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Axl and the lack of new material


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While the "reunion" tour is underway, and obviously that's incredible and unexpected news...

A topic on a related but not so optimistic note...

Is the current incarnation of Axl Rose one of the most unproductive popular musicians in modern music's history? While it's impossible to know/confirm the vaults of completed or half-completed music we've heard about over the years, the fact is that he and his band have only produced one album of new material since 1991... and even Chinese Democracy is now almost a decade old.

Instead of new music, Axl seems content to take the easy road / money road by touring on old material... and to create a mirage of newness... by reinserting treasured material from UYI and other albums back into the set every now and then... to probably both keep the band content that they're not playing the same material... and keep the diehard fans content / half-content. And, he's now again touring on past material with AC/DC absent any interest it appears to contribute to any new material with AC/DC obviously, with the writing process it appears still most likely to be under the guidance of Brian Johnson.

So my question is... is this just how Axl is now, and G'n'R by default? Is it because new music doesn't make money anymore (i.e. the death of the record/CD, etc.), and G'n'R is more than capable of earning massive sums still on touring on old material alone (occasionally with a new live DVD or greatest hits album to promote these tours)? Is it because of Axl's incapacity to make decisions / his extreme attention to detail... which delays any decisions for years and decades while he contemplates and micro-manages? Or is it partly just because he's lazy compared to when he was hungry in his youth and past caring too much about new material / disinterested in too much work, particularly with people he doesn't want to be in the studio with and studio execs he doesn't want to deal with?

Not sure what everyone thinks. And/or if we'll see a new album of new material anytime soon... Here's to hoping, and obviously I'd love to be surprised.

Edited by Madagascar88
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Maybe he's just not all that into making music anymore? Idk man, what could he write about? Sitting on his ass in his fine mansion every day? 

Who knows, who knows? I certainly wish and hope they will release something new, whether it's just an ep or a full album. I want something, and I guess every other fan on here would agree. Maybe. 

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10 minutes ago, Apollo said:

Not being melodramatic. Just in terms of rock music. I think Axl's lack of musical output is the biggest non-death related tragedy in rock music history. 

Axl is the greatest hard rock singer of our generation. One album of original material since 1991......just tragic. 

Even after the breakup of GnR, Axl still could have came through for his fans. Axl talked about three albums. The Beta talked about 85 songs. Axl talked about releasing CD, along with 10 extra B-sides and said they would do it again in about a year. Instead......

Three things haunt me (again, 100% just in terms of my music enjoyment, not haunt in real life) I'm eating a ham/cheese/mushroom omelette and drinking a homemade smoothie, watching my adorable kids run around in the yard with our new puppy. Life is awesome. I'm solely talking about my music fandom. 

Three things make me sad and "wish" they would have came out differently. 

The deaths of Andrew Wood, Buddy Holly and Axl Rose not wanting to share music with his millions of fans. 

Why doesn't he??? Who knows. It just sucks as a fan for your favorite artist to be anti-new-music for his fans. 

It is certainly a minuscule discography. In comparison, the band he has joined have seventeen studio albums out!

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Maybe Axl hasn't felt inspired these past years?

I'm sure it takes a lot of personal experiences to write songs that are meaningful to the writer.  When I listen to GNR songs, I can't imagine what else Axl would write about? I don't want him to get all political about world events. Who cares?

Maybe after Axl's experiences singing with AC/DC and the GNR reunion, will inspire him to write more songs. I would love to hear something new from Axl to see where he is at this stage of his life.

I'm sure he, Slash and Duff and maybe Izzy could write some amazing new songs. We will have to wait and see how the reunion tour goes.

Like they said "have a little patience"

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I think without new music this whole regrouping would be somewhat disappointing.If you compare Guns discography to bands that came on scene at relatively the same time it pales in comparsion

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19 minutes ago, Apollo said:

Not being melodramatic. Just in terms of rock music. I think Axl's lack of musical output is the biggest non-death related tragedy in rock music history. 

Axl is the greatest hard rock singer of our generation. One album of original material since 1991......just tragic. 

Even after the breakup of GnR, Axl still could have came through for his fans. Axl talked about three albums. The Beta talked about 85 songs. Axl talked about releasing CD, along with 10 extra B-sides and said they would do it again in about a year. Instead......

