Duff, "I would have salvaged things [with Axl]"

[von]

Some of the article...

On whether he ever wishes that he had the same understanding of personal problems that individuals struggle with a little earlier so that maybe other, more well-documented estrangements (i.e. GUNS N' ROSES singer Axl Rose), could have possibly been avoided:

"Umm, I know what you're getting at. I just think that that experience is where I earned my understanding, you know? I mean I was fucked up then, and so a lot of all that shit kind of fed each other. The machine was just so big. There was no way out, and there were just so many yes-men, and there's a myriad of reasons. Mostly it's because it was out of control. I know I self-medicated my way through the entire 'Use Your Illusion' tours. It wasn't til it was done did I know I had a health problem, and I got sober. That's where I got a lot of experience in dealing with people and strange situations ? I got a crash course from '86 through '93, an expert education. There was a time where if it were up to me, I would have salvaged things, and even Slash tried many times. We all wanted to save it, it's not like we all walked up one day and said 'fuck you!'

"You see, he (Axl) was a singer in this meteoric rock band that sort of captured the imagination and hit some sort of nerve with a whole reputation, and while every member of than band was important to making that happen, he was the singer. The focal point. I know that more yes-men came his way, and I think that soon your sense of reality gets a little eschewed, and that the real friends you have either change on you or those other people close them out. I can't speak for Axl now, and I haven't hung out with him for a real long time now, but a lot of this happened to me? but I wasn't the singer. So I was able to escape it. So yeah, it's sad, man."

Here's the rest:
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=76251

[bart123]

i love reading duff interviews.there is always sumthing intresting to read in them.it sucks big time that they culdnt get it going again.it was always well known that duff and slash tryed to get the guns going again but axl must be stuck so far up his own hole that he didnt want it.

[CheapJon]

but axl must be stuck so far up his own hole that he didnt want it.

yeah it must have been like that

[MarioGunner]

You know, I think the problem sometimes is that a person thinks that he/she is enough for doing the job, that's when your perspectives go out of proportion and you lose sense of what really matters.

Like I've posted many other times though, it would have been cool, if Slash would have sort of "pleased" Axl in the desire of making commercial music, they would have eventually gone back to their roots and sooner than later they would have put out another great appetite like record... but I suppose, Slash was a little bit selfish too, and Axl, was definitely the more selfish of them all.

[RageNirvanaNIN]

You know, I think the problem sometimes is that a person thinks that he/she is enough for doing the job, that's when your perspectives go out of proportion and you lose sense of what really matters.

Like I've posted many other times though, it would have been cool, if Slash would have sort of "pleased" Axl in the desire of making commercial music, they would have eventually gone back to their roots and sooner than later they would have put out another great appetite like record... but I suppose, Slash was a little bit selfish too, and Axl, was definitely the more selfish of them all.

The most nonchalant one was Izzy  , man he got SO screwed in the mixing of UYI its BS. I mean yea , what your saying makes perfect sense had Axl played more bad ass rock n roll , and Slash and Co decided to try some of Axl's ideas it would've been great. I honestly think GNR wouldv'e been the BIGGEST rock band ever. But than again I'm pretty sure after Slash heard My World he was wondering where he has a part to play lol and not to mention you know Slash. I mean it's his style of guitar playing , it wouldn't have ever gone with what Axl was ( what IS he ) trying to make.

[Ali]

You know, I think the problem sometimes is that a person thinks that he/she is enough for doing the job, that's when your perspectives go out of proportion and you lose sense of what really matters.

Like I've posted many other times though, it would have been cool, if Slash would have sort of "pleased" Axl in the desire of making commercial music, they would have eventually gone back to their roots and sooner than later they would have put out another great appetite like record... but I suppose, Slash was a little bit selfish too, and Axl, was definitely the more selfish of them all.

Axl wanted to make commercial music?  Where the hell are you getting that from?  Oh right, because the new GN'R music is so commercial! 

I love it when fans make comments about an artists character as if they know them.  Slash is selfish, but Axl was the most selfish 

Ali

[the dirt]

Oh right, because the new GN'R music is so commercial!?

I agree that OMG isn't that commercial.

[ShotgunBlues1978]

it was always well known that duff and slash tryed to get the guns going again but axl must be stuck so far up his own hole that he didnt want it.

