few things the majority seems to be right..

The way it's written doesn't exactly give that much credit to Axl.

Now, the writing credits I have on the site, I got years ago, but I can't remember from where. I think it was a song database or something. At the time I obviously thought it was credible enough to put on the site.

Those credits mention Axl as a songwriter way more than Slash does in this article.


But considering how Duff was quoted as saying Axl never wrote any of the music, maybe it's not a surprise.



Also, I seem to remember Slash saying in a TV interview in 1997 how he wrote part of Paradise City before GN'R started. That's also missing from this interview.



/jarmo

[polluxlm]

What we gotta remember is that although Axl may not have had to much input on the riffs created he still recieved the majority of the royalties. Now how can that be?

Here's the system Slash created

Musical
Melody
Lyrical
Arrangement

All of those are even split, and like Slash said, Axl had a tendency to do his own things in post production. So although the rest of the band wrote most of the music Axl were responsible for most of the lyrics, melody and last but not least, the arrangements. Anybody can create a good riff, but it takes something else to make it into a killer tune.

This is where his strength lay, which is evident in the new songs. The old band is gone, but still the new tunes have that 'gn'r' feel to them. You will also hear parts of gn'r in Slash, Izzy and Duffs work, but the overall originality that Axl brought with him is almost completely gone.