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GUNS N' ROSES Uploader Apologizes To AXL ROSE, Slams SLASH
- July 15, 2009
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The Los Angeles man who was sentenced to a year of probation (including two months of modified house arrest) for uploading pre-release GUNS N' ROSES tracks told MTV News that he was offended by the comments former GN'R guitarist Slash made about him. "A friend of mine conducted an interview with Slash last year in which he called me a thief and wished that I 'rot in jail,'" Kevin Cogill said. "I found that surprisingly crass, especially considering the guy has made no bones about shoplifting cassette tapes with the same rationale as today's downloaders. So if he wants to see me in jail, I'll see him in the cafeteria." Cogill (pictured below), a 28-year-old blogger known as "Skewrl", told MTV News that he carries a great deal of remorse for what he did, though he never intended any harm to Axl Rose — he was just a fan who was excited about a band he loved. "I've come to respect the artists' right to determine how their art is released," he said. "I do apologize to Axl for that disrespect. As a fan who had lost faith in all of the promises of release, I didn't see too many other options at the time. But in a fair world, it's not my place to judge, let alone act." Cogill was arrested in August 2008. He was charged under a four-year-old federal anti-piracy law that makes it a felony to distribute a copyrighted work on computer networks before its release. Assistant U.S. attorney Craig Missakian, who pursued the case with the FBI and recording industry, said, "In the past, these may have been viewed as victimless crimes. But in reality, there's significant damage." Cogill posted the songs at the Antiquiet web site, where they were available for public access. The site crashed from the amount of traffic it received once word of the leaked tracks got out. Cogill took them down again after he was contacted by representatives of GUNS N' ROSES. 
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COMMENT | Kevin should sue Slash
posted by : dave imstayin' 7/15/2009 7:38:40 PM
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then theres gonna be no end to it
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COMMENT | He's lucky ...
posted by : OldSchoolMetal 7/15/2009 7:39:14 PM
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Had he gone to jail, especially Federal prison, by the looks of things, he would not have done well.
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COMMENT | Damn..
posted by : 7/15/2009 7:42:55 PM
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This is what is wrong with the world someone can get in that much trouble for "stealing" music. I could have seen the house arrest but probation to, thats ridiculous. Its like getting arrested for seeds!
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COMMENT | "Had he gone to jail..."
posted by : dave imstayin' 7/15/2009 7:50:39 PM
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just thinking of going to jail for merely sitting in front of your PC is horrible
yea he pushed some wrong buttons, but its over the top anyway
theres no need to apologize to Axl though, for he himself should better apologize for his pathetic crap in the form of there last album
GnR = a fucking joke since 1992, the only guilt this blogger guy can be found of is that hes been thinking there for real
what a fucked up story after all
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COMMENT |
posted by : 7/15/2009 8:09:01 PM
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sentence an uploader to house arrest....yeah that makes sense. Would you sentence a heroin dealer to a year standing on the same corner he sold the drugs? Or someone convicted of child porn, saying, "okay, you have to sit at your computer for a year straight with no interaction with the outside world". What do you think the outcome will be?
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COMMENT | Ballzworth
posted by : dave imstayin' 7/15/2009 8:25:41 PM
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indeed your points are strong
speaking of the uploader, why not impose a fine on him considering hes a first timer. there should be a way to calculate the cost of damages he caused
like theres no drug circulation in prisons
i just mean to say that if that uploader wont give up on that habit then its fair to throw him in jail after failure to take the 1st warning into consideration
in there photo its like him begging at you: "gimme a fuckin' chance". such a cutey.
i doubt hes sincere though
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COMMENT | dave ^^^^
posted by : 7/15/2009 8:36:51 PM
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good points. and I'm sure he probably won't be making the same mistake twice. He's basically being made an example of, and unlike the heroin dealer and child pornographer that I mentioned earlier, there is no threat.
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COMMENT | yes, slash stole...
posted by : darthadv 7/15/2009 8:40:48 PM
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...so there's no denying that...
...but uploading an album for free on a sharing site multiplies what slash did as a teen manifold... thousands more can "benefit" from one person uploading an album (and the artist losing the potential unearned money) versus one person stealing a handful of cassettes/cd's on a given day... what slash did was wrong, but what this guy did was much, much worse - there's no comparison on the scale of how much damage illegal downloading does...
before you jump on the bandwagon of how much you think the music is "worth" or not, consider that it's really your choice to buy or not to buy it...
