Well, it's officially been 10 years since the final NuGNR show

[Tomek1985]

7 hours ago, janrichmond said:

I was unaware of NuGuns/CD until I joined Mygnr. 

I bet that 2002 vmas gnr had Slash in mask (no common internet in poland in 2002, watched live on mtv, weird with no sorum and mckagan just skinny slash in mask ). started to be more aware in 2005 which is when i joined the forum. after the internet thing, first suspicious downloaded vid was rir 2001 torrent preview with fat Axl and more bozos on stage than 2002vmas. right after that I've got at 2002 columbus ycbm 3 cam mix with that fkn shirt, huge jersey and more of weird plastic Axl's head. good ol times. 

 

zero chances for any of us back then to think about slash and gnr as the same thing again (minus misinformation like myself '02)

Edited June 8 by Tomek1985

[GoBucky]

Not a fan of Ashba, but we were at the last two shows of both residencies, and had a blast! The last two in 2014 were fantastic. Hearing Marseilles and Prostitute back to back was awesome! 

[Gordon Comstock]

23 minutes ago, GoBucky said:

Not a fan of Ashba, but we were at the last two shows of both residencies, and had a blast! The last two in 2014 were fantastic. Hearing Marseilles and Prostitute back to back was awesome! 

 

I was at those shows too, they were tons of fun. Wish they'd bring back Marseilles, Axl would still sound great on it, and they could work it into an AFD40 set since they played it a few times in the 80s...

[slash23579]

my first GNR show was the june 4 2014 show, i think the third to last one of that residency and also right around the time I joined this site. I’m glad i got to see that era of the band live, and seeing them break out prostitute and yesterdays for the first time in forever was really cool. I still got so many videos from that night and when I listen back now it’s kinda crazy how good Axl was sounding at a time where we all made fun of his voice. Watching bumblefoot shred that guitar like no other was definitely a highlight

[kever20]

1 hour ago, GoBucky said:

Not a fan of Ashba, but we were at the last two shows of both residencies, and had a blast! The last two in 2014 were fantastic. Hearing Marseilles and Prostitute back to back was awesome! 

Same! I had a great time at that show!!! I think for the setlist alone it was my top GNR show I've attended.

[WhazUp]

I think all the subsets of the nuGNR era (2001/2002, 2006/2007, 2009-onwards) were interesting and I definitely enjoyed the 2 shows I caught in 2011 and 2012, but honestly nuGNR I was way more "all-in" on because at that time it was the only GNR you could get (that wasn't VR)

With Slash and Duff back again, even with all the imperfections and wasted potential it still just feel more "right" to me seeing this configuration compared to the rest of the nuGNR lineups. 

At least in a live setting, I don't really listen to many old nuGNR shows or anything nowadays, because I would rather hear Slash play Slash's iconic solos more than hearing other people playing Slash's solos

[DannyVinyard]

3 hours ago, Tomek1985 said:

I after the internet thing, first suspicious downloaded vid was rir 2001 torrent preview with fat Axl

He wasn't even remotely fat at RIR in 2001. 

[Arnuld]

The first part of the era (2000-2007) was pretty interesting. Axl sounded good. Looked good. I liked Robin Finck. Especially 2006-2007 Robin Finck when he looked like rock n roll Jesus instead of an alien. There was real hope. Some good leaks. 2008. CD finally comes out. It’s good but really 2-7 years too late. Axl sounded good in 2010. By 2011 the rails began to come off. Axl got a little fat. Started sounding off. DJ Ashba was not a good choice. He’s just so cheesy. Ron is an amazing guitar player but just didn’t seem happy after 2007. By 2014 there was no mystique. It was just kind of a weird hodgepodge group of musicians and an underwhelming Axl. Anyone who thinks any version of nugnr was going to take over the world was not around for the 80s and 90s. This was NEVER going to happen. The original band was just too big. It would have made much more sense for Axl to present this whole era as a solo project. 

[Free Bird]

10 hours ago, janrichmond said:

I was unaware of NuGuns/CD until I joined Mygnr. 

I wish I could say the same.

[AxlIsGod.]

