Why Does GUNS N' ROSES Need Three Guitarists? DIZZY REED Has The Answer

Mick Burgess of Metal Express Radio recently conducted an interview with GUNS N' ROSES keyboardist Dizzy Reed. A few excerpts from the chat follow below.

Metal Express Radio: Over the years, the band has mainly operated with two guitarists, whether that was Slash and Izzy or Gilby Clarke. You've currently got Ron [Thal] and Richard [Fortus] along with DJ Ashba. Why does the band need a third guitarist?

Dizzy: I think at some point there was the need for three guitar players and it just worked so well that I think it would be hard to go back to two now. They all contribute different parts to the show and it adds to the overall sound of the band. The main thing I see with that is that I think we have three of the best guitar players in the world. It's a treat for me to see them play and I know it'll be a treat for those that come to the shows too. Everyone is in a cool place about it. We are far enough along in our careers to see the big picture and we can leave our egos at the door and enjoy being in GUNS N' ROSES. The guys work so hard to work together and that's so important. A lot of bands don't see that when they are starting out but you do have to be a unit, you have to work together, and this is a prime example of once you do that and you have that level of musicianship, then it's going to be better than everything else in the long run. I appreciate the hard work that they've all put in. So what people will see are three of the greatest guitar players in the world in a great band playing great songs.

Metal Express Radio: Your latest album, "Chinese Democracy", was a long time coming. Did you think that there was a time when it might never have been released?

Dizzy: I knew we'd get there in the end. We just wanted to be sure that we had the best songs that we possibly could and we wanted everything to be right and I think we achieved that.

Metal Express Radio: You were there right from the start of the recording process. How did the finished album differ to those earlier recordings?

Dizzy: There were so many ideas and songs that were tossed about and arranged and those initial ideas were developed over time sometimes into something very different from the original ideas, but I think they picked the right songs and it worked great. There's a lot going on and it takes a few listens to truly appreciate what's going on there, but I think the songs are cool and I think the album still sounds great.

Metal Express Radio: On "Chinese Democracy", you co-wrote "I.R.S.", "There Was A Time" and "Street Of Dreams". How did you go about writing with Axl?

Dizzy: There was no set formula. People who were in the band at the time tossed ideas around and we'd add parts or drop parts. People would try things on their own and we all contributed in our way and developed the songs into what they eventually turned out like on the album. With "Street Of Dreams", we were just playing around with it and one day I sat down and developed the bridge part and the intro and that became part of the finished song. There was a lot of work to put it together but I think the material worked out really well

Read the entire interview from Metal Express Radio.