Yup. There was genuine curiosity about the new line-up, and in Buckethead they had an iconic figure who could act as a focus of attention in the same way as Slash (it's telling that even half a decade later, casuals, magazine articles and comedians were still referencing "the guy in the KFC bucket" long after he was out of the band). You need someone who's recognisable by their silhouette.

If they'd sorted out their management, got the record company behind the new band and CD, and coordinated their promo, there were a couple of opportunities to redefine GN'R as the CD line-up.

1) VMAs 2002. If Axl's voice had been in shape, and they'd come out of the gates with a one-two punch of Chinese Democracy and TWAT, or WTTJ and Better, or something, instead of that bizarre WTTJ/Madagascar/Paradise City medley. Songs where you showcase each of the lead guitarists and their unique tone, basically, and unapologetically blast out some new stuff. And then say, "The album is out in x weeks."

2) The 2006 tour. If they'd managed to retain Buckethead, and the continuity of the new line-up. As it was, frantically subbing in Bumblefoot left everyone confused, and started the "revolving door" of guitarists. Promo was completely fucked by the time they got around to doing the Better video; it was "introducing" like seven band members, and the two lead guitarists were no longer in the band by that point. Bumblefoot, for all his guitar skills, just wasn't as iconic a figure as Buckethead. And Robin and Fortus' idea of just sticking with two guitarists was terrible. Yes, they could play the songs, but by that point the public had latched onto Buckethead as the defining figure of nu GN'R, and his absence could only leave the band looking diminished.

But Axl's voice was on top form, and with a stable line-up (which meant coherent promo) and an album release they would've killed it.

I'm not sure that's entirely fair. I mean, with Hard Skool they clearly stripped out the extended intro and rejigged the structure, and I'm prepared to bet that was all Duff ("Why is there a minute of guitar noodling at the start? Drum crash, bass line, off we go.").

I dunno, if they're scraping the bottom of the barrel for additional material they could do a cheeky re-record like they did with Shadow of Your Love.

To me it's just a reminder of what each of the OG members brought to the table, and why they all needed to be present to make the magic happen.

Slash: Cock rock, Aerosmith, bluesy rock licks.
Duff: Punk, Prince-style funk, plus nascent Seattle grunge scene energy.
Izzy: Rolling Stones.
Steven: Loosey-goosey Van Halen-esque "happy rock" feel.
Axl: Queen, Elton John.

You can just about get away with losing Steven because you've still got the Duff punk-funk energy and Izzy's Stones-style rhythm.

But with the departure of Izzy and Steven you can see Axl taking more of a lead, so the pendulum starts to swing towards Queen/Elton John style Big Piano Ballads on UYI. That reaches its apotheosis with Chinese Democracy, where it's like 90% piano-driven epics with overblown layers of production.

With the new stuff, you can hear Duff throwing in some slick, snaky bass licks with that Rocket Queen energy (1:55 in Absurd, the intro and 2:55 in Hard Skool). You've obviously got Slash throwing down his signature licks, which he could do in his sleep at this point. But it's missing Izzy's Keef-esque complementary rhythms. If you listen to the riffs at 1:23 in Ghost, off the first Slash solo album, you can see how Izzy's laying down a choppy counter-rhythm that fleshes out the sound of the song.

And that's missing on Hard Skool – the rhythm (Fortus? Huge? Who fucking knows at this point) is just playing essentially the same riff as Slash. So it just sort of chugs along. And that's leaving aside the chugging drums that everyone whinges about, which I'm assuming were Frank – Brain, at least, brought that Adler swing to the band.

So, yeah, I like Hard Skool, but you can see wasted potential in it.

Anyway, as you were, back to discussing the solo album.