Billboard Exclusive: Axl Rose Speaks

[Principessa]

Rather than focus on the what APPEARS to be bitterness in regard to Slash, I think the last page of the interview says it all.

WHY DO THIS INTERVIEW NOW?

Axl replies:

In answer to the negativity in the press generated by in particular by REUTERS (who have a syndication deal WITH BILLBOARD)!!!

Axl states that Reuters (and to a certain extent Billboard) have been-

- particularly ugle towards him
- negatively judgemental
- continually setting a tone for a negative public perception
- the writers with so little real information promote inaccuate shots in forums
- pro-Slash in position

Isn't it just a little coincidental then, that Axl is made to look bitter. When he spoke to fans on forums he ceratinly did not express any of that bitterness towards Slash. Remember that the Billboard interview HAS BEEN edited.

Axl may be referring to the hurt that the media (REUTERS) in particular has caused him year after year, having to read the exaggaeration of the issues, reported by people who have no real understanding.

So perhaps it is REUTERS and NOT AXL who is to blame here, for Axl's attitude about a reunion...The media hash up has ceratinly not helped! How are both men supposed to come back from that?!!!

Maybe Axl is simply taking a dig at REUTERS.

[jazjme]

"In regards to Slash, I read a desperate fan's message about, what if one of us were to die and looking back I had the possibility of a reunion now, blah blah blah. And my thoughts are, "Yeah, and while you're at the show your baby accidentally kicks a candle and burns your house down, killing himself and the rest of your family."

Give me a fucking break. What's clear is that one of the two of us will die before a reunion and however sad, ugly or unfortunate anyone views it, it is how it is. Those decisions were made a long time ago and reiterated year after year by one man."

that was (still!) fucking bitter, so there goes any re-union!!

As I said on source... Ill repeat here.. I dont think Axl cares if people who loved the old want to follow the new. I gather from reading hes more interested in fighting for the band he has now.

[Sillything]

I want the Tommy interview! Where is it?

[seely]

Great read!

Good to know the better video is now being finalised, hopefuly we'll soon get it at last!

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

And they are writing for future videos...

[damnthehaters]

Great read!

Good to know the better video is now being finalised, hopefuly we'll soon get it at last!

Whatever!  Axl said it was being finalized a month and a half ago as well.

[variant]

1 things to bear in mind with this:

We don't know when Axl wrote the emails (I'm guessing it was a few weeks ago, round about the time he was posting on the messageboards) and things could have changed since then. Those tour talks and offers could now slowly be turning into plans...

[wells]

Whatever!  Axl said it was being finalized a month and a half ago as well.

so what?  


regarding tour, this emails (interview) may be exchanged during January and published only now (maybe even because of birthday)... variant was faster

btw. there is Happy birthday Axl on VH1 - 10 songs. It would be cool that Better is the last song  ...




-velimir

[axljungle]

Very good interview, very interesting, and I want to see the "better" video soon, I hope it.

[Brundle25]

did see some jump ship, and that's always funny. Watching some douche waving a flag and then being the first punk in the water's always great.

What does he mean here? anyone have an example?


Plus, working with Duff? wow, thought he was suing his a$$ as much as Slash?

[Principessa]

Good point.

That is why I am suspicious about the write up of this article.

I don't think that Axl would make a statement that would perhaps cause a rift between Duff and Slash.

As I mentioned before, it does contradict with the interview he personally gave to the forums.

If Axl was so pissed off at Slash then he would obviously want nothing to do with Duff either, since both Duff and Slash are in the same band and spend time together. It doesn't make sense.


Maybe he gave this interview, just to see what the final write up would be (and if Reuters are still playing the same game)...

And yes, the Tommy interview they refer to would also be good to see!

[babydolls]

i do love reading Axl interviews - he's very eloquent and honest.  Bloody record companies - you'd think in this day and age where they are ceasing to become such a big part of the whole picture they'd try harder to keep their artists happy, or at least be more involved.   especially a band that carries such immense weight as GnR.  And in this corner weighing in at... and to all those opposed - yeah you know it!

