Last of the Giants

by Mick Wall

  The rejuvenated band followed with ‘She Builds Quick Machines’ and ‘Slither’, which showcased a roof-destroying solo from Slash that suggested he was in the best form of his life. Whatever water might have passed under the bridge was not apparent. In fact, the band could have been in the middle of the Libertad tour, so polished was their execution. Though three songs were promised, the band could not resist a fourth, closing the evening with Pink Floyd’s ‘Wish You Were Here’. Afterwards it was hoped this had been a curtain-raising event in lieu of a full VR reunion. But it was not to be. Slash would go back to his progressively successful solo career, Duff would record with Loaded and later form Walking Papers, Dave found a lucrative second life writing and scoring television soundtracks, co-writing the theme song for the mega-popular biker drama Sons of Anarchy. Matt would bounce around a number of side projects and Scott Weiland would eventually split from Stone Temple Pilots again in 2011, attempting to reignite his flagging solo career. He was found dead on his tour bus on 3 December 2015, the victim of an accidental drug overdose.

  Before he died, I had one last phone conversation with Scott Weiland. As usual he was a hard man to pin down. I’d been trying to speak to him for weeks, but each night as it got to the time when I was supposed to call, one of his ‘people’ would call and give me the same old excuses I’d got when I first met him nearly 20 years before. He was unwell. He was unexpectedly called away. He just wasn’t answering the phone. Finally, I gave up. Told them not to bother him any more. And then he rang me.

  He sounded sad on the phone, but then he always sounded at something of a loss whenever I had spoken to him. Not at all like the way he came across in his angry press statements, when he’d be flogging at Slash and Duff and even Axl. It was the first time we’d spoken since he’d published his autobiography, Not Dead & Not for Sale – a chillingly frank self-portrait in which he talked for the first time about being raped as a 12-year-old – and where he claimed Velvet Revolver ‘came out of necessity, not artistic purpose’. He had also recently designed his own ‘English Laundry’ clothing range and completed a set of paintings which he planned to exhibit. But I didn’t really want to talk about that. I wanted to know what he meant by the ‘came out of necessity’ remark about VR?

  ‘Well, I think we did a really good job of it,’ he said wistfully. ‘It was a great band to see live and I think we made two exciting albums.’

  So … no hard feelings? I mean, were they the kind of people he would invite to dinner?

  ‘Oh, yeah,’ he said. ‘We patched things up and we get along. I see them every now and again, we text each other. And, you know, I mean, you can never say never. But, you know, it’s like, uh, um, who knows, maybe we’ll do some shows sometime …’

  The conversation drifted. I found myself asking him what, when he looked back, was he most proud of? I was thinking in terms of his career. He was thinking of something else.

  ‘I am definitely most proud of my children,’ he said with a whisper. ‘They are what keep me up when I feel low, seeing the light in their eyes and that kind of unconditional love is even more important than my music, they keep me going definitely.’

  Was there such a thing as a ‘secret to success’, I wondered?

  ‘I don’t believe so. People often think that it’s luck, because there are so many talented people who don’t ever get to have success or even a record deal. But I have this mantra that is: you really create your own luck. But it’s part of serendipity too. If you work hard, you have talent and you put yourself in situations enough of the right times, you’ll meet people along the way that eventually notice you … Serendipity, timing, God and hard work, they all sort of have to merge together – having a vision of where you want to be and what it’s gonna take to get there.’

  God? Did he accept there was a higher power?

  ‘Oh, yeah, I believe in God, definitely. When I was a kid I went to church every Sunday. My brothers and I would be watching cartoons and my dad would be, “All right, Mark, Scott, Michael, get dressed.” I’d be like, argh! [But] I look back on it fondly and when I go to church, I don’t go regularly, but it brings like a sense of [getting] back in touch with what you believe in. I was very lucky with the church that I went to, a Catholic church, it was very sort of progressive and wasn’t all that dogma-based. And my mother and father also were brought up with believing in God and Jesus. But that’s a personal thing [not] something you try to push on others, that spiritual connection that you have.’

  How did you look back on grunge?