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COMMENT | Wait...
posted by : Metal Bubba 7/15/2009 8:59:02 PM
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I think Chinese Democracy is fantastic.
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COMMENT |
posted by : Fani Dilth 7/15/2009 9:24:17 PM
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Bottom line... The guy is a loser.
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COMMENT | that IS a good point about Slash though...
posted by : 7/15/2009 9:51:03 PM
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who the FUCK is Slash to judge a theif when he himself bragged about stealing tapes and owning stolen merchendise (Joe Perry's stolen guitar)
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COMMENT |
posted by : RiotAct666 7/15/2009 9:51:32 PM
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This guy is a complete tool bag
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COMMENT | Slash was also a drug dealer...
posted by : 7/15/2009 10:21:03 PM
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Ludes were his specialty, i believe.
oh how these fucking hypocrites get clouded by their fortune.
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COMMENT | lol slash
posted by : 7/15/2009 10:32:25 PM
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a fucking sell out piece of shit, he couldnt wait to get on american idol, hes got some good stuff on GNR first album, than thats it, washed up hack
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COMMENT | I don't think...
posted by : 7/15/2009 10:33:35 PM
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"Skerwl" has been through freshman comp.
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COMMENT |
posted by : mrsromek 7/15/2009 11:06:12 PM
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This is some funny shit posted here! Thanks to all! Really, apologizing to Axl? He did Axl a favor and saved some fans their $10. I wish everyone would stop kissing that cornroled-red haired waifs ass. Get over it...it's not fucking 1987 anymore. Slaughter had a good album out back then too, and so did Stryper. Even those tools have moved on. Axl should to. Continually hearing shit about him is as bad as hearing shit about Jon & Kate. Come on.
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COMMENT | This GUY IS A TOOL
posted by : 7/15/2009 11:40:51 PM
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How can you compare stealing a few casettes from a store and then leaking a album that was still in the process of being made? This guy is a tool!
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COMMENT | Cogill Democracy
posted by : Le_Voleur 7/16/2009 12:36:18 AM
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Slash is a washed up hypocrite.
And what's the point of comparing the theft of cassettes and the uploading of an over-hyped shitty album? a theft is still considered as a matter of moral infringement no matter what proportion it has so slash needs to rot in jail as well.
This guy did axl a favor by uploading that piece of crap, just a bunch of 80's ballads for soccer moms.
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COMMENT |
posted by : 7/16/2009 12:39:23 AM
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stealing cassettes from the store means the band still makes money.. that's why it's not condoned.
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COMMENT | Legal And Rational Analysis
posted by : Expanded Consciousness 7/16/2009 2:19:26 AM
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This guy should serve no time! He did not upload the finished album, but thin sounding, unfinished songs in demo version. Axl Rose himself uploaded the whole album, the finished album, in high quality mp3, three days before its release on MySpace! So, obviously Axl believes that people hearing the songs BEFORE the album is on sale, will INCREASE his sales.
The demo uploader did not upload the final album and did not prevent Axl from selling his intellectual property. The fact is, felony stealing is different under the law than intellectual property cases. To steal your car, prevents you from having a car. To make a copy of your demo tape, does not prevent you from possessing your demo tape. The former type of crime does much more damage to society and is thus a much more serious crime.
The demo tape uploader did not make a profit.
And there is no prove that the demo tape uploader cost Axl any profit, whatsoever. In fact, he may have helped him sell more copies. Made Axl more money! That was Axl's demonstrated philosophy and logic on display, when Axl let me hear the whole album on MySpace. Axl expected to make more profit by letting us hear the whole album for free. So, this guy only gave Axl free publicity. The story was on national and worldwide TV (CNN, etc) and in magazine articles. Axl didn't do interviews or make videos for ChinDem - did not market the album strongly or aggressively, or tour on it. In fact, his CHIEF marketing ploy was using MySpace to let you do what? Hear the whole album before you buy it!!!
Also, studies have shown that torrent uploaders BUY more albums per year than non-downloading music fans. They are just bigger music fans. And not every torrent downloaded is a sale lost. Some one can download 10,000 albums (not demos) and not have $200,000 laying around to buy 10,000 albums at $20 a pop.
