Is money the main reason why original GNR lineup is not coming together?

[Six Strings]

If I remember correctly back in the days Axl said somewhere that Izzy wasn't very much interested in touring big stadiums and wanted GN'R to remain to The Ramones level which was the reason he left. That says it all, no?

[DeN]

never forget GNR is a 80's Reagan era band, with values of that period.

Uh, I'm pretty sure they were opposed to most of what Reagan stood for...

which one? individualism? greed? free enterprise? American Exceptionalism? prominence of the public image? marketing? freedom?
all this doesn't look to be incompatible with GNR to me...


about Izzy, it seems the perception is different if you're talking about his touring abilities, or his songwriting abilities...
which is very enlightening about the goal of this "reunion" (in fact Duff & Slash rejoining the "new" GNR) : touring.

you don't need Izzy in your band if the goal is mainly touring and not writing new material.
the "new" material was already done before Slash & Duff rejoined.

[PermissionToLand]

Uh, I'm pretty sure they were opposed to most of what Reagan stood for...

which one? individualism? greed? free enterprise? American Exceptionalism? prominence of the public image? marketing? freedom?
all this doesn't look to be incompatible with GNR to me.

LOL you really bought their marketing pitch hook, line and sinker, huh?

Of course, Reagan loved freedom, that's why he backed the Christian "moral majority" in their crusade to censor everything that offended them! Including bands like Guns and Roses.

Civil War was clearly an anti-war song. Garden of Eden takes anti-greed and anti-religion stances.

The only overlap with Reagan could be found in One in a Million.

[Walapino]

Izzy laid the foundation to a lot of classic GNR songs but he needed the rest of the band to make it mega hits! same goes for the rest really, they never recaptured that song writing level since they split. I wish Izzy guested in a couple of shows at some point! 

[DeN]

Uh, I'm pretty sure they were opposed to most of what Reagan stood for...

which one? individualism? greed? free enterprise? American Exceptionalism? prominence of the public image? marketing? freedom?
all this doesn't look to be incompatible with GNR to me.

LOL you really bought their marketing pitch hook, line and sinker, huh?

Of course, Reagan loved freedom, that's why he backed the Christian "moral majority" in their crusade to censor everything that offended them! Including bands like Guns and Roses.

Civil War was clearly an anti-war song. Garden of Eden takes anti-greed and anti-religion stances.

The only overlap with Reagan could be found in One in a Million.

no, I'm talking about what libertarians & conservatives consider  freedom. I'm pretty much myself something you would call a communist in your country, which I'm not (call me a democrate then, even if it's not very far left from my point of view...)

not really your candidate to buy anything from Reagan and his affiliates.

and I'm not referring to lyrics to define the personality of band members, that's too easy to paint yourself as a hero of some sort in a song, or taking positions you don't stand for in your daily life, but mostly in real life acts.

[PermissionToLand]

no, I'm talking about what libertarians & conservatives consider  freedom. I'm pretty much myself something you would call a communist in your country, which I'm not (call me a democrate then, even if it's not very far left from my point of view...)

not really your candidate to buy anything from Reagan and his affiliates.

and I'm not referring to lyrics to define the personality of band members, that's too easy to paint yourself as a hero of some sort in a song, or taking positions you don't stand for in your daily life, but mostly in real life acts.

I don't know many communists that attribute freedom to conservatism... but whatever, I'll take your word for it.

Here's a question; if your one true passion also happens to make you a ton of money, does that make you greedy for doing what you love?

If the boys wanted to cash in, they would have reunited when they were offered millions for just one show, multiple times over the years. They didn't get back together until they decided they wanted to on their own terms, and they had actually resolved their differences. There's no avoiding the fact that a reunion would make a lot of money.

[Carlos Gunner]

They probably needed to mend some things before reuniting even though the offers were good.
If they hated or couldnt stand each other that means no amount of money was gonna solve it. It is also an ego thing

[DeN]

I don't know many communists that attribute freedom to conservatism... but whatever, I'll take your word for it.

Here's a question; if your one true passion also happens to make you a ton of money, does that make you greedy for doing what you love?

