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- monkeychow
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Re: Former GN'R Manager Alan Niven Counters Axl's Claims
^ Why must people insult Slash for talking to the media? It's the smart thing for a professional working musician to do to maxamise image and fame. Thats how you make a brand and get your products known. Slash spoke to the media for his projects, snakepit, VR, various guitar things etc....there were reasons...of course they asked him about the breakup of GNR...but considering he gets asked it every day of his life...his responces were mostly pretty easy going. I know Axl hasn't liked what slash says about it...but its nothing compared to the types of flame interviews he could have given that the media would have eaten up!
Re: Former GN'R Manager Alan Niven Counters Axl's Claims
"media whore" 
That gets WEAKER every time I hear it.
Yeah he must be another liar, hang on I'll get the scroll out and add his name to the list. I'll put the kettle on first, it might take a while to unroll the fucker.
He seems to get on quite well with Izzy, if he was such a deceitful man I dont think Izzy would have wanted him as his manager when he quit GN'R.
Re: Former GN'R Manager Alan Niven Counters Axl's Claims
"media whore"
Yeah he must be another liar, hang on I'll get the scroll out and add his name to the list. I'll put the kettle on first, it might take a while to unroll the fucker.
He seems to get on quite well with Izzy, if he was such a deceitful man I dont think Izzy would have wanted him as his manager when he quit GN'R.
Nobody said he's a liar.
But to deny that he's a media whore, is to live in denial.
Re: Former GN'R Manager Alan Niven Counters Axl's Claims
So what the opposite of truth teller?
I see Slash popping up in the media as often as Zakk Wilde, I dont see any divisions of his fan base labeling him a "whore".
I dont see any other music fans referring to other artists "whores" for being in the public eye, the only time I come across the term is on GNR boards. Its a sad attempt to discredit him in some way. Accusing him of becoming a parody of himself or uninspired I could perhaps understand, but the self righteous dismissal of him as a "whore" by GN'R fans I find laughable.
Re: Former GN'R Manager Alan Niven Counters Axl's Claims
Not everybody is a media whore like Slash. Just because Niven doesn't like talking to the press, doesn't mean he's a truth teller.
His argument was WEAK.
What does he get out of coming out and telling his side of a few issues that Axl threw out in the press?
Re: Former GN'R Manager Alan Niven Counters Axl's Claims
neemo - good god
and you say i'm persisiting?
like i'm gonna let you have the last word
1.) FAMOUS - i'll give you that one but i could make the case that "famous" is subjective and if only one person likes the song izzy deserves credit for his contribution. certainly in an open forum where the thread has strayed from alan niven..........to this, it was an appropriate addition to the discussion.
at that point nobody was debating or arguing it was simply me pointing out what nobody else had yet considered that was both relevant and true.
but its not....relevant or true cuz the song isnt famous by any stretch...you'd be lucky if half the fan base thinks this song is in the better half of the gnr catalogue....personally i've always hated this track and think its one of their worst...the lyrics and vocals are among the most terrible i've heard from axl...so famous? no not even a chance even among the hard cores
2.) RIFF OR SOLO - not sure the confusion here but we know izzy came up with bob intro solo.
actually no i'm not sure if it is izzy or slash sounds like slash...in the liner notes its says slash lead and rhythm guitars, izzy rhythm and lead guitars...there are a bunch of runs and crap in the middle of the song...i'm thinking those are izzy...see below
3.) WITHOUT SLASH - how often do 2 guitarists write one solo together?
unless you can find proof otherwise, it is most likley that he came up with the solo by himself.
so you're right without further proof unless i can prove you wrong? i would think that the song is likely planned out pretty well by the band with everyone present, i doubt they went home and said yeah i was doing my homework and came up with this it might fit in this song...no its more likely they jammed and then came up with some cool crap while fuckign around....chances are to me that the lead intro is slash cuz in my experience the lead players are usually the ones messing around most while the chords are goin....the rhythm dude is more likely to throw in a little solo here and there to switch things up for himself...also when coming up with a solo one guy may go "hey instead of there why dont you try going here instead" so yeah its totally plausible that they wrote solos together
so i still got ya for 2/3 since we are apparently keeping score.
