And again, I'm sure Robin could've called Axl and they could have worked something out to keep Robin in the band.  It never happened, so Axl was left with no choice but to get someone to take his place.  Robin was completely silent after he re-joined NIN, nobody knew what his plans were.  At least, that's what we were told.  If he had said, I'll come back to GNR once plans to tour/promote/etc. are finalized, I don't think Axl would've had a problem and he'd still be in the band.  Richard Fortus made it clear while touring with Thin Lizzy that Guns was his top priority.  Robin could've done the same, but he jumped ship and made NIN his top priority.  That's fine, he had his reasons, and lord knows I understand he must've been frustrated by working so long on something and not to see it materialize.  But Dizzy, Richard, Chris, and Tommy stuck around.  Robin didn't.

killingvector wrote:

What does the release date of Chinese have to do with Robin touring with NIN? I also think to highlight the word "quit" is a bit unfair to the guy.

Robin re-joined NIN officially in April 2008 because there were no road plans in place for G&R in the foreseeable future. God know what Robin knew concerning the lawsuits floating around Axl. But the album was released in late November with no touring until 2010.  Clearly, Robin had a chance to create music, get out on the road, and do something. I can't fault him for that. If anyone was privy to the techno-gadgets that Trent employed on that tour, you might understand why Robin was so excited to jump back in. It was quite an incredible event, surpassing even a U2 show (which Trent has pointed comments about their theft of his onstage technology).

I didn't say I blamed him for making the decisions he made.  But I still view it as he QUIT Guns N' Roses.  Because in the end, that's what it turned out to be.  He went to re-join NIN on their massive tour.  Great!  Good for him.  NIN stopped touring and it was clear that was going to be the case.  I'm sure Robin could've easily picked up the phone and told Axl he'd be willing to rejoin the band at a later date.  It seemed Axl left that door wide open.  But that never happened, and GNR went onward and hired DJ to replace him.

Obviously we don't know all the details, but that's the way I view it from my house.

killingvector wrote:

Bono wrote:

If you're speaking in terms of turning off casual fans and alienating many long time fans then yeah he was definitely a monster on the 2006 tour :P

Robin? Really?

I have not heard an objection to Mr. Finck's 2006/07 performance. In fact, I know long time G&R fans who drifted away after he left.

Really, where have you been?  There's been numerous objections to him over the years and a handful of them in this very thread. I can only assume you're intentionally not aknowledging the objections that have been mentioned cause they're quite common even amongst long time Gn'R fans.

I don't deny there are fans of Robin who may have lost interest in this Gn'R project after his depature nor do I deny there are a lot of Robin fans period but to say you've not heard any objections to his performances is...  dare I say completely untrue.  I mean how is it possible to be a regular on a  Gn'R discussion board and not have heard of any objections to Robin? Whether it be his ability, his style, his interpretations of classic Gn'R songs live or his contributions to CD.