"All of the material that hadn't been released was coming out in 2016, then the reunion happened." Tom Zutaut

[Propaganda]

3 hours ago, RussTCB said:

You can't be serious. You know what real album promotion looks like, right? 

It's definitely not planning, then canceling tours. Not to mention the complete lack or interviews and / or TV appearances. 

Are you suggesting that doing a couple shows in 2001, then having a tour canceled in 2002, then complete silence til 2006, then touring again for a year and a half is "promoting it for 8 years before it came out"? 

That's just more or the rumors that came from MSLs infamous "thumb drive" deal. Who knows how much of that was even true. 

Axl acknowledge it, so I think he was telling the truth.

[Homefuck]

29 minutes ago, F*ck Fear said:

I literally just listened to this riff from 1988, and there is no fucking way  that all those years later Axl Rose and Josh Freese listened to it and said "That's the main riff in our new song"

I don't think so either but it's identical to the riff from CD. It's a pretty generic riff so it isn't impossible that two people that happen to have been in the same band came up with the same variation of a standard minor pentatonic riff. 

[Gordon Comstock]

1 hour ago, RussTCB said:

Wow, really? I honestly have no recollection of that stuff happening in 2001 and 2002. I'd be happy to be wrong, but I just don't remember anything else. 

Milo already posted the 2001 interview but here's the one with the Seattle radio station:

 

[F*ck Fear]

1 hour ago, Homefuck said:

I don't think so either but it's identical to the riff from CD. It's a pretty generic riff so it isn't impossible that two people that happen to have been in the same band came up with the same variation of a standard minor pentatonic riff. 

Similar maybe, but it's not identical.

[wasted]

On 30/12/2018 at 1:11 AM, Lies They Tell said:

I've never really read about the 2010 rumour. Do we have any actual facts backing the claim that the record label rejected CD2 in 2010, or is it just some wannabe insider information?

“Same bat time, same bat channel.” - Axl

”It wasn’t meant to be just one disc.” - Tommy

 

Just now, F*ck Fear said:

Similar maybe, but it's not identical.

Chi dem always seemed like the ascending version of the Jungle cords. 

[Lies They Tell]

5 hours ago, Propaganda said:

Axl acknowledge it, so I think he was telling the truth.

You mean that Axl acknowledged the hard drive incident? In what way?

3 hours ago, wasted said:

“Same bat time, same bat channel.” - Axl

”It wasn’t meant to be just one disc.” - Tommy

Sorry but those quotes mean nothing. We know that there's unreleased material that Axl wants to release at some point, but so far I've found no evidence that the label rejected CD2. That's what I'm searching for. Evidence for the claim that the label rejecred CD2. "Same bat time same bat channel" could mean anything. It's definitely not proof that the label is the reason why CD2 hasn't been released.

[wasted]

2 hours ago, Lies They Tell said:

You mean that Axl acknowledged the hard drive incident? In what way?

Sorry but those quotes mean nothing. We know that there's unreleased material that Axl wants to release at some point, but so far I've found no evidence that the label rejected CD2. That's what I'm searching for. Evidence for the claim that the label rejecred CD2. "Same bat time same bat channel" could mean anything. It's definitely not proof that the label is the reason why CD2 hasn't been released.

I think it’s more Azoff and the Best Buy deal and Iovine’s mismanagement that rejected CD2. I don’t think it was rejected on merit. It was more the numbers weren’t there. 

[Padme]

3 hours ago, Lies They Tell said:

Sorry but those quotes mean nothing. We know that there's unreleased material that Axl wants to release at some point, but so far I've found no evidence that the label rejected CD2. That's what I'm searching for. Evidence for the claim that the label rejecred CD2. "Same bat time same bat channel" could mean anything. It's definitely not proof that the label is the reason why CD2 hasn't been released.

If you're looking for an official statement from either Axl or the record company. There is no such a thing. But Axl said during a show in Vegas around 2001 that they were working to make more than just one album. Marc Canter has said the only reason we had CD it was because of the Dr. Pepper deal. When Axl was with AC/DC in London. He did an interview. He said he would like to make an instrumental solo album. When we have Axl and Duff doing that t.v. interview a couple of years ago. They didn't give a straight answer when they were asked about an album. All we know is that there is a vault with a bunch of songs. So it is either Axl or the record company who don't want CD II to be released. This year we had the AFD box set. Well, it's clear that for Axl and the record company that box set was more important than CD II

[Lies They Tell]

29 minutes ago, Padme said:

If you're looking for an official statement from either Axl or the record company. There is no such a thing. But Axl said during a show in Vegas around 2001 that they were working to make more than just one album. Marc Canter has said the only reason we had CD it was because of the Dr. Pepper deal. When Axl was with AC/DC in London. He did an interview. He said he would like to make an instrumental solo album. When we have Axl and Duff doing that t.v. interview a couple of years ago. They didn't give a straight answer when they were asked about an album. All we know is that there is a vault with a bunch of songs. So it is either Axl or the record company who don't want CD II to be released. This year we had the AFD box set. Well, it's clear that for Axl and the record company that box set was more important than CD II

Ok, that's exactly what I wanted to know, if there's any facts supporting the idea that the record label rejected CD2. So apparently not. Nothing wrong in speculating, but It's just weird that some people talk like it's a fact that the label rejecred CD2 in 2010, when it doesn't seem to be a fact in any way.

