Slash talks about Axl on Letterman...LINK

[Ali]

I was comparing Girlfriends/wives to frontmen



When u are dating a great girl or guy for instance, U forget how shitty most guys/girls are and u think u can find another great girl/guy but in reality if u have a great one, u better cherish and hold on to them cause another one probably won't come around.


Slash had the greatest frontman of all time but probably thought he could be happier and just as successful with another.

He got Scott who is half as talented and more a pain in the ass than Axl was, so now he wishes he still had the greatest frontman with a little headache over the frontman he has now. cause at least with Axl the headaches were worth it in the end due to the great music etc.

Interesting point there at the end.  I suppose, ultimately, Slash would have to answer who is the bigger pain in the ass.  Maybe they are different pains in the asses.  One being more related to his substance use, perhaps.  Just a theory.  Also, it reminds me that Axl has never denied he was a pain in the ass.  He said so in his foreword to Robert John's book and onstage at the end of the RIR III show.

Ali

[Falcon]

...more a pain in the ass than Axl was..

As far as a bandmate goes, I'd speculate that Axl is off the scale more a pain in the ass in comparison to Weiland for the likes of Slash.

For a musician such as Slash, a guy who likes to work within the framework of a functioning band and all that entails, I think the inactivity would up the pain in the ass factor to the nth degree.

[FunkyMonkey]

Slash is on Late Night with Conan O'Brien tonight so I'm sure there will be more to talk about.  

Maybe there should be a Slash TV/Radio/Book appearances to sell book thread...this is starting to get confusing.

[Bridge]

It's about time Slash starts taking responsibility for what has been said and printed about Axl/GN'R over the years.

Mmm hmmm.? No doubt, he should assume responsibility.? However, in the face of Axl's infamously incendiary concert rants about Slash (Rio '01 and Albany '02 just to name a couple), I'd suggest that Axl is considerably more responsible for "what's been said and printed".? Don't forget, those concerts were public, hence were written and spoken about publicly by the media as well as fans.

Imagine this scenario:

Interviewer: I'd like to ask about Slash....
Axl: No comment, next question please.

Impossible? No.

Imagine this scenario:

Interviewer: I'd like to ask about Slash....
Axl: I haven't talked to Slash in 10 years.? I love the guy, I wanted the world to know how great he was...

Impossible?? No.

And you know why?? Probably because the above was actually said by Axl, in 2006 at some Korn party, and it made the news.? So there you have it.? Axl proved that he will indeed speak about Slash when asked about him.? Maybe not in every interview, and maybe not at length, but it's certainly not unreasonable or unrealistic to think that Axl is going to avoid speaking of Slash every time he's asked about him.? And let's face it, as much as Axl/new band fans delude themselves otherwise, Axl is going to be (and will always be) asked about Slash, regardless of any "new" band he's in.

[Bridge]

A friend just sent me this... It proves my dialogue with Steven...

"At one point, in order to keep this band together, it was necessary for me to give him a portion of my publishing rights. That was one of the biggest mistakes I've made in my life, but he threw such a fit, saying he wasn't going to stay in the band. We were worried about not being able to record our first album, so I did what I felt I had to do. In the long run I paid very extensively for keeping Steven in Guns N' Roses. I paid $1.5 million by giving him 15% of my publishing off of Appetite For Destruction."

Uh huh.? And when you hung out with Steven, how well DID he explain this to you?? Because in the following document, he went into a bit more detail on the issue.?? I found it posted around these forums.? Please consider the bold highlighted portions.


--Steven Adler, 1991 press release on his lawsuit against Guns N Roses....

