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Time relevance and GNR fandom


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It's strange that we're now over six years past the release of Chinese Democracy. It certainly doesn't feel that long, at least to me.

If we arbitrary break up the GNR timeline from 1996 to now, it's almost as though something major happens every six years. It's not a fast and hard rule and there are exceptions, but stay with me.

In 1996 we got Axl's fax informing that Slash had left the band and that they were starting over. Six years later, we get the first real GNR tour in 2002. In 2008, the band finally delivers Chinese Democracy. Obviously there are some exceptions, most notably the 2006 tour, but for the most part the six year rule has stayed true to my arbitrary milestones. And yes, by this logic, something major should have happened in 2014, so we're a little behind, but that's not really the point I'm trying to get at here.

Maybe it's just me, but the last six years have felt like a breeze compared to 1996 to 2002 and 2002 to 2008. Time seems to have gone by much more quickly as a GNR fan these past six years than they did when we were waiting around to see what Axl even looked like way back in 1998.

Just curious if others feel like time moves at random speeds within GNR fandom?

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There were also six years between TSI and Live Era. I think we'd all like things to move a bit faster but I'm just glad I was around for the heyday of 87-93.I don't think anyone who was around then could've predicted what we have now but GN'R have been my favorite band for 27 years and I don't see that changing.

Edited by xGNRxSTARx
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It's strange that we're now over six years past the release of Chinese Democracy. It certainly doesn't feel that long, at least to me.

If we arbitrary break up the GNR timeline from 1996 to now, it's almost as though something major happens every six years. It's not a fast and hard rule and there are exceptions, but stay with me.

In 1996 we got Axl's fax informing that Slash had left the band and that they were starting over. Six years later, we get the first real GNR tour in 2002. In 2008, the band finally delivers Chinese Democracy. Obviously there are some exceptions, most notably the 2006 tour, but for the most part the six year rule has stayed true to my arbitrary milestones. And yes, by this logic, something major should have happened in 2014, so we're a little behind, but that's not really the point I'm trying to get at here.

Maybe it's just me, but the last six years have felt like a breeze compared to 1996 to 2002 and 2002 to 2008. Time seems to have gone by much more quickly as a GNR fan these past six years than they did when we were waiting around to see what Axl even looked like way back in 1998.

Just curious if others feel like time moves at random speeds within GNR fandom?

I am inclined to agree with you as to how quickly time has gone by compared to the early 2000's.

I think in my case it is to do with the fact I am a little older and more patient, and my life is a lot busier these days. I have so many more things going on in my head, I don't think about the next release as much.

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I think it's because we got an album to tide us over.

Before we really had no idea when it would ever happen. And if it would ever happen. So the waiting period was emotionally different.

And Axl's unwillingness to share his music with his millions of fans still sucks and is my least favorite thing about my favorite singer of all time.

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I think that 2002-2008 and 1996-2002 felt longer is because even though there were tours during those periods there was still no album out plus the touring was not nearly as much compared to what we have gotten these past few years.

2008-2014 we had a new album, two new Axl interviews on TV, the Dexter chats, and tons of shows every year from 2009 to last year. It may still not be as much activity as we would like, but it is more than the other periods and more activity may equate to the feeling of time passing faster

Edited by WhazUp
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Activity plays a part, no doubt.

But when you think about it, we waited just as long from 2002 to 2008 for an album as we have from 2008 to now (err, last November). But for whatever reason, it doesn't feel like Chinese Democracy was released that long ago. When I think back to 2008, I always thought 2002 was such a long time behind me. I'm not sure why, but I have to remind myself from time to time that it was over six f'n years since CD's release. Maybe it's just a sign I'm getting older and time moves quicker for me more generally.

Anyway, just random thoughts from a fellow fan.

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You are older, that's why.

To me, the hardest waiting was between Lies and UYI, even if that was less years. But I was young and wanting new music so much.

Yes, wanted to post this. You are getting older, Downzy :P We are all evolving into Axl time.

