Reclusive Axl Rose Not So Reclusive Afterall?

The notoriously reclusive Axl Rose has recently been far more active in the press than one might expect. The singer has opened up on his relationship with the original members of Guns N’ Roses. Rose claims that Slash, Duff and former girlfriend Stephanie Seymour’s negative comments damaged his ability as a writer, which was part of the reason that the long delayed “Chinese Democracy” album took so long to release:

“To those three, it was all crap. It beat me down so much. At the time of the (Use Your Illusion) tours, Slash and Duff said, ‘You’re an idiot, you’re a loser.’ I didn’t write for years. I felt I was hindered for a very long time. I was also trying to figure out what I wanted to say, when it’s right to be venting and when you’re digging a bigger hole… Lyrics on ‘Chinese Democracy’ took a long time.”

The current line up of Guns N’ Roses started their residency at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas last night, which is set to run until November 24th. The group recently had a Las Vegas street named Paradise City Road in their honor. Axl has also recently stated that the follow up to “Chinese Democracy” will take less time to record than its predecessor. The front man expressed a desire to “lean more toward lyrics and melody” on the next GN’R record. The band recently auctioned off several items of their old touring equipment on eBay. Amongst the stranger items was a clothes dryer (complete with flight case) that the group had used while on tour…