Here Today... Gone To Hell!

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/slash-guns-n-roses-conspirators-last-word-interview-1296043/?fbclid=IwAR1vjkytHN5JBrQDxZN2TJwf08tur4sQBQjbb1b6tI33lI6NNVCra6I7G9c (https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/slash-guns-n-roses-conspirators-last-word-interview-1296043/?fbclid=IwAR1vjkytHN5JBrQDxZN2TJwf08tur4sQBQjbb1b6tI33lI6NNVCra6I7G9c)

A rather healthy chunk of this is about Guns N Roses.

Cool interview.

Slash's been everywhere in the media lately, RS, WSJ, Jimmy Kimmel, Howard Stern...I'm pretty sure his new album will probably debut in the top 5.

I haven't listened to the album yet, but no matter how good it is, most of the times, you still need to get out there and promote the hell out of it. Some old fashion promotion is still a pretty effective way to get exposure.

I hope when GNR's new album come, they spend some time and resources promoting the shit out of it.

Thanks for sharing. Great interview.

Really pleased to hear that at least two more new songs are planned for GnR.

Can you quote the part about new music?

/jarmo

So, he actually acknowledged that Duff and Slash didn’t write Hard Skool. It would be nice for old school fans to recognize those Chinese sessions had and have a shit ton of potential.

oh yes, and I pray very hard they'll work on a particular one that didn't make it on CD

He did say the upcoming stuff is more complex, so I'd say that means The General and Atlas Shrugged are in the cards.

Rolling Stone always did some of the best interviews with Guns members. The one with Slash around 1992 was legendary.

Didn't we all already know this though?  I mean, the "Hard Skool" demo sans Slash and Duff has been around for quite some time, hasn't it?

I know it's a business and they have to think about marketing.  It's just so hard to wait when you know they have something and there are things out there that can cause even further delays.

They may not have been part of the gestation of HS and Absurd, but Slash and Duff are credited co-writers of both songs.

Ali

Where are they listed as cowriters?

If that's the case, perhaps some of the arrangements were changed by the contributions of Slash and Duff.  "Absurd" definitely sounds different musically than the original "Silkworms" version.

Duff added that little bass intro. I thought that solo and bridge were all Slash, but it turns out I just didn't recognize them from the original. As far as I can tell, he just added that lick over the main riff and new solos. Maybe he considers the licks important enough to merit a credit, like the ones Slash put on Estranged, or maybe now that it's a 3-way partnership, everything will just be credited that way?

That would be interesting, since Slash didn't receive a writing credit on "Estranged" (as he should've, in my book).  Maybe due credit is indeed something Slash requested from now on.

Wait, I thought he did? There was that interview in Makin' F*ckin' Videos where Slash says he demanded a credit on that.

Nope, Axl is credited as the sole writer on "Estranged".  Axl did thank Slash on the liner notes, "Slash, thanks for the killer melodies", but Slash wasn't ever credited as an official songwriter.

Slash DID mention it in "Makin' Fuckin' Videos", saying something like "Dude, you're gonna give me credit for this, right?", but it didn't happen.  In his book, Slash says that he chose to overlook the fact at the time that he wasn't given writing credit for "Estranged" or "November Rain", despite the fact that he contributed to the big arrangements for both songs.

Slash got totally boned on 'Estranged'.

We have all heard the original piano demo.  It's not a remarkable song until Slash weighed in with those riffs. 

The riffs are the song.  Not Axl's "woe is me" lyrics.

Not true at all

Really?

So if Slash never adds the guitar parts, and it's released as a piano ballad we hear in that demo, the song is held in the same regard by GNR fandom as it is today?

"I'm not sure I agree 100% with your police work there, Lou."

Well if not Slash, it would have still had a guitarist adding parts to it. Who knows what that would have looked like, though.

And I like Axl's lyrics.

It might not be held in the same regard but I disagree about your thoughts on the lyrics. Those are powerful lyrics. That said, I think he should have received more credit than an “atta boy - thanks for the solos.”

