The frustrating thing for me is hearing the unrealised potential in their respective solo efforts. Particularly Slash's – for all that Myles is a nice guy, I find his lyrics very banal and packed to the brim with rock clichés. I mean, compare something like Bad Rain or Starlight with Catcher in the Rye, or Estranged. He's not even in the same league as Axl, lyrically. And when you do get someone who can write interesting lyrics – like Scott Weiland – they don't have the vocal range of Axl.

And while I'm an unashamed Robin Finck fanboy, I can't help but wonder what This I Love would sound like with Slash's guitar work on it.

It's possible that Axl was told that Slash had said one thing when actually he'd said another. So Slash will never be able to "say in public what he came to Axl's house and said" to Axl's satisfaction, because what Slash actually said and what Axl believes Slash said are two different things.

Also: fuck this soap opera.

Get them in the studio. Lock them in the studio. The whole enterprise will fall apart unless the band members – who got into the music business to make music, are allowed to, y'know, make music. They've turned the current incarnation of the band into a cohesive unit through touring, the Vegas residency has provided a model for future live performances, the band seems to have finally learned the rudiments of promotion (all credit to Team Brazil for that). What's missing now is an album.

For the last five years we've largely been hearing what Robin Finck and Buckethead brought to the table, filtered through DJ and Bumblefoot – I want to hear what Bumblefoot and DJ have to contribute as songwriters. Okay, Bumblefoot has a few solos on Chinese Democracy, but poor old DJ is left covering other people's material. They're talented songwriters. Give them a chance to show it, or this band will never have the respect it deserves.

For all the shit that has been directed at Beta over the years, Team Brazil has got Axl out there performing lucrative gigs and consolidated the current band lineup. Every previous manager was looking to engineer a reunion; she's the only one who's pushing the current lineup as a going concern. So, kudos to her for that.

Like I say – given that it's clearly important enough to him that he's constantly covering it up with a hat, I'm surprised that he hasn't considered dropping $50,000 on follicle transplants. It'd be pocket change for him. And if he doesn't, there's inevitably going to be a deeply embarrassing YouTube video where the hat falls off.