Slash makes everything better.

[SkeletorSerpent]

Richard definitely can't be left out of this. He's played with Axl and toured under the GNR banner longer than anyone on that stage, except Dizzy Reed. He is the bridge AND the glue betwen 87 - 93 lineup and the hybrid reunion lineup. Together as a united team, all of them can unify the entire GNR legacy so that there is unity and not rupture and discontinuity between eras of the band.

[HBK]

Excelent BETTER Version, Slash Great !!! I Need New Music, All My Votes Is For:

- MELISSA Compositer, Corus, Effects, New Sound -

 

[D-GenerationX]

Exactly! I bet if Axl and Slash would've given each other a big fraternal handshake hug and exchanged brotherly smiles during the show and projected it onto the large Jumbotron, they would have blown the roof off the place.

That one shot of them leaving the stage after the bows with Axl on his crutches and he and Slash laughing...not gonna lie, gave me the feels.

[kaasupoltin]

Yeah the end of the UYI tour did look like they were just doing it... because they really didn't know what else to do, and because they kinda had to.

This is something I have never really understood. To me it looks and definitely sounds like they were pretty relaxed and just enjoyed playing the songs in 1993. No, the shows weren't as angry or as complex as in 91?92, but they had had their say and they already proved their point. There were some amazing shows in 93 and they sounded (in my opinion) better than ever before, especially Axl. I think they kind of enjoyed stripping down the shows and songs and getting back to basics. That, I think, is what's kind of happening now too.

Of course a tour as long as the UYI tour takes its toll, and it's clear there was some bad blood flowing between them, but that has been the case pretty much since the band started. I guess that's the biggest change now, or at least it seems like it. They have grown up and definitely every one of them has had time to think about stuff.

[Thorned Rose]

What I meant specifically was that they were miserable behind the scenes with eachother.

You can see it at times. They still were performing at a high level then, and all that, but at times you could tell that they were just kinda getting through it.

Plus it has been well documented in several books. They weren't really smiling at the end of the UYI tour too much. During the SKin n' Bones part things got better, but towards the very end and a lot of 1992 things were rocky and you didn't get smiles from Axl and friendly stuff too much.

It is clear that things between them now are more friendly than they were during the last few months of the UYI tour.

[Sosso]

Tommy was absolutly right when he said that the reunion 'will Be A healing thing' for them.

[Sosso]

"It's very hard to ask a musician to learn to play the part or parts played by other musicians before that. These guys here have worked very hard."

That quote from Axl came into my mind when i heard Slash playing the CD songs.

[Voodoochild]

Like I said before, I strongly disagree that he makes "everything" better.

But one of the things I thought he did AMAZING and way better than any previous lineup is Rocket Queen. I love the ending solo and he plays it like it's supposed to do. Also, I really loved the improvisation in the middle before the slide. Really amazing.

Well he does make "ALL" of the older Gn'R catalog better. As he was the one who hand a and in playing them, and creating them....

This logic should work for the CD songs too. It's clearly not the case here in this thread.

"It's very hard to ask a musician to learn to play the part or parts played by other musicians before that. These guys here have worked very hard."

That quote from Axl came into my mind when i heard Slash playing the CD songs.

I think Axl and Slash both had to give up some things to make them play CD songs. For instance, its more stripped down. There's a lot less effects, and gone are the pre-recorded backing vocals, at least in Chinese, which also lose the long climatic intro. But there's Better, which has no signal of pre-recorded drum loops in the intro and in the verse. From what I could hear in the soundcheck, it's possible that TWAT doesnt have the drum loops in the first verse also. I think all of this was an agreement between them to make it feel more raw and unpolished. It worked, IMO.

[yagami1gnr]

Richard definitely can't be left out of this. He's played with Axl and toured under the GNR banner longer than anyone on that stage, except Dizzy Reed. He is the bridge AND the glue betwen 87 - 93 lineup and the hybrid reunion lineup. Together as a united team, all of them can unify the entire GNR legacy so that there is unity and not rupture and discontinuity between eras of the band.

I feel you however if Izzy is on the cards it would be just insane. With Izzy IN, I would probably expect an album coming up within 1 year.

[D-GenerationX]

Circling back to the original topic of Slash, you really appreciate his return on the end of 'November Rain', and all of 'Estranged'.

I consider the end of NR one of, if not THE signature moment of the band's catalog.  It was OK with the other guys, but never quite right.

Now, it sounds right.

[JustanUrchin]

This shouldn't be a technical, stupid discussion. Slash belongs to Guns N' Roses, end of discussion.

Slash undoubtedly adds a rawness and feel that has been missing since 1993.  Anyone doubting that, just doesn't understand what classic Guns sounded like live back then.  They are back, indeed.