Three things haunt me (again, 100% just in terms of my music enjoyment, not haunt in real life) I'm eating a ham/cheese/mushroom omelette and drinking a homemade smoothie, watching my adorable kids run around in the yard with our new puppy. Life is awesome. I'm solely talking about my music fandom. 

Three things make me sad and "wish" they would have came out differently. 

The deaths of Andrew Wood, Buddy Holly and Axl Rose not wanting to share music with his millions of fans. 

Why doesn't he??? Who knows. It just sucks as a fan for your favorite artist to be anti-new-music for his fans. 

Maybe there was just too much success from 88-93. I say 88 because that's when Appetite really took off. But if you group UYI's as 1 cohesive album, they sold just as well as Appetite. Both selling 30 million+ globally. Without looking it up, off the top of my head I know I've read from various sources that there are only about 35-40 albums in history that have topped 30 million. Again, if you are willing to view them as 1, that is pretty impressive for an artist to have 2 albums in this list of 35 or so that have sold 30+ million. I think only 3 others have achieved that and they were The Beatles, The Eagles and MJ. That kind of gives an idea to younger fans just how big of an impact they had I hope.

Not disagreeing with you whatsoever. Just trying to put a little more positive spin on it i guess but I'm certainly with you. It's been a real disappointment just from a fan perspective. I'm not owed anything and he can certainly do as he wants. It's just like Axl, I'm a huge fan. I fucking love your voice and your body of work. He's got to understand wanting to hear new material because he's a fan himself. I'm sure the legal loopholes are greater than anything most of us here would understand and that probably has a lot to do with it and that is just unfortunate in my opinion because it's like that great Steven Adler quote from a few years ago when talking about getting back together, "It's just music, let's just play" or something to that effect. It may very well be leaks are the only chance but as @ZoSoRose pointed out new music could be on the horizon. If you are going to do it, strike while the iron's hot you'd think?

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If G N' R want to continue selling out huge venues and stadiums, they will need to put out new music once the excitement of this "regrouping" fades away.

 After touring Europe, South America and Asia under this lineup, they will need to do something if they want to continue their legacy as one of the biggest rock bands on the planet.

Now whether they have any desire to or not...or whether they are capable of getting along to the point of coming out with something good enough to continue their legacy....is a completely different story. 

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3 minutes ago, DieselDaisy said:

I'm watching this 'DC thing unfold and thought to myself, maybe it is 'Guns N' Roses', i.e. the problem is not inherently Axl but GN'R,

- He does interviews. He has done more interviews in two days than he has done for Guns N' Roses in ten years!

- He does band photo shoots. Axl's last formal band photo was 1991.

- He turns up to rehearses and soundchecks

- He sings better, will full rasp

- He seems to be willing to work on a 'DC album, if that is what 'DC want.

'Guns 'N Roses' have fucked the guy up the arse haha. We all assume Axl is captain of his ship yet more often than not the ship appears to be steered by Brazilians and rudderless.

 

Ha. You make some excellent points. Maybe he's just had to drag the Guns name through mud for so long that it's all he can reasonably do from a legal perspective which is tour and not much else. Can't say I'd blame him if that is the case. He deserves a medal of honor for keeping the name alive and relevant through the years I think. You are almost able to count the remaining "Classic era rock bands" on one hand and I think that is quite an achievement regardless of personal opinion of how its been handled through personnel changes, touring, etc.

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I have thought a lot about this and it seems to me Axl has taken himself too seriously during the last 20 years.

Apparently Axl takes himself so seriously that he puts himself into a corner. He seems to live under a self-imposed policy that only allows him to release "masterpieces" (like the weird songs he did on Chinese Democracy)

Apparently Axl takes himself so seriously that he could never allow himself to release a three-chord rock song like Used to Love Her again.

Apparently Axl should remember that its only rock n roll.

Call Izzy and Steven, get rid of the hired hands, write 10 songs in a month, take 2 or 3 months to record the vocals and add as much effects as you like, release the music and the world will rock, it will be a much, much better place. 