and that's 1 against 2, also.
i'm not keeping score at all....you're the one who thinks you always win a debate even though you are usually wrong 
just like your post above saying you are right unless i prove you wrong...well we all know that aint gonna happen cuz i dont think any of us were present while the song was being recorded so how are we to know? anyway you still havent managed to come up with a song that izzy wrote the riff without slash...
i would guess IMHO that the brownstone riff would be the most likely culprit at being all izzy
[youtube]M3rRoAXIlVk&feature=PlayList&p=C8DC091AD09A97B4&index=1[/youtube]
or the patience intro solo
[youtube]FHOkbInBLNY&feature=related[/youtube]
Re: Former GN'R Manager Alan Niven Counters Axl's Claims
Axlin08 wrote:Not everybody is a media whore like Slash. Just because Niven doesn't like talking to the press, doesn't mean he's a truth teller.
His argument was WEAK.
What does he get out of coming out and telling his side of a few issues that Axl threw out in the press?
yeah niven has rarely spoken...only to retaliate agaisnt something that he doesnt agree with
Re: Former GN'R Manager Alan Niven Counters Axl's Claims
So what the opposite of truth teller?
I see Slash popping up in the media as often as Zakk Wilde, I dont see any divisions of his fan base labeling him a "whore".
I dont see any other music fans referring to other artists "whores" for being in the public eye, the only time I come across the term is on GNR boards. Its a sad attempt to discredit him in some way. Accusing him of becoming a parody of himself or uninspired I could perhaps understand, but the self righteous dismissal of him as a "whore" by GN'R fans I find laughable.
I called Niven a liar. Not Slash. I think Slash's issue is overexaggeration and dramatizing. I think there's a root in truth to Slash's statements, but he piles so much bullcrap jive onto it, it's hard to tell what the real fact is at the base.
His inconsistency on incidents and timelines, tells me he struggles to keep his story straight.
Niven's biggest argument was "boo hoo Axl". WOW. Stop the presses, give Alan the award. Axl posts a 5,000 word rant, specifically addressing certain issues and calling certain people out. Niven's counter is the "poor Axl" argument.
He might of well just called Axl a "big doo doo head", and stormed off. 
Axlin08 wrote:Not everybody is a media whore like Slash. Just because Niven doesn't like talking to the press, doesn't mean he's a truth teller.
His argument was WEAK.
What does he get out of coming out and telling his side of a few issues that Axl threw out in the press?
'Cause he was CALLED out. Maybe Mr. Niven isn't the kind of man to back down from a fight? Maybe Axl knew that? Who knows? Alan Niven is a bit of a different creature than Saul Hudson. Niven was a washed up has-been manager, and anyone in that business knows when the artist turns their back on you, the business does too. Because they kiss the ass of the artist.
Nobody even fuckin' remembered who the hell Alan Niven was, until Slash's book, which resurrected the man into the GN'R chronicle. He became a UNTAPPED resource for information on the band, and it's declining nature at the beginning of the 1990's.
Axl then many years later, specifically calls Niven out in his online post, which unearth's Niven, who feels a need to defend himself.
I was all ears. Now we've got a battle of the titans on our hands.
But Niven blew it. I was waiting for this big, detailed reaction to Axl... instead he just copped out with the "poor Axl" argument that's been used for years. Then Niven lost all credibility when Axl said Niven tried to get him fired, which Niven called a lie, then right after, Niven said he told the band to fight a new lead singer and give him a call, when Niven didn't want to represent GN'R in the first place. In other words - he told the band to fire Axl. Like Axl said.
That was Niven's 'Rick James' moment. "I didn't kick dirt into Charlie Murphy's couch, that's a damn lie....... yeah I kicked dirt into his couch [laughs]"
Slash makes some very interesting points in his book. It's not pure truth, just like Axl's probably aren't. They're both spun. But Niven... came across like a douchebag.
