A Guns N Roses Reunion

I’ll admit that right now the idea of a Guns N Roses reunion is pure fantasy. However, let’s allow ourselves a moment of indulgence. What would it take to have a full blown Guns N Roses reunion? What would need to be done in order to have the original band back together in all their glory?

First and foremost, Steven Adler has to get his act together. Until he is clean and sober for at least a year, and can handle being around the temptations of the lifestyle, there is no way he could be a part of any reunion. Touring is a very demanding, grueling event. The grind of day in day out playing shows, living out of hotels, and the boredom of nothing, could easily lead an ex-addict down the road to relapse. Until Steven is strong enough to say no, there’s no reunion for him.

Izzy and Axl have to make up for good. I know that Izzy has been talking with Slash and that he had complimentary things to say about the new Guns record, but he and Axl have to bury the past and be willing to move forward as band mates. And Izzy can’t go flaking out again. He needs to be committed to the band 100% for the length of the tour.

Slash and Duff have to leave Velvet Revolver behind. . .for good. With no lead singer, no record company demanding a record, and no plans in the immediate future, this shouldn’t be too hard to do. However, someone has to break it to Matt Sorum that while we love him, he’s not invited to this reunion. Nothing personal, Matt, it’s just that it’s an original member’s only gig.

Axl Rose has to apologize to every member of the band, eat a lot of humble pie, lose his overbearing personality and egotism, and be willing to work with the band again on their terms. Specifically, none of this “I come on stage when I feel like it” garbage. If the fans are paying their hard earned money to give Axl an amazing lifestyle of fame and fortune, then Axl owes it to these same fans to show up on time and perform at an hour that they want. If Axl wants to go on at 11 and he truly enjoys that, then he should take his current band of thrown-together and do a club tour, but he should not expect to do a major headlining tour.

This is probably the hardest part of the puzzle. Axl has to admit that he was wrong and start working on the band’s terms. This is a near impossibility for a controlling, manic person such as Axl. The man is a genius when it comes to musical creation, but he’s an overgrown child when it comes to live performances. And his past track record has only proven that he isn’t about to change. Who knows though? Perhaps this time it could be different. Anything is possible.

Lastly, in order for this fantasy reunion to take place, Guns N Roses would have to hire Doc McGhee as their manager. He is probably the only manager in the business that could take on this train wreck and keep it together. He did work the Kiss reunion and while Ace and Gene were always clashing, it never showed in their performances and they never missed a gig (or started late). Doc has a history of working with addicts (Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee), egos (Vince Neil, Gene Simmons) and all around highway accidents, and he’s always managed to get them out there. If anyone could manage an original Guns N Roses reunion, it would be Doc McGhee.

So there it is. The near-impossible steps necessary to have a Guns N Roses reunion with all original members. Now, it may seem like something that is never going to happen, but the same thing was said about the Eagles and they did it. The same thing was said about David Lee Roth and Van Halen, and they did it. The same thing was said about Kiss and they did it. Anything is possible, so don’t give up hope.

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