GNR and the 6 year wait. Other bands that are far from prolific too.

[Ric Nightingale]

Okay, as we all know it will be six years in November since Chinese Democracy was finally released. Since the Use Your Illusion albums in 1991 there have been 2 studio albums from Guns N Roses: Spaghetti Incident in '93 and Chinese Democracy in 2008.

So, that's two albums in 23 years. Pretty poor going, I'm sure you'll agree. But then I got thinking about other major bands that are still going but have been far from prolific too. How many albums have other big rock acts released in the last 23 years. There's one act that runs a similar story to GNR, well sort of:

AC/DC - 3 albums since 1990's The Razors Edge. (That's only one more than GNR). It's now 6 years since Black Ice was released.

Just an observation. I'm not a huge AC/DC fan so I don't really know if their hardcore fans are just as frustrated as hardcore Guns N Roses fans.

Maybe, just maybe, we are not alone in wanting new material from our favourite band.

[Hiipu]

Then again AC/DC has released some 16 studio albums through their career of 40 years. Gn'R has been around for about 25 and have released 4 studio albums... There's quite a lot more to listen to

Edited May 5, 2014 by Hiipu

[Crash Diet]

Aerosmith
Black Sabbath with Ozzy

But then again NO other bands release new albums this slow

Edited May 5, 2014 by Crash Diet

[gmsugaree]

No, it is the fact that Axl was talking about Chinese Democracy for so many years, so many producers, expectation. If it was all top secret then just dropped out of nowhere (like what David Bowie did last year), it would have been a whole different perception....

[magisme]

Everything is normal. Nothing to see here.

[SlashisGOD]

Wasn't it Boston that also took an outrageous amount of time to release a new album?

[highvoltage]

The comparison doesn't really stick. The AC/DC guys are a lot older, and they're quite upfront that they take long breaks between albums/tours nowadays.

Aside from having a much larger catalog, when they get together to record an album, they usually don't take anywhere near as long in the studio. I realise their albums are a lot less ambitious/complex, but they get in the studio and get down to business. They don't have swathes of unreleased tracks and unfinished ideas sitting in a vault.

The frustrating thing with Axl is that he seems to spend a lot of the time in the studio (although we don't really know how much time) and doesn't have much out to show for it. We all want to hear what he's been working on, but we rarely get to.

[EvH]

I'm waiting for somebody to create a thread saying that we should be thankful that the ChiDem leftovers haven't been released because less music is better than more music.

[magisme]

I'm waiting for somebody to create a thread saying that we should be thankful that the ChiDem leftovers haven't been released because less music is better than more music.

From the sound of Checkmate, I'm not sure that argument would be far off the mark.

[Ric Nightingale]

Wasn't it Boston that also took an outrageous amount of time to release a new album?

Just looked this up. Yes, 8 year gaps between several albums. Jeez, I'd want to get stuff done. What do these guys do all day???

[mauritox]

in those years AC/DC also released box sets, live albums, DVDs, Blu-Rays, etc.... and so did other bands

[Ric Nightingale]

The comparison doesn't really stick. The AC/DC guys are a lot older, and they're quite upfront that they take long breaks between albums/tours nowadays.

Aside from having a much larger catalog, when they get together to record an album, they usually don't take anywhere near as long in the studio. I realise their albums are a lot less ambitious/complex, but they get in the studio and get down to business. They don't have swathes of unreleased tracks and unfinished ideas sitting in a vault.

The frustrating thing with Axl is that he seems to spend a lot of the time in the studio (although we don't really know how much time) and doesn't have much out to show for it. We all want to hear what he's been working on, but we rarely get to.

There doesn't seem to be any evidence that Axl has entered any recording studio since 2008, unless you know different.

in those years AC/DC also released box sets, live albums, DVDs, Blu-Rays, etc.... and so did other bands

I appreciate that, but I was just thinking of studio albums. Otherwise I would have counted Live Era in with Spaghetti Incident and Chinese Democracy.