How's that well known again?  According to Slash and Duff that's the case.  According to Axl the other guys weren't willing to make the necessary effort to push themselves to the next level.  The truth probably lies somewhere in between

Nothing is "well known" about the situation by outsiders except that they had differing visions of which direction they should go musically.  The writing was on the wall during the UYI sessions, when Axl had to go to great lengths to get these guys to contribute to songs he'd written like November Rain and Estranged

[bart123]

it was always well known that duff and slash tryed to get the guns going again but axl must be stuck so far up his own hole that he didnt want it.

How's that well known again?? According to Slash and Duff that's the case.? According to Axl the other guys weren't willing to make the necessary effort to push themselves to the next level.? The truth probably lies somewhere in between

Nothing is "well known" about the situation by outsiders except that they had differing visions of which direction they should go musically.? The writing was on the wall during the UYI sessions, when Axl had to go to great lengths to get these guys to contribute to songs he'd written like November Rain and Estranged

i highly dont believe axl on that 1 that slash and duff wouldnt make the necessary effort to push themselves to the next level.two of them combined have released heaps of material since departing from gnr.slash has worked with nearly every solo artist around.duff has had solo bands and released albums,while axl sat on his hole for 7 years 1993-2000 in his mansion in malibu and has not released a single piece of new material apart from oh my god.and now we are still here in 2007,the only difference this time is there touring but there is still no album.i think axl is the 1 with the problem trying to push himself to the next level and work.

[ShotgunBlues1978]

i highly dont believe axl on that 1 that slash and duff wouldnt make the necessary effort to push themselves to the next level.two of them combined have released heaps of material since departing from gnr.slash has worked with nearly every solo artist around.duff has had solo bands and released albums,while axl sat on his hole for 7 years 1993-2000 in his mansion in malibu and has not released a single piece of new material apart from oh my god.and now we are still here in 2007,the only difference this time is there touring but there is still no album.i think axl is the 1 with the problem trying to push himself to the next level and work.

They've released a lot of material, which in my opinion and many others doesn't even come close to approaching the level of the stuff they made in GnR.  Releasing material has nothing to do with pushing yourself to produce the best material you're capable of producing

[bart123]

i highly dont believe axl on that 1 that slash and duff wouldnt make the necessary effort to push themselves to the next level.two of them combined have released heaps of material since departing from gnr.slash has worked with nearly every solo artist around.duff has had solo bands and released albums,while axl sat on his hole for 7 years 1993-2000 in his mansion in malibu and has not released a single piece of new material apart from oh my god.and now we are still here in 2007,the only difference this time is there touring but there is still no album.i think axl is the 1 with the problem trying to push himself to the next level and work.

They've released a lot of material, which in my opinion and many others doesn't even come close to approaching the level of the stuff they made in GnR.? Releasing material has nothing to do with pushing yourself to produce the best material you're capable of producing

axl probally is pushing himself to make the best material possible but its still not gonna be gud enough cause its not gonna live up to 15 years hype and all the talk surrounding it and the current band members arent up to level par with slash duff and matt.

[ShotgunBlues1978]

axl probally is pushing himself to make the best material possible but its still not gonna be gud enough cause its not gonna live up to 15 years hype and all the talk surrounding it and the current band members arent up to level par with slash duff and matt.

Again your comments are irrelevant.  Releasing material is irrelevant to whether or not you push yourself to make the best music you can.  It's very easy to release half-hearted albums, musicians do it all the time. 

The comment you just made is also totally irrelevant to the conversation at hand.  The amount of time it's taken to record CD, and whether or not the album is good in your eyes, has nothing to do with the possibility that Slash and Duff's desire (or lack thereof) to push themsleves to the limit may have had something to do with their problems with Axl and their departure from GnR.

This type of stuff is why you got banned from chinesedemocracy.com.  You kept making irrelevant, inflamatory comments and like saying Libertad was better than anything Axl could do and then admitting later that you hadn't even heard Libertad 

[bart123]

and another point while were talking bout it how hard did axl want slash and duff to push themselves.they had just contribuited to november rain and estranged.november rain is probally 1 of the greatest ballads ever made.a song like that can only be done once or twice at most.i dont think u can go higher at pushing urself further than the likes of november rain and estranged.and where are u coming from saying i got banned from chinease democracy.com i have never been a member of that sight????but i am thinking bout joining

[estebanf]

it was always well known that duff and slash tryed to get the guns going again but axl must be stuck so far up his own hole that he didnt want it.