4 hours ago, WhazUp said:

I think all the subsets of the nuGNR era (2001/2002, 2006/2007, 2009-onwards) were interesting and I definitely enjoyed the 2 shows I caught in 2011 and 2012, but honestly nuGNR I was way more "all-in" on because at that time it was the only GNR you could get (that wasn't VR)

With Slash and Duff back again, even with all the imperfections and wasted potential it still just feel more "right" to me seeing this configuration compared to the rest of the nuGNR lineups. 

At least in a live setting, I don't really listen to many old nuGNR shows or anything nowadays, because I would rather hear Slash play Slash's iconic solos more than hearing other people playing Slash's solos

This is almost exactly how I feel. I saw em in 2010 and 2012, enjoyed it, followed them at the time but now it's almost like a distant memory. 

Subconsciously I've basically forgotten that era, never really watch any of it back, and just see modern guns as 2016 onwards. The reunion has been a blast. 

[janrichmond]

7 hours ago, Tomek1985 said:

I bet that 2002 vmas gnr had Slash in mask (no common internet in poland in 2002, watched live on mtv, weird with no sorum and mckagan just skinny slash in mask ). started to be more aware in 2005 which is when i joined the forum. after the internet thing, first suspicious downloaded vid was rir 2001 torrent preview with fat Axl and more bozos on stage than 2002vmas. right after that I've got at 2002 columbus ycbm 3 cam mix with that fkn shirt, huge jersey and more of weird plastic Axl's head. good ol times. 

 

zero chances for any of us back then to think about slash and gnr as the same thing again (minus misinformation like myself '02)

Yeah, I did watch the VMA thing and thought it was a parody at first 

[JimiRose]

I got into GnR in 2002 finding appetite in my parents cd case. then 2003ish was greatest hits release and heard nov rain. in between saw the mtv show and was like wtf is this, its incredible. so though i loved VR and slash, nuGnR was the first band version of GnR i saw in 06, and then 4 more times in 2010 and 3 more in 2012. Axl was on absolute fire as a frontman and i think thats all that mattered. people moan about frank ferrer and dj ashba or pitman etc. Why were you watching those guys? Axl was pure theatre, energy, anger, and his vocal was unbelievable. 

It's not nostalgia, its the one reason why the 06-12 version of the band is my fav, because axl was still the insane unpredictable axl of 1991, and that gave the shows real edge, plus he was also the greatest vocalist in live rock n roll still. 2016 was great to see them together, but almost by 2017 his voice was nearly unlistenable and with his short hair, shaved face, people mocking him for looking like benny hill, the shows became less edgy, less rock n roll, very safe and looked like they were being performed by your old uncle. 

I get why people don't like the pornstar mustache, jackets, ripped jeans snakeskin boots axl of 09-14. But visually he looked like a rocker on a stage. now he just looks like a guy trying to be a guy on stage, and sounds like a guy who shouldnt be on stage. age, medication, style choices etc are all out of my control and im glad he's enjoying it. but the show is over for Axl as a behemoth exciting frontman, which just for me amplifies nugnr as the last time we saw 'classic axl'

[Sisyphus]

Underwhelmed. I got into GN'R in the late 90's during the release of Oh My God, Live Era, Axl's interview with Kurt Loder. There were rumblings of a new band with a guy from The Replacements playing bass and Robin Finck on guitar, 50 songs recorded and whatnot. As a teenager I had huge expectations and I really felt like Axl was going to take the world by storm. But it never happened.

The early 00's were cool with all the mystery and the general belief among fans that big things our coming our way. I was always a massive Axl fan and I felt like he had been betrayed by the former bandmates but he didn't do himself any favors by proving to the world he was actually the problem.

Instead of a strong comeback single they put out Oh My God which is a very cool track but then Axl went on to claim it was actually just a demo. After tinkering with it for years you end up releasing half-finished song on a weak-ass movie as the first originral GN'R single since UYI. Seriously?

The Vegas and Rio shows gave them some momentum but what followed was a canceled European tour and more of the same, two low key Vegas shows, the out of breath VMA fiasco, NA Tour marred with cancelations, riots, no albums in sight, no singles. 

Axl had the most amazing band at his disposal but never truly allowed those guys to become a "band". He never gave them a chance to be accepted because the whole thing had to be shrouded in secrecy and nobody could say a word about potential plans and releases. Those guys never had a chance with the lack of music, videos and media exposure. Axl never stood by his new band or helped them gain acceptance in any way. Instead he let them fight their own battles and ended up losing everyone from Buckethead to Robin Finck to Josh Freese to Brain.