Ali can probably correct me if I am wrong, but ASCAP credits Axl Slash Duff and Izzy on all Illusion songs. The credits on the album pamphlet aren’t the real credits for songwriting. It seems they were more credited to the main writers. I am pretty sure this is correct.

Agreed.  "Estranged" is Slash's finest hour in GNR... and rock n roll.  Those are the most amazing solos I've ever heard in any song.

The lyrics in "Estranged" are good, although I always felt Axl's vocals in the first half were barely audible.



Slash addressed this in his book.  The core members did indeed receive a portion of everything (and the splits were weird numbers, like 12.2%, according to Slash), but the songwriting credits in the booklets are accurate in terms of who wrote and put together the songs.

So in the case of "Estranged", Slash did receive a small portion of the publishing, but not nearly as much as he would've if he had received a writing credit.

Did i say that? You said "the riffs are the song". How? The song is the song the way it is, with the guys playing on it.. why try to imagine something else

It’s Axl’s “woe is me” lyrics that added another dimension after AFD. By forcing the band to do his epics, he enlarged their audience and took them to mega stardom.

Oh, I like the lyrics too.  'Estranged' is firmly entrenched at #2 on my all time GNR Top 10.

I just always chuckle at "woe is the rich rock star" type stuff.  Guess I see their lives in a more 'Life's Been Good' by Joe Walsh sort of way.

Lucky I'm sane after all I've been through
(Everybody say, "I'm cool, " "He's cool")
I can't complain but sometimes I still do
Life's been good to me so far

No doubt, no doubt, no doubt.

I think the best song by leaps and bounds on 'Chinese Democracy' is 'There Was A Time'.

When we got those first batch of new tunes at RIR III, it was 'Madagascar' that really impressed me the most with its grand sound.

Kurt Cobain, Prince, Chris Cornell etc. are just some examples of how misguided your reasoning is.

It's 2022. I thought people knew better than to think that just because someone has financial independence, all worries in their lives must've magically disappeared.



All great artists write about life. Sometimes from their own POV, sometimes from someone else's. All the GN'R songs you mentioned come from that same place. Even though they were written during different phases.




/jarmo

Vedder? Come on, all great classic rock bands can say the same thing.

For the record, I think the same thing…hands down the best 2 songs on the album.

Funny, I was just listening to that version on the way home tonight.  I actually prefer the Rio 3 version of "Madagascar" to the studio release.

Rock in Rio 3 was a very special show.  They played the new stuff with so much energy.

Not sure if this was a reply to my post. Anyhow, my point was, I only mentioned people who were successful and still left us way too early. Which is why I don't buy the logic that just because you're rich and/or famous, you can't have problems which could influence the music you create...




/jarmo

I was backing your point…just pointing out Eddie Vedder has quite a few classic “woe is me” songs! I love my tortured rock stars!  :D

It can all apply to your life.  Money is a pain in the ass whether you have a lot or none.  Trying to be just you, whether it's in front of the world or just with the people you know, is a struggle for everybody.  Everybody wishes they were somebody else with a little less trouble, even rock stars.

Yeah, and fortunately he's still here.





/jarmo

Yeh Vedder and Axl are the best , Ironically Vedders new solo album is very upbeat and positive, really needed in these dark times

I prefer the live versions of 'Madagascar', 'Chinese Democracy' and 'The Blues' (as it was known at the time) to the album version.

Now, I think part of that was the 1,500 or so times I listed to those versions before Axl got around to releasing the studio versions.

However, I think 'Chinese Democracy' works best a a tight 3 minute rocker, sans hokey into and double tracked vocals.  Also thought the earlier version of 'Street Of Dreams' was more up tempo and bouncy.  And better off for it.

During Street of Dreams I still hear “never mind” hahaha. I guess he was talking to the sound person. I liked it tho.

https://www.ascap.com/repertory#/ace/search/workID/913016643?page=1

And

https://www.umusicpub.com/us/Digital-Music-Library/song/483002/guns-n-roses-hard-skool

Ali

It's gotta be part of the new partnership deal, because they really didn't write any new parts, just embellishments, really.