what the hell happened to Axl Rose?

Big Bank Hank

pathetic that Eddie Vedder had to open for them
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ5OIXJUrMw&feature=related

demetrios

It was either the http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PR_rzF8ofw or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcJjMnHoIBI that got to him.

stipe19

Big Bank Hank wrote:

pathetic that Eddie Vedder had to open for them
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ5OIXJUrMw&feature=related

So, I take it you like Eddie Vedder but dont like Axl Rose.
But I dont understand what the "pathetic" part is.

klusterfuk

once a douchebag. always a douchebag.

Enties

The official explanation was a strep throat (was mentioned on his Kimmel interview yesterday) i think it's called. Since I'm also a big GnR fan I can say that Axl always takes a few shows to get going unfortunately.

RKCNDY

I heard one explanation is that alcoholism causes liver damage, and he could possibly be taking medication for renal failure, which causes weight gain/bloating.

Axl is 50 years old, and most of the 'rock stars' from that era don't look as good as they once did back in the day...Vince Neil, Brett Michaels, and some have passed away like Jani Lane.

I watched part of the Jimmy Kimmel interview, and found Axl to be quite lucid and likeable.

At the very least, he showed up to Bridge School, took the stage on time, and was there for the kids.

Zod

I also consider this one of the harder parts of getting older. You watch those around you (and famous people you've grown up watching) get older as well.

That being said. I hope I fair a bit better when I'm 50

JonnyPistachio

That singing style must have put a beat down on his pipes over the years...obvious from this video.
Has he not heard himself lately though? Time to hang it up, that was really bad.

LloydXmas

good thing he wasn't wearing his bike shorts.

pandora

He's quite the guy really, his life, his mind, his talent.
He's unorthodox, I like that.
He's also a fellow Aquarian. Aquarian men are awesome

cp3iverson

I'll try to sum up Axl Rose. Terrific songwriter and terrific lyircist. Who else in the past 30 years has written great punk inspired metal and also 8 minute piano ballads? He's both a jerk and a hero for his "I dont care" attitude. And he gets way too much of the blame for the GNR breakup. It should be 50/50. Not 90/10. Slash is just way better at playing nice with the media. But i can't blame Axl for threatening to move on when the lead guitarist is out of his mind on heroin. And i can't blame him for totally rejecting the tunes Slash wrote in the mid 90s for their next album. They were pretty awful.

Still i would never pay to see Axl live. I'm sure he has shows where he sounds amazing but I don't want to chance that or the waiting around.

DewieCox

cp3iverson wrote:

I'll try to sum up Axl Rose. Terrific songwriter and terrific lyircist. Who else in the past 30 years has written great punk inspired metal and also 8 minute piano ballads? He's both a jerk and a hero for his "I dont care" attitude. And he gets way too much of the blame for the GNR breakup. It should be 50/50. Not 90/10. Slash is just way better at playing nice with the media. But i can't blame Axl for threatening to move on when the lead guitarist is out of his mind on heroin. And i can't blame him for totally rejecting the tunes Slash wrote in the mid 90s for their next album. They were pretty awful.

Still i would never pay to see Axl live. I'm sure he has shows where he sounds amazing but I don't want to chance that or the waiting around.

I think Axl deserves most of the blame, but I agree he get too much of it and those songs from the Snakepit albums and even Slash's newer stuff are kinda pathetic compared to stuff from GnR's early days and aren't nearly as interesting as Chinese Democracy. Seems like Axl had a huge hand in the arranging and that's a big part of what made them a cut high above their contemporaries.

I've heard some of their other recent stuff and it was 100x better than the BSB performance. I've seen complaints about the song choices, but I thought Welcome to the Jungle sounded pretty cool musically, though the band came off ass halfassed and sloppy as Axl.

PJ_Soul

Holy shit. :shock: That is REALLY bad. I don't see what Eddie has to do with it... He just went on last minute to fill in some time. But holy crap, I had no idea Axl had become that awful. What a joke. He really should just give it up. He used to be great... I still listen to original GnR pretty regularly. But he really is just making a fool of himself now. Can't believe he let himself go to shit like that. :(

cp3iverson

i'll add this: at least 75% of the tunes on Chinese Democracy are really smart, good rock songs. But IMO his mad scientist ways ruined the sound of it by overproducing. If those songs sounded more raw and more live it would probably be one of the top 20 albums of the past 10 years. Instead everything is silck and every note is perfect because each track of every song was probably recorded 50 times.

jjflash

I may be the only one in this this camp....but......I liked it. Watching Axl was a little awkward but when I downsized the screen and carried about work then the performance of the song sounded pretty good. The build up..layering of guitars...it was good to hear Axl doing his thing.