They told me I had a drug problem, well, who the fuck were they to tell me that? A couple alcoholics and heroin users? Did they take some time in between fucking strippers to decide they were going to throw me out of the band? Doug Goldstein took me to have an opiate blocker, which made me very sick. I told them [Slash & Duff] that I felt sick and couldn't record. Slash told me we had to, because we couldn't waste the money. I said "Money? What about the money we wasted last year [referring to the 1989 Chicago rehearsal/recording sessions, in which only Slash, Duff, and Steven attended] when Izzy was cleaning himself up, and Axl was nowhere to be found? Why was it okay for those guys to waste the money, but not me [in order to] get well?" So anyway, they bring me into the studio and I feel like shit. It took me forever to get the song [Civil War] right, and they got frustrated with me. So next thing I know, Doug has a stack of papers in front of me that I could never fucking read because they were about five inches thick! He's telling me 'sign here, sign there' and telling me I was signing an agreement saying I was on "probation", meaning I was going to detox in time to record, or else. But it turns out, those papers weren't really giving me that chance. So I don't hear a fucking thing from anyone for awhile, then I got these notices saying 'you're out of the band'. Through my lawyers, I discovered that the "probation" papers that Doug had me sign were actually the rights to my partnership and all my royalties, which I was unknowingly signing away! They completely screwed me out of everything, these guys, [who were] my friends, my family. It hurt more than anything. My royalties were from playing, writing, and [use of] my image such as t shirts and shit. When we recorded [Appetite for Destruction], Slash came up with this system where whoever wrote got credit. But then when it came time to actually divide them up, suddenly everybody was getting credit but me. I mean, [for example] Izzy wrote the song "Think About You" by himself before we started playing it, yet Slash, Duff, and Axl were also going to be receiving royalties for it, since they supposedly "added to it". I said, "well what about me? Did I add nothing?" I mean Izzy wrote the fucking song, I thought that's how the writing credits were determined, but the other guys were getting credit for something they didn't write, and I wasn't. Same thing for all the other songs, Axl would get credit for songs such as "Brownstone" [written by Slash and Izzy] and "It's So Easy" [written by Duff and West Arkeen], even though he didn't write anything on them, and the other guys [who didn't write also got credit] too. So why not me? So Axl gave me a portion of his [to compensate for not being included], and my name was put beside the rest of theirs [in the writing credits] and that was that. But now they've screwed me out of those royalties and my other ones too. Two fucking albums that I played on are still selling and they're collecting money from them, and I'm not. Guns N Roses T shirts with my face on them are still selling, and they're collecting money from them, and I'm not. That's what they did to me, people I thought were my friends took it all away and said goodbye as if I never existed. Fuck that! That's why I sue them, and I'm confident the jury will see it my way.

Yeah.  Kinda portrays the situation in a different light, eh?

In fact, I think this document reveals Axl's statements to be rather vague and duplicititious.? Steven's statements here are MUCH closer to what Slash said in his autobiography, which presents the same theme: Steven was being ripped off and excluded and was only compensated after he protested.

So if you go by Slash's and Steven's statement in the aforementioned literature, and then compare it to Axl's story, Axl seems to be the odd man out.

I'm not disputing that Steven could very well be thankful that it happened, since that money supports him.? But that doesn't necessarily mean Axl was being a "good hearted soul" by giving the money to him.? Assuming Slash's and Steven's stories are true (a genuine possibility since they pretty much jive with each other), the royalties that Axl gave up were money that just should've gone to Steven in the first place.

[Christos AG]

A friend just sent me this... It proves my dialogue with Steven...

"At one point, in order to keep this band together, it was necessary for me to give him a portion of my publishing rights. That was one of the biggest mistakes I've made in my life, but he threw such a fit, saying he wasn't going to stay in the band. We were worried about not being able to record our first album, so I did what I felt I had to do. In the long run I paid very extensively for keeping Steven in Guns N' Roses. I paid $1.5 million by giving him 15% of my publishing off of Appetite For Destruction."

Uh huh.  And when you hung out with Steven, how well DID he explain this to you?  Because in the following document, he went into a bit more detail on the issue.   I found it posted around these forums.  Please consider the bold highlighted portions.


--Steven Adler, 1991 press release on his lawsuit against Guns N Roses....

