DEF LEPPARD GUITARIST PHIL COLLEN THINKS THE GUNS N’ ROSES REUNION IS “F-ING LAME”

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It sounds like Def Leppard guitarist, Phil Collen, won’t be purchasing a ticket for the Guns N’ Roses reunion tour.

When the subject was reportedly broached during a recent interview with the Daily Telegraph, Collen dismissed the whole idea as “really f—ing lame.”

Which is not to say that guitrist dislikes the band’s music or its members — quite the contrary, in fact. “I love Guns N’ Roses, I think they’re really cool, I’d love to see Slash and Axl and Duff play together,” he insisted. “That’s great.”
The problem, as Collen sees it, is that a band that’s allowed personality conflicts to completely alter its course over the past 20 years can command reportedly outrageous guarantees simply by agreeing to get back onstage together again. Meanwhile, bands that have stayed together for years — like Def Leppard, for example — are left feeling taken for granted. “I think it’s f—ing lame considering we’ve been hardcore,” continued Collen. “Our integrity’s still intact, we’ve never split up. We’ve gone through if someone had a little sniffle or something, we soldier on.”

During their time together, Def Leppard have been through far worse than sniffles. “Someone dies, someone loses an arm, someone gets cancer, we soldier on,” said Collen. With Guns N’ Roses, “if someone has a little barney backstage, they can’t deal with each other. I know it’s difficult, but I do think it’s pretty lame when you compare anyone else to us.”

additional source: ultimateclassicrock.com

26 Responses

  2. I hear what Phil is saying and do agree with the view the GnR is making a “great” cash grab. However, it does come across as petty jealousy. He’s living catch-22…diluting….the shortest straw has been pulled for Phil!

  3. I agree with Phil on this. Not a full reunion…although its better then nothing, it does seem a little lame. I guess I’m alone on this page when I say I enjoy the entire Leppard catalog. VIP packages priced that high with no meet and greet…IDK, taking advantage in my opinion. Leppard has been pretty awesome to their fans in my book over the year’s….although I would like new music a little more often and with a harder edge but that’s me. I’ll take Leppard over a partial Guns reunion that’s overpriced….ouch.

    1. Totally agree with you! Guns has one good album. Use Your Illusion 1 & 2 suck. All this reunion ( hardly a reunion ) is going to be is a bomb waiting to explode inside Axl. Def Leppard puts on a good show & they rock. How many bands from the 80’s are still at it selling seats at shows like they still can? Don’t get me wrong, I like Guns. But won’t pay the price they are asking to sit around while Axl is late.

    2. AC/DC, and please don’t write me and tell me they are not a metal band, Bon Jovi. They both still sell out arenas all these years later, which is an amazing fete.

      D 🙂

  4. I notice he never mentions DL getting back the original line-up….of course, that would mean HE’D be out of a job…..and DL has been lame ever since he joined….

    1. Uh, one guy is dead, the other is out of music. Lame is subjective. However since Phil joined the band immediately had their two biggest selling album of their career. We are talking tens of millions sold.. so as much as I love the first two Lep albums, your argument doesn’t hold

    2. Giving Phil credit for Pyromania doesn’t hold either. He came in half way through and Mutt Lange is the star of that album, and it’s a great album. Hysteria wasn’t going anywhere either until Mutt finally came back and took over production again and helped them with the songwriting. That’s is well documented. Phil is/was a great talent and artist. But he’s not anywhere close to the reason those two albums did what they did.

    3. You do realize he also did the two best AC/DC albums right? Guess he’s saved several bands…LOL

    1. Def Leppard, along with Bon Jovi, was probably the biggest rock band of the 80’s and has a couple albums among the biggest selling of all time. Like them or not they have had a remarkable career and I would think actually sold way more albums than Guns. Especially with two mega sellers and a bigger catalog. Not saying one is better than the other, but just posing all sides. I also think Phil’s comment is being taken out of context and way overblown. Welcome to the internet…

    2. I actually saw them open for AC DC at the old Palladium in NYC on their first tour and thought they were good especially for 16 year old old kids. Just not a fan of anything after Hysteria. But to me Guns is in the same league as the Stones or Zeppelin. As far as records sold, Motorhead, Mott the Hoople, The Dolls, Iggy, never sold a lot of records but I could care less and wouldn’t use sales as a barometer for great Rock n Roll

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