When Did GNR "Jump the Shark?"

[NickNasty]

Ok, for those of you who don't know, "jumping the shark" is when something  great becomes a joke  in and of itself. So, for all you noble scholars, I ask, when did GNR jump the shark?

For me, it was cancelling the rest of the 02 tour with no explanation.

Your thoughts?

[SlashFan]

I thought Clear Channel pulled the plug on the tour

[Booker Floyd]

Ok, for those of you who don't know, "jumping the shark" is when something  great becomes a joke  in and of itself. So, for all you noble scholars, I ask, when did GNR jump the shark?

For me, it was cancelling the rest of the 02 tour with no explanation.

Your thoughts?

Hahaha...yeah they were going so strong until that happened...

Some would argue they jumped with the Illusions or when Izzy left...

To me, the most obvious answer is when Slash left, but realistically they jumped way before that.

[oneway23]

Booker, gotta agree with you here...For me personally, I'd have to say with the Tokyo vids they just about jumped a shark, dolphin, and Moby Dick all in one foul swoop...doesn't necessarily mean I think any less of the music though...

[charl!edontsurf]

They day TSI came out.

[echrisl]

I'm going with the first show featuring 976-horns ...

[noizzynofuture]

GNR jumped when Izzy realized axl had lost focus on what was important  - being a band and not having seperate agendas.

My second vote would be when axl decided to shoot these monsterous videos for november rain and estranged. (THis will certainly piss off all the estranged junkies who think it's the "deepest song ever written.")


I mean come on, this is a juvenille deliquent with a record trying to pass himself off as the next elton john.   He should have stuck with pressing the issue as the worlds most dangerous band.

These songs should have been put on a solo album by axl, cus none of the guys wanted to play this type of music.

I think if the original band had done solo albums they would have gotten along allot better. IE - when slash did snakepit, axl should have done something solo.

Finally, Axl Should have stuck with izzy and we'd have more than one original song released in the last 12 years.  Without izzy he's lost.

[NickNasty]

I thought Clear Channel pulled the plug on the tour

It has not been 100% established who cancelled the tour...but it's on the band that there was NO explanation and NO apology

Here's another possibility: When Moby was working with Axl

[P014r]

wow, great question.

well, it's certainly true that gnr arguably jumped the shark when izzy left,  or when they toured with the back up singers and teddy zigzag and all that crap, or it could be argured that they had definitely jumped it when slash left.  But all of those are really the after effects of when gnr really jumped the shark, which was after the filming of the Don't Cry video.  When gnr caused the st louis riot, izzy was still there and they were still cool.  they hadn't quite jumped yet.  but a few short months later axl let his neurosis get the best of him and things slid down hill from there.  izzy left, and weeks later they shot the Dont' cry video.  they were still cool and you could still see glimpses of the real reason we love this band, but these would sadly be the last of those glimpses.  They almost redeemed themselves when they played the freddy mercury tribute concert, but buy then they were living off their glory, instead of building it.  so, for me, when the old gnr jumped it was making the don't cry video

i erased everything i knew about oldgnr to give the newgnr a chance.  i accepted them 'as is' for a great amount of time, but for the the newgnr jumped the shark at the video music awards.  they lost all momentum after that and crumbled.

[SLCPUNK]

The VMAs were funny, because when I watched it I saw people going apeshit. And when they were done playing they were still going nuts....


I think they dropped the ball on the no show/no explaination.

[grog mug]

They never jumped the shark.  Axl knows what he's doing.  The album will be out, and CHinese Democracy will take over.  They're still good..fuck having the orginal band this is something new during my era and I love it.  Axl Rose will be back as well as the rest of GN'R.

[D]

im surprised no one has said when axl came out with the braids and baggy jerseys

[John Daniels]

basically it started to go downhill, when Izzy left, after TSI when there was problems to get cd out and when Slash left.

but the moment when people started to laugh to the name GNR was sometimes around 2000 and so on..postponed album, mini-tour, and still postponed album, no orginal members and still the album that has failed year by year for coming out. I hope, when the album is out, the music will stop the people for laughing.

[shaun]

Looks like a case of money, power and greed rearing its ugly head as per usual.

