It's a sad day in music history. On this day in 1996, Slash announced that he was no longer a part of Guns 'N Roses. Even though GNR had been inactive for awhile at that point, Slash's announcement crushed the hopes of those who thought the band would overcome its internal problems and continue its successful run.

 

Since leaving GNR, Slash has gone on to a successful career in Velvet Revolver. Axl Rose, on the other hand, has taken a different path.

 

I present, a timeline of Axl's post-GNR work:

 

1996: GNR breaks up.

 

1997: Axl Rose becomes a recluse, and spends his time working on the band's much-hyped Chinese Democracy album.

 

2037: Chinese Democracy is released to mixed reviews.

 

 

I kind of estimated that last one. There was also some touring, a bunch of song leaks, and some dude named Buckethead who recorded in a chicken coop. And, in one of the funniest music moments ever, the singer of The Offspring threatened to steal the Chinese Democracy title because Axl stole his braids. But those details are irrelevant. The point is, I miss the real GNR.

 

(Continued...)

We all know Chinese Democracy isn't coming out until 2037, but that doesn't mean we can't get our hopes up every 6 months. Amazon.com is showing the release date for the long-awaited Guns N' Roses album as February 12th, 2008.



Given the history of this album, we should try not to get our hopes up this time. But just in case this is true...

Slash's fellow Velvet Revolver members received a scare recently when Axl Rose supposedly put out a press release confirming a Guns N' Roses reunion.

Meanwhile, Rolling Stone gives GNR some prime real estate - on the rag's cover.

Slash was honored by the Hard Rock Cafe on July 14th for his career accomplishments. As a thank you to the restaurant, Slash returned a guitar he had stolen from the Hard Rock years earlier.