  ‘That was a magical time for music and art and social change. It was a different climate and there really hasn’t been such a massive movement in rock’n’roll since – though [STP] never really considered ourselves a grunge band. But it was a real time of enlightenment and a lot of hope.’

  It was getting late. We’d run out of things to talk about. And there would always be a next time. Lastly then, I asked him, out of the blue, what he would like written on his tombstone? Here lies Scott Weiland …

  ‘… he loved his family. He loved his children. He loved his friends. And never ceased to pick himself up off the ground.’

  We left it like that.

  16

  BLAME IT ON THE FALUN GONG

  Having informed his label, Interscope, at the start of 2003 that there were only some ‘last-minute’ tweaks, to do with his vocals, Axl confidently predicted that Chinese Democracy would be ready for release later that year. By August, however, Axl had abandoned the studio and become a virtual recluse again behind the gated walls of his Malibu mansion. At which point, in a desperate attempt to claw back some of the millions they had thrown at an album that after nearly ten years in the making was still not finished, Interscope announced the forthcoming release of a Greatest Hits collection. Axl, understandably, was outraged. Didn’t they get it? Why didn’t anybody ever see what he saw, that he had spent years rebuilding a new Guns N’ Roses? That the last thing his fans needed was a sharp reminder of why the old Guns N’ Roses had been so damn great.

  Merck Mercuriadis of Sanctuary, now Axl’s de facto manager, called in some favours and persuaded Interscope to hold back on the hits album in return for a cast-iron guarantee that Chinese Democracy would be ready to go in time for the big Christmas market. When that didn’t happen, the label pressed the button on Greatest Hits. The resulting 14-track CD was released in March and went on to sell more than 13 million copies worldwide, making it the band’s biggest hit since the double Use Your Illusion sets 13 years before. None of which appeared to pacify Axl. But by now the label had had enough. In a letter dated 2 February 2004, Axl was informed that, ‘having exceeded all budgeted and approved recording costs by millions of dollars’, it was now ‘Mr Rose’s obligation to fund and complete the album’, and no longer the record company’s.

  It meant that, just as Greatest Hits was riding at Number 1 in the UK and Number 3 in the US, work on Chinese Democracy was closed down and the band’s gear packed away. A planned appearance – scheduled for May – at the fourth Rock in Rio festival, relocated this time to the Portuguese city of Lisbon, was also cancelled: according to the official press release, because Buck-ethead had left the band. There was a further release headed: ‘A Message from W. Axl Rose’, as follows: ‘The band has been put in an untenable position by guitarist Buckethead and his untimely departure. During his tenure with the band Buckethead has been inconsistent and erratic in both his behaviour and commitment – despite being under contract – creating uncertainty and confusion and making it virtually impossible to move forward with recording, rehearsals and live plans with confidence.’ Erratic behaviour? Uncertainty and confusion? Surely these had been hallmarks for Guns N’ Roses decades before Buckethead was signed on? Axl’s press release went on: ‘There is not a member of this camp that is not hurt, upset and ultimately disappointed by this event. Regardless of anyone’s opinions of me and what I may or may not deserve, clearly the fans, individuals in this ba
nd, management, crew and our support group do not deserve this type of treatment. On behalf of Guns N’ Roses and myself, I apologise to the fans who planned to see us at Rock in Rio.’ Then one last dig at Buckethead: ‘It appears his plans were to secure a recording contract, quit GN’R and use his involvement in the upcoming Guns release to immediately promote his individual efforts.’ However, there was a light at the end of the tunnel: ‘This unfortunate set of circumstances may have given us the opportunity to take our recording that one extra step further. Regardless we hope to announce a release date within the next few months. Sincerely, W. Axl Rose.’

  Was anybody keeping up with this stuff? Of more interest to the press in Europe and America was the lawsuit against Axl that followed just a few weeks later, which Slash and Duff filed at the LA Superior Court. Claiming they had been deprived of at least a million dollars after Axl had unilaterally, and without telling them, turned down lucrative offers from the makers of movies such as We Were Soldiers, Death to Smoochy, Old School and Just Married, and, potentially most lucrative of all, had refused offers from producers of the 2001 blockbuster Black Hawk Down, to let them use ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ on the soundtrack. Axl denied the charges and lawyers for both sides rubbed their hands in glee.