Some of the individuals who downloaded the demos got into the music and later bought the album. A sale made for Axl, free of charge, by the act of the demo uploader. Not a sale lost. It is a sad case if you go into court and try and argue that 10,000 uberfans heard a crapy sounding mp3 demo tape and you are going to say what? Maybe 1000 of those fans hated it and didn't buy the album as a result of hearing the crappy demo tape and you wished you had made those sales for profit, to fans who would wind up hating the album. So, your going to court to argue that you hate this type of lost sales (sales to a consumer who will ultimately be disappointed) so much that you:
[1] stream the finished product on MySpace, and
[2] you allow almost ALL of those songs to exist on YouTube (demo versions and live versions of YOUR intellectual property) and you NEVER order YouTube to take down those videos and audios!!! A very simple act, done by record companies and artists every day! God, I had been listening to "Better," etc, for years on YouTube.
Axl: "Hey judge, I Axl W. Rose am pro-streaming my entire finished product and pro-letting my demos exist on YouTube for years, because I believe it is free publicity that will ultimately INCREASE my sales, yet I can't stand that a dude, who made no profit, let some of uberfans hear what I already let them hear."
Judge: "So, according to your economic model and your industry practices, this guy, at no charge to you and no profit to him, helped you market and, on the whole, increase your profits. I order the plaintiff to appologize to the defendant and to pay his legal costs. Now get the fuck out of my courtroom with this bullshit!"
This case is nothing but bullshit on top of bullshit. Just get with the times and adjust your economic model to the times, like other bands. Welcome to the jungle, Axl! Poor baby! What ever happened to hard rock starts being cool? We give them millions of dollars and they turn into such corporate pussies. Almost all of them!
If this poor guy has a good lawyer and a rational judge and jury, he will walk.
He should walk.
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COMMENT | Correction
posted by : Expanded Consciousness 7/16/2009 2:26:23 AM
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Meant to type: "Also, studies have shown that torrent DOWNLOADERS (mistyped: uploaders) BUY more albums per year than non-downloading music fans.
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COMMENT |
posted by : Expanded Consciousness 7/16/2009 2:40:37 AM
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"The Los Angeles man who was sentenced to a year of probation (including two months of modified house arrest)"
OK. I didn't read the article carefully. Well, in that case this is a travesty of justice. This dude shouldn't have a criminal record or be denied his liberty for two months. I hope his ability to hold a job and make a living wasn't effected by this cartoon.
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COMMENT | Okay ... not to defend Slash here but ...
posted by : OldSchoolMetal 7/16/2009 3:02:10 AM
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This douchebag is 28 years old and he's trying to compare his actions with the actions of a drunk / stoned teenager ... 20 something years ago? Spare me.
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COMMENT | Good for him
posted by : 7/16/2009 3:02:27 AM
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Slash is a double talking ass anyway.
"Oh yeah, I stole tapes all the time when I was young cuz I was hella bad!!"
"This guy should rot in prison until Hell freezes over for stealing from Axl!!"
Yeah, amazing how becoming rich and obnoxious changes you pretty quickly, right?
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COMMENT |
posted by : 7/16/2009 5:11:08 AM
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Hey, some stolen cassetes for Slash won't make disaster as million people downloading the same album. Slash is talkin' about big money, not a fuckin' conscience, Kevin boy.
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COMMENT | Cogill
posted by : 7/16/2009 8:21:56 AM
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should get a life sentence for being the first to unleash that pile of crap into the stream
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COMMENT | Forget Slash
posted by : 7/16/2009 8:22:54 AM
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I agree with this guy. maybe Slash's crimes weren’t as world wide as his but Slash has forgotten there was a time in his life when he was reckless and irresponsible aswell and now he's shitting on other people for doing something like this? Slash has clearly forgotten about his own history,
How many women did you rob from Slash? How many shops did you steal from? And how many drugs did you take? Ya know, drugs are more dangerous to people than downloads. Why don’t you give the names of your dealers to the authorities and make them pay for the damage they've done since your minster high n mighty now?
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COMMENT | Hmmm
posted by : MuseumOfFear 7/16/2009 8:41:44 AM
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The only news/promotion that Chinese Democracy has had is this story.
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COMMENT | They're both tools
posted by : 7/16/2009 8:46:16 AM
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Fact is- Slash acts like he ain't never stole a damn this in his life when he said that uploader should rot in jail, yet brags about it every chance he gets in books, magazines, even on youtube-he bragged about stealing the now infamous top hat and belt buckle he wears on his dome.
Meet Slash in the cafeteria....FOODFIGHT!!!!
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COMMENT | Slash
posted by : 7/16/2009 9:26:40 AM
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never stole a tape and the mass produced it.
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COMMENT | NugMidsShwag
posted by : Neil Young's Cocaine Booger 7/16/2009 10:01:17 AM
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A thief is a thief.