[JONEZY]

Slashisgod, you are right about Boston. They took 8 years to make another album after their first 2 were huge. In the meantime, the other band members left or were fired(1978-86), except for the guitar player and the lead singer. When their 3rd album came out it was huge. Got to see them live. But for those years of inactivity, fans were wondering what the heck was going on. This was a time where bands put out albums at least every other year. 8 years was an eternity. Maybe Axl wanted to break the record?

[Young_Gun]

Tool also take an excessive amount of time off inbetween albums. It has been 8 years since their last record and the new record probably is not coming out this year. AC/DC have released like 15 albums in their career and are in the twilight years of their career though, so the comparison to Guns N' Roses is not really valid.

[Bumble's Bridge Pickup]

Tool also take an excessive amount of time off inbetween albums. It has been 8 years since their last record and the new record probably is not coming out this year. AC/DC have released like 15 albums in their career and are in the twilight years of their career though, so the comparison to Guns N' Roses is not really valid.

Yes. It's easy to go crazy reading Tool album "updates" and "news".

But apparently they - and AC/DC - are working on something.

[Young_Gun]

Tool also take an excessive amount of time off inbetween albums. It has been 8 years since their last record and the new record probably is not coming out this year. AC/DC have released like 15 albums in their career and are in the twilight years of their career though, so the comparison to Guns N' Roses is not really valid.

Yes. It's easy to go crazy reading Tool album "updates" and "news".

But apparently they - and AC/DC - are working on something.

Similar situation with System of a down. The band are all willing to make a new record but it is the lead singer Serj who is not really going for it. Very strange.

[RandallFlagg]

Axl was supposed to be evolving GNR, he had to do that in a certain amount of time for it to be a viable evolution, he stalled heavily on the first record and the last moment he had to really take the initiative was 2011 to drop a new record if he wanted the time to tour it and try to get more of the mainstream to accept it, the whole Chidem thing was awfully managed. How fucking hard is it to promote your own record and get a three songs on tv, radio or youtube videos in an official capacity? Better, This I Love, Street of Dreams. Boom. Then do the same with the new record, debut a couple at Rio, three more songs through 2012 and we could be in the middle of a sequel touring cycle where 9 songs are from the new GNR era having been exposed and digested by the masses, and they would've liked them, people like anything if it's mass distributed especially with a recognizable name on it.

As long as Axl is singing, people will dig it. Never mind if it's great music, which it is even if you dislike it the album isn't offensive. I don't like Slash's records but it's good music. People would've came to see it and more would enjoy the album outside the GNR diehards who either love or detest the record. Nothing on CD is shit, even Scraped gets pretty good halfway through. Any of those songs, get a big campaign behind them, they would've sold like hotcakes. Then he could afford to drop Easy, Brownstone, RQ some nights and added three new tracks, in my opinion that would've worked. If he wanted to do what he set out to do, this is what he needed to have done. He settled for a third of that though and I can't blame him cause it seemed to take a lot out of him.

[Amir]

Tool also take an excessive amount of time off inbetween albums. It has been 8 years since their last record and the new record probably is not coming out this year. AC/DC have released like 15 albums in their career and are in the twilight years of their career though, so the comparison to Guns N' Roses is not really valid.

Yes. It's easy to go crazy reading Tool album "updates" and "news".

But apparently they - and AC/DC - are working on something.

Similar situation with System of a down. The band are all willing to make a new record but it is the lead singer Serj who is not really going for it. Very strange.

Mezmerize/Hypnotize are 2 of my favourite albums ever. Elect the Dead was really good, but I thought Serj's last 2 albums were so-so. Love the Scars On Broadway album, then they were supposed to bring out a 2nd album, they had that single "Fucking", and then SOAD got back together (and I still haven't seen them! No UK dates apart from festival shows). Saw Serj solo back in 2012, good show, only did one SOAD song (Aerials for the encore).

Dammit I want more SOAD.