I've always thought that it's way more likely that Axl's the problem. He's been too afraid to release material especially when he was alone responsible for eveything. I hope that he has more confidence to release music now that Slash and Duff are back in the band and people view GNR more as a band effort again and won't blame Axl alone if they don't like the album.

Edited December 31, 2018 by Lies They Tell

[jamillos]

I don’t think it was necessarily Zutaut who said that. He added some info, but this is supposedly an "anonymous source".
Anyway, I don’t understand why it would have to take another 2 years after they’d "sort of left it in Vegas" to release it; I believe it would have been sooner, the stuff was already finished. On the other hand, considering the history of making CD I... anything is possible.

 

[Sosso]

It was always weird for me that a drummer wrote the guitar riff for Chinese Democracy. 

[Homefuck]

11 hours ago, F*ck Fear said:

Similar maybe, but it's not identical.

What's the difference? 

[80309561]

On 12/27/2018 at 5:34 PM, Sydney Fan said:

If they had reunited in 06 it would have been a strictly business type of reunion affair,  all about the dollars 

dollars is all its about no matter when the reunion happened just like it was back when Guns N' Rose started

[soon]

50 minutes ago, Sosso said:

It was always weird for me that a drummer wrote the guitar riff for Chinese Democracy. 

Its certainly not common in rock for drummers to write guitar riffs, but this one always kind of made sense to me. Because I see the track CD as a major nod to Smells Like Teen Spirit. For me, SLTS is a 'drummers song' - a song that drummers know inside out and would call during a jam. So I picture Axl trying to describe the updated sound he's looking for, Freese hears 'cutting edge, modern, grunge' and as a drummer is uniquely skilled to create a variation of SLTS that essentially offsets the main guitar riff and uses his rhythmic sensibilities to alter the groove. And by eliminating the 'scratchy-scratch' guitar and snare hits from the original SLTS the new song has a more modern-design-chicness to it.

Weirdest part of the song writing on this track, for me, is that like 8 people wrote this rocker.

[Draguns]

1 hour ago, Sosso said:

It was always weird for me that a drummer wrote the guitar riff for Chinese Democracy. 

I have some serious doubts that a  session drummer would come up with that riff. I think Axl listened to the tapes and heard Slash come up with it in the live setting. 

[default_]

33 minutes ago, Draguns said:

I have some serious doubts that a  session drummer would come up with that riff. I think Axl listened to the tapes and heard Slash come up with it in the live setting. 

The weird part is just that Slash played  the almost same thing 20 years before the song was born and the song was created in a period that the actual new band says they were browsing live and rehearsal tapes from the old band to get "inspired" or something like that. 

Its just weird.

Edited December 31, 2018 by default_

[Rovim]

12 hours ago, wasted said:

“Same bat time, same bat channel.” - Axl

interviewer: "I know this is jumping the gun big time, but any tentative idea when you would like to see the next CD come out?"

Axl: "No, maybe same bat time, same bat channel next year but we’ll have to see."

so Axl said that no, he doesn't exactly know when he would like to release the next album and he also said "maybe" next year.

I don't know if there is any proof that they rejected it but I can see how that might be true

Edited December 31, 2018 by Rovim

[Alejandro GNR]

I dream to hear this as a song with Axl singing and a great bucket solo...or Slash replacing him.

Also, what Slash plays before Only Women Bleed in Paris 92...could that be a song???

[Draguns]

1 hour ago, default_ said:

The weird part is just that Slash played  the almost same thing 20 years before the song was born and the song was created in a period that the actual new band says they were browsing live and rehearsal tapes from the old band to get "inspired" or something like that. 

Its just weird.

It's just too much of a coincidence. 

[F*ck Fear]

3 hours ago, Homefuck said:

What's the difference? 

The difference is that while it may be a similar pattern, it's not the exact same riff used in Chinese Democracy.

I listened to it, and did not think of Chinese Democracy whatsoever.

