They won't see it that way, Best Buy took them to breaking even. Axl would have been expected to bring in millions more after that. He didn't and worse is because he wouldn't get out there.

Here is what should have happened.
Take Bon Jovi with their 'Keep the Faith' album. Grunge was peaking in 1992 when it came out and suddenly they belonged in Jurassic Park. Instead of staying on the mat, they got up, got busy and toured the album and promoted the singles relentlessly. The album has sold more than 10 million copies worldwide and is Bon Jovi's 4th biggest-selling album, The rest is history. They are still here, still huge and still raking in the dollars (120 MILLION last year).

This is the kind of campaign GNR were expected to attempt- remember management's statement about a 'MASSIVE campaign'?? Axl HAD to shit or leave the pot on this one and unfortunately he pulled up his strides, folded up his news paper and left the bathroom.

Nothing is small & cheap with a band like this. Bands like GNR cost millions to run, even with a solid fan base; 2,000,000 albums per outing will not pay to keep this machine running. Personally I don't think Axl can internalise the idea of being a small time / medium success rock band anyway, nothing about him, his music or his behaviour indicates that.

The band may also find themselves on the VR road; now that the curiousity factor is quenched; mass turn off is a real posssibility with follow up sales being a fraction of what is achieved with CD regardless of the quality of the music; putting further pressure on him.

A poster on Velvet Rope who claimed to be close to the band said a video for Better would never be released as all attempts were rejected. he also said that Axl is sulking and not expected back for 'a couple of years' where a reunion will be his only option.

I'm starting to think this is true.

You know Mick I'm in the same boat. Axl talked like Slash had been waging an all out war on him over GNR for the last 15 years and that coping with this has swallowed up so much of his time. Then you look at Slash and realise that in those 15 years the guy has started three (?) bands, gotten married, had two kids, written a book (kinda), almost died from pneumonia, had a pacemaker inserted, been to rehab - twice, won a grammy, released 4 albums, completed several world tours etc. If this war over GNR was so involved and so time consuming how come Slash got all this shit done while Axl feels CD is a miracle of his determination to survive all of Slash's apparently carefully planned assaults?

The only answer is that it's massive paranoia which is being fuelled and enabled by his staff and other various hangers on. It is so out of scale with what the reality of the situation is that it's just sad and frustrating to watch.

All the therapy Axl has claimed to have had yet he is as bitter today with Slash as he was in 1999, a decade ago. Any decent therapist would have worked through this with him by now. He obviously pays out a lot of money to sourround himself with people who never call him out.

My question now is, where does he go from here? No record label is going to trust him now. The fans have declared CD a non runner. The fever for the old band is as high as ever and the current line up is a faceless, gagged, invisible nothingness.

I guess fernando will be on the bass and Beta on the guitar for the next world tour, that's about all there is left! Fuck me. Did any of us ever believe it would end up like this??

Pax,
If you want to debate this let’s do it. We are both fans and that's what this board is for. If you are happy that as a fan, you feel Axl is doing his best for Guns then I have to respectably say that I think you are mad.

He’s walked off the job again. True victory would be Axl and his band out there working hard, answering hard questions, playing CD live and winning people over.

Instead  we have an armchair messiah presiding over fan forums and launching pathetic litigation threats.

This guy is going down the music business shit-can faster than you can say 'it's all Slash's fault' and he had better find a brake fast. No better guy to do it I think but there is no sign of him even trying.

Intercourse.

The monkeys have taken over the zoo. The housekeeper’s son talks like he's part of GNR. Jesus Christ.

About three weeks ago, a poster on Velvet Rope said that two videos  were made for 'Better', both were sent up to Axl's lair and were subsequently rejected. This statement would appear to hold water now.

There is no video coming.

Axl is becoming increasingly divorced from reality and degrading his brand and legacy even further by allowing his fucking house cleaners to do his business.

I have been watching his activities for the last month with an increasing sense of bemusement and frankly a mild despair.

I know people were glad he came on line to talk to fans as Dexter but frankly more than half of it was rambling sanctimonious nonsense. Also, in context of who he is and the fact that he should be out there doing his fucking job i.e. working to drive the GLOBAL sales of CD instead of sitting at home taking on individual fans and calling them cunts for pointing out just how fucking wrong his attitude to his band and his fans has become. 

This guy loves being the gigantic fish in an ever decreasing pond, it’s pathetic to see such a talent wasting away on a frivolous and petty lawsuit with a soft drink company while being misrepresented  by a couple of Brazilian bottom feeders who’ll be flipping burgers if Axl ever looses interested in them.

It’s the ‘Nu Guns’ guys I feel sorry for, 10 years some of them have been there and this is how Axl decides to re-pay their loyalty. When CD gets put out he throws down his toys and fucks off home. They must feel utterly frustrated and demoralised.

There will never be a reunion and this version of the band will never get off the ground unless Axl has a complete overhaul of his entire life. That’s never going to happen. He’s steamed through 18 band members and 4 producers and three managers to get to here and like he did in St. Louis, Montreal, Vancouver and Philly he fucked off home when his band leadership was needed the most.

I think I’m almost done with this guy. It’s becoming too much like being a fan of Michael Jackson. I’ll just be along to watch how it ends.
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sorry link to Axl AWOL article already published