When you?ve got nothing and you want something, you find a way. For us lucky people we got Appetite for Destruction, the result of 5 people trying something and being successful. Writing about stuff a lot of people can relate to (sex, drugs and alcohol).

Then you?re situation changes a little, more money less effort required and all that. So we get Use Your Illusion I and II. Some great songs in there, some dodgy ones too. A mixed bag some would say (?a back log of old songs, some cover tunes and a new song or two). Seems the band were splitting up at this point, doing there own thing and mainly appearing together at live shows.

?The Spaghetti Incident?? kind of happened along the way. Even less work required this time. No creative effort was needed. It was simply a case of popping into a studio here and there to do a covers of an old songs. The at the end of the UYI tour, the band seemed to disappear only with ?TSI?? to rely on to being a few more bucks. The covers album was ok, not nearly as good as their *own* stuff.

Years on, still no band and we get a LIVE ERA `87-`93/The Best Of? so no creative effort required what so ever on their part.

?and so now to the present time, it?s looking more and more like the new GN`R or rather, the lead singer looking for that something again. It can?t be easy writing new material. It?s not like they?re desperate for a contract or anything (that?ll be easy). Can?t sing about Sex, Drugs and Alcohol anymore, been there, done that (?and from what I can gather, are tea total these days) and can you imagine the thought of touring, all that travelling (the first few times around it must be great fun I?m sure, the novelty must wear thin after awhile though). The thought of having to do something (like appear on stage) when you?re just not in the right mood, it`s got to be awful.

So we get songs about the Chinese. Songs about the Chinese don?t really rock my boat to tell you the truth. The Blues and Madagascar seem to be about the only two new songs worth mentioning. I sure hope the new band have some equally good songs up their sleeves (maybe they have?). What I don?t understand is, if they have written so many new songs (apparently) and they have played a few of them during live shows (3 or 4 of them?) it?s understandable that they are only going to give us the best of the bunch. So just maybe we?ve already heard the best of what the new GN`R has to offer? I sure hope when CD dose get released, it?s not like: ?oh *The Blues ? cool!* ? *Madagascar ? cool!* ? *Chinese Democracy ? not my cup of tea, pass on that one* - err, what?s with all the other *filler songs*?. Can you images, *Tack 5 ? drum solo* - *Track 8 ? Buckethad solo 2* - *Track 9 ? Robin F. solo* - I hope not  

[kockstar99]

Ok, for those of you who don't know, "jumping the shark" is when something  great becomes a joke  in and of itself. So, for all you noble scholars, I ask, when did GNR jump the shark?

Dumb....why not just say its a joke?
If you think its a joke then why are you here?

[KeVoRkIaN]

They day TSI came out.

I was going to say the same thing - but if not then - the release of the Since I don't Have You Video for sure

[2k3intensions]

They will have "jumped the shark" if they play Rio with no new album!  It's hard to be a GNR fan when most of my friends think they became a joke after all the other guys left the band.  I saw the new band on the last tour and the potential there is off the charts.  If they put out the material for CD and it's even comparable w/ the UYI albums watch out world...Here comes AXL and the boys!!!!!!

[Hung Well]

When Izzy left and the November Rain video.  

[Falcon]

Internally they jumped when Izzy bailed, no doubt about it.  

Externally, when Hetfield caught on fire and Axl refused to go on, sitting backstage with a cigarette hanging out of the goofy ass Natasha cigarette holder.

For me personally, they became a parody of themselves during the Illusions era with the pompous videos, horn section and back up singers.

For the general public, Slash leaving was probably the last straw..

All this said, Axl has the chance to make an Aerosmithian type comeback with a solid album and successful tour.  I would classify it a level above the Aero guys because of the membership of the band being a completely new entity.

Unfortunately, there's also a chance we could witness the greatest flop in the history of rock music...

No matter what happens, it'll be interesting to watch unfold.

[EET_FUK]

Well, until a new album is released, this band is just a GNR cover band.  "Jumping the Shark" is from when Happy Days had Fonzie on water skis, trying to jump the shark...meaning that they went so over the top trying to save the show,  So, my Jumping The Shark moments was when Axl made all the former members sign their rights over to the GNR name and then eventually got rid of them all and still called this band GNR.  He has run the name into the ground so bad, I'm not sure there's much more he can do.