What was the worst period of time to be a GN'R fan for you?

[gnrstuffcoolyea12]

What was everyone's toughest period of time as a GN'R fan to get through? What happened to finally end your misery? (it doesn't have to be the length of a memoir like mine ended up being)

NOTE (after I finished writing my post): I didn't realize I was going to write so much, but the memories just kept flowing. But feel free to also comment on anything I mentioned in the post (I'm sure I messed up something, somewhere). I'm curious as to how others remember that time period. I'm sure it wasn't as rough as 1994 - 2001, so I hope someone has some memories of what was going on in the fan-base during those times.

My toughest period was Late 2002 - May 2006...

I actually first became a Guns N' Roses fan in 2002 as a 13 year old immediately after watching them play their surprise VMA performance. Prior to that, I only knew Welcome to the Jungle and Paradise City. I didn't even know a single band member and never even heard of Slash. Even though that VMA performance is widely regarded as crap, something about them got me instantly hooked. Part of it was how much Jimmy Fallon hyped it... and the fact that they just seemed so effin cool. I told my sister that night that Guns N Roses closed out the VMAs, and she asked me "Was Slash there?" to which I replied "I don't know" . Then she asked if they played November Rain, and I told her "I think, it might have been the song in between WTTJ and PC"....which ended up being Madagascar .

Anyways, I became a "Downloading Motherf*cker" immediately after, using Kazaa or Bearshare or Limewire to accumulate a chunk of songs to get hooked on, and purchased Live Era for my awesome CD player. I also became a Guns historian within a few days of the VMA performance. I learned about all of the old guys and the new guys, Axl's antics, and how serious the split from the Classic/UYI Lineup actually was.

The Hard Part:

During my early days as a fan, NuGuns were only active for a couple months before ending that wonderful 2002 tour. Little did I know that it would be 4 years before Axl and Co. surfaced back to the Earth again. This is when I began my daily visits to this board and HTGTH (that's right, 13 years of lurking before I finally decided to make a few posts). Every single freakin day I would check the boards for some news from Axl about going back on tour and Chinese Democracy updates. 2003 came and went without a word I believe.

Sometime towards the end of 2003 or beginning of 2004 there was word of Guns N' Roses playing Rock In Rio Lisboa in 2004. Everyone was skeptical, and even when official word came out, everyone was still skeptical. But we were all excited at the same time. Its been about a year and a half without even hearing a word from Axl (minus the various lawsuits that occurred during that time period), and we were finally gonna see the return of Guns at RIR:Lisboa ("will he still have the cornrows?")!! Welp, what a way to start off the year (actually March) with a letter from Axl cancelling the RIR appearance due to Buckethead's sudden departure. It was crushing. Then we got the Greatest Hits album, which was just a joke to us who were waiting on Axl to finish Chinese Democracy. And there were a couple lawsuits of course. A little glimmer of hope came toward the end of 2004 when GTA: San Andreas was released for the PS2, and Axl played the DJ for the KDUST radio station. I was soooo freakin excited to get that game so I can hear Axl's voice for the first time in two years....that's how desperate it became late 2004.

2005..."This has to be the year" we all thought/begged. From what I remember, 2005 was the year of Merck Mercuriadis, their new manager, and all of his empty promises....and probably another lawsuit or two. But after what looked like some distant glimmers of hope in 2004, but hope nonetheless, 2005 was probably as just as disappointing.

After feeling like there was nothing left to live for when we hit 2006, Axl - out of nowhere in January - just decided to chat with Rolling Stone at a Korn release party (If I remember correctly, I think the first picture of Axl since the end of 2002 was posted online). He mentioned Chinese Democracy song titles, and what's they're working on, etc. - but promised fans will hear music this year. Ok Axl, we've heard that before. Then BAM! Later that month Guns announce a European Summer Tour!! Ok but we've heard that one before too Axl ("will he still have the cornrows???"). And then "it" happened. Sometime in February, an Angel from the Internets descended upon us with 4 full length demo tracks of never-before-heard songs from the upcoming Chinese Democracy (which at that time was slated for April or May of 2006....LOL ). IRS, Better, TWAT, and Catcher (ft Brian May on lead guitar)...the GN'R fan collective exploded. I would've marked this as the end of my "Hard Times", but I was still waiting to see Guns on stage. We didn't know what Axl looked like or sounded like at that point, and we still didn't know who was replacing Buckethead. Fast forward a couple months and probably a few more lawsuits to May...Axl randomly showed up on the Eddie Trunk show thanks to Sebastian Bach. I don't remember what was talked about, I just remember freakin out.