The 2006 comeback was huge. Axl was finally back on track, image wise he found his niche, his voice was strong, the album was supposedly coming. It could've turned into something great but it didn't of course. 

The bothced release of Chinese was the last nail. There was no promotion due to Axl bickering with the label, Finck was gone only to be replaced by a Motley Crue reject. GN'R officially became a punchline. There was some fire left in 2009/2010 but from 2011 it became a full on cash-grab, Axl going through the motions, Vegas residencies and such. 

Axl lost his edge, image became stale with silly rock-star cliches, no new music on the horizon, faceless members of a supposed "GN'R" playing to smaller and smaller crowds until Axl had no other choice but to reunite.

Despite some enjoybale moments, GN'R brand was dragged through the mud by poor management and awful decisions accross the board. 

The new GNR is case of what could have been.

Edited June 8 by Sisyphus

[Free Bird]

5 hours ago, janrichmond said:

Yeah, I did watch the VMA thing and thought it was a parody at first 

I was like What The Fuck is this and what what did I just watch there. What happened to my favourite band? It was a shock 😮 

[rumandraisin]

On 6/7/2024 at 1:27 PM, Sweersa said:

Overall, that era was full of missed opportunities. The positives, we did get one album, that was pretty good (my favorite, but I understand why others don't like it), 1999 Oh My God, and a lot of touring. Been to two shows, my first Guns shows, 2011 and also 2012, great performances. 

I was sad about the reunion because I was still holding out for CD2 by 2014, and I knew it was largely a nostalgic money grab, much like Pitman said. Now we're getting horribly pieced together CD2 songs with the current lineup. 

Guns had 2009-2014 to drop CD2, so that's on them. (Or Axl, or the label, who knows)

Best case for Guns, as I'm sure many agree, would have been if Robin and Bucket stayed around to complete and release at least two albums of material, then by the time of the reunion, whatever they had for CD3 (or whatever) could be finished by NITL, along with whatever they could bring to the table.

The funny thing is, since 2016, aside from 4 CD2 songs with Slash and Duff, they have not done much except touring, and some music videos. It's more or less the same thing, different decade. Different players. 

The most realistic thing I hope for, is another colossal leak of CD-era songs, hopefully all the Bucket and Robin stuff.

 

On 6/7/2024 at 1:27 PM, Sweersa said:

Overall, that era was full of missed opportunities. The positives, we did get one album, that was pretty good (my favorite, but I understand why others don't like it), 1999 Oh My God, and a lot of touring. Been to two shows, my first Guns shows, 2011 and also 2012, great performances. 

I was sad about the reunion because I was still holding out for CD2 by 2014, and I knew it was largely a nostalgic money grab, much like Pitman said. Now we're getting horribly pieced together CD2 songs with the current lineup. 

Guns had 2009-2014 to drop CD2, so that's on them. (Or Axl, or the label, who knows)

Best case for Guns, as I'm sure many agree, would have been if Robin and Bucket stayed around to complete and release at least two albums of material, then by the time of the reunion, whatever they had for CD3 (or whatever) could be finished by NITL, along with whatever they could bring to the table.

The funny thing is, since 2016, aside from 4 CD2 songs with Slash and Duff, they have not done much except touring, and some music videos. It's more or less the same thing, different decade. Different players. 

The most realistic thing I hope for, is another colossal leak of CD-era songs, hopefully all the Bucket and Robin stuff. 

 

On 6/7/2024 at 1:27 PM, Sweersa said:

Overall, that era was full of missed opportunities. The positives, we did get one album, that was pretty good (my favorite, but I understand why others don't like it), 1999 Oh My God, and a lot of touring. Been to two shows, my first Guns shows, 2011 and also 2012, great performances. 

I was sad about the reunion because I was still holding out for CD2 by 2014, and I knew it was largely a nostalgic money grab, much like Pitman said. Now we're getting horribly pieced together CD2 songs with the current lineup. 

Guns had 2009-2014 to drop CD2, so that's on them. (Or Axl, or the label, who knows)

Best case for Guns, as I'm sure many agree, would have been if Robin and Bucket stayed around to complete and release at least two albums of material, then by the time of the reunion, whatever they had for CD3 (or whatever) could be finished by NITL, along with whatever they could bring to the table.