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COMMENT | Should have got a harsher punishment
posted by : NoTolerance 7/16/2009 10:12:25 AM
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Stealing is stealing. Downloading IS stealing. Uploading illegally for people to download illegally is a crime. There's no gray area. It is what it is and he got off easy. Anyone who justifies it with "I was gonna buy the album" is lying to themselves so they don't feel like a thief. You can't go into the cd store and take it home, then come back and pay for it or put it back on the shelf.
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COMMENT |
posted by : 7/16/2009 11:16:28 AM
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think the companies need to come to relise that whatever example they make, its not gonna stop ppl from downloading illegal music
they need to tackle it from a new angle
in all fairness, i would give my music away for free - so ppl could just hear it. And then just tour my ass off. Thats the way it should be imo. it would be tough but youd feel good
unlike guns n roses atm who are just sittin on their arses
its pretty easy to create music on a low budget and still sounding quality.
its not the 70's/80's etc where you need record companies to pay for the recording studio etc.
oh well. cant be helped - s'all about money.. never the music
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COMMENT |
posted by : 7/16/2009 12:36:03 PM
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this is actually retarded. The political assholes like Scooter Libby get pardoned by president Bush for crimes far more serious than this and that actually caused harm to people's lives. Man Im glad I don't live in the U.S.
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COMMENT | Cogill's an ass
posted by : Billy Oxygen 7/16/2009 1:18:05 PM
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so is Slash
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COMMENT | Wait a minute...
posted by : kingnothing23 7/16/2009 2:20:51 PM
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Stealing a piece of shit is a crime???
Jesusssssssssssssss!
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COMMENT | what the fuck
posted by : 7/17/2009 5:58:31 PM
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Slash was a teenager when he stole a couple o tapes big fuckin deal none of you people ever fractured a law or two when you were young and comparing slash and this uploader to paedophilles is just fuckin sick grow up retards.
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COMMENT |
posted by : Expanded Consciousness 7/17/2009 9:27:37 PM
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Comparing this uploader to Slash is legit.
What did the uploader do? Spread DEMOS that were hear for years on YouTube (not taken down by Axl).
Slash didn't spread copies of demos, he stoled a finished studio album - a physical object.
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COMMENT | shhuush
posted by : 7/18/2009 6:02:49 PM
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Comparing slash to this uploader is preposterous the whole thing is fuckin stupid the uploaders obviously an axl fanatic and thinks slating slash will get axl on side and can anyone guess what sentence slash would get for stealing some cassettes I will wager it wouldn't be custodial
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COMMENT | RIAA, not Axl.
posted by : 7/19/2009 3:17:59 PM
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What i think is really annoying, is that every single article makes it so that it seems like it's Axl is the one suing this guy. Axl just had his 'people' approach this guy so that he would stop the demo's being available for download. It was the RIAA who decided to make 'an example' out of him and put him in front of a judge - which was done because GNR is such a 'high profile' name. They're just taking advantage of that Axl is a little sue-happy.....well, not really. His deal is that he keeps getting SUED. But Axl himself has kept his hands clean of this circus and has very little to do with it. I mean seriously, if Axl was to take part of a court case, it meant that he would actually have to leave his house......and considering that in 2001 there 236 confirmed Bigfoot sightings in the U.S. but only 12 confirmed Axl Rose sightings, it kinda proves the guy prefers to just stay at home over bitching about a few downloads. Axl's done with the deal. Why can't the RIAA be done with it too?
And I don't get why Slash would steal tapes in the first place. Unlike Duff, who had a handful of sibling raised by a single mom, Izzy, who left for LA at a rather young age, and Axl, who was kicked out on the streets, Slash lived with his family, who was in no way poor.
I haven't read his bio, but I think that the memoirs of a drug addict aren't worth that much anyway. I'll bet you that most of the things he 'remembers' he only 'remembers' because of what he's been told, or seen on tv. Which is f* sad. I think it's funny how they seem to remember every think Axl have done wrong, and then turn around and say "If i were to write an album about the Guns days, it would be called 'all the f* things I can't remember" (Duff). Slash, unlike his bandmates, could go home to mommy at any point and lick his 'wounds' whenever he felt like the streets were getting a bit too though on him. Slash is just a hypocrite and he hasn't made anything worth while since Illusions.
I'm not a MAJOR fan of Axls, but most of the arguments coming from Slash's camp, can't hold golf balls, let alone air or water....
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