  When, in July, VH1 broadcast the latest episode in their popular Behind the Music series, this time on the story of Guns N’ Roses, Axl again refused to take part, leaving the juice to Slash and Steven, even Gilby and Matt. There was only one mention of Axl’s new Guns N’ Roses right at the end of the programme, when it explained that that their first album together, Chinese Democracy, would be released in November. Even Axl must have had a laugh about that.

  Indeed, no more was heard until over a year later when Axl, accompanied by his still faithful bodyguard, Earl, stood at the gates of his mansion and told a bunch of fans that Chinese Democracy would finally be released just a few months later, at the start of 2006. Not only that, but a track from it would be featured on the soundtrack of the forthcoming movie version of the bestselling book The Da Vinci Code. Although the rumour was never verified, Merck Mercuriadis declined to comment either way. In the event, neither of these two things occurred. But rumours persisted throughout 2006 that the album was now imminent. Certainly, Axl was back in the spotlight again. Attending the launch party in January for the American band Korn’s latest tour, he told a writer from Rolling Stone, ‘We’re working on thirty-two songs, and twenty-six are nearly done.’ Of the completed tracks, he added, 13 would be included on Chinese Democracy, and the rest on two subsequent ‘sequels’. His favourite tracks, he said, were ‘Better’, ‘There was a Time’ and ‘The Blues’. Dressed in a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey, a large ornate cross hanging from his neck, he puffed on a cigar and declared, ‘People will hear music this year. It’s a very complex record. I’m trying to do something different. Some of the arrangements are kind of like Queen. Some people are going to say, “It doesn’t sound like Axl Rose, it doesn’t sound like Guns N’ Roses.” But you’ll like at least a few songs on there.’

  Taking over an entire floor of the mega-expensive Trump Tower hotel, in New York, Axl could now been seen hanging out at ‘late-late’ clubs like Stereo, in the Chelsea district, which didn’t get going until 4 a.m. When, a few days before his forty-fourth birthday, he showed up with his entourage at around 5.30 a.m., he blew everyone away by allowing the club DJ to play tracks from two ten-track CD copies of Chinese Democracy. ‘He was talking with everybody freely about how he’s been off for ten years, and how even though Slash and the rest of the guys [had started] Velvet Revolver, he’s been holding back,’ described the club’s owner, Barry Mullineaux. ‘He was freely answering questions about his work, the band, what happened with the split [with the original line-up], the direction he’s headed in – and the music sounded great.’

  When, in May, it was announced that Guns N’ Roses would play four ‘warm-up’ shows at the 2000-capacity Hammerstein Ballroom on West 34th Street, everyone was convinced the album was definitely on the way. When this was followed by confirmation of a European tour in the summer, including a headline appearance in Britain at the annual Download festival in June, fans really did begin to believe again. So did the band and management. Even the record company began making nice again. The icing on the cake was Axl turning up unannounced on Eddie Trunk’s syndicated Saturday night radio show to publicise the gigs – along with a promise that Chinese Democracy would be released ‘sometime this fall or late fall. It will be out this year.’

  As one record company exec put it to me at the time, ‘If you say something enough times it’s got to be real, right?’ But trouble was brewing again before the band had even arrived for the sound check at the Hammerstein. Axl had a meltdown when both his band and management tried to talk him out of adding a third guitarist to the line-up. With Buckethead having flown the coop, so to speak, and having resisted all attempts to lure him back, Axl had been happy to go with just Robin Fink and Richard Fortus, but the closer they came to the opening night of the Hammerstein shows, the more convinced he became that he simply had to get another guitarist in. Tommy Stinson and Brain the drummer are said to have threatened to quit. To which Axl allegedly replied, ‘Who cares? We’ll just get Duff and Matt.’ With Izzy now also secretly rehearsing a few numbers with the band, someone else half jokingly suggested Axl get Slash in the line-up too. Then immediately regretted it when they saw the thunder on Axl’s face. In the end, Axl got his way, and halfway through the first Hammerstein show on 12 May he introduced the fans to Ron ‘Bumblefoot’ Thal – a New Yorker and a technically gifted shredder once described as a heavy metal Frank Zappa.