Again i feel blessed we have the album, as the road to get there unravels more and more of the chaos that the band were faced with and had to deal with. I'm not that interested with any collab with Duff I have to say. Am far more interested in GnR now and their musical and live future these days.  So much would be made of it that it would overshadow anything they actually did!

[MeanBone]

i wanna hear the general
!

[variant]

I'm not that interested with any collab with Duff I have to say

I agree with this. To be honest the only original gunner I would like to see Axl work with is Izzy.

[Principessa]

I think that Duff has been very underated.       (coming from me of all people!  )

There is a clip of Knocking On Heaven's Door from the 1992 tours ( I think it is in England).

Axl is obviously very exhausted - he sings a line from Only Women Bleed and Slash launches into the intro for KOHD.

Duff turns around to see that Axl is sitting down and HI5's him, so he can start singing.

I find that there is this support between the two, in several bits of footage.

[Layflats]

That made my morning!  You guys are on top of this shit.

Record companies are THE WORST.  You wonder if anyone with an ear from Interscope ever came in to listen to CD as it was being formulated.  Anyone with a right musical mind could have recognized that this wasn't some average attempt at a record.  "throw it at the wall, see if it sticks" , what a horrible feeling to have when you're in the middle of creating your best work.

I firmly believe now that the farther Axl gets away from Old Guns, the more material he will be able to create.  As a fan of GN'R, at this point, the last thing I want is a reunion.  Fans should dissuade Axl from this notion, rally behind the idea that his best days are ahead of him. I want Axl to work with this new group of musicians and create more songs.  Nostalgia is overrated in my book.  Plus, all the musicians he is working with now are BETTER.  Anything that anyone has done from Guns (other than Izzy) has been weak.  Izzy's shit is at least honest, not groundbreaking, but honest music.  I may step on toes with this one, but all of Velvet Revolver's music is mediocre at best, including their washed out singer.

[Principessa]

There's no need to make this a Gn'R vs Velvet Revolver thread

or a old vs new thread.

For the record, I was speaking about Duff as an individual.

[carmiedisco12]

That is why I am suspicious about the write up of this article.

I don't think that Axl would make a statement that would perhaps cause a rift between Duff and Slash.

As I mentioned before, it does contradict with the interview he personally gave to the forums.

If Axl was so pissed off at Slash then he would obviously want nothing to do with Duff either, since both Duff and Slash are in the same band and spend time together. It doesn't make sense.







Some of what you say here seems quite delusional...especially this

Maybe he gave this interview, just to see what the final write up would be (and if Reuters are still playing the same game)...


Some people overanalyze  so much, Axl not gonna have an interview simply to 'see what the final write up will be' , theres no organized conspiracy against Axl, seriously.
Also to say that Axl wouldnt release a statement that would cause a rift seems a strange comment considering the history, there a lot of bitterness if you havent picked up on it.

[faldor]

I'm not that interested with any collab with Duff I have to say

I agree with this. To be honest the only original gunner I would like to see Axl work with is Izzy.

Didn't Axl say he had worked with Izzy on that "Soul Monster" song when he did his message forum Q&A's?  In this interview he just says he wouldn't mind working with Izzy again.  You think he would've mentioned again that he had worked with Izzy on a new song.

[Principessa]

Bitterness, yes, that's what all the write ups in the media will have you believe.

When Axl spoke to the forums, I detected none of that bitterness.

There's no organized conspiracy against Axl!??

He also commented on how the media constantly twist his words, (online interview). That's why he prefers not to give interviews.

Again the Billboard article paints Axl as the bitter one, or didn't you pick up on that? (Carmiedisco12)


This is from the article (page 6)-

Axl:

"With Reuters, I get their reach. That said, they've been particularly ugly toward me and this band for years, with nearly everything they've written being condescending or negatively judgmental with the cute little press trick of using negative adjectives across the board whenever they've written anything. In our regard they're one of the media outlets that appear to continually attempt to set a tone for a negative mainstream public perception regarding either us or myself, at least in the United States, if not the world".