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I wish someone would have the balls to interview Axl and ask him that question: what does prevent you from releasing new music?

Sure nowadays releasing albums is not a good monetary deal but aren't these people ARTISTS first? Guns N' Roses is safe with the old material, that will always continue selling for the end of times, so what hurts to release music now?

I can't understand that part of not putting an artistic product out if you're an artist. It makes no sense to me. Specially when you have nothing else to prove.

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44 minutes ago, john lennon said:

Maybe he's just not all that into making music anymore? Idk man, what could he write about? Sitting on his ass in his fine mansion every day? 

Who knows, who knows? I certainly wish and hope they will release something new, whether it's just an ep or a full album. I want something, and I guess every other fan on here would agree. Maybe. 

Maybe they have old incomplete songs which just need to be finished or rearranged

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29 minutes ago, killuridols said:

I wish someone would have the balls to interview Axl and ask him that question: what does prevent you from releasing new music?

Sure nowadays releasing albums is not a good monetary deal but aren't these people ARTISTS first? Guns N' Roses is safe with the old material, that will always continue selling for the end of times, so what hurts to release music now?

I can't understand that part of not putting an artistic product out if you're an artist. It makes no sense to me. Specially when you have nothing else to prove.

Good post. Well... money, and other incentives like fame, attention, plaudits, etc... speak loudly unfortunately... for everyone, you and I included... but perhaps for some people more than others.

Axl's not alone in potentially being influenced by declining incentives to release new material (for established artists)... many established artists go out on world tours / reunion tours, and bypass the step of releasing new material first nowadays (which might appear a great deal of work for not much reward)... if they are able to draw the crowds worldwide absent it that is.

In the case of Axl and G'n'R... his/their lack of musical output started ahead of the internet age / decline of the music industry / music sales (so obviously his personality and other factors played/play a role)... however, even if the lack of money in writing new material is not the only factor in his decisions, that doesn't mean that that doesn't influence them nowadays.

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For what it's worth, it is apparent that Axl himself is acutely aware of this. He's even willing to poke some fun at himself on this matter - notice how he jokingly compared the size of AC/DC's stack of albums to his own, in one of the recent video interviews with Angus and Cliff.

We can only speculate what the real barriers are in relation to him not releasing new music. In the BBC interview, Axl did allude to how difficult record companies have made it for bands. While this may not be a problem for most bands, this definitely seems to be a problem for Axl. Further, the circumstances around the release of Chinese Democracy, don't seem to have been entirely satisfactory to Axl, and we may never know what they were. It does seem though that they prevented Axl from releasing or wanting to release the rest of the songs he worked on. 

Personally, I don't think monetary success through album sales or pushing album numbers matters as much to Axl - seeing as how he's consistently showed a pattern of perfectionism in many of his activities, it seems that putting out a 'perfect' album or something that is worthy of GN'R's catalogue in his eyes is what matters to him. Of course, perfectionism doesn't mean that you get everything perfect - it can be a vicious affliction that mucks up all your best intentions and your most cherished ventures. Perhaps it constantly bedevils Axl.

If anything, I do think that there is a bright spot and that Axl doesn't seem to entirely dislike making new music. He just seems to have a whole lot more personal and other constraints around releasing new music. I do hope that most of those constraints that remain are mental, rather than contractual, or historical.  If anything, he seems to be happier and in a better place these days and many different things must have contributed to this situation. If that continues to be the case. let's hope that Axl decides to put out the music he made or wants to make, out there for us to hear.

Edited by The Archer
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How can artist be hungry to create when they are rich, constantly adored, under no contractual obligation to provide a product and in the rock n' roll hall of fame? Take all of that away and new albums will be flowing like water. 

Look at this (below) - almost bottom of the bill. These guys had to fight to get to the top..they had to prove themselves. There is no fire left.

4d03b2d58c679308b56d6ec815141ab1.jpg

 

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2 minutes ago, sonofnazareth said:

How can artist be hungry to create when they are rich, constantly adored, under no contractual obligation to provide a product and in the rock n' roll hall of fame? Take all of that away and new albums will be flowing like water. 