They told me I had a drug problem, well, who the fuck were they to tell me that? A couple alcoholics and heroin users? Did they take some time in between fucking strippers to decide they were going to throw me out of the band? Doug Goldstein took me to have an opiate blocker, which made me very sick. I told them [Slash & Duff] that I felt sick and couldn't record. Slash told me we had to, because we couldn't waste the money. I said "Money? What about the money we wasted last year [referring to the 1989 Chicago rehearsal/recording sessions, in which only Slash, Duff, and Steven attended] when Izzy was cleaning himself up, and Axl was nowhere to be found? Why was it okay for those guys to waste the money, but not me [in order to] get well?" So anyway, they bring me into the studio and I feel like shit. It took me forever to get the song [Civil War] right, and they got frustrated with me. So next thing I know, Doug has a stack of papers in front of me that I could never fucking read because they were about five inches thick! He's telling me 'sign here, sign there' and telling me I was signing an agreement saying I was on "probation", meaning I was going to detox in time to record, or else. But it turns out, those papers weren't really giving me that chance. So I don't hear a fucking thing from anyone for awhile, then I got these notices saying 'you're out of the band'. Through my lawyers, I discovered that the "probation" papers that Doug had me sign were actually the rights to my partnership and all my royalties, which I was unknowingly signing away! They completely screwed me out of everything, these guys, [who were] my friends, my family. It hurt more than anything. My royalties were from playing, writing, and [use of] my image such as t shirts and shit. When we recorded [Appetite for Destruction], Slash came up with this system where whoever wrote got credit. But then when it came time to actually divide them up, suddenly everybody was getting credit but me. I mean, [for example] Izzy wrote the song "Think About You" by himself before we started playing it, yet Slash, Duff, and Axl were also going to be receiving royalties for it, since they supposedly "added to it". I said, "well what about me? Did I add nothing?" I mean Izzy wrote the fucking song, I thought that's how the writing credits were determined, but the other guys were getting credit for something they didn't write, and I wasn't. Same thing for all the other songs, Axl would get credit for songs such as "Brownstone" [written by Slash and Izzy] and "It's So Easy" [written by Duff and West Arkeen], even though he didn't write anything on them, and the other guys [who didn't write also got credit] too. So why not me? So Axl gave me a portion of his [to compensate for not being included], and my name was put beside the rest of theirs [in the writing credits] and that was that. But now they've screwed me out of those royalties and my other ones too. Two fucking albums that I played on are still selling and they're collecting money from them, and I'm not. Guns N Roses T shirts with my face on them are still selling, and they're collecting money from them, and I'm not. That's what they did to me, people I thought were my friends took it all away and said goodbye as if I never existed. Fuck that! That's why I sue them, and I'm confident the jury will see it my way.

Yeah.  Kinda portrays the situation in a different light, eh?

In fact, I think this document reveals Axl's statements to be rather vague and duplicititious.  Steven's statements here are MUCH closer to what Slash said in his autobiography, which presents the same theme: Steven was being ripped off and excluded and was only compensated after he protested.

So if you go by Slash's and Steven's statement in the aforementioned literature, and then compare it to Axl's story, Axl seems to be the odd man out.

I'm not disputing that Steven could very well be thankful that it happened, since that money supports him.  But that doesn't necessarily mean Axl was being a "good hearted soul" by giving the money to him.  Assuming Slash's and Steven's stories are true (a genuine possibility since they pretty much jive with each other), the royalties that Axl gave up were money that just should've gone to Steven in the first place.

This was a press release for legal problems he was facing. You know, lawyers involved, bullshit told or hidden.

I'm talking about an informal dialogue that took place more than a decade later, infront of his current (at the time) bandmates. Adler's Appetite 2004.

Since you asked, he explained it very well. He made it VERY clear that he was thankfull for Axl giving him part of his rights.

He also said that Axl wrote most of the stuff for AFD. I don't know what he meant by that, lyrics, melodies... But he did say that.

It was around 1 pm. He was sober. He just had breakfast.

He had no reason to say anything good for Axl. But he did...

[Bridge]

This was a press release for legal problems he was facing. You know, lawyers involved, bullshit told or hidden.

I'm talking about an informal dialogue that took place more than a decade later, infront of his current (at the time) bandmates. Adler's Appetite 2004.

Yeah, I got what you meant.? But just because lawyers were involved doesn't mean the statements made in the press release aren't accurate, or at least indicative of what went down.? Especially since other band member accounts seem to corroborate the story (Slash's autobiography, for example).

Since you asked, he explained it very well. He made it VERY clear that he was thankfull for Axl giving him part of his rights.

I don't doubt Steven is thankful.? He lives off that money, so I'm sure he's glad to have it, regardless of why it was given to him.

