Flashback: Guns N' Roses Melt Down at Farm Aid 1990 Read more: http://www.rolli

[brock61822]

I don't think Adler sounds all that bad at all

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/flashback-guns-n-roses-melt-down-at-farm-aid-1990-20130822

[Bridge]

I don't think Adler sounds all that bad at all

Same here... I've watched this video many times, and yeah, Steven falls.  But given the fact that GNR had never played or even rehearsed "Civil War" or "Down on the Farm" before this night, I've always thought Steven did a damn good job on that April 7, 1990 night -- despite what his bandmates claimed later.

It's funny, the overwhelming majority of that article's comments feature people saying that Steven's drumming sounded really good, especially given the fact that they had never rehearsed or play those two songs before.

[DeN]

yes. due to the circumstances, he was good that night.

I find Slash's comment really...how can I say it...harsh and cold (I haven't read his whole book yet)

I'll probably read Steven's one, I like the way he's never politicaly correct.

In fact, despite his addictions problems and sometimes his questionable sense of reality, he's maybe the
more honnest member of the classic line-up.

[Bridge]

yes. due to the circumstances, he was good that night.

I find Slash's comment really...how can I say it...harsh and cold (I haven't read his whole book yet)

Well... to a degree, it is rather callous, just because it involves not caring how his bandmate was at all by that point.  Though in Slash's defense, that comment is out of context.  In his book, it follows a  series of scattered paragraphs about how bad Steven's addiction was getting, and the things they were trying to do to get Steven clean... as well as the fact that Steven kept lying about being clean.  So essentially, Slash's comment was out of frustration that Steven was becoming a major hassle by his own accord -- not a victim they needed to feel sorry for.  Slash also laments the fact that there probably could've been more they could've done to help him, and couldn't deny that firing Steven from GNR was hypocritical and excessively harsh.

Furthermore, Slash repeatedly gives Steven a huge amount of credit for his musical contributions to GNR (at one point crediting the spark of their first album largely to Steven), and by the end of the book, Slash has also made it clear that losing Steven was a huge detriment to GNR's sound and personality, and lists losing Steven (and Izzy) as one of the reasons he no longer wanted to be in GNR.

[rebelhipi]

i find stevens 1990 farm aid performance poor. and i dont belive one bit that he didnt know down by the farm, cause you could say he nailed it... well almost, tempo is off in civil war and the only reason it isint in the second song is that duff and slash dedicated their performance to help him.

[One.In.A.Million]

I wonder if the people there knew how significant this show was, seeing as it was the last time the original 5 would perform together. I think Steven is an amazing drummer, his work on Appetite is mind blowing. Of course Matt was always more talented technically, but Steven rocked that groove.

[Princess Leia]

According to Duff and Slash books, the big problem with Steven begun when they were recording the UYI album. Keep in mind that those 2 albums have more complex and elaborated music than AFD. They gave Steven warnings. Steven was told they were checking other drummers. Steven signed a document were he agreed to go into rehab. And the document stated that if he didn?t go to rehab he was going to be fired. The band didn?t mind Mr. Brownstone once in a while but Steven was way too hock up. He couldn?t performe his part in the albums. That means other members couldn?t do theirs. First  all bands need the base when recording,that?s drums and bass.

[WAR41]

I wonder if the people there knew how significant this show was, seeing as it was the last time the original 5 would perform together. I think Steven is an amazing drummer, his work on Appetite is mind blowing. Of course Matt was always more talented technically, but Steven rocked that groove.

Well, they probably didn't considering the band was still together at that point and it was only 2 songs

[Bridge]

I wonder if the people there knew how significant this show was, seeing as it was the last time the original 5 would perform together. I think Steven is an amazing drummer, his work on Appetite is mind blowing. Of course Matt was always more talented technically, but Steven rocked that groove.

Well, they probably didn't considering the band was still together at that point and it was only 2 songs

Yeah, I remember reading about Farm Aid at the time, and if nothing else, the public was mega-hungry for Guns N Roses.  There weren't any signs of slowing down and losing members.

In fact, I can attest from having been an avid follower back then, a lot of people didn't want to believe that Steven was gone even in 1991 when Sorum appeared.  We wanted to believe that Steven was just gone for awhile while he straightened himself up, and that Sorum was merely a temporary drummer.  Many just didn't want to believe Steven was gone for good, even though his termination was announced.

Same thing with Izzy.  The band never really announced Stradlin's departure in 1991 -- Slash said in his book that it was a "non-event" to the public --- so when Gilby appeared, people were like, "who the hell is this?"  and assumed Gilby was just subbing for Izzy.

In the case of both Steven and Izzy, it took awhile for the reality to sink in -- and of course, that transpired again when Slash quit in 1996.  You talk about something the public didn't want to believe!  Because with die hard GNR fans, even when we're told its over, we're too passionate to believe it's really gone.