You look at the build up to it, Slash giving Axl finished songs and telling him to put lyrics and vocals on it (this also goes back to the power struggle between them when he first joined GN'R and Axl said Slash put in his demo tape from Road Crew and said to play on that)

Mikkamakka wrote:

ottosporteman wrote:

In my opinion Axl has one big problem: GNR as it is today has so many faces to the casual audience.

In old Guns it was Axl, Slash and Duff. Izzy was never on the spotlight, drummers were never a point of concern to the average Joe.

In new Guns you had Moby. Then Chris Vrenna. Then An ever growing liat of guitar players that were enlisted but never even became members of the band but milked on the publicity GNR gave 'em. Then Tommy. Finck. Years of silence and the Buckethead. Finck again. Fortus. Bumblefoot. (i wont be numbering drummers and kb players for the sake of argument but you get the point). Ashba.

I think the opposite. The band didn't have enough faces. The out-of-the-loop guys who can't talk about anything and didn't have (don't have) the chance to show their talent with new music will never be recognized. Never. A mask and a yellow rain coat will only make you a weirdo and not a legend, if that's all you can give to the public, for whatever reasons (Axl ).
Randy Rhoads became Randy Rhoads and Zakk Wylde became Zakk Wylde cause they wrote helluva new stuff. Not because they played Iommi's stuff better or worse for 2 decades.

ottosporteman wrote:

That's the main problem, people cannot relate to a Guns N Roses anymore, just to Axl.

I see two solutions: assume Axl is GnR and do not try to sell a band image
Or
Negotiate long term commitment to release and touring and set what is GNR to a five men lineup, with others being Teddies, Tracies and Robertas as in additional touring musicians.

Something like this:
Guns N' Roses is Axl, Tommy, Ashba, Bumble and Ferrer. On tour we're joined by pittman, reed and fortus.

The problem is the lack of new music. Period. The fact that they are employees who are too afraid to talk about anything (and Axl barely talks - if he does, it often makes things worse or just a vague, double' talkin' bullshit), just makes it even worse. Axl can send out band pictures with every press release, it won't change anything.
They can cry as much they want about people still associate Slash with Guns N' Roses - hell, it'll always be the case. The guy just did too much great music to be forgotten. Write and release a shitload of quality new music and even other people will be associated with Guns N' Roses. Then we'd have two or more eras in the band's career, just like Ozzy had a Black Sabbath era with Tommi, an early solo era with mostly Randy and a long solo era with Zakk.
But in GN'R's case it's the Live Era with Slash, then the Dead Era, and now we're in the Zombie era with 70-80 percent of the material they play live is still written by Slash, Duff and Izzy. What a joke. And Axl is crying about Slash's image being associated with GN'R too much? Wake up, you're making it worse every night.
Man up, write and release new music, then play it instead of 75 percent of AFD and a growing percent of UYI. Choose new covers if needed, but not the ones people associate with classic GN'R. Don't live in the past, don't try to sell that it's the same band, just 'some players changed'. Live in the present and work, work, work. You still have a few years to prove your and your new new band's worth.

There is NOTHING else to say. Mikka just said it all and nailed it.