Aye, that be true.

It's not a stretch to imagine a GNR reality show was pitched within a network/production company, and the concept was met favorably enough to approach Axl and his management with the idea. Given that Axl seemingly wants to keep a veil of secrecy over every significant thing he's actually doing, the word trickling out did no favors to the people who were coaxing him to agree.

Then again, their line is that a reality TV programme (which, signed or not, is basically good publicity) is more worthy of comment than the Robin situation (which is getting out of hand on the boards, if not elsewhere). I wouldn't expect them to put anything on the NIN tour to the official website, but they could at least comment through Jarmo/Beta/whomever.

Just goes on to say on what matters they have a clear idea.

Slash is a reliable workhorse if there ever was one, but in this case, Duff n' Matt have more likely been laying down the rhythm lines for the tracks. Slash and Dave probably have some tapes of their own, but they may have not begun crafting songs out of them yet. It does sound like they intend to have a backlog of working material available when they get together again.

Knowing Slash, it can happen very fast and not postpone the recording of the next VR album. I'm akin to believe both Slash and Duff agreed they'd do their own thing for a while, to get it out of their systems and start afresh with a vocalist later in the year.

Now, I'm a stern supporter of Robin and his personal style. But.

While a part of me might hate to admit it, you do have a point there. While Robin has a distinctive style, stage presence and some obvious writing skills, he's not the kind of guy you put next to Slash. One reason for this is obviously apples and oranges; Slash is the bona fide guitar hero, one of the worlds finest in what he does. To challenge that sort of a monster is daunting for anyone, and to make matters "worse", Robin in many ways has different semantics as player. He's not Slash and if anyone dares to think otherwise, he's quick to put such illusions to bed.

I think the reason Robin has been in the band for so long (particularly vital is his return in '00), is that Axl got into his playing and decided to devise a new GNR sound partially around it. If Brian May and Dave Navarro would've been involved during his Fragility stint because Axl considered Robin to be a total slacker, he would've never been re-hired. His parts would've been redone by someone else, while he would've gotten some writing credits.

There's another reason for Navarro, May and Bucket coexisting with Robin, I believe. And that's really the simple equation: Robin, while a capable performer and song writer, isn't a guitar hero the way that term can be applied to the aforementioned chaps (and Slash). If you listen to the '99 demos of IRS and TWAT (by Axl/Robin/Huge/Tommy/Freese/Dizzy), you get basically the same songs, only without the riveting Bucket solos. It's not a question whether guys like Robin, Paul and Tommy couldn't write solid songs. It's just that the band was still lacking that secret ingredient which was Slash in the days of Coma, Estranged and November Rain. It's a tall order to record a solo that would not only compliment the existing work, but also elevate it to a stage where people could say it can be put against any similar GNR song of the old days, without people going "where's Slash?"

It's not about beating Slash in his own game. It's more about the fact that GNR has always had a rather traditional (yet solid) song structure underneath, above which are Axl's distinctive vocals and Slash's solos. While Robin & co were able to provide the foundation for that work, they fell short in creating solos that could truly provide a counterpart for Axl's long wails. After trying old favorites Navarro and May, Axl struck gold with the inclusion of Buckethead, who was able to go just as outlandish as Axl dared to ask - he was truly the 'Slash of the new lineup', so to speak, having the moniker of a guitar hero while fitting into this particular fold much better than Slash would've ever did.

It was also a pleasure to see Robin and Bucket together. Robin seemed to have caught up fast; he was the 'leading man', while Bucket was the bands secret weapon, who was able to make the bands overall sound much better without appearing tacked-on. Guess Robin was relieved about it as well - he got the best of both worlds, playing lead in GNR while maintaining his personal sound. For everything else, there was Bucket. He probably sounded even a bit too confident about it with the "interpretation" of the solos you speak of. Would be nice to know how Bucket's resignation affected Robin, as a player and a band member.

But I take it Robin knows what he is and what he's not. With some of his versions of the old songs, he would've been a bad fit to the old band. Just as Slash would be a bad fit to this one.

But maybe two guitars is enough.

Robin and Bucket. For heightened effect, there's always Pittman, ready to deliver a preprogrammed boost.

And if we'd now be down to Richard and Ron in a live setting, all I can say is that the combined talent and potential in the band just took another step down.

I believe Bucket left in '04 because his contract was up. He did see through the Dec 31st 03 deadline, which was the last straw for Geffen. Robin did the same thing in '99. Also, you can always quit your contract, just like in any other job, but unless you're absolutely adamant about leaving and are willing to take in the possible financial penalties, it's not a straightforward process.

Contract players are around due to mutual agreement, they're not slave labor. In this situation, any good employer will enter discussions with his subordinate in case he wants to continue the arrangement.

To each his own.

Other people have indulged in substance abuse. Not really all that admirable, when you start to think about it.