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Re: Axl's years of therapy - what has been achieved?
We'd also do well to dissect the "drastic" changes in his personal appearance throughout this time, something some fans bemoan and claim is too petty a subject. I think it gives a good insight into not only how he may have perceived himself at a given time, but how he'd have liked the world to perceive him.
- Mikkamakka
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Re: Axl's years of therapy - what has been achieved?
Sic, I agree with a lot of your speculation, but it seems that Axl is unable to finish anything, even in full control. I guess he's so paranoid and afraid of failure that it ruins everything.
Re: Axl's years of therapy - what has been achieved?
Sic, I agree with a lot of your speculation, but it seems that Axl is unable to finish anything, even in full control. I guess he's so paranoid and afraid of failure that it ruins everything.
If he doesn't release Chinese Democracy it will be deemed a failure anyway so he might as well get on with it.
Re: Axl's years of therapy - what has been achieved?
If he doesn't release Chinese Democracy it will be deemed a failure anyway so he might as well get on with it.
Well, it's a bit of a curate's egg...
In Axl's mind, complete success is set against complete failure. For years, his line has been/was(?) that either it should be the greatest rock album in the history of music, otherwise the egg will land on his face. The only way to shield himself from criticism is to not do anything; no touring, no music. Once you spend enough time wandering in the emptied halls of the mansion, lit up mainly for the holidays with a diminishing group of close friends, you can really get second thoughts with even the most beautiful compositions.
Axl Rose isn't Howard Hughes of Rock N' Roll.
He's Charles Foster Kane of Rock N' Roll.
The question remains, what was his Rosebud? Should life imitate art, it would the slightest thing, something people around him (as well as on the forums) have overlooked. That one miniscule thing that caused his undoing at the peak of his powers. It's something money cannot buy. I do not attempt to sound like an oracle (and a part of me loathes dissecting such personal matters), but in 1990, Axl's success story showed its first cracks. Steven was fired from the group of guys who lived together, broke bread and shared a dream. They became GNR together; imagine a situation where you'd have to part with one of your best friends in the middle of something you've both wanted to achieve together. Axl's decision came with a terrible responsibility regardless how righteous it was. Soon afterwards, he and Erin lost an unborn child. All the while he was expected to follow the lightning in a bottle which was AFD. It's an underappreciated miracle that he managed to complete his work and tour extensively behind it. And then again, losing the marriage and a fellow founder of the band might've been things Axl wanted to push aside in order to become what he did. No surprise the flamboyant behavior he expressed finally came back to him and he realized how many old friends actually felt pity for him at the end of the day.
Re: Axl's years of therapy - what has been achieved?
I do agree with you on that - based on what I've read, Steven was closest to Slash. However, the point I'm contemplating is that Steven's dismissal was a point of no return. Izzy, Slash and Duff all left basically for the same reason, "it wasn't fun anymore". After Steven was gone (and he was certainly the most 'expendable' member), tension apparently began to mount. While Matt (and Gilby) seemed to click rather well with everyone, Steven leaving was begin of a downward spiral for the band. Izzy leaving next was only the next logical step. The changes in Axl without a doubt hurt him the most, as they'd grown up together and Izzy was frankly the sort of person who didn't really need all that stardom. While he was no saint back in the day, he chose to go down the path Axl would eventually try to follow him. Only problem for Axl was that freedom through musical integrity and whatnot isn't easily accessible when you're bound to a recording agreement with a multinational label while carrying on the band name which effectively comes as both a curse and a blessing.
Steven's leaving Axl could rationalize. Izzy he took as personal betrayal. Izzy's absence was also one of the likely reasons the new album took so long to come by. Izzy had lost faith in GNR.