But if he didn't explain to you the circumstances on why it was given to him, it doesn't seem that he explained it very well.

He also said that Axl wrote most of the stuff for AFD. I don't know what he meant by that, lyrics, melodies... But he did say that.

Well, according to an 1988 issue of Metal Hammer, he's right as far as technical writing credits are concerned.? From memory, those credits stated that roughly half of the lyrics were written by Axl, and virtually all the vocal melodies.? Vocal melodies alone are worth 25%, so they're going to put Axl over.? My impression was always that songs were initially written, then the writing credits were changed because all other nonwriting members contributed to the final versions so much.? This is what the press release speaks of.

[Bridge]

Others have lied but not Axl....He is just not the kind of person who would do that.

Nooooo, of course not.  Just because we don't have concrete proof of any mendacities on Axl's part means he's NEVER uttered any.  Yep, I believe that.   

I wouldn't.? ?Slash is not associated with Axl or GnR anymore.? he said himself on Letterman he hasn't spoken to Axl in 12 years.? ? All he needs to say is, "I dont want to comment on Axl or Guns because I havent' been associated with either in 12 years.? He does his thing, I do mine."? ? ?That wuld be the mature respectable thing to do, IMO.

Or Slash could follow a certain redhead frontman's example and scream "he can suck my dick!" to the audience.  Yeah, Albany 2002 was a "mature, respectable" example of the way Axl DOESN'T discuss Slash, wasn't it?

[fuckin crazy]

Others have lied but not Axl....He is just not the kind of person who would do that.

Nooooo, of course not. Just because we don't have concrete proof of any mendacities on Axl's part means he's NEVER uttered any. Yep, I believe that.

Some people are entranced in a "cult of personality" when the Axl Rose's name is mentioned.

[Ali]

A friend just sent me this... It proves my dialogue with Steven...

"At one point, in order to keep this band together, it was necessary for me to give him a portion of my publishing rights. That was one of the biggest mistakes I've made in my life, but he threw such a fit, saying he wasn't going to stay in the band. We were worried about not being able to record our first album, so I did what I felt I had to do. In the long run I paid very extensively for keeping Steven in Guns N' Roses. I paid $1.5 million by giving him 15% of my publishing off of Appetite For Destruction."

Uh huh.? And when you hung out with Steven, how well DID he explain this to you?? Because in the following document, he went into a bit more detail on the issue.?? I found it posted around these forums.? Please consider the bold highlighted portions.


--Steven Adler, 1991 press release on his lawsuit against Guns N Roses....

They told me I had a drug problem, well, who the fuck were they to tell me that? A couple alcoholics and heroin users? Did they take some time in between fucking strippers to decide they were going to throw me out of the band? Doug Goldstein took me to have an opiate blocker, which made me very sick. I told them [Slash & Duff] that I felt sick and couldn't record. Slash told me we had to, because we couldn't waste the money. I said "Money? What about the money we wasted last year [referring to the 1989 Chicago rehearsal/recording sessions, in which only Slash, Duff, and Steven attended] when Izzy was cleaning himself up, and Axl was nowhere to be found? Why was it okay for those guys to waste the money, but not me [in order to] get well?" So anyway, they bring me into the studio and I feel like shit. It took me forever to get the song [Civil War] right, and they got frustrated with me. So next thing I know, Doug has a stack of papers in front of me that I could never fucking read because they were about five inches thick! He's telling me 'sign here, sign there' and telling me I was signing an agreement saying I was on "probation", meaning I was going to detox in time to record, or else. But it turns out, those papers weren't really giving me that chance. So I don't hear a fucking thing from anyone for awhile, then I got these notices saying 'you're out of the band'. Through my lawyers, I discovered that the "probation" papers that Doug had me sign were actually the rights to my partnership and all my royalties, which I was unknowingly signing away! They completely screwed me out of everything, these guys, [who were] my friends, my family. It hurt more than anything. My royalties were from playing, writing, and [use of] my image such as t shirts and shit. When we recorded [Appetite for Destruction], Slash came up with this system where whoever wrote got credit. But then when it came time to actually divide them up, suddenly everybody was getting credit but me. I mean, [for example] Izzy wrote the song "Think About You" by himself before we started playing it, yet Slash, Duff, and Axl were also going to be receiving royalties for it, since they supposedly "added to it". I said, "well what about me? Did I add nothing?" I mean Izzy wrote the fucking song, I thought that's how the writing credits were determined, but the other guys were getting credit for something they didn't write, and I wasn't. Same thing for all the other songs, Axl would get credit for songs such as "Brownstone" [written by Slash and Izzy] and "It's So Easy" [written by Duff and West Arkeen], even though he didn't write anything on them, and the other guys [who didn't write also got credit] too. So why not me? So Axl gave me a portion of his [to compensate for not being included], and my name was put beside the rest of theirs [in the writing credits] and that was that. But now they've screwed me out of those royalties and my other ones too. Two fucking albums that I played on are still selling and they're collecting money from them, and I'm not. Guns N Roses T shirts with my face on them are still selling, and they're collecting money from them, and I'm not. That's what they did to me, people I thought were my friends took it all away and said goodbye as if I never existed. Fuck that! That's why I sue them, and I'm confident the jury will see it my way.