[themadcaplaughs]

The 2010 album story (from MSL so take it with a grain of salt) was that Axl really did want to release a follow-up album in 2009 (similar to Kid A and Amnesiac or Load and ReLoad), but all the 2008/2009 drama happened: trouble with Azoff and lawsuit, planned spring/summer 2009 tour being cancelled, Axl being pissed the label did not promote Chinese Democracy, etc. However, Axl apparently got inspired after playing live again in late 2009 and early 2010, and decided to pursue releasing new music again. Management went to the label in summer 2010, and asked about using the Reading and Leeds festivals as an opportunity to announce a new album to be released in late 2010/early 2011 (similar to how they used the VMAs in 2002 to announce the North American tour). Per MSL, Axl wanted the album to be self-titled (either Guns N' Roses or GN'R). The label told Axl that was way too short of a turn-around to release an album (which, in all fairness, seems reasonable). Axl apparently got furious, broke up the band, and posted that tweet about shows being cancelled. When management/Team Brazil was finally able to get Axl calmed down, they used the "hack" story as an excuse. Apparently, this was when Axl really stopped caring a ton about releasing new music, and did not even approach the idea again until 2014 (after the Vegas residency). 

Regarding a follow-up album, I would imagine it is really close to done, but might need just a little extra work prior to releasing. I would assume that was why Pittman hung out with Axl in the studio in 2014/2015; to take stock of what songs were available, and in what stage of completion they were. It was mentioned here, by mods, that the rumor was Axl really inspired again, and wanted an album release in 2016 (and even went so far as to begin auditioning new guitarists to replace Bumblefoot to play live and potentially record in the studio). (Another MSL rumor at the time was that the band auditioned a female guitarist DJ Ashba recommended. The GN'R community assumed it was Orianthi, but we never heard much besides that). Would an album have come out in 2016? Knowing the band's history with deadlines, probably not, but it was certainly the intention. Once DJ left, however, the door opened for Slash to come back, and the focus became tour planning. 

Assuming the 2010 album rumor was true, I noticed some here have asked "what would be different between 2010 and 2019." The answer, when you really think about it, is a TON:

• The wave of disappointment around Chinese Democracy has died out after ten years. Not to say it's a beloved album these days, but it seems a lot of people are reassessing following the NITL tour, and for new generations and new fans just getting into Guns N' Roses, the album does not have any "mystique" around it. They can stream it, download it, or buy a copy. There's no feeling of the album being mythical for these folks because, to them, it's just another Guns album to listen to. 
• On that note, and the Billboard article brought up this point, Slash and Duff playing Chinese Democracy songs definitely was a "stamp of approval," and definitely had an effect on more old school fans deciding to give it a try. 
• Axl has built up a LOT of good will over the last three years. When Chinese Democracy came out, Axl was still seen as a reclusive, eccentric, and controlling front man who did not even turn up to talk about the album or tour it. The only "promotion" (if you can call it that) was posting on message boards, and a good portion of that was just Axl ragging on fans who acted like dicks (not saying it was not super cool for Axl to stop by the message boards or that the people who acted like jerks did not deserve being called out, just saying that the average person would not have known about those chats). As of today, about to enter 2019, Axl just finished a massive, two and a half year tour with no incidents. Not only did it seem like the band was "getting through it," but Axl seemed to be having fun. Additionally, he fronted AC/DC, another stadium level band, between GN'R shows, while his foot was broken.

All these factors lead me to believe a label would be more interested in a new album. 

Edited December 31, 2018 by themadcaplaughs

[Propaganda]

12 hours ago, Lies They Tell said:

You mean that Axl acknowledged the hard drive incident? In what way?

Sorry but those quotes mean nothing. We know that there's unreleased material that Axl wants to release at some point, but so far I've found no evidence that the label rejected CD2. That's what I'm searching for. Evidence for the claim that the label rejecred CD2. "Same bat time same bat channel" could mean anything. It's definitely not proof that the label is the reason why CD2 hasn't been released.

He tweeted about the powerpoint part.

[wasted]

11 hours ago, Rovim said:

interviewer: "I know this is jumping the gun big time, but any tentative idea when you would like to see the next CD come out?"

Axl: "No, maybe same bat time, same bat channel next year but we’ll have to see."

so Axl said that no, he doesn't exactly know when he would like to release the next album and he also said "maybe" next year.

I don't know if there is any proof that they rejected it but I can see how that might be true

True but he said maybe next year? I take that as his hope to get the next one out. Suggests it’s “ready”. Also at the same time he was talking about Soul Monster and confirming track titles. 

But I remember he did a sort of interview with Billboard with Del after that where he said don’t know don’t care. 

I think considering how the release went with Azoff getting fired for trying to set a reunion I don’t think CD2 got to a point where someone at the rec comp listened to it and said no. But they must have heard tracks like Atlas Shrugged that Zutaut called a glam rock Nov Rain and the first single.

