Slash Is Thankful The Internet Didn't Exist In The 80s, Believes Guns N' Roses 'Would've Gotten Cancelled'

14 February 2023 | 1:30 pm | Mary Varvaris
Originally Appeared In

"A lot of things from back then would not be what you consider acceptable at this moment in time."

(Pic by Kane Hibberd)

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Slash has opened up about the differences in music during the '80s compared to today in a new interview with Yahoo! Entertainment

Guns N' Roses and other Sunset Strip glam-metal bands were plagued by drug and alcohol dependency issues, resulting in destructive behaviour and a reputation for being troublemakers. 

"To be honest, I haven’t really thought about all that [scandalous stuff] that much recently. But now that you mention it, most of everything that [Guns N’ Roses] did would’ve gotten us cancelled in this day and age," Slash admitted in the interview transcribed by Consequence Of Sound.

The Sweet Child O' Mine guitarist continued, "We would not have fared well in this environment, for sure… on so many different levels. But I mean, a lot of things from back then would not be what you consider acceptable at this moment in time.

"I’m just glad that we didn’t have the internet back then! It would’ve been a different world altogether. But anyway, I don’t dwell on all that stuff. It just is what it is." Watch the complete interview below.

Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose has undoubtedly seen it all with people recording shows, from carrying video cameras to mobile phones. However, he isn't fond of this new method of bootlegging - using drones to capture footage - and finds it highly distracting.

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"Had a few drones this leg. Last night (Gold Coast Australia) was probably the most intrusive," Rose wrote on social media in November. 

"People were pissed. However much fun anyone's having ur still trying to stay focused n' do ur job n' give the fans the best show you can," he continued. "Anyway… we get it can be ‘fun’ to get ur drone bootleg vid but we’d appreciate it if anyone planning to b a drone pirate took the fans n’ band into consideration and n’ played w/ ur toys somewhere else." 

Guns N' Roses announced the epic Use Your Illusion I & II 30th anniversary boxsets a few months beforehand.

 All the tracks have been completely re-mastered for the sets and include live versions, alongside older hits such as Welcome To The Jungle and Sweet Child O’Mine. Among the bonus tracks is a 2022 version of November Rain, orchestrated by Christopher Lennertz. 

Two of the albums in the 'super deluxe' pack are re-masters of live concerts in New York in 1991 and Last Vegas in 1992 and contain most of the never-been-released material.

Also in the pack are a 100-page book featuring never before seen photos of the band, UYI tour replica cloth sticky backstage passes, Ritz Theatre 5/16/1991 replica concert ticket (with the misprinted date of 5/15/1991), Conspiracy Inc replica fan club folder with membership card and Conspiracy Inc 1991/1992 UYI-era replica fan club newsletters.