A young Axl and Slash playing merrily in the woods. It's a strange combination, and yet the friendship comes naturally to one another... Big Mama looks on:
Young Slash: Bill, you're my best friend.
Young Axl: And you're mine too, Saul.
Young Slash: And we'll always be friends forever. Won't we?
Young Axl: Yeah, forever.
I imagine that the Guns and Roses guys were very gang-like in the beginning. Axl probably punched people for talking shit about Slash and Slash probably threw up on anyone talking shit about Axl. They were brothers in a scene that was predominantly hair metal. Guns and Roses were outcasts bonded by their mission.
Being a bit of a narcissist, Axl probably knew he would be famous one day. His troupe was the perfect storm of misfits for his high pitched squealing. They created something equal parts dangerous and beautiful along the way.
When Guns found an audience on a large scale, they rose to the top quickly. It took the world a while to catch on initially as "Appetite for Destruction" was out for over a year before it reached critical mass. Released in June of 1987, it peaked in August of 1988. By today's standards, a young band would have been dropped if a label had to promote their album for over a year, and certainly the masses would have moved on.
Appetite did hit, and it hit hard. It has since sold over 30 Million copies and is the 13th best selling LP of all time.
They were pure rock and roll the way we wanted it. Dirty, controversial, messy and awesome. None of them were really ready for what fame and fortune brought along with it. Sex, drugs and Rock and Roll. They lived it up in the media and in their personal lives. The latter was definitely their undoing, but some of us lucky fans got a front row ticket to the fireworks playing out in the media...
Watching the band implode was strange. Steven Adler was fired after the EP "Lies" for being the most screwed up in a gang of screw-ups. Izzy left right after the release of the long awaited full length follow-up(s) to Appetite, and the band started to unravel. In just a few years, Axl was the only one left...
Steven Adler stated recently that Slash and Axl are the equivalent of Mick and Keith or Joe Perry and Steven Tyler. I always thought that Izzy was the glue, but I really don't know squat about how that camp worked. I do know that Slash was not happy by the time of the "Spaghetti Incident," and felt his time with GnR was up.
The rest disbanded shortly after.
As fans, we know the rest. There have been several releases by the original Guns as solo artists, bands, cameos and even a re-vamped version of Guns and Roses featuring Axl (and only Axl).
Axl Rose has seen many a musician come and go out of the band who's namesake he kept. The fans care, but they don't care enough to stop showing up at shows put on by Axl under the moniker. The album his revolving team worked on for 14 years (The Chinese Democracy) cost 13 Million to make and sold just under 3 Million copies globally, and most of us have never heard a note of it.
Steven Adler stated recently that Slash and Axl are the equivalent of Mick and Keith or Joe Perry and Steven Tyler. I always thought that Izzy was the glue, but I really don't know squat about how that camp worked. I do know that Slash was not happy by the time of the "Spaghetti Incident," and felt his time with GnR was up.
The rest disbanded shortly after.
As fans, we know the rest. There have been several releases by the original Guns as solo artists, bands, cameos and even a re-vamped version of Guns and Roses featuring Axl (and only Axl).
Axl Rose has seen many a musician come and go out of the band who's namesake he kept. The fans care, but they don't care enough to stop showing up at shows put on by Axl under the moniker. The album his revolving team worked on for 14 years (The Chinese Democracy) cost 13 Million to make and sold just under 3 Million copies globally, and most of us have never heard a note of it.
Of course there were fights highly publicized in the press over the last several years. Axl and Slash have been very vocal about never reuniting. By all accounts, they hated one another.
Fast forward to today. The boys are talking. Rumor mills are working overtime. The latest rumor is an offer of $100 million to reunite for 1 year of touring. That's a hard amount to ignore.
All of these guys are worth a kabillion dollars already, but to earn enough in one tour to retire the grand-kids seems a little too good to turn down. With that kind of bling, creating some magic should be a whole lot easier. They can fake it for all I care.
I hope it does happen. It's should happen while we are all young enough to celebrate it. All of these guys have matured into sober, active adults, and the fans across the world deserve some closure from my generations Rolling Stones.
My fingers are crossed. If Axl and Slash are playing nice, there is hope.
Nago.
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