Re: Former GN'R Manager Alan Niven Counters Axl's Claims
i think you need to read the axl thing again followed by Niven's response 
When Guns renegotiated our contract with Geffen I had the bit about the name added in as protection for myself as I had come up with the name and then originally started the band with it. It had more to do with management than the band as our then manager was always tryin' to convince someone they should fire me. As I had stopped speaking with him he sensed his days were numbered and was bending any ear he could along with attempting to sell our renegotiation out for a personal payday from Geffen.
It was added to the contract and everyone signed off on it. It wasn't hidden in fine print etc as you had to initial the section verifying you had acknowledged it.
Now at that time I didn't know or think about brand names or corporate value etc. All I knew is that I came in with the name and from day one everyone had agreed to it being mine should we break up and now it was in writing.
“Axl got rid of me to wrestle control of GN’R!”
Niven “paid millions to get Axl out of my life” he had “a 17% commission in perpetuity [ie that] anything released, mastered or negotiated during the term of my contract was commissionable forever… Axl fired me in ’91. Now that means that the sales of Appetite, Lies and Use Your Illusions were all commissionable. Forever. To get Axl out of my life I sold those rights back to the band for $3.5 million. I did not want to deal with him again. Now that’s a decent chunk of change, but Geffen had only paid royalties on about five million albums total at that time. Imagine how much I had still coming. [Appetite For Destruction alone has sold 30 million copies.] The settlement I took is not nearly anywhere close to what I was due and had earned.”
“As regards his remark about me getting a payday from Geffen from renegotiations – let’s get some more facts straight. I have a right to defend myself against this guy. “Firstly, both the managers of Aerosmith and Whitesnake tried to get renegotiations on existing contracts around this time and failed. I think I am the only person to leverage a re-negotiation out of David Geffen on an existing contract… Their royalty rates were increased by 30%. There were other refinements. Better advances, etc. But since when I was fired I sold my rights back to the band I did not benefit from this re-negotiation.”
“Furthermore, I had their merch deal redone, and their sub-publishing deal redone. They were due. …I also got the first major headline tour in place. Then I was fired. Nice.”
“As for his claim I was trying to get him fired because he wasn’t talking to me, that is an absurd invention. He didn’t talk to me after the incident in Phoenix in ’88 when his failure to show caused a riot. He didn’t talk to me when I refused to cancel the Aerosmith tour. I was banned from that tour for a month. Many was the time Axl would send me to Coventry.”
“What I find interesting is that after I was fired, by his own admission, Axl took the band name as part of the Geffen renegotiation. I believe he got rid of me to do that, amongst other things. I think that he always intended to take total control. And he knew I would not stand for such a move. I could be wrong, but I rather think there you have it.
“Axl always had a problem that I made it clear that I represented the interests of all five members of the band, not just and exclusively his.”
what niven claims seems to be true, without digging into archives, but around this time that we are talking about, doug goldstein came in and started placating Axl left and right...(from slash's book) where Niven didnt always do what Axl wished....and niven seems be the one who negotiated the deal while goldstein and Axl seemed to benifit ultimately from the end contract...sure Axl may have been the sober one and as such thought out his decisisons more but i dont think that his freinds would've anticiapted that he wouldve taken thier rights to their livelyly hood out from underneith them...goldstein was serving axl like i already said, and according to slash didnt care so much about the other guys...niv watched out for them all and kept their eyes on the prize, from what i understand of the info thats slowly coming out is that Zutaut and Niven really stuck their necks out for a bunch of reckless youths and made them millionaires when nobody else would give them the time of day..in the end we hear stories from Axl claiming that everyone was against him...well fuck he has hardly ever been a reliable singer, you dont know which axl you are gonna get until the show is over (if it even begins) for a no name band to land gigs opening for crue, aerosmith and the stones at that juncture of there carreer? let alone a renegotiated contract with one of the most shrewd label executives ever....just to be unceremoniously dumped on his ass in favor of the first nut swinger? and like he said...if he did give up a lifetime 17% royalty of the gnr catalogue...thats huge...and a benifit to the gnr guys as much as loss to his own financial security....like damn dude..not sure where i'm goin with this long ass post but i enjoy reading all these things and searching for the hidden truths....in short i dont think hes a douche or an attention seeker...jsut another guy who is directly in the know talking about his opinion on the matter and i for one appreciated reading his opinions 