Yeah.? Kinda portrays the situation in a different light, eh?

In fact, I think this document reveals Axl's statements to be rather vague and duplicititious.? Steven's statements here are MUCH closer to what Slash said in his autobiography, which presents the same theme: Steven was being ripped off and excluded and was only compensated after he protested.

So if you go by Slash's and Steven's statement in the aforementioned literature, and then compare it to Axl's story, Axl seems to be the odd man out.

I'm not disputing that Steven could very well be thankful that it happened, since that money supports him.? But that doesn't necessarily mean Axl was being a "good hearted soul" by giving the money to him.? Assuming Slash's and Steven's stories are true (a genuine possibility since they pretty much jive with each other), the royalties that Axl gave up were money that just should've gone to Steven in the first place.

I'm not sure how Slash brought that up, but if the ripping off of Steven was brought up as a means to show why he was unhappy in Guns and/or with Axl, that is complete bullshit.  He participated in the ripping off of Steven.  Axl seems like the only one who rectified that situation by giving Steven his royalties.

If Axl was given writing credit for his vocal melodies, and I listen to Appetite and strongly believe that he developed vocal melodies even on the songs he did not write lyrics for, why should that be given up to Steven in the first place?  Steven didn't write any vocal melodies or lyrics for that matter?

Ali

[Ali]

Others have lied but not Axl....He is just not the kind of person who would do that.

Nooooo, of course not.? Just because we don't have concrete proof of any mendacities on Axl's part means he's NEVER uttered any.? Yep, I believe that.? ?

I wouldn't.? ?Slash is not associated with Axl or GnR anymore.? he said himself on Letterman he hasn't spoken to Axl in 12 years.? ? All he needs to say is, "I dont want to comment on Axl or Guns because I havent' been associated with either in 12 years.? He does his thing, I do mine."? ? ?That wuld be the mature respectable thing to do, IMO.

Or Slash could follow a certain redhead frontman's example and scream "he can suck my dick!" to the audience.? Yeah, Albany 2002 was a "mature, respectable" example of the way Axl DOESN'T discuss Slash, wasn't it?

Slash doesn't need to follow Axl's example.  He's admitted his own regret about venting to the press about his bitterness and anger about the dissolution of the old GN'R.

Ali

[Jim Bob]

Or Slash could follow a certain redhead frontman's example and scream "he can suck my dick!" to the audience.  Yeah, Albany 2002 was a "mature, respectable" example of the way Axl DOESN'T discuss Slash, wasn't it?

maybe Axl was sick of hearing Slashite assholes screaming for Slash during the show.   Thats very disrespectful to him and the rest of the band.  Especially when it was Slash who left, he wasn't let go or fired.

[Bridge]

Slash doesn't need to follow Axl's example.

I was utilizing sarcasm there, fella.

maybe Axl was sick of hearing Slashite assholes screaming for Slash during the show.   Thats very disrespectful to him and the rest of the band. 

If you heard the Albany bootleg, you'd know this wasn't the case.  Axl went on a long tangent about Slash and Duff.  If you listen to Axlphiles, he was just "telling his side of the story", which is partially true.  But Axl telling his side of the story involved a number of nasty, derogatory remarks about Slash/Duff, much worse than anything any of the former Gunners have said about Axl.

