We don't know that Bucket was unpredictable. He could've been.

But he could have been a guy tired of Axl's bullshit, bullying from other members, and the inability to and unlikelihood of finishing an album.

Slash is a shite rhythm player. And songwriter. You may only need a guitar hero to sell a band but it turns out you need a stalwart rhythm player to write your riffs so you can make music.

Bucket is an average bass player. Tommy is pretty damn good and an underrated songwriter to boot.

The songs weren't the problem. Some so-so or some not great but not the problem. The problem is that it was a vanity record and it wasn't Guns N Roses.

I think Axl filibustered so long he had to change the mode. The 99 very mid-90s experimental, the 01 new metal, the 04 leaks very early aughts alternative, the finished 08 record just bland and "classic". You could argue the whole project was a giant pyramid scheme.

A smart person would've given him a 75/25 mandate. You're going to deliver 75 % classic guns and 25 experimental computer jerking yourself off whatever. And if I hear you moaning over a piano more than once I'm shipping you back to Indiana in a crate you crazy ranga!

Bucket had a chance to de-Bucket when Ozzy wanted him but thank Christ he said put it in your pipe gramps. Bucket is a genius and if people can't take genius from a guy with a horror movie fetish then they don't deserve it. Career moves and popularity be damned.

Eh, most of the Michael rarities don't really do much for me.

But being positive and speaking of Bad 25, I love the intro to Streetwalker though. Amazing. It paints just a lovely and evocative picture.

I like Sunday Driver and maybe a couple others but the rest are for the birds.

On a negative snarky fan note, they ruined Do You Know Where Your Children Are? like Axl ruined Catcher. The non-album / non-original version demo was 100x better. I wish I still had it.

Ozzy is the most obvious comparison. When he wasn't working with Iommi, Rhoads, or Lee he was getting songs written by Lemmy.

Axl even called Robin his Randy Rhoads as many would recall.

But you can't do industrial / nu-metal properly and then switch to piano ballads and do that competently as well. You need specialists.

To his credit, Axl realized how badly he fucked things up with Bucket if he tried twice to get him back.

Amen.

I haven't been to one in a decade and the other one is a bunch of catty senior citizens recreating high school. Fucking awful. Never going back again. Damn you James, corrupting me with Fleetwood Mac references!!

Too true.

But you had a full skeleton crew album sans Axl by 1998 per Barber and two albums with Axl by 1999 per May, Beavan, and others.

I think the 2007-2008 delay is an interesting time. Also interesting considering Robin was known to be departed before the end of the year.

Sigh. This stupid band.