 

From where you are looking at it from I think I see your point. Is it fair for me to sum up your overall point as once an artist has sustained success and day to day financial woes are no more, motivation is lost? If so, it's well taken from the perspective of struggling with money. But once a point is reached where you've established yourself financially and it's no longer the driving factor, I think motivation comes in all ways, shapes and sizes. Isn't motivation rooted in curiosity to some degree? Does curiosity ever go away? What then motivated Axl to give ACDC a shot?

 And motivation is different for everyone. Axl may be motivated in the future by something entirely unique to his situation. I don't think money has ever been the only or even been the main factor in Axl's decisions regarding music. I know some will disagree and cite Vegas residencies and flying pianos but that's just my take.

 

Yes money motivates, especially to those who are under it's power day to day. But I think if you are lucky enough to transcend that the airwaves keep opening up. Motivation keeps coming in new ways. There is no stopping curiosity. It keeps this whole thing going.

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6 hours ago, DieselDaisy said:

I'm watching this 'DC thing unfold and thought to myself, maybe it is 'Guns N' Roses', i.e. the problem is not inherently Axl but GN'R,

- He does interviews. He has done more interviews in two days than he has done for Guns N' Roses in ten years!

- He does band photo shoots. Axl's last formal band photo was 1991.

- He turns up to rehearses and soundchecks

- He sings better, will full rasp

- He seems to be willing to work on a 'DC album, if that is what 'DC want.

'Guns 'N Roses' have fucked the guy up the arse haha. We all assume Axl is captain of his ship yet more often than not the ship appears to be steered by Brazilians and rudderless.

 

I agree he has done a lot more press for ACDC at this point then GNR. However he did tell fans that they are working on a GnR Euro tour. So we know that they will be touring more then just the announced dates.

We like to sit here and say Axl did this or didn't do that but honestly band photo shoots may not be his fault. We don't know. Maybe we will get one before the actual tour. ACDC is touring now which is why right now he's doing ACDC stuff. Give the man a chance when it comes time for the GnR tour.

The rehearsal part, I like that he said he now sees the benefits of it. With ACDC like he said he had to learn their music, he knows GnR. He also needed to work his voice out in rehearsals and get a feel for the band. In GnR he doesn't have to he knows the band better.

The rasp is different. I know there are some ACDC songs that are very hard rasp wise but honestly overall I think GnR songs are a little harder on the rasp. I'm trying to figure a good example on it, but its hard to do/ Best I can say is rasp is different. I know a few people who karaoke ACDC and none of them can do any GNR except my Michelle. I didn't understand it until they told me Axls voice is not an easy feat.I know karaoke is nowhere near this but it does show doing GnR songs are not easy. Its also vice versa. ACDC is hard as well.

I am up in arms about the music thing. I honestly want another GnR album, but I think we are jumping the gun here. We are all aware that Axl already has many songs to which he has put vocals to. We don't know that they aren't working on those and if I'm not mistaken Duff shared some things that make it seem as if they are.. Why must we only talk Axl here? I mean Slash is recording a new album with his band so why not ask why Slash isn't working on some of Axls vault? We have to take into consideration that knowing Axl has songs at his hand ready, and that in 2014/2015 DJ said from what he understood those songs were ready to be worked on and an album was being worked on(can't remember exact words). Axl is the one with ready material written with vocals on some, so lets hope the rest of the boys are putting music to it. Axl never said GnR wouldn't do an album, just he was open to do one with ACDC. Why not? The other members have their bands and outside projects. I think we are all hard on Axl. No one raised much of a peep when Slash band members said they are recording or before this tour was announced that he plans to tour his new album.

Lets also take into consideration they are just getting back together let them get a groove and see if this will work. Axl isn't going to just throw away GnR not after all he fought for with it. I think its great he's doing other things and something so huge. He will be more open to the other members doing theirs as well. Remember Axl wasn't happy Slash took GnR material to his Snakepit. Years ago Axl wouldn't have wanted them in any other band, over the years he has been softening on it. For the first time ever he gets to do something outside GnR.

Here's to a new GnR album and a new ACDC one as well. For the record if somehow he doesn't do a new album with GnR and does with ACDC and if it turns out Axls fault ie he just flat out refuses etc, then I will be the first to torch  him.

 

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