Chris Vrenna (Nine Inch Nails) talks about Axl and working on Chinese Democracy

[wasted]

14 minutes ago, Rovim said:

I think Axl always wanted to be the one to drive the vision and for Slash to complete the picture with his tunes and riffs. I don't think Axl is even capable of releasing an album on a consistent time line since what dictates a Guns release is too unpredictable. So worst best case scenario, they release a final record in 3 to 5 years.

I also believe lyrically it cannot be dated. It has to reflect maybe what Axl is at now. Also why would Axl want to make a more AFD Slash led album if he still enjoys singing the Chinese tunes the most live? and we know Slash and Duff are into the unreleased Chinese material.

I'm pretty confident in guessing that even if there are a zillion tunes like SOD, ITW, TWAT, Catcher, Maddy, etc, it's still won't be good enough for Axl to release less than a full album that represents what he has to say artistically. 

if Axl starts a tune from lyrics and Slash comes up with a brilliant part or Slash comes up with a riff that sparks something in Axl that would be cool and could change the direction of the album, but it seems it's also about how all the old and new ideas and tunes will go together.

I wonder how different the process of making an album now with Slash and Duff will be to when Axl was making UYI or CD.

Axl was saying that he didn’t want to do it the CD or UYI way, doing the music first, then he sings over it. He wants Slash to work off the vocal melodies like AFD. So CD era material will be used as a jumping off point? But that might be totally new stuff. 

Edited November 8, 2018 by wasted

[Rovim]

Just now, wasted said:

Axl was saying that he didn’t want to do it the CD or UYI way, doing the music first, then he sings over it. He wants Slash to work off the vocal melodies like AFD. So CD era material will be used as a jumping off point? But that might be totally new stuff. 

I think Axl can approach it in more than one way at a time. give Slash lyrics and vocal melodies, try that. but also if one of Slash's new riffs speaks to Axl he might want to develop that. I think my point is there are a lot of ways to get there and Axl has been known to always use old material from different writers.

The lyrics and vocal melodies first thing is Axl's way I think to also make sure it stays fresh and relevant and gives him a chance to maybe center the album around a more consistent representation of what he has to say thematically. so I still believe there will be elements of Chinese craftsmanship in the way they'll approach it. There must be some material that just needs tweaking or major parts will be used.

Until Axl has ideas to give to Slash to work on, let Slash work on existing material cause I think before the reunion Axl maytbe had the intention to release more material that can still be used now that Slash is back.

If everyone already like something it's logical to also start from there. like rerecording AFD to get the feel of Slash on top of unreleased material in the studio and the current line up for example. I guess it's possible Axl will wait until he has new lyrics and melodies to give to Slash to work on but why not move forward in the mean time with ideas that can still be pieces of the puzzle. I think the new material from lyrics and melodies first could be a major part of the album and Slash's tunes as well, but also what's left in the vault is something I think Axl still believes in and wants at least some of it to be released with Slash's playing.

Edited November 8, 2018 by Rovim

[wasted]

10 hours ago, Rovim said:

I think Axl can approach it in more than one way at a time. give Slash lyrics and vocal melodies, try that. but also if one of Slash's new riffs speaks to Axl he might want to develop that. I think my point is there are a lot of ways to get there and Axl has been known to always use old material from different writers.

The lyrics and vocal melodies first thing is Axl's way I think to also make sure it stays fresh and relevant and gives him a chance to maybe center the album around a more consistent representation of what he has to say thematically. so I still believe there will be elements of Chinese craftsmanship in the way they'll approach it. There must be some material that just needs tweaking or major parts will be used.

Until Axl has ideas to give to Slash to work on, let Slash work on existing material cause I think before the reunion Axl maytbe had the intention to release more material that can still be used now that Slash is back.

If everyone already like something it's logical to also start from there. like rerecording AFD to get the feel of Slash on top of unreleased material in the studio and the current line up for example. I guess it's possible Axl will wait until he has new lyrics and melodies to give to Slash to work on but why not move forward in the mean time with ideas that can still be pieces of the puzzle. I think the new material from lyrics and melodies first could be a major part of the album and Slash's tunes as well, but also what's left in the vault is something I think Axl still believes in and wants at least some of it to be released with Slash's playing.

Yeah that might mean they aren’t starting from scratch and Slash won’t be laying down 20 new tracks for Axl to find lyrics and vocals. Axl has vocals (songs) already so Slash will rework those with the band like they did they live songs. 

But I was think what if Axl starts to take Slash Cospirators material and only uses the older material sparingly so they can put out an album every other year. My conclusion is Axl would find it hard to come up with lyrics that matter to him, he’d have to change the style of writing. It totally goes against what GNR have done so far. In the rock landscape it’s the bigger and deeper GNR songs that set them apart. That’s what they can bring to the table. 

[AXL_N_DIZZY]

Been thinking about it some more, and that Passengers’ Original Soubdtracks 1 bit from Vrenna is pretty interesting. Had only thought of Axl’s fascination with U2 being Achtung Baby (and possibly Zooropa)-focused (i.e. new creative direction, but still traditional, “hit driven”, rock records).

Says a lot (perhaps more) if Axl was so into that Passengers’ record though. If true- kind of lends credence to the idea post-Illusions he was much more interested (comfortable?) in expressing his art musically (or even atmospherically) than vocally, and lyrically. Might even still be the case? Kind of like Chinese with only “Better”, and “TIL” having vocals or something...

[Rovim]

On 11/13/2018 at 5:03 AM, AXL_N_DIZZY said:

Been thinking about it some more, and that Passengers’ Original Soubdtracks 1 bit from Vrenna is pretty interesting. Had only thought of Axl’s fascination with U2 being Achtung Baby (and possibly Zooropa)-focused (i.e. new creative direction, but still traditional, “hit driven”, rock records).

Says a lot (perhaps more) if Axl was so into that Passengers’ record though. If true- kind of lends credence to the idea post-Illusions he was much more interested (comfortable?) in expressing his art musically (or even atmospherically) than vocally, and lyrically. Might even still be the case? Kind of like Chinese with only “Better”, and “TIL” having vocals or something...

Axl can be dramatic sometimes. I think if he ever releases another Guns album, all the tunes will have vocals. but I do believe he'd like to do more than just Guns in that instrumental thing.

[wasted]

It might cool for Axl to use an orchestral piece for Terminator 7 credits. Beltrami is the Terminator theme tune guy. Maybe whip up a Terminator theme tune cover.