How's that well known again?  According to Slash and Duff that's the case.  According to Axl the other guys weren't willing to make the necessary effort to push themselves to the next level.  The truth probably lies somewhere in between

Nothing is "well known" about the situation by outsiders except that they had differing visions of which direction they should go musically.  The writing was on the wall during the UYI sessions, when Axl had to go to great lengths to get these guys to contribute to songs he'd written like November Rain and Estranged

i highly dont believe axl on that 1 that slash and duff wouldnt make the necessary effort to push themselves to the next level.

well, its quite obvious for me: Slash and Duff were recording ''Estranged'', ''Coma'' and ''November Rain'' while they were next to Axl. Now they are putting ''She Builds Quick Machines'' as first single of their last album.

If they were still united, and if Axl wasn't a ''dictator'', maybe ''She Builds Quick Machines'' could be a GUNS N' ROSES song... you want that?

Axl's ''dictatorship'' was the best thing ever happened for GNR. At least, musically.

[Wheres Izzy]

As far as Duff and Slash not being motivated enough it could have had a lot to do with drug use. By all accounts they were both incredibly fucked up back then and Axl wasn't. How many highly motivated junkies do you know? I know pot-heads who won't get a job, let alone the heavy shit.

[ShotgunBlues1978]

and another point while were talking bout it how hard did axl want slash and duff to push themselves.they had just contribuited to november rain and estranged.november rain is probally 1 of the greatest ballads ever made.a song like that can only be done once or twice at most.i dont think u can go higher at pushing urself further than the likes of november rain and estranged.and where are u coming from saying i got banned from chinease democracy.com i have never been a member of that sight????but i am thinking bout joining

You can't necessarily go higher than those songs, but you can push yourself to try to outdo yourself which is where they and Axl differed.  It's also worth noting that NR and Estranged were songs that Axl wrote and apparently had to basically force them into doing by threatening not to do the songs they wrote if they wouldn't contribute to his

As for the CD.com thing, there was a guy there named "bar123" who was banned from that site like a day before you started posting here.  His commentary and views were pretty similar too. That'd be a pretty decent coincidence if it was someone else

[ShotgunBlues1978]

As far as Duff and Slash not being motivated enough it could have had a lot to do with drug use. By all accounts they were both incredibly fucked up back then and Axl wasn't. How many highly motivated junkies do you know? I know pot-heads who won't get a job, let alone the heavy shit.

Very fair point.  All I'm saying is that the truth probably lies somewhere between what Axl says and what Duff and Slash say.  I think it's unfair that everybody automatically believes Axl is totally at fault and Duff and Slash are not to blame at all.  I'll admit that in the past I even fell into this trap as well simply because I wasn't as well informed as I am now, the media blamed Axl, the ex-members blamed him, and he remained silent for the most part.

In fact nobody except for the bandmembers themselves and maybe a few close to the situation know for sure what happened.  The one thing that us outsiders know is basically true is that their visions and motivations were just too different to coincide

[bart123]

it was always well known that duff and slash tryed to get the guns going again but axl must be stuck so far up his own hole that he didnt want it.

How's that well known again?? According to Slash and Duff that's the case.? According to Axl the other guys weren't willing to make the necessary effort to push themselves to the next level.? The truth probably lies somewhere in between

Nothing is "well known" about the situation by outsiders except that they had differing visions of which direction they should go musically.? The writing was on the wall during the UYI sessions, when Axl had to go to great lengths to get these guys to contribute to songs he'd written like November Rain and Estranged

i highly dont believe axl on that 1 that slash and duff wouldnt make the necessary effort to push themselves to the next level.

well, its quite obvious for me: Slash and Duff were recording ''Estranged'', ''Coma'' and ''November Rain'' while they were next to Axl. Now they are putting ''She Builds Quick Machines'' as first single of their last album.

If they were still united, and if Axl wasn't a ''dictator'', maybe ''She Builds Quick Machines'' could be a GUNS N' ROSES song... you want that?

Axl's ''dictatorship'' was the best thing ever happened for GNR. At least, musically.

how is axls dictatorship the best thing to happin to gnr musically.they havent released anything in 15 years.when rolling stone heard it in 2000 they said it sounded like grafitti(or sumthing to that extent),and also supposidly record officials heard the album in around 2001-2002,and sujjested to axl to make sum changes.thats why the process has taken so long.

[Naupis]

Axl wrote and apparently had to basically force them into doing by threatening not to do the songs they wrote if they wouldn't contribute to his

In my neck of the woods they call that a compromise. A little more of that type of thinking from Axl/Slash instead of it being all or nothing probably would have saved the band.

[ShotgunBlues1978]

when rolling stone heard it in 2000 they said it sounded like grafitti(or sumthing to that extent)

They said it sounded like Physical Graffiti, the Zeppelin album, remixed by Beck and Trent Reznor.  That's actually one hell of a compliment