[Ali]

Slash doesn't need to follow Axl's example.

I was utilizing sarcasm there, fella.

So was I, fella.

Ali

[darkdays_01]

Slash is an EX-FUCKING-MEMBER that means we talk about him in this section.? ?The GnR section should be slash free IMO.? ? ? ?

Axl is singing 3 songs on Baz's album.? stop complaining if you dont like how shit is.? ?its pathetic.?

What is pathetic is you people thst diss the former members which created the holy Guns n Roses you worship today. When this new circus puts out some music of there own and quits playing cover band just maybe you can have a Slash free GnR section. Slash is more GN'R than any of those hired hands in the Axl band these days.   

[CSS]

Slash is more GN'R than any of those hired hands in the Axl band these days.

But for God's sake!

Was that really necessary?

You talk about how people should respect Slash and GN'R in the past... Then how about you start showing some respect for the band that we have today?

Don't come here and talk about how all the people should respect this and that, and then take a mighty stab at Guns N' Roses as it is today a second later. That's being a fucking hypocrite.

Noone here has EVER disrespected GN'R and its past, and no one ever will - It's a Guns N' Roses board, for crying out loud!

But Slash hasn't been involved with that band in over eleven years, and even though his biography mainly focus on GN'R, it still should be featured in the section he and the rest of the guys in Velvet Revolver is dedicated to, it's not that hard to understand and respect.

Anyway, fight away - I don't give a crap, because this thread will never be focused at the biography either way.

[Bridge]

You talk about how people should respect Slash and GN'R in the past... Then how about you start showing some respect for the band that we have today?

Don't come here and talk about how all the people should respect this and that, and then take a mighty stab at Guns N' Roses as it is today a second later. That's being a fucking hypocrite.

Not really.? Because you have to earn respect.? Slash did that during his time in GNR.? The new members haven't.? And they won't until there is music with their names on it released to the public.? Touring under the GNR name and playing sets consisting of 95% old songs (songs the new guys didn't write or record) isn't earning them anything except a reputation of being a nostalgia act or a cover band.? So there is a difference between respecting Slash for GNR-related material and respecting the new guys.

[Jim Bob]

You talk about how people should respect Slash and GN'R in the past... Then how about you start showing some respect for the band that we have today?

Don't come here and talk about how all the people should respect this and that, and then take a mighty stab at Guns N' Roses as it is today a second later. That's being a fucking hypocrite.

Not really.  Because you have to earn respect.  Slash did that during his time in GNR.  The new members haven't.  And they won't until there is music with their names on it released to the public.  Touring under the GNR name and playing sets consisting of 95% old songs (songs the new guys didn't write or record) isn't earning them anything except a reputation of being a nostalgia act or a cover band.  So there is a difference between respecting Slash for GNR-related material and respecting the new guys.

you are on a Guns N Roses board so you respect the guys who are in Guns N Roses today.  Period.

[Bridge]

you are on a Guns N Roses board so you respect the guys who are in Guns N Roses today.? Period.

I am on a Guns N Roses board so I respect the guys who MADE Guns N Roses and its music what they were.? And that's the original members.? Not the new guys.? I'm not going to dish out respect to a bunch of blokes who haven't proven they can hold their own under the GNR name.? PERIOD.

[darkdays_01]

Slash is more GN'R than any of those hired hands in the Axl band these days.

Noone here has EVER disrespected GN'R and its past, and no one ever will - It's a Guns N' Roses board, for crying out loud!
.

You maybe need to buy a pair of glasses then. This thread was going just great until the master of ceremonies that runs this board made one of his smart ass comments, then all hell broke loose.


I did not disrespect that new band, i am just stating facts. They are hired hands, it's Axl Rose's band and Slash is still more GN'R than anyone of them. That IS NOT being a hypocrite. Stating facts, until they release something with there names under it, start playing a set list not made up entirely of the original bands material, then maybe they will get that respect that you some of you desire them to have.  You cant blame the band as they have as much knowledge as we have pertaining to the release of CD. Who's to Blame: that's easy.