The funny thing is, since 2016, aside from 4 CD2 songs with Slash and Duff, they have not done much except touring, and some music videos. It's more or less the same thing, different decade. Different players. 

The most realistic thing I hope for, is another colossal leak of CD-era songs, hopefully all the Bucket and Robin stuff. 

Imagine a locker disc style leak of all the material they had from 2003, we'd have some form of Better, The General, Scraped...

 

Edited June 8 by rumandraisin

[D4NNY]

23 hours ago, Draguns said:

I don't think Buckethead nor Finch were a good fit for GNR

[jacdaniel]

I hate the Nu Guns era and glad it’s long gone. It’s not that they’re bad players or anything, they just never sounded like Guns to me. Buckets playing in particular is not for me at all. 

I also get people that don’t like Slash on Chinese stuff. I’d prefer him to leave that alone as well and just ditch that album and all material from that era 

 

[Powderfinger]

On 6/7/2024 at 2:27 AM, EvanG said:

Didn't follow GnR much anymore after Slash left, too many other bands to listen to. Although I enjoyed most songs on CD, but didn't bother with the concerts anymore.
Last ten years have been cool, saw them live again, was good to see Slash and Duff being back and enjoyed some of the new songs. Obviously would have been even better if they had released more new music, but meh... it is what it is.
 

*thank
 

Not necessarily. 
Know yourself before correcting another. 

[username]

On 6/7/2024 at 10:29 AM, AxlIsGod. said:

How do you feel about the era a decade later? And how would you sum up the last 10 years of Guns? Can't believe it's been that long tbh! 

I'd largely tuned out by the end of NuGuns, but here's Axl's wee sendoff:

 

2001-2002 
I hated it at the time but I absolutely love it now. It was so incredibly out there. Shame it never really got going. The potential was insane. Especially if they'd dropped an album in 2002. 

2006-2007 
Peak nu-GnR for me. In terms of live show, vocals and general look and feel, this was a step up from 2002. Even if Buckethead was gone. 

2009-2010
Vocals were still good, setlists got more exciting, but man... Ashba was so fucking terrible. What a giant fucking tool. 

2011-2014
Aside from the occasional good show, it was all downhill here. 

[Spoon87]

9 hours ago, Sisyphus said:

Underwhelmed. I got into GN'R in the late 90's during the release of Oh My God, Live Era, Axl's interview with Kurt Loder. There were rumblings of a new band with a guy from The Replacements playing bass and Robin Finck on guitar, 50 songs recorded and whatnot. As a teenager I had huge expectations and I really felt like Axl was going to take the world by storm. But it never happened.

The early 00's were cool with all the mystery and the general belief among fans that big things our coming our way. I was always a massive Axl fan and I felt like he had been betrayed by the former bandmates but he didn't do himself any favors by proving to the world he was actually the problem.

Instead of a strong comeback single they put out Oh My God which is a very cool track but then Axl went on to claim it was actually just a demo. After tinkering with it for years you end up releasing half-finished song on a weak-ass movie as the first originral GN'R single since UYI. Seriously?

The Vegas and Rio shows gave them some momentum but what followed was a canceled European tour and more of the same, two low key Vegas shows, the out of breath VMA fiasco, NA Tour marred with cancelations, riots, no albums in sight, no singles. 

Axl had the most amazing band at his disposal but never truly allowed those guys to become a "band". He never gave them a chance to be accepted because the whole thing had to be shrouded in secrecy and nobody could say a word about potential plans and releases. Those guys never had a chance with the lack of music, videos and media exposure. Axl never stood by his new band or helped them gain acceptance in any way. Instead he let them fight their own battles and ended up losing everyone from Buckethead to Robin Finck to Josh Freese to Brain.

The 2006 comeback was huge. Axl was finally back on track, image wise he found his niche, his voice was strong, the album was supposedly coming. It could've turned into something great but it didn't of course. 

The bothced release of Chinese was the last nail. There was no promotion due to Axl bickering with the label, Finck was gone only to be replaced by a Motley Crue reject. GN'R officially became a punchline. There was some fire left in 2009/2010 but from 2011 it became a full on cash-grab, Axl going through the motions, Vegas residencies and such. 

Axl lost his edge, image became stale with silly rock-star cliches, no new music on the horizon, faceless members of a supposed "GN'R" playing to smaller and smaller crowds until Axl had no other choice but to reunite.