PissBottleMan

RKCNDY wrote:

At the very least, he showed up to Bridge School, took the stage on time, and was there for the kids.

My first reaction to seeing them on the lineup this year was hesitation. I honestly didn't think it was possible to Axl to be prompt and professional. It's sad that I'm impressed by this.

PBM

PJ_Soul

PissBottleMan wrote:

RKCNDY wrote:

At the very least, he showed up to Bridge School, took the stage on time, and was there for the kids.

My first reaction to seeing them on the lineup this year was hesitation. I honestly didn't think it was possible to Axl to be prompt and professional. It's sad that I'm impressed by this.

PBM

I got the impression that he wasn't prompt, hence the delay that allowed Ed to come on stage. Also, he stunk up the stage. Yeah, sure, he came for the kids, but did he really have to sing "I Used to Love Her"? Kind of a weird choice. And plus, he can't sing anymore. I assume there are some good intentions there, but at the end, I have personally just lost all respect for Axl Rose and his trend of disrespect towards his fans and everyone else involved in his shows colors everything he does; one (very poor) performance at Bridge School isn't about to improve my low opinion of him; I think he's an a-hole. If others feel differently, that's cool too.

PissBottleMan

I'm not sure how other artists have approach the subject of profanity in their songs while performing at the Bridge School concert, but I thought the inclusion of "You're Crazy" was a strange choice.

PBM

Gary Carter

Hi axl, hi asshole

hrd2imgn

Axl...too many drugs, too much booze, and too much of yourself. What a great band that went to hell because of his ego. It is clear he lost it long ago., and where the fuck was Bucket Head's bucket I feel jipped

cp3iverson

hrd2imgn wrote:

Axl...too many drugs, too much booze, and too much of yourself. What a great band that went to hell because of his ego.

Slash is just as much to blame. They were both pricks. It's a shame they don't see eye to eye. Almost every other member of the original GNR has been on stage with Axl in the last few years except Slash.

Thoughts_Arrive

Never was a fan, he is a dickhead.

PJ_Soul

cp3iverson wrote:

hrd2imgn wrote:

Axl...too many drugs, too much booze, and too much of yourself. What a great band that went to hell because of his ego.

Slash is just as much to blame. They were both pricks. It's a shame they don't see eye to eye. Almost every other member of the original GNR has been on stage with Axl in the last few years except Slash.

Yeah, that's because Slash hates him and thinks he's a total dick, and I don't blame him... what are you blaming on Slash exactly? I don't get how Slash would be to blame for Axl's patheticness. Slash isn't a train wreck.

DewieCox

PJ_Soul wrote:

cp3iverson wrote:

hrd2imgn wrote:

Axl...too many drugs, too much booze, and too much of yourself. What a great band that went to hell because of his ego.

Slash is just as much to blame. They were both pricks. It's a shame they don't see eye to eye. Almost every other member of the original GNR has been on stage with Axl in the last few years except Slash.

Yeah, that's because Slash hates him and thinks he's a total dick, and I don't blame him... what are you blaming on Slash exactly? I don't get how Slash would be to blame for Axl's patheticness. Slash isn't a train wreck.

Slash was a trainwreck and a big part of Slash leaving GnR was the tunes he was bringing in weren't up to snuff for Axl.

PJ_Soul

DewieCox wrote:

PJ_Soul wrote:

cp3iverson wrote:

Slash is just as much to blame. They were both pricks. It's a shame they don't see eye to eye. Almost every other member of the original GNR has been on stage with Axl in the last few years except Slash.

Yeah, that's because Slash hates him and thinks he's a total dick, and I don't blame him... what are you blaming on Slash exactly? I don't get how Slash would be to blame for Axl's patheticness. Slash isn't a train wreck.

Slash was a trainwreck and a big part of Slash leaving GnR was the tunes he was bringing in weren't up to snuff for Axl.

Buuut, Axl is a complete mess who can't even sing anymore, is the one who doesn't show up for gigs on a regular basis. Slash is doing just fine, and has nothing tondo with Axl's downfall. Just because Slash left the band doesn't mean he caused Axl to be what he is now.

cp3iverson

PJ_Soul wrote:

cp3iverson wrote:

hrd2imgn wrote:

Axl...too many drugs, too much booze, and too much of yourself. What a great band that went to hell because of his ego.

