Axl Rose is not your average "crazy" rock star, according to rock journalist, author and Guns N' Roses expert Mick Wall. The singer's personal issues apparently run much deeper.
"He told Erin [Everly, his ex-wife] that in a previous life they'd livedas Native Americans on an Indian camp. There was a personal assistantthat his guru told him had lived 50,000 previous lives in which hetried to kill him [Axl], so he fired her. I mean he's into some reallycrazy shit," said Wall (read the full interview).
"This isn't like 'Ozzy Osborne is crazy,' or 'Alice Cooper, he'scrazy,'" Wall said. "I don't think it's like that. I think the guy genuinely haspersonal issues, which, on a completely human level, I totally wish himreally all the best with and hope that pain goes away for him one day."
Commanding complete control over what was essentially a solo album, Rose refused to release Chinese Democracy — which appears to have neared completion as early as 2001 — as another act of control, only releasing it now because he was running out of money. Apparently, the singer signed a deal with managers Irving Azoff and Andy Gould that required him to release Chinese Democracy in 2008. Nearly every album is released for financial reasons to a certain extent, of course, but this should lay to rest the notion of Rose releasing the album because his perfectionism had finally been satisfied.
"My understanding is it came down to something as prosaic and aspragmatic as that: The dude needs the dough," Wall told us over the telephone. "And there [was] no more doughuntil this album [was] in the stores." He says Rose's cash shortage contributed to the decision to distribute the album exclusively through Best Buy and the stream through MySpace as well.
Wall's relationship with Rose dates back to 1987 when he begancovering the band extensively in metal magazines, on television and onthe radio in Britain. The author of several hard-rock band books, Wallsays he was GNR's go-to man for articles and books until theirrelationship suddenly soured. Rose apparently still holds a grudgeagainst Wall, resulting in his ejection from a London Guns N' Roses gigin 2006.
"I said to him, 'let me read you this, because to me this soundsheavy,
and I just want to make sure this is how you still feel, and you stillwant to do this,'" Wall (pictured to the right) said he told Rose in a taped conversation. "I
read it to him, he laughed, and then he said, 'I
stand by every single word, motherfucker, go ahead and print it.' So I
did. And literally within a week or two of the story appearing, as faras he was concerned, I'd made the whole thing up. I was a dirty rottenlimey journalist who can't be trusted, and had lied about what went on,
and misquoted him. I mean, it broke my heart, because this wasn't justsome guy I'd met once and interviewed and there was a misunderstanding."
As a result, Rose addressed Wall by name in his "Get In The Ring" diatribe from 1991's Use Your Illusion II.
But things would go downhill for Rose soon thereafter, as a result of a Seattle-based anti-hair-metal movement that swept over the musicscene like wildfire.
"Come the nineties, he was very, very freaked out by the wholeNirvanagrunge thing," said Wall. "Nirvana and grunge did to Guns N' Roses whatthey did to the Poisons and the Motley Crues: They made them looksilly." (While we're on the topic of other bands, Rose has unexpectedtaste, with favorites including E.L.O., Elton John, Queen and 10 cc.) Wall continued, "He wasreally into Nine Inch Nails, he was really into Ice-T and I think hereally wanted to show the world that Guns N' Roses had all that kind ofstuff in their locker — they weren't just Motley Crue. Which, in manyways, is to be applauded."
After the grunge assault was over, Rose's bandmates shuffled out ofthe band and the singer replaced them with new players who would allowhim total control over the project, according to Wall. As a result,
Rose was able to sit on this album for years and it ended upweaker and more self-indulgent than it would have if the rest of the band had been involved.
"If Guns N' Roses were still Guns N' Roses — in other words, if itwere still five guys that started out equal in the band, this album sowould have been released years and years ago, and then they'd have goneon and made another one, and another one," said Wall. He added, " the result is,
listening to it, it's incredibly overproduced, overreaching, almostself-pitying... As a soloalbum, it's a really interesting piece of work. But ... I don't think people got into Guns N'
Roses so they could listen to an album like this."
That said, the long-waited Chinese Democracy may not be the last we hear from Axl and company. "By all accounts, he certainly has enough material recorded to put outat least one more album," said Wall. "And it wouldn't surprise me if they did somecrazy guerrilla marketing thing and maybe a year from now put out parttwo or something like that. Other groups have done similar things inthe past. But will there actually be a fresh-from-the-ground-uprecording? I really don't know. I really, really, don't know. It willdepend how well this does, how good he's feeling about himself."
Read our full Mick Wall interview for more.
See Also:
- Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy Launches on MySpace
- Guns N' Roses Leaker's Fate Rests in the Band's Hands
- Reduced Charges for Guns N' Roses Uploader, Deal 'in the Offing'
- Stream Guns N' Roses' 'Chinese Democracy' Then Vote
- Dr Pepper to Make Good on Chinese Democracy Stunt
- Dr Pepper Pays Up, For One Day Only
- Full Interview: Mick Wall on Axl Rose
Photo: Cuenta Chiste