Despite some enjoybale moments, GN'R brand was dragged through the mud by poor management and awful decisions accross the board. 

The new GNR is case of what could have been.

Great summary.

[EvanG]

2 hours ago, Powderfinger said:

Not necessarily. 
Know yourself before correcting another. 

I know you.

[evilfacelessturtle]

On 6/7/2024 at 6:54 AM, axl666 said:

I'd agree with this a lot. GNR was very interesting to me from about 96-2001 when it seemed Axl was trying to create something new and original. Underground musicians, punk musicians, industrial music, hip-hop etc. I imagined a future where GNR would become the biggest cult band in the world, playing theatres to hardcore fans. I could get on board with that as a vision. It was genuinely something radically new for GNR.

By 2007 though nu-GNR had become an imitation of the original GNR, even down to their look. I really liked the concerts I went to but the creative energy wasn't there. Seeing music like oh My God turning into street of dreams (which I really like, but obviously is more of a traditional rock song) was also a bit disappointing. I think the sad thing was that the more Axl deviated from the 96-2001 vision and went with the imitation version of the original GNR, the less popular he became. So eventually they ended up playing quite small venues or less sold out venues.

I also wish his creative vision in terms of his lyrical content had expanded a lot more during the 96-2001 era. If anything, it feels like the more he tried to expand what GNR was the more his vision became focused on his own personal struggles. Whereas actually looking back this was a time period when the world was lead up to the war on terror, global financial crash, beginnings of runaway climate change, things like massive fires and inequality in california etc. Tapping into those themes would have been very different for a mainstream rock band at the time. I like Absurd/Silkworms but obviously it's more on the Back off Bitch side of things lyrically, and is an old theme for GNR even if the music is different.

.... but Street of Dreams existed as far back as 1999...

I think it's pretty clear that Axl's vision was never just one single thing. He likes having a variety of styles, which is why CD included everything from industrial rockers to a '70s blacksploitation funk jam with electronic drums and a classical nylon intro.

Also, I don't think you can draw causation there. NuGuns would have seen crowds dwindle no matter what they did. Except maybe release multiple albums with some mainstream hit singles, but that wasn't even their intent.

I do agree about the lyrics though. Axl's excuse for not writing in 1994 was that he was in so many lawsuits the lyrics would be about that. And yet, what we got was all about his past relationships.

[Gunner Gilby]

Well first things first. The background to this era was gutting. When Izzy quit I was gutted and didn't think anyone could be a worthy replacement. Then I got the Illusion Tokyo videos for Xmas. Seeing Gilby play the lead guitar intros to Don't Cry and Patience plus trading lead guitar licks with Slash during Wild Horses won me over. A couple of years later I got Pawnshop Guitars and became an even bigger Gilby fan. 

Then it all went to shit. One by one Gilby, Slash, Duff n Matt either left or were forced out of the band. Most of the Nu GN'R members who came and went were talented enough. It's ridiculous that surrounded by all that talent all that got released was one album. 

Mind you I hoped that when Slash and Duff returned to the band that with them being more Axl's equals we might get an album sooner. Sadly nothing's changed.

Edited June 9 by Gunner Gilby

[Free Bird]

8 hours ago, Gunner Gilby said:

Well first things first. The background to this era was gutting. When Izzy quit I was gutted and didn't think anyone could be a worthy replacement. Then I got the Illusion Tokyo videos for Xmas. Seeing Gilby play the lead guitar intros to Don't Cry and Patience plus trading lead guitar licks with Slash won me over. A couple of years later I got Pawnshop Guitars and became an even bigger Gilby fan. 

Then it all went to shit. One by one Gilby, Slash, Duff n Matt either left or were forced out of the band. Most of the Nu GN'R members who came and went were talented enough. It's ridiculous that surrounded by all that talent all that got released was one album. 

Mind you I hoped that when Slash and Duff returned to the band that with them being more Axl's equals we might get an album sooner. Sadly nothing's changed.

They just have to figure out how to release an album at times like this

[DTV88]

On 6/8/2024 at 12:49 AM, janrichmond said:

Yeah, I did watch the VMA thing and thought it was a parody at first 

From the excitement on Jimmy Fallon’s face when he introduced them, to about ten seconds later when I saw NuGuns for the first time. That’s all it took for me to realize my favorite band really was dead.