If the boys wanted to cash in, they would have reunited when they were offered millions for just one show, multiple times over the years. They didn't get back together until they decided they wanted to on their own terms, and they had actually resolved their differences. There's no avoiding the fact that a reunion would make a lot of money.

the freedom to work, the freedom to enjoy the fruits of your labor, the freedom to own and
control one's property, the freedom to participate in a free market, the freedom of free speech, etc...

that said, it's all questions of perspective, there wasn't much freedom in Staline regime I can assure you. 


doing what you love and making money of it isn't a problem, it's always *how* you do it.
even Duff said Axl was a greedy friend, and he's not the only one. I don't judge, I'm not here to give moral lessons,
it's just the perception I have of a 80's band, who where rebelious about things but at the same time the result of their era.


and about the cash in thing for one show...well, that's *exactly* what they've done with Coachella, Axl told that, they had an offer
and that was the starter for a "reunion". nothing wrong with that either, but just a fact.

[PermissionToLand]

doing what you love and making money of it isn't a problem, it's always *how* you do it.
even Duff said Axl was a greedy friend, and he's not the only one. I don't judge, I'm not here to give moral lessons,
it's just the perception I have of a 80's band, who where rebelious about things but at the same time the result of their era.


and about the cash in thing for one show...well, that's *exactly* what they've done with Coachella, Axl told that, they had an offer
and that was the starter for a "reunion". nothing wrong with that either, but just a fact.

Maybe Axl separates personal greed from institutional greed/corruption.

I don't recall Axl saying that. Didn't he say the offer was only brought up after they reconciled?

[Bridge]

I don't recall Axl saying that. Didn't he say the offer was only brought up after they reconciled?

According to Axl in that July 2016 video interview, he and Slash didn't reconcile until Coachelle came up.  However, Duff had shared the stage with Axl several times before that, so they had reconciled before Coachella came up.

[PermissionToLand]

I don't recall Axl saying that. Didn't he say the offer was only brought up after they reconciled?

According to Axl in that July 2016 video interview, he and Slash didn't reconcile until Coachelle came up.  However, Duff had shared the stage with Axl several times before that, so they had reconciled before Coachella came up.

This is the only mention of Coachella in that interview:

"Axl: I am a big fan of our previous line up before getting back with Slash and Duff. And we did a lot of work with that and with our drummer Frank and Dizzy and Richard. To Slash's credit, what I got to say is- he and Duff… Duff had played with the last line up a few shows. He came in and played the way we did the songs. Then going into getting ready for Vegas and Coachella they all chose to… they just worked very hard, and Duff and Slash came in and worked very hard with Frank on the rhythm."

[Carlos Gunner]

Izzy laid the foundation to a lot of classic GNR songs but he needed the rest of the band to make it mega hits! same goes for the rest really, they never recaptured that song writing level since they split. I wish Izzy guested in a couple of shows at some point! 

I like this, they were family they did not have to pretend they were... like Slash said it.

[Bridge]

That interview...

We seem to be thinking of two different interviews.  Here is the one I am referring to:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBh6Ey7pTtM&t=844s

They start discussing the Coachella issue right away.

[DeN]

yeah that was the only real reunion interview we had, with very evasive answers.

and without Slash.

[Executioner]

I was thinking that the main reason why Izzy and Steve, were not part of the reunion was that making money was more important for Axl than creating music, at least that was my perception, since Izzy by his side, was a great contributor to GNRs compositions.

I miss Izzy, I wish he'd still be in the band but I see he is not recognized by Axl and the current members, which seem to be doing fine financially without him or steven, kind of like they do not need them.

Steven was fired before the Use Your Illusion tour. Izzy quit during the tour.

The others had to continue and finish the tour. Now the assumption is that if the reason the two didn't rejoin the band is purely about money?



Let's assume it is. Is it a fair deal to split everything five ways? Considering what happened in the past?

If you think yes, then your opinion probably is that it's all the band's fault for not paying the other two enough.

If you think no, maybe you realize the reason might be more complex than just them not splitting the money equally.


For example, Richard's been in the band for over 20 years. He's toured with them since 2002. Frank's been there since 2006.

Steven did the Appetite tour with the band. No major international headlining tours. Izzy quit during their first major international headlining tour and hasn't toured since 1993, unless you count his three date Japan tour in 2000 as a tour...



You can miss past members if you want. But the above are facts. If you're in the band and you are looking at your options, one option is to stick with what you have, guys who have completed multiple international tours and have toured with you for years, or go with past members who haven't, then maybe the choice is a bit trickier....




/jarmo

Slash and Duff left in the mid 90s and Slash was less than complimentary about Axl in the press and even writing a book where he dishes the dirt on him so the fact that he was let back in the band was a bigger surprise than Izzy's absence,obviously Slash had bigger box-office appeal as we saw with how successful the reunion tour was as before that they were struggling to sell out mid sized Arena's so bringing Slash was definitely a financial move as opposed to anything else .

