So it’s finally happened. Axl Rose and Slash have seemingly put aside their differences and have got the band back together, well kind of. For years now Axl Rose has been flogging what became a bit of a dead horse, running the Guns N’ Roses name and image in to the ground with each passing day. The new version of the band, with its merry-go-round of members did earn a following, and still sold out arenas across the globe, but even the most ardent hardcore fan of Chinese Democracy era GnR never really sounded all that convinced when attempting to argue that this was still a good band.
So with that being the case, for the vast majority of Guns N’ Roses fans, this is what we’ve all been waiting for isn’t it? We’re finally going to be able to witness Slash, Axl and Duff sharing the stage again. They are undoubtedly one of the biggest Rock bands of all time, so why the subdued reaction? Yes, the news that the ‘original’ line up of Guns N’ Roses will be headlining Coachella this year has raised some eyebrows. Magazines and online media outlets have been plugging the news, some even stretching to a classic list-type Feature here and there, but even so there has just been something a bit off about the whole thing.
The key word around the whole event is ‘suspicion’. There is a widespread suspicion over the whole ‘original’ line up reunion and justifiably so. The cloud of negativity which hung over Axl and his buddies for so many years hasn’t really shifted. There is still this feeling that at any minute Axl could just decide he can’t actually be bothered with all this and everything will fall apart quicker than a Tory election promise. That and the fact that this isn’t really the original line up is it? We haven’t even caught a glimpse of a photograph as it’s become quite clear that negotiations must be ongoing as to who else will be making up the band. Izzy Stradlin tends to disappear in to his own world every now and again and has apparently done so now, and whilst Adler has been open to the idea for years now, we’ve oddly not been hearing anything from that camp either. And if they’re going to go down the Use Your Illusion route, we’ve not even heard anything from the usually very vocal Matt Sorum either. So suspicion has been ingrained in this since day one. The problem is, when it comes to Guns N’ Roses, no one can trust anything. We’ve become subdued because of rightful suspicion.
It poses the very obvious question, has this all come a bit too late? It’s now been 22 years since Axl was left with the Guns name all alone in his hands. That is a looong time. In that time, we’ve seen all the members go through so many highs and lows, the Guns N’ Roses element ended up becoming a bit of an afterthought. This is a band who sold millions upon millions of records and for a period of time ruled the music world so for us to even be running a piece questioning the level of impact this “reunion” has had seems frankly bizarre.
Whatever yours and our suspicions, if someone’s bought Axl an alarm clock, we can’t wait to see him, Slash and Duff side by side as they rip through a catalogue of classics. We’re just hoping that as a reunion things start becoming a bit clearer, although with their history we won’t be surprised if we’re left guessing right up until show time at Coachella.