1.  Exactly.  Though he tried, Axl could never find someone to replicate the tone of Slash's guitars or his feel.  Or Slash's image, as noted elsewhere here.
2.  True, but in recordings as well as live...and I would only go as far as '92 when Axl unilaterally decided to muddy kickass rock songs with horns, keys, backup soul singers, and grand pianos.  Even in '91, when I saw them before UYI were released, during and after the show every single one of the nine people that I went to the show with were asking, literally, WTF some sixth guy was doing on the stage with a keyboard.  AFD and Lies, and the band itself, were everything that rock at the time was NOT, including keys or synthesizers.  I cannot overstate the impact that "Dizzy" and his mere presence had on diehards.  (Imagine AC/DC fans showing up to a concert and some guy is primping with a keyboard and adding useless NOISE to great songs--they'd bolt for the gates feeling betrayed).  While UYI ended up being mostly straight ahead rock, the release of those albums was the beginning of the end (to me, in retrospect).  Axl considered this "evolution" of the band and its sound.  Slash and Duff (and Izzy) would never chosen this, but as they were being dictated to, relented.  For confirmation--read their books.  Or, easier still, listen to album after album after album that these three have put out since '92, including VR.  Slash is stripping CD and TIL (given both streams that I watched this weekend) while giving Better an old school, sleazy Gn'R guitar feel on the intro.  Axl is obviously compromising on CD songs--which bodes will for future new music as Slash and Duff both ultimately quit the band primarily because of Axl's intransigence.

[slash&axl]

Just to say Slash on This I love is already much much better than DJ. Not as good as the album but still Dj's was a pussies version of Robins Solo

Was a privilege to be there

[D-GenerationX]

Just to say Slash on This I love is already much much better than DJ. Not as good as the album

Agreed on both points.

[Guitar1281]

Yeah the end of the UYI tour did look like they were just doing it... because they really didn't know what else to do, and because they kinda had to.

This is something I have never really understood. To me it looks and definitely sounds like they were pretty relaxed and just enjoyed playing the songs in 1993. No, the shows weren't as angry or as complex as in 91?92, but they had had their say and they already proved their point. There were some amazing shows in 93 and they sounded (in my opinion) better than ever before, especially Axl. I think they kind of enjoyed stripping down the shows and songs and getting back to basics. That, I think, is what's kind of happening now too.

Of course a tour as long as the UYI tour takes its toll, and it's clear there was some bad blood flowing between them, but that has been the case pretty much since the band started. I guess that's the biggest change now, or at least it seems like it. They have grown up and definitely every one of them has had time to think about stuff.

I like alot of the Argentina 93 shows, it was almost as if at the end of the long tour they (specifically Slash) had enough of playing the same songs and he changed up the solos on a good portion of takes. I also really love the version of November Rain where its just Axl, Slash, and Matt for the bulk of the song and then the whole band joins in for the end.

As for the CD songs live I like the way Better feels now, as well as the tone of the main riff in the song now, Robin's outro was great and I could always imagine Slash playing it similar, although when Slash kicks it into overdrive it is really cool as well.

On TIL pretty much the same, the first part of Robin's solo I prefer, but when Slash kicks starts to just tear in the second half, I REALLY prefer that!

[Sosso]

Circling back to the original topic of Slash, you really appreciate his return on the end of 'November Rain', and all of 'Estranged'.

I consider the end of NR one of, if not THE signature moment of the band's catalog.  It was OK with the other guys, but never quite right.

Now, it sounds right.

Only Buckethead came close to that. The "shining eyes" effect at RIR III was epic .

[D-GenerationX]

I like alot of the Argentina 93 shows, it was almost as if at the end of the long tour they (specifically Slash) had enough of playing the same songs and he changed up the solos on a good portion of takes. I also really love the version of November Rain where its just Axl, Slash, and Matt for the bulk of the song and then the whole band joins in for the end.

Same here.

I was a huge fan of the full band 1992 arrangement, but I really came to like that stripped down one.

[D-GenerationX]

Circling back to the original topic of Slash, you really appreciate his return on the end of 'November Rain', and all of 'Estranged'.

I consider the end of NR one of, if not THE signature moment of the band's catalog.  It was OK with the other guys, but never quite right.

Now, it sounds right.

Only Buckethead came close to that. The "shining eyes" effect at RIR III was epic .

Yeah, he was the best one.  In all respects, really.

[Bazfreak]

Circling back to the original topic of Slash, you really appreciate his return on the end of 'November Rain', and all of 'Estranged'.

I consider the end of NR one of, if not THE signature moment of the band's catalog.  It was OK with the other guys, but never quite right.

Now, it sounds right.

Only Buckethead came close to that. The "shining eyes" effect at RIR III was epic .

Yeah, he was the best one.  In all respects, really.

Bucket is a beast!! I miss that guy....I remember being sad when he left...he could have contributed more.

[D-GenerationX]

Buckethead was long gone before I truly appreciated what we had.

[Spirit]

Buckethead was long gone before I truly appreciated what we had.

When he first came to the band I think Bucket was stamped (by me as well) as a guitarist whose only feat was incredible speed.

He wasn't a known figure, at least not mainstream, so many of his most known songs at that point were showcasing exactly that, speed. It was only when I took a dive into his catalog, which has increased incredibly since his time in GN'R I might add, I could truly see how versatile a guitarist he really is.

I'll take Slash over him in GN'R any day, but Bucket really was the next best thing for GN'R.