The Hard Times are finally over:

May 12, 2006, or should I say, May 12, 02 B.CD. - Axl and Co. actually show up, and kick ass, at the first of four Hammerstein Ballroom warm-up shows. He still has the cornrows, but in a ponytail, and he ditched the jerseys! He finally ditched the jerseys! Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal is introduced as Buckethead's replacement...remember that guy (......too soon?? ) ?? During those 4 gigs: we were treated to the leaked songs being played live as well as Chinese Democracy and The Blues, Axl called us a bunch of "Downloadin' Motherf*ckers", celebrities in attendance, good press for the first time in a long time, and perhaps the biggest surprise of all - Izzy Effing Stradlin guesting on Think About You, Patience, and Nightrain (with Kid Rock...obviously).

After those 4 shows kicking so much ass, and the level Axl and the band was performing at, my worries were finally eased. Chinese Democracy was still being pushed back more and more at that point, but it didn't sting nearly as bad as it did during the Great Hiatus of '03-'06. The ball was finally rolling, and most of all....CHINESE DEMOCRACY STARTS NOW!!

Wow...that was 10-13 years ago. Holy crap.

[Ant]

Honestly it was kind of fun in 2002-2006. The "Freak Show" nugnr was at least mysterious and weird as fuck... and 2006 had Axl in really top form physically and fan service wise via the Eddie trunk interview.... but the Ashba/Vegas/Golden Gods/Bridge School/yellow rain coat era was a total nightmare come to life. Where do we go... where do we go now?? Coachella could honestly go 1000 different ways.

Edited January 7, 2016 by Ant

[ShadowOfTheWave]

Right now. My opinion of Axl has plummeted, and because I dislike everything on Slash's last 2 albums, I have no hope for (decent) new music.

[BadApples87]

The worst time to be a fan of GNR was the time Jimmy Fallon announced Guns N Roses at the MTV Music Awards in 1999 or so. Then Axl came out with a bunch of hired hands and a hair weave. That day up until a few days ago.......was the worst.

[Asdiz]

when axl released the statement that he wasn't going to hof. i lost my mind and got banned from all the gnr boards.

[ZoSoRose]

2008-2009

I wanted to see themore so bad and was worried there wouldn't be a tour

[gnrstuffcoolyea12]

Honestly it was kind of fun in 2002-2006. The "Freak Show" nugnr was at least mysterious and weird as fuck... and 2006 had Axl in really top form physically and fan service wise via the Eddie trunk interview.... but the Ashba/Vegas/Golden Gods/Bridge School/yellow rain coat era was a total nightmare come to life. Where do we go... where do we go now?? Coachella could honestly go 1000 different ways.

Hahaha I like "The Freak Show" Lineup for 2002-2006. Buckethead and Goth Finck led the movement. I remember being blown away by Finck's transformation that was debuted at the 2006 comeback shows. He went from Miserable Goth Finck to Dirty Happy Hippy Finck outta nowhere. I remember checking the board one day in 2008 and seeing the thread titled "Trent Reznor posts picture of Robin Finck in the studio" - or something like that - and looking at the picture and seeing the return of Goth Finck. That's how we found out he officially left I believe.

And I kind of took my own hiatus from around 2010 - 2013/2014, so I missed a lot of those terrible moments. I still kept up with GN'R, but it went from almost every day to just a couple times a month. I actually watched the Bridge School show about a month ago though...brutal. Unfortunately I missed 2010 Axl, which is regarded as one of his best years in NuGNR. I've been watching some of those shows as of recent. Too bad Estranged didn't return in 2010, because that's tough to listen to now.

[KeyserSoze]

probably the over hyped second residency announcement….

second to Axl and Izzy not doing the Hall Of Fame

[TOS--LOA]

For me it was definitely 2011-present.