There was just a idea to release 2 cds. And Axl saw CD as a double. But the BB deal decided everything. 

I wonder if Axl had 2 cds of material and then the Best Buy deal just needed 1 cd. So all the singles were piled on to CD. Or as some have said Axl had a series of albums in mind. 

Having 1 cd with multiple covers seems kind of strange. Unless you spread 30 tracks across 3 10-track albums. 

The Best Buy deal was like a bank heist. One final job. For me the action is the juice. 

Overall there seems like there was very little support for Axl’s vision after 2004. It’s miracle it came out at all considering the person who made it happen had no belief in the project. It really was just get Slash back. So really it was rejected from the get go. So looking for proof I look at the entire history of the making of the record and it’s title says it all. 

Edited January 1, 2019 by wasted

[wasted]

13 hours ago, Sosso said:

It was always weird for me that a drummer wrote the guitar riff for Chinese Democracy. 

Freese said he wrote 4 songs which were on the A list at some point. Dave Grohl does whole albums. 

Edited January 1, 2019 by wasted

[wasted]

8 hours ago, themadcaplaughs said:

The 2010 album story (from MSL so take it with a grain of salt) was that Axl really did want to release a follow-up album in 2009 (similar to Kid A and Amnesiac or Load and ReLoad), but all the 2008/2009 drama happened: trouble with Azoff and lawsuit, planned spring/summer 2009 tour being cancelled, Axl being pissed the label did not promote Chinese Democracy, etc. However, Axl apparently got inspired after playing live again in late 2009 and early 2010, and decided to pursue releasing new music again. Management went to the label in summer 2010, and asked about using the Reading and Leeds festivals as an opportunity to announce a new album to be released in late 2010/early 2011 (similar to how they used the VMAs in 2002 to announce the North American tour). Per MSL, Axl wanted the album to be self-titled (either Guns N' Roses or GN'R). The label told Axl that was way too short of a turn-around to release an album (which, in all fairness, seems reasonable). Axl apparently got furious, broke up the band, and posted that tweet about shows being cancelled. When management/Team Brazil was finally able to get Axl calmed down, they used the "hack" story as an excuse. Apparently, this was when Axl really stopped caring a ton about releasing new music, and did not even approach the idea again until 2014 (after the Vegas residency). 

Regarding a follow-up album, I would imagine it is really close to done, but might need just a little extra work prior to releasing. I would assume that was why Pittman hung out with Axl in the studio in 2014/2015; to take stock of what songs were available, and in what stage of completion they were. It was mentioned here, by mods, that the rumor was Axl really inspired again, and wanted an album release in 2016 (and even went so far as to begin auditioning new guitarists to replace Bumblefoot to play live and potentially record in the studio). (Another MSL rumor at the time was that the band auditioned a female guitarist DJ Ashba recommended. The GN'R community assumed it was Orianthi, but we never heard much besides that). Would an album have come out in 2016? Knowing the band's history with deadlines, probably not, but it was certainly the intention. Once DJ left, however, the door opened for Slash to come back, and the focus became tour planning. 

Assuming the 2010 album rumor was true, I noticed some here have asked "what would be different between 2010 and 2019." The answer, when you really think about it, is a TON:

• The wave of disappointment around Chinese Democracy has died out after ten years. Not to say it's a beloved album these days, but it seems a lot of people are reassessing following the NITL tour, and for new generations and new fans just getting into Guns N' Roses, the album does not have any "mystique" around it. They can stream it, download it, or buy a copy. There's no feeling of the album being mythical for these folks because, to them, it's just another Guns album to listen to. 
• On that note, and the Billboard article brought up this point, Slash and Duff playing Chinese Democracy songs definitely was a "stamp of approval," and definitely had an effect on more old school fans deciding to give it a try. 
• Axl has built up a LOT of good will over the last three years. When Chinese Democracy came out, Axl was still seen as a reclusive, eccentric, and controlling front man who did not even turn up to talk about the album or tour it. The only "promotion" (if you can call it that) was posting on message boards, and a good portion of that was just Axl ragging on fans who acted like dicks (not saying it was not super cool for Axl to stop by the message boards or that the people who acted like jerks did not deserve being called out, just saying that the average person would not have known about those chats). As of today, about to enter 2019, Axl just finished a massive, two and a half year tour with no incidents. Not only did it seem like the band was "getting through it," but Axl seemed to be having fun. Additionally, he fronted AC/DC, another stadium level band, between GN'R shows, while his foot was broken.

All these factors lead me to believe a label would be more interested in a new album. 

I think they are more interested in putting out a Best of or UYI boxset than paying for production and promo of an album that sells 200k.