[PermissionToLand]

Slash and Duff left in the mid 90s and Slash was less than complimentary about Axl in the press and even writing a book where he dishes the dirt on him so the fact that he was let back in the band was a bigger surprise than Izzy's absence,obviously Slash had bigger box-office appeal as we saw with how successful the reunion tour was as before that they were struggling to sell out mid sized Arena's so bringing Slash was definitely a financial move as opposed to anything else .

With the exception of a few moments where he seemed to be venting frustration, and in some cases with lips loosened by alcohol, Slash has been overwhelmingly diplomatic about Axl to the press. After all, it wasn't Slash who called Axl a "cancer". Every member has at some point said something less than kind about another publicly.

[Executioner]

Slash and Duff left in the mid 90s and Slash was less than complimentary about Axl in the press and even writing a book where he dishes the dirt on him so the fact that he was let back in the band was a bigger surprise than Izzy's absence,obviously Slash had bigger box-office appeal as we saw with how successful the reunion tour was as before that they were struggling to sell out mid sized Arena's so bringing Slash was definitely a financial move as opposed to anything else .

With the exception of a few moments where he seemed to be venting frustration, and in some cases with lips loosened by alcohol, Slash has been overwhelmingly diplomatic about Axl to the press. After all, it wasn't Slash who called Axl a "cancer". Every member has at some point said something less than kind about another publicly.

His book was a tell all that criticises Axl quite a bit and a lot of personal issues that should have not have been revealed to the public ,how he remembered so much is bizzare as he claims to have been on a serious drink and drugs binge through most of that time ,Axl  was annoyed with what he had said about him and of course had every right to defend his corner  obviously they've resolved their grievances for the sake of the reunion tour but money was the main driving factor otherwise they wouldn't have waited so long to resolve their differences.

[DeN]

the money and the *need* of money. Slash's divorce has probably something to do with him being less proud and more pragmatic.
we're talking about a multimillion dollars gig here, not a SMKC tour.

about Duff, that's a bit different in my opinion, the guy apparently has done well with placing his money,
I think it was more a question of public image for him, in a quest to elevate himself at the level of Slash & Axl in terms of celebrity & legacy.

[PermissionToLand]

His book was a tell all that criticises Axl quite a bit and a lot of personal issues that should have not have been revealed to the public ,how he remembered so much is bizzare as he claims to have been on a serious drink and drugs binge through most of that time ,Axl  was annoyed with what he had said about him and of course had every right to defend his corner  obviously they've resolved their grievances for the sake of the reunion tour

I read it not that long ago and it really wasn't any kind of hit piece on Axl or anything. He in fact offered some very genuine words of praise for Axl. Of course it aired a lot of internal stuff, it's an autobiography. Slash simply told his story the way he saw it. In fact, I think he may have explicitly said in there that if you asked Duff or Axl, you'd get two entirely different stories than his.

I think a good example is the situation with the band name being signed over to Axl. It can be simultaneously true that Slash was told by Goldstein that Axl would not go onstage unless he signed, and also true that Axl never said that to Goldstein. Two different perspectives, both true. I also think Slash may not have fully realized that giving Axl the name effectively meant giving Axl the band.

but money was the main driving factor otherwise they wouldn't have waited so long to resolve their differences.

... huh? How does that follow? They had countless offers for millions of dollars throughout the 2000s. If money was the main factor, they wouldn't have waited, if anything. They held their grudges because it was bigger than any money offer for them, it was personal. The reunion only followed after a true reconciliation. It would have been the other way around if it was about money.

[PermissionToLand]

the money and the *need* of money. Slash's divorce has probably something to do with him being less proud and more pragmatic.
we're talking about a multimillion dollars gig here, not a SMKC tour.

about Duff, that's a bit different in my opinion, the guy apparently has done well with placing his money,
I think it was more a question of public image for him, in a quest to elevate himself at the level of Slash & Axl in terms of celebrity & legacy.

What is with this cynicism? Duff can't just have a love for his childhood friends, the music they made and the legacy they created? He can't want to join a historic moment that fans have been waiting for for decades?

And the idea that Slash is suddenly a beggar because he got divorced is just silly. He's got royalties for one of the biggest bands in history, plus the platinum selling VR and all his work with Myles, as well as his own record company (Dik Hayd) and various other things like Guitar Hero and whatnot. To think that he would be desperate enough to reunite with somebody he hates (when he left in the first place because he'd rather play dingy bars with his Blues Ball band than be in the biggest band in the world with people he couldn't stand) is just silly.