Quoted from mechslave:

Nobody ever brings that up when Duff and Slash do interviews, either. Nobody has the balls. At the end of that UYI tour, they were barely over 30yo, and because of the alcohol levels fueled by coke both Slash and Duff were literally dying. Slash had to have a pacemaker, seriously, a pacemaker installed. Duff's insides rotted out, and his pancreas nearly exploded. They were marrying crackheads and F-list actresses, and Axl demanded ownership of Guns because he didn't want to be partners with these crazy new wives. Makes perfect sense to me.
Axl stands mute on the whole thing, and it doesn't seem to bother him that the general public regards him as completely insane, while viewing Slash and Duff as these do-gooder working class musicians who were forced out of their band. When in reality, when both quit, one was a full blown junkie and the other clinging to fragile sobriety, focusing on their own solo projects and on a Guns new album not at all. Pretty funny.
Very disfunctional, and a lot of blame to go around, but it's just funny when you read the mis-informed opinions of the general public on Guns/Axl/the breakup/etc.

Quoted from Pinchroma:

Scott Weiland really didn't fade into oblivion. Actually the opposite.
The guy sold 22 million records through stp and VR. Won a few Grammys.
I'd love to say Eddie Vedder disappeared into oblivious because after VS. they just started to really suck. (Note there are a couple of ok songs on vitalogy)

Quoted from mechslave:

You're confusing the romanticism of the Stones, Stooges, etc and their chasing the dragon approach to music with what Slash and Duff were doing. They left for the UYI tour as functional alcoholics and came home nearly dead from the cocaine/alcohol combo. Neither could get out of bed without a drink/snort. They famously made a drink before they went to bed, because they'd be shaking too badly to make it when they woke up. The level of play of the band suffered as well. Anyone who followed the UYI tour could see the music slip into 'plodding' instead of a swinging rock band. That's from 3 musicians trying to keep the amount of alcohol in their system required to stav off the DT's, and yet fuel up with the amount of coke necessary to perform and function. 2.5 years later, both Slash and Duff were closing in on death.

Axl took a long time, and there's no accounting for why it took the final 8 years or so. Most of us heard ChiDem, without Sorry and Scraped, around 2000-01. And it was exactly the same mixes as the release, or very nearly, same vocals. But that wasn't the point I was making. We all KNOW that Axl has some issues. But everyone ignores the issues he had to deal with. Namely the addictions of Slash/Duff. Have you ever tried to communicate with a drunk person while sober? Everyone piles all the blame on Axl, and some of it he's earned. I wasn't ignoring that, simply giving a different perspective that nobody but real Guns fans usually understand. Not to mention, he had to basically rebuild the entire band and try to release an album to the level of the name GNR. A tough task. He basically started around 97. I believe the reason it took from 2003-2008 was lawsuits and things like that. He hinted at as much in an online chat he did around 2008.

Once again, this is what a lot of general fans believe. But, once again, Axl did not boot anyone. In fact, he begged Slash to stay, took him to dinner, called him around the clock, called his father, his mom, etc... begging him not to leave the band. Duff was sober when he quit (a year later) and there was no band activity at the time, so it was less of a blow to Axl who I think knew he'd have to completely rebuild the band anyway, with Slash gone. It was Slash who he knew would throw the future of the band into total rebuilding, which is why he begged him to stay. Basically the opposite of 'booting.'

Nobody is taking any credit from any version of GNR. I've followed the band since they broke when I was in 8th grade, to now. I was called into the VP's office wearing the infamous "rape scene" Guns shirt in 9th grade, and had to turn it inside out (still own the shirt, sells for hundreds now). I've never not been a huge Guns fan, and forgot more about the band than most will ever know. I was not over the moon about ChiDem, but like I said, by the time it was released, we'd all heard most of it for years... it wasn't some huge anticipation for hardcore Guns fans. The only songs we were surprised by were Sorry and Scraped, which are good songs, not great.
The album itself is very good, but was digested slowly through leaks and bootlegs for so long that the drama of the final release was lost, lessening not only what you get to see and hear but the 'wow' factor of the ultimate unveiling....
The most similar factor between ChiDem and WOZ will be that. WOZ has been slowly unveiled and updated over such a long period of time that it seems tame by now. If Jack had waited (wasn't an option I know) to unveil everything all at once, well everyone would be convulsing on the ground, rolling around, hurting with anticipation for a imminent release. Instead the slow digestion has deflated what we all see, especially when we can't play it properly, in a completed state.

Quoted from kporter946286:

What "GREAT" music has Slash or Duff made, am I missing something? The only song that was half-way good on Velvet Rev. was "Fall to Pieces". Matt Sorum is a studio drummer at best and Izzy the 2nd half of the real talent in Guns quit b/c he hated playing with Matt.