2009 Asia was fantastic! *Longest show ever, attempting admirably if not perfectly almost every song off CD. Then the 2010 tour with rasp! Ohhh the sweet sweet rasp! I was so high on Axl during the 2010 tour. He was looking great, sounding great and playing a lot of Chinese Democracy songs in the set. It seemed like he had finally gotten over the hump and was finally starting to realize his vision. I loathed DJ Ashba and everything he represented but I always viewed this as an Axl solo project anyway so whatever made Axl happy. Axl was even rasping his way through songs like If The World and TIL that I didn't really love on CD but made me love them through pure grit and determination. I thought things would continue to evolve from there and that CD 2 was surely imminent.

Then Rock in Rio '11 happened. Who invited 2002 Axl to this party? Who said Mickey Mouse could come? Not me!

After that sure there were some isolated instances of brilliance but they became the exception and not the rule. Set lists became stagnant, CD songs were dropped in favor of ill advised covers. Excuses were made. More excuses were made. Pianos were flying and strippers were cheesing things up. Bridge school happened.

But now we have Slash and Duff. And I am once again hopeful!

Edited January 7, 2016 by TOS--LOA

[SlashElvisTCB]

For me, the worst period was in 1996 when I heard on MTV that Slash left the band. I was Devastated, I can still remember being 9 years old and being so crushed about that and talking to my older brother about it and we both tried to be optimistic about it all and I can still hear my brother say "well as long as Axl is still in the band, we'll still listen to him", needless to say we ended up listening to more Slash than Axl through the years.

Right now. My opinion of Axl has plummeted, and because I dislike everything on Slash's last 2 albums, I have no hope for (decent) new music.

You sound like my ex girl friend, whatever I brought into her life could be 1000x better than anything going on in her life and she'd still find negatives and a reason to hate me. Theres absolutely brilliant work on World On Fire yet you still hate it, the reason why you hate it may get answered when I find out why my ex hated being treated good in favor of dudes who beat her and have criminal records. Saying you don't like Slash's albums while being a GNR fan is like saying you like air but hate breathing.

Slash hasn't had a shitty record since the first Snake Pit album, and that only was so so because Eric Dover made it unlistenable and the chemistry just didn't seem to be there.

Edited January 7, 2016 by SlashElvisTCB

[Roky]

1996 - 2015

[BadApples87]

1996 - 2015

YES.

[TOS--LOA]

Slash hasn't had a shitty record since the first Snake Pit album, and that only was so so because Eric Dover made it unlistenable and the chemistry just didn't seem to be there.

You shut your whore mouth about IFoCS!

Eric Dover is a saint!

Sorry about your ex though! Sounds like you're better off without her.

[Billsfan]

I'd say 2003-2005 and 2011-2014. Both were eras where it seemed like things were going nowhere. The first era I wondered if the band would ever release Chinese democracy thinking it would never see the light of day. The second was wondering if they'd ever reunite. Oh well, all water under the bridge..

[bran]

rock in rio 2011- present

[Billsfan]

1996 - 2015

YES.

There ya go. All we need is axl and slash. No one else. Well the promoters were right I guess screw Izzy..

[Bro-mero]

Without this reunion, I'd day the past couple years and the present have been some of the worst times in the history of GN'R.

[gunsfanoldie]

Sound stupid to say the most recent, but it was. If I can't say the whole 20 year period Slash was gone, then I'd have to say 2011-2014. Just a trainwreck with no ambition, no motivation, and no excitement. There were positives to most of the others. 2001 he was back, which was enough. 2002 had terrible VMAs, but at least a cool lineup with Bucket and Finck, and it was the last gasp of "old Axl" stage presence.

2006-2007 is obvious. Sounded great, good band. 2008 Chinese finally comes out. Can't really be disappointed about that, at least there's new material. 2009 return to live shows, and long ones. 2010, the last time Axl sounded great. After that, it got very stale, very fast. There was clearly never gonna be any music after that, and a poor lineup with DJ leading the charge. The ONLY positive was the slight Duff return, but other than that we were watching the band become as big of a joke as they'd ever been.