  With the exception of Bumblefoot, the band was identical to the line-up which had ground to a gear-wrenching halt three and a half years before: Axl on vocals and occasional keyboards; guitarists Finck, Bumblefoot and Fortus; bassist Tommy Stinson; keyboardists Dizzy Reed and Chris Pittman; and drummer Brain Mantia. With Sebastian Bach, Limp Bizkit’s frontman, Fred Durst, Lenny Kravitz and the actor Ethan Hawke watching from the roped-off VIP area, naturally, they were an hour and a half late onstage, and it was long past midnight by the time Axl seated himself at the piano for ‘November Rain’.

  Most of the set, as before, was classic-era GN’R fare, with Sebastian Bach joining them onstage for ‘My Michelle’. The most precious moment, though, was when Axl stopped to address the baying crowd between the new numbers ‘Chinese Democracy’ and ‘There was a Time’ and quipped, ‘I see you people singing the new songs. You downloaded them, fuckers!’ Pause for comic timing. Then: ‘You can hold your breath a lot longer than David Blaine. I want to thank you for that …’

  The most attention-grabbing moment of the four-night stint occurred at the last gig, when Izzy Stradlin strolled onstage. He and Axl stood and embraced, before the band ripped into ‘Think About You’. Axl had tried to say something to announce his old school pal’s arrival but he was drowned out by screams the minute the crowd caught sight of Izzy shuffling around in the shadows. During a wonderfully heartfelt performance of ‘Patience’, Izzy could be seen wiping tears from his eyes. It seemed that both Axl and Izzy had come full circle since the last time I’d spoken to the guitarist. ‘Well, it’s obviously not Guns N’ Roses,’ he’d said of Axl’s new band. ‘I think all the fans [know that]. It’s not even right that he uses the name, because he’s the only guy [left]. I think ultimately it’s gonna work against him, because people are gonna say fuck you – that’s not Guns N’ Roses!’ Izzy was paid $25,000 a show for just showing up, plus all his hotel and travel expenses. Making him the best-paid player on the stage – after Axl, of course.

  Three weeks later they opened the European leg of the tour with a show at London’s Hammersmith Apollo. Late again, not coming onstage this time until nearly 11 p.m. – ‘We know he’s in the building,’ said a venue security guy. ‘He’s just insisting he needs two masseuses for a “Deep Heat massage” before he goes on stage. He fired both his person
al masseuses this morning. He’s also complaining because his personal hairdresser [from Africa] couldn’t enter the country because of visa issues. But there’s not much we can do about that.’ The review of the show that followed the next day in The Times was not good. ‘Rose appears very much at home as the grand rock showman,’ it began, ‘The 44-year-old’s reputed face-lifts are indicated, too, by his pinched features and unblinking eyes, and he’s sweating profusely as early as the second song as he pirouettes and canters restlessly around the tiered stage …’

  None of which augured well for their headline show at the Download festival, on 11 June. When sections of the 59,000-strong crowd grew restless with the performance they began hurling plastic bottles of urine at the stage. Axl seemed unexpectedly unnerved. Mumbling about ‘technical difficulties’, he left the stage twice – the second time after slipping over on a pool of piss during ‘Sweet Child o’ Mine’. Tommy Stinson tried to put himself in the way of the abuse, threatening to take the whole band off if the crowd didn’t stop throwing bottles. To which some shouted, ‘Fuck off then!’ And ‘Pussy!’ When Axl, too, told them he would walk off after ‘Better’ had been spoiled by more bottle throwing, it merely prompted more booing and jeering. Even the arrival of Izzy – for ‘Patience’, ‘Nightrain’ and ‘Used to Love Her’ – and Sebastian Bach once again for ‘My Michelle’ couldn’t save the day.