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2002-2008 was a long haul. Especially when you are living the the U.S. That era is from 9/11 to President Obama getting elected. Those years inbetween sucked! Everything was about war, our national debt was skyrocketing, housing market was falling apart, Katrina happened, gas got expensive, people started losing jobs because of the economy. It was an awful time and it seemed like it would never end!

After 2009 things seemed to get better. Our biggest problems were congress not agreeing, but everything was steadily moving up. It has felt like a really positive time if you stay away from Fox News. Everything seems to have settled down and it's made life more enjoyable. I'll credit that to the last 6 years going by in a flash.

It just seems when times suck that they never end! But when things are going good it goes by in a blink of an eye.

Just how I've felt about it. It has made this wait a lot easier in terms of GNR material.

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7 or 8 years

7 or 8 year periods is an interesting timeframe for GNR and Axl.

1985-1993: From the beggining to the absolute peak for the band

1994-2001: Axl's silent period, almost exactly seven years since Axl came out again to perform and re-launch GNR

(1991: UYI 1999: Live Era, OMG)

2001-2008: 7 years until finally CD came out since Axl showed up again for the public, with various touring years

2008-present: CD actually came out, tour started in 2009 december and seems like they finished the longest touring cycle (almost 5 years on the road)

This year or the next year, a new record will come out



...

or not

Edited by Motivation
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I also think the older we get, time moves a lot faster so it doesn't feel like ChiDem was over half a decade ago. I'm sure as long as this forum is going to be around, we'll be talking about the 10th anniversary.

Kanye, Taylor Swift and Rihanna had 4 albums out in that same amount of time.

Rock bands in general are struggling, the genre isn't as popular as it once was (but has been incorporated into other genres) . As long as there's a back catalog people want to hear live, those bands will still be able to go out and make a living at it.

When most of the big rock bands started out, they were happy just to have something on the radio, there wasn't a lot of money in it until they started playing arenas and got into merchandising.

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That's all coincidence.

Axl doesn't have some secret 8 year plan. He's finished, and he's been finished for quite some time.

Nu GNR never took off, even slightly. GNR became a nostalgia act, and at the behest of his leeches, Axl rode that horse into the ground.

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As one ages, one perceives time moving more quickly. But aging is not the cause - it's what goes along with aging, in our society, at least.

Anticipation and activity/events, slow down time. When you're young, there's lots of new things (to you) going on, and there is a lot to look forward to. As you age, the frequency of new/novel events decreases. So when you look back, there aren't a lot of milestones (comparatively) to make demarcations in the timeline.

You can take this idea and apply it to our whole culture as well, which just compounds things.

I don't agree with all of this article, but I think the gist is correct:

http://www.vanityfair.com/style/2012/01/prisoners-of-style-201201

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For me, it's what I grew up being used to due to my personal tastes.

Prior to AFD coming out, the artists that I like the most were Elvis and MJ. Elvis only put out 1 new album in my lifetime which came out when I was 2, so I only had his past output to go on from there. My favorite MJ albums came out about 5 years apart which is an eternity when you're a little kid lol. After GN'R, I got into Pink Floyd who put out albums in 1987 & 1994, so that's 7 years between albums for them.

Point being that I was more or less conditioned at a young age to wait way longer than usual for albums from my favorite artists.

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As one ages, one perceives time moving more quickly. But aging is not the cause - it's what goes along with aging, in our society, at least.

Anticipation and activity/events, slow down time. When you're young, there's lots of new things (to you) going on, and there is a lot to look forward to. As you age, the frequency of new/novel events decreases. So when you look back, there aren't a lot of milestones (comparatively) to make demarcations in the timeline.

You can take this idea and apply it to our whole culture as well, which just compounds things.

I don't agree with all of this article, but I think the gist is correct:

http://www.vanityfair.com/style/2012/01/prisoners-of-style-201201

I don't agree with the 404!

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