At least the periods of silence wasn't really making anything worse. It was frustrating but the band wasn't progressing backwards. If anything, the mystery of their disappearing was the only thing that kept following this band interesting so those times were needed, or NuGNR would have gotten boring much sooner.

[Powerage5]

For me, the worst period was in 1996 when I heard on MTV that Slash left the band. I was Devastated, I can still remember being 9 years old and being so crushed about that and talking to my older brother about it and we both tried to be optimistic about it all and I can still hear my brother say "well as long as Axl is still in the band, we'll still listen to him", needless to say we ended up listening to more Slash than Axl through the years.

Right now. My opinion of Axl has plummeted, and because I dislike everything on Slash's last 2 albums, I have no hope for (decent) new music.

You sound like my ex girl friend, whatever I brought into her life could be 1000x better than anything going on in her life and she'd still find negatives and a reason to hate me. Theres absolutely brilliant work on World On Fire yet you still hate it, the reason why you hate it may get answered when I find out why my ex hated being treated good in favor of dudes who beat her and have criminal records. Saying you don't like Slash's albums while being a GNR fan is like saying you like air but hate breathing.

Slash hasn't had a shitty record since the first Snake Pit album, and that only was so so because Eric Dover made it unlistenable and the chemistry just didn't seem to be there.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I personally absolutely, vehemently hate Myles' voice. That's what totally kills Apocalyptic Love and World On Fire for me. I just can't get into the tunes if I have to listen to nails on a chalkboard over the top of it. But generally speaking, my dislike of the Conspirators has nothing to do with the band musically, it all just boils down to Myles.

[Gibbo]

1996 - 2006

2011- 2014

[passenger57]

Right now. My opinion of Axl has plummeted, and because I dislike everything on Slash's last 2 albums, I have no hope for (decent) new music.

I really dig Slash's Beneath the Savage Sun, that riff is amazing. Maybe if he comes up with something like this w/ Axl we'll have some real magic.

[SlashElvisTCB]

Slash hasn't had a shitty record since the first Snake Pit album, and that only was so so because Eric Dover made it unlistenable and the chemistry just didn't seem to be there.

You shut your whore mouth about IFoCS!

Eric Dover is a saint!

Sorry about your ex though! Sounds like you're better off without her.

lol thanks for your sympathies, I am actually better off. Took a ton of shit from her.

[Jwalker19]

2011-mid 2015

[SlashElvisTCB]

For me, the worst period was in 1996 when I heard on MTV that Slash left the band. I was Devastated, I can still remember being 9 years old and being so crushed about that and talking to my older brother about it and we both tried to be optimistic about it all and I can still hear my brother say "well as long as Axl is still in the band, we'll still listen to him", needless to say we ended up listening to more Slash than Axl through the years.

Right now. My opinion of Axl has plummeted, and because I dislike everything on Slash's last 2 albums, I have no hope for (decent) new music.

You sound like my ex girl friend, whatever I brought into her life could be 1000x better than anything going on in her life and she'd still find negatives and a reason to hate me. Theres absolutely brilliant work on World On Fire yet you still hate it, the reason why you hate it may get answered when I find out why my ex hated being treated good in favor of dudes who beat her and have criminal records. Saying you don't like Slash's albums while being a GNR fan is like saying you like air but hate breathing.

Slash hasn't had a shitty record since the first Snake Pit album, and that only was so so because Eric Dover made it unlistenable and the chemistry just didn't seem to be there.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I personally absolutely, vehemently hate Myles' voice. That's what totally kills Apocalyptic Love and World On Fire for me. I just can't get into the tunes if I have to listen to nails on a chalkboard over the top of it. But generally speaking, my dislike of the Conspirators has nothing to do with the band musically, it all just boils down to Myles.

Fair enough, I like Myles personally, sometimes live he can be a bit nasally but he does cover a wide range of tunes from Slash's whole career which I think is impressive. On record he's more consistent, but overall I think the guy works hard and is a true musician, Axl will always be ahead of him in my book for vocals, but Myles has worked his way up the lists of singers that I like and he's a super nice guy. Eric Dover is just a dick, I'm glad that only lasted for one album with Slash.

[downzy]

Moved to Civil War.