[WAR™]

if you ask something like that to "you know whom I'm referring to" the answer would be:

" do you think that:

1999 - Live Era

2004 - Greatest Hits

2004 - Welcome To The Videos / Use Your Illusion I & II Live in Tokyo both on DVD

2008 - Chinese Democracy

and the live performances of Live In O2 and Appetite for Democracy

are something that came from a not prolific band ???"

[Young_Gun]

Tool also take an excessive amount of time off inbetween albums. It has been 8 years since their last record and the new record probably is not coming out this year. AC/DC have released like 15 albums in their career and are in the twilight years of their career though, so the comparison to Guns N' Roses is not really valid.

Yes. It's easy to go crazy reading Tool album "updates" and "news".

But apparently they - and AC/DC - are working on something.

Similar situation with System of a down. The band are all willing to make a new record but it is the lead singer Serj who is not really going for it. Very strange.

Mezmerize/Hypnotize are 2 of my favourite albums ever. Elect the Dead was really good, but I thought Serj's last 2 albums were so-so. Love the Scars On Broadway album, then they were supposed to bring out a 2nd album, they had that single "Fucking", and then SOAD got back together (and I still haven't seen them! No UK dates apart from festival shows). Saw Serj solo back in 2012, good show, only did one SOAD song (Aerials for the encore).

Dammit I want more SOAD.

Serj says the making an album cycle requires 3 years! He is talking shit because he put out 3solo records in 2012 and 2013!

[wasted]

Half time oranges.

[Amir]

Serj says the making an album cycle requires 3 years! He is talking shit because he put out 3solo records in 2012 and 2013!

I get the feeling this is one of those reunions that's just for the money :/ Serj really doesn't seem interested in working with the rest of the band, which is sad whenever a band does that. Even in the case of GNR I think that'd be a bummer, if Axl just toured with Slash & co. and then refused to make music with them (though it might be preferable to the current situation).

[Ric Nightingale]

Axl is clearly motivated to tour, there's no doubt about that. Personally I would find touring all over the world doing 3 hour shows far more stressful than going into the studio for a couple of months. This is what I don't understand. People do call Axl lazy, but in some respects he totally isn't. His reasons for refusing to even consider working up new material is baffling considering he is more than prepared to play concerts on a regular basis. Am I right in thinking Axl hasn't entered a recording studio for over 5 years? At least during the 2000-2008 period we knew he was up to something regarding 'new' songs.

[Young_Gun]

Serj says the making an album cycle requires 3 years! He is talking shit because he put out 3solo records in 2012 and 2013!

I get the feeling this is one of those reunions that's just for the money :/ Serj really doesn't seem interested in working with the rest of the band, which is sad whenever a band does that. Even in the case of GNR I think that'd be a bummer, if Axl just toured with Slash & co. and then refused to make music with them (though it might be preferable to the current situation).

The Faith No More reunion seemed like a cash grab also. Going by Serj's musical direction, I don't think he is interesting in being confined under the SOAD sound and umbrella....

[Amir]

Serj says the making an album cycle requires 3 years! He is talking shit because he put out 3solo records in 2012 and 2013!

I get the feeling this is one of those reunions that's just for the money :/ Serj really doesn't seem interested in working with the rest of the band, which is sad whenever a band does that. Even in the case of GNR I think that'd be a bummer, if Axl just toured with Slash & co. and then refused to make music with them (though it might be preferable to the current situation).

The Faith No More reunion seemed like a cash grab also. Going by Serj's musical direction, I don't think he is interesting in being confined under the SOAD sound and umbrella....

Yeah, I saw FNM in 2012 (and will see them open for Sabbath in July), and it was a very good show, but there's just that something missing where you can tell the guys would rather be off somewhere else doing their own thing that won't make even half as much money.

Thing is Serj's musical experiments are so amateur for their genres, like the orchestral Orca project just sounds like someone's first orchestral composition (which I'm guessing it is). I think SOAD got better as they went on, not that much a fan of the debut album, Toxicity is amazing, and Mezmerize/Hypnotize is a masterpiece, they'd honed the SOAD sound to perfection (though I'm a fan of Daron's vocals, I guess that's why a lot of people don't like those albums).