DUFF McKAGAN JOINS JANE'S ADDICTION

It doesn't look like I missed too much while I was in Mexico, but for me, the biggest news is that, as rumored, former Guns N Roses (and maybe still current Velvet Revolver) bassist Duff McKagan has joined Jane's Addiction.

I found that so surprising.  Janes and Guns both came from L.A., but from very different scenes. Although I always did think that Guns were closer to punk rock than they were to the Crue or Ratt or the other glammier metal bands. Still, this is a development that would have been hard to predict in, say, 1991. But times change. And Duff comes from a more punk or "alternative" background than his Guns-mates.

Anyway, Rolling Stone says that Jane's is looking to have an album out by the winter of 2011, and then they are going to tour afterwards. I wonder if that means that the singer-less Velvet Revolver is over.  I think it's cool that Duff, Slash and Matt Sorum were playing together, I never cared for their singer Weiland though. Slash's new album comes out tomorrow.  Duff is on it, and so are former Guns members Izzy Stradlin' and Steven Adler. Also on the album, Lemmy, Iggy Pop, Ozzy Osbourne, Dave Grohl and Alice Cooper.  And Fergie.

BUMMER! ERIC AVERY QUITS JANE'S ADDICTION - AGAIN

Actually, I guess technically this is the first time that Eric Avery has quit Jane's Addiction: it's just that until recently, he never participated in any of the band's reunions. I saw one of the shows on their summer tour and it was incredibly powerful.  I'd seen Jane's reunions with Flea on bass and also with Chris Chaney, and both shows were awesome, but Avery is a unique player and his style totally fit the band. Eric announced it on twitter just a few days ago. Dave Navarro seemed to indicate on his twitter feed that the band are sticking together, and there are rumors that Duff McKagan will be playing bass for them. In fact, Navarro linked to a youtube video that shows Duff and Stephen Perkins jamming together and Rolling Stone says that Slash sort of hinted that Duff was doing something with Jane's. I really liked the one Jane's album that they did without Eric, Strays, which featured Chris Chaney, but it lacked the menace of their earlier work.  I guess that's inevitable no matter who is on bass though.

DUFF MCKAGAN, FINANCIAL EXPERT

Duff McKagan is my favorite member of Guns N Roses (I don't listen to them that much, but Appetite For Destruction is a classic). Of course he's also in Velvet Revolver and now he has his own band called Loaded.  He's also a financial columnist for Playboy, and he supposedly really knows what he's talking about.  So I guess guys are going to start reading Playboy for the financial advice! 

NEWSFLASH: AXL ROSE HAS A SENSE OF HUMOR (AND IN UNRELATED NEWS, HIRED A NEW MANAGEMENT TEAM)

In a surprising show of humor, W. Axl Rose responded to Dr. Pepper's offer to buy everyone in America (except Slash and Buckethead) a soda if the new Guns N' Roses album comes out in 2008. He posted this on his website (which is where this picture is from)

"We are surprised and very happy to have the support of Dr Pepper with our album Chinese Democracy, as for us, this came totally out of the blue. If there is any involvement with this promotion by our record company or others, we are unaware of such at this time. And as some of Buckethead's performances are on our album, I'll share my Dr Pepper with him."

In other news, Axl has hired a new management team, so maybe he's getting ready to release the new album. Although rumors of a reunion with former members Slash and Duff McKagan are circulating, since Weiland quit the Slash/Duff/Matt Sorum band Velvet Revolver to return to his former band, Stone Temple Pilots. All I gotta say is that this situation probably sucks for the other guy in Velvet Revolver, guitarist Dave Kushner. I mean, I guess he can reunite with Mike Muir in Infectious Grooves, but they never had the success of G 'N R or STP.