I don't really understand that idea of "telling Axl to fuck off" by not buying albums. How about just not paying attention to Axl at all if he's so bad?

I honestly don't feel that Axl can get away with doing anything to the fans. I personally think he had nothing to do with this whole situation. If it's proven otherwise to me, I may feel differently.

faldor wrote:

Bono wrote:

Will I buy CD? No.  My mind was made up ages ago regarding this but if Gn'R had anything to do with this arrest than that makes my decision even easier.  Will I listen to CD? yes. For free.

Blasphemous.  I'll chip in and by a copy to cover your thievery.  Just kidding of course, but I may offer to buy it for any friends interested.  10 bucks a pop, they can buy me a beer sometime and get me back.  If its more than that, they're on their own.

Agreed. I honestly can't understand what would be so hard about dropping $10 on a CD you've waited a long time for.

As for his street cred.  GNR and Axl sold out many years ago when they released the UYI records because that is when they went the commercial road and one could argue they took that road with Lies.  So they lost their street cred so long ago that people don't even remember when they really had it.  As for being friendly to the online world.  Well GNR could be more friendly with their fans period.  But like I said in another thread.  Axl seems to be able to get away with this so why not do it.  His fans keep coming back for more.  I'd love to see a band like U2 or any other big bands try to treat their fans like shit the way Axl does.  Not sure they would get away with it.  Sad but true.

i am sorry but that is ridiculous, there is nothing commercial about UYI, or lies, you're an idiot. "police and niggers/immigrants and faggots", yes you're right! thats something people from all echelons of society can enjoy. and 10 minute songs, 2 hours worth of album, two released at the same time, yeahhhhh that just reeks of commercialisation, i can think of so many illiterate teen-boppers who would have been jumping out their skin to sink their teeth into the complexities of 'coma' or 'estranged', but of cause what am i doing, thinking logically? if anything the UYi albums are less commercial than AFD. but hey, what am i talking about, you read somewhere that the UYI albums aren't as good as AFD, so GNR 'sold out' when making them. christ, some people.

gnfnraxl wrote:

Wow I'm surprised!  Seeing as how much of a backlash Metallica got for the Napster fiasco.  They are only starting to recover from that.  Maybe Axl can get away with anything and treat fans like dirt and not suffer from it.  Can't remember who wrote this but someone on this thread said that Skwerl could be exaggerating the story namely being arrested at gunpoint.  Could be and while I won't blame Axl for the FBI trying to impress people I still say he was behind the arrest.  But I agree we only know one side of the story.  One other thing that surprised me is how much everybody wanted to hear new material and now those same people seem to be turning on the one that made it possible to hear new material.  I can't say for sure if I'll buy it or not.  If it came out tomorrow I wouldn't.  Maybe I'll change my mind.  But this thread sure is a good read.

No one is "turning" against him. People do have issues with how he handled it though. Too many attention whore aspects to his story. I know someone will say, "MSL did the same thing". No he didn't.

MSL is looked at as a "common man". Everyone can relate to him. He's a normal, every day run of the mill GNR fan who loves GNR with a passion. He finally got fed up with the hoarder aspect and decided to stand up and do something about it. It wasn't a crusade against GNR or some mission to rip the band off. This is what the GNR camp doesn't comprehend. He went on a journey to bring the music to the fans that he knew was out there being listened to by an "elite" few. He used a few unconventional tactics, gave them the middle finger, and brought music to the fans that should have been heard years ago.

That's why a large portion of the fans will always support MSL in what he does, and if the GNR camp ever goes after him, there will be a huge backlash among the online base. MSL represents a fraction of what the original GNR was all about: fuck authority and put us on a level playing field.

This skwerl incident is different. Regardless of how,when, or why he got the songs, a big part of his game was the gloating. The "I have GNR songs and I want to prove it to everybody so I'll stream the songs on my site" is a far cry from what MSL and even darknemus are about.