Slash is just as much to blame. They were both pricks. It's a shame they don't see eye to eye. Almost every other member of the original GNR has been on stage with Axl in the last few years except Slash.

Yeah, that's because Slash hates him and thinks he's a total dick, and I don't blame him... what are you blaming on Slash exactly? I don't get how Slash would be to blame for Axl's patheticness. Slash isn't a train wreck.

GNR almost broke up for good during the Illusion days because of Slash. His heroin addiction was legendary and it was screwing up gigs, causing band fights, etc. Axl threatened with firing him tons of times unless he got clean. On top of that Slash was also a legendary drinker. When it came to the follow up record Slash apparently brought in the tunes that later ended up on Slash's Snakepit. And they're pretty awful. But Axl told him that as well apparently.

No one is saying Axl is a great guy. The split is simply 50/50. They're both selfish pricks but i would argue that Slash is just as much of an embrassment these days. What top 40 popstar hasn't he played with in the past few years? Are there any left?

PJ_Soul

cp3iverson wrote:

PJ_Soul wrote:

cp3iverson wrote:

Slash is just as much to blame. They were both pricks. It's a shame they don't see eye to eye. Almost every other member of the original GNR has been on stage with Axl in the last few years except Slash.

Yeah, that's because Slash hates him and thinks he's a total dick, and I don't blame him... what are you blaming on Slash exactly? I don't get how Slash would be to blame for Axl's patheticness. Slash isn't a train wreck.

GNR almost broke up for good during the Illusion days because of Slash. His heroin addiction was legendary and it was screwing up gigs, causing band fights, etc. Axl threatened with firing him tons of times unless he got clean. On top of that Slash was also a legendary drinker. When it came to the follow up record Slash apparently brought in the tunes that later ended up on Slash's Snakepit. And they're pretty awful. But Axl told him that as well apparently.

No one is saying Axl is a great guy. The split is simply 50/50. They're both selfish pricks but i would argue that Slash is just as much of an embrassment these days. What top 40 popstar hasn't he played with in the past few years? Are there any left?

We're just not on the same page here I guess. I thought we were talking about why Axl sucks so bad now, not why GnR broke up or whatever you want to call it. And I was saying that it's not Slash's fault that Axl turned into the mess that he is now. Axl is 100% to blame for that.

cp3iverson

As far as his voice---Axl's never been a solid live act. I've heard awful videos/mp3s from the 80s and 90s. Granted he has his shows where he's 100% "on" but i doubt that's every single night (especially at 50). Axl hasn't changed much in any aspect. Dude can still write and record. Even Slash said Chinese Democracy was brilliant.

Like someone said he gained 30 lbs but most people do in a twenty year span. Pros and cons I don't mind Axl. He's entertaining even when he vanishes.

PissBottleMan

Just read the USA Today article with Axl today. He plays up the victim role quite a bit. He blames Duff, Slash and Stephanie Seymour for causing a pause in his songwriting. He claims they told him that all his new material was awful.

He also says he's not the one holding up a GNR reunion, "I feel the ball is not in my court."

This article contradicts the way I've perceived Axl over the past 20 years. He always comes across as very egocentric. This article claims otherwise...don't think I'm buying it.

PBM

goldrush

The teenage me that loved Appetite and Lies (and a chunk of the Illusion records) still kinda hopes for Axl to bring out one more great GN'R record. I don't care if it's the original band or some hired hands, he was a great songwriter and I'd be happy if he could pull it off.

Of course the scrawny 'kid on the streets' Axl from '86 is now a distant memory but if there's one thing that the 50 year old Axl could learn from playing with Neil at the Bridge School is that it is possible to still kick people's asses if you ignore all the bullshit, stop believing the hype and just concentrate on the music.

PJ_Soul

goldrush wrote:

The teenage me that loved Appetite and Lies (and a chunk of the Illusion records) still kinda hopes for Axl to bring out one more great GN'R record. I don't care if it's the original band or some hired hands, he was a great songwriter and I'd be happy if he could pull it off.

Of course the scrawny 'kid on the streets' Axl from '86 is now a distant memory but if there's one thing that the 50 year old Axl could learn from playing with Neil at the Bridge School is that it is possible to still kick people's asses if you ignore all the bullshit, stop believing the hype and just concentrate on the music.

I think the real problem at this point is that he can't sing anymore.