They were rightly labelled as the most dangerous band on the
planet. Their debut album is regarded as one of the best ever, the two follow
up albums sat at #1 and #2 simultaneously on release week and the peak came in
1992 when they co-headlined an arena tour with none other than Metallica.
After that, the story doesn’t go according to plan. A
breakdown in band communications saw every member but the singer replaced. The
follow up to their 1994 covers album didn’t surface until 2008. Live shows were
marred by walkouts, late start times, constant cancellations and generally poor
onstage conduct. And today, Guns N’ Roses announced a new UK arena tour in May
of this year that was greeted with apathy and overall disinterest, many hoping
that the band’s induction to the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame will rekindle a
‘classic’ lineup reunion.
Now, I cannot say that the band are completely blameless: I
think singer Axl Rose needs his ego deflated significantly and a good look in
the mirror. But I would like to take this opportunity to make a solid case for
why you should see the band on tour this year and not pass up the opportunity.
Firstly, the whole situation regarding the lineup. The
countless comments of, “It’s not GnR, it’s Axl and Friends/The Axl Rose
Band/Axl and his massively inflated ego (delete as appropriate)” and “No
Slash=No GnR” are just moronic. I say to these people: grow up, get over it and
move forward a good 15-20 years. Alright, so the ‘classic’ lineup has been
completely demolished, but out of the eight current members, 5 have been a part
of the band for ten years or more – Axl, Dizzy Reed, Tommy Stinson, Richard
Fortus and Chris Pitman: Stinson has actually now been bassist longer than Duff
McKagan was. Yes, there have been a lot of changes: since the classic lineup
that released ‘Appetite for Destruction’, GnR have gone through ten guitarists,
two bass players and five drummers (adding two keyboard players in the process)
but half of the lineup has been stable since Pitman’s addition in May 1998
(Fortus joined in July 2002). To me, that says a lot. Plus, as far as I’m
concerned, it’s the only Guns N’ Roses I ever knew.
Onto the live shows. People complain about Axl’s conduct and
rightly so: a tendency to walk off if bottles are thrown, taking to the stage
up to three hours late, being out of breath and out of tune. The setlist
comprises a huge amount of jams and solos that could quite easily have
additional songs added. Plus, with a ticket price of around £50 standard, the
question for value-for money comes up quite a lot. However, I think that as
long as you book the following day off work then you should definitely go. It
IS a gamble, I won’t lie, and the chances of them taking to the stage on time
are less than zero, but they know how to put on a show. Axl still has the
energy of when he was younger, if not the physique, and there is a huge amount
of special effects and levels upon the stage to give a great show to anyone who
goes to see them. I also feel that with so many members the sound is a lot
fuller than when it was the ‘classic’ band, although that’s just my opinion.
Plus, having watched videos of them from New Year’s Eve in Las Vegas, they are
far better than the trainwreck to show up at Reading and Leeds in 2010.
As for the potential of a classic lineup reunion – I often
bring the point up that bands like Iron Maiden and Motorhead only have one
original member and you don’t see
people calling them ‘Lemmy and Co.’ or ‘The Steve Harris Experience’, to which
they reply ‘Yeah, but they haven’t dragged the band’s name through tons of shit
just for the money’. I put this to you: how many bands that have reformed are
NOT doing it JUST for the money? Regardless of whether they release new albums
or not, if they say they’re not doing it for the money then they’re lying
through their teeth. It would be the same here: a classic reunion does not
interest me in the slightest. And let’s be honest and realistic, the reunion
won’t happen: Slash is enjoying his work as a solo artist, Duff has his band
Loaded and plays in Velvet Revolver alongside Slash, Steven recently published
his autobiography and Izzy is content on his own. Plus, I cannot see Axl
turning around to every member of the current GnR lineup and saying “The
classic lineup is back; you’re all fired.” I wouldn’t put it past him, but I
really cannot see him doing it. I think that the lineup will be reunited, shake
hands and make everyone believe they’ve buried the hatchet, then go back to
their separate projects afterwards and not think about it again.
So, Guns N’ Roses in May? Yeah, I think people should
go if they haven’t seen the band before. I know it’s a risk, but I think one
last chance to let them redeem themselves is needed. If they fail you this time
then you have every right to wash your hands of them. But I fully believe that
you would see a far better show to any classic reunion. Let the King do his
thing, embrace the classic hits and see Guns N’ Roses in the UK in May.
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