My thoughts on the original line-up of Guns N’ Roses reuniting
There is a high state of excitement in the air in the rock community ever since the confirmed reports on the impending reunion of the original line-up of Guns N’ Roses which will be held at this year’s Coachella, the biggest music festival in the world and the most star-studded in terms of the line-up of artists who will perform.
Axl Rose, Slash, and Duff Mckagan have been confirmed to be there for this major music event. One can only hope that Izzy Stradlin and Steven Adler will join them to complete the famous line-up thus making it the classic incarnation of Guns N’ Roses.
It has to be said that at this late stage of their professional careers for them to amicably set aside personal and professional differences that have hindered primarily the most two globally renowned members of Guns N’ Roses–Axl Rose and Slash–to perform together again is significant for a number of reasons not only to longtime fans like myself but for the entire rock community.
Number 1 reason, this historic reunion is something that many thought would never ever happen. If you are familiar with the history of this legendary band, you would know the reasons why. Yet, and indeed, as the old adage goes “Time heals all wounds”.
Axl Rose and Slash are one of the most historically popular vocalist and guitarist duos of all time. Right off the bat, when you think of this legendary band, theirs are the two names that come immediately to your mind. It remained inconceivable to imagine one without the other even as that was the case for two decades when Axl Rose kept the band going without Slash.
While Axl Rose and Slash have not had the best of working relationships in the music industry–in fact, it has been rocky at best–it is still undeniable that the thought of even seeing the two of them performing again in one grand stage together after a long, long time is more than enough to raise the nostalgia factor to an all time high for long time fans like myself.
This wondrous reunion should feel like a form of closure for Axl Rose as he has been in the eye of the storm since the late-to-mid 90’s having been mercilessly bombarded with harsh criticisms and shameless bashings from mostly disgruntled former fans of Guns N’ Roses when he made the tough decision to continue the band even if most long time fans of Guns N’ Roses did not have a clue as to who were the other musicians he was performing with in those years given the revolving door situation of the band with different artists coming in and out.
The bashers and know-it-all critics forget that as long as Axl Rose is there–where he is not only the lead vocalist but the “face” of Guns N’ Roses, in essence–the band can technically still be called Guns N’ Roses because Axl Rose stayed on and did not quit the band for any reason. But had it been that any other original member had stayed on, then of course, then you got to change the name of the band. Why so ? It is because that is just the way things work in the music industry, inexplicably.
Rock N’ Roll history has taught us that as long as the lead singer of the band remains, there is still a high success rate of keeping the interest of fans alive and the chances of survival are fairly high for the band to go on, as Axl Rose has clearly pulled off. Or else, there would be no active “Guns N’ Roses band” for the other original members to come back to.
How do you think Axl Rose kept the band going since the mid-90’s after the combined departures of Izzy Stradlin, Matt Sorum, Duff Mckagan, and Slash took place during the height of the band’s popularity and in their prime years ? It was because there were so many, many musicians who wanted to fill in the vacant roles left behind by those who quit. But more than this, they wanted to be in a band with a real and living rock legend such as Axl Rose.
In many ways, what Axl Rose did was to ensure that the legacy of Guns N’ Roses will remain intact and will live on. If he had decided to change the name of the band or to join a different band as its lead vocalist, then I think the backlash from formers fans would even be far worse than what it was before.
Now, I believe a lot of people are ecstatic that the original line-up Guns N’ Roses are finally getting back together again. Whether this is for one last run or a lengthy reunion world tour, it is a major music news event and worth celebrating for what it is and for what promise it could hold for the future of the classic line-up of Guns N’ Roses.
Guns N’ Roses will take us back to the jungle !
