ATLAS SHRUGGED - Full Leak Discussion Thread **NO LINKS, NO ASKING / HINTING FOR LEAKS**

[TheSeeker]

2 minutes ago, sofine11 said:

One thousand times this. Bob Ezrin needs to be kicked in the dick for selling Axl on this. This 2000 stockpile is by and far the best of what we've heard to date. 

Well it sounds like...

-Tom Zutaut, a proven Yes-Man, was brought back into the fold and Axl brought him CD's filled with songs - Tom told Axl there were dozens of songs worthy of finishing

-Tom was fired

-Axl brought the same CD's to Bob Ezrin, a proven producer of countless hit records, and was told "you have 2 good songs" 

[Gackt]

3 minutes ago, sofine11 said:

One thousand times this. Bob Ezrin needs to be kicked in the dick for selling Axl on this. This 2000 stockpile is by and far the best of what we've heard to date. 

There are parts of the 2000 mixes I like more than the album versions, like Chinese's more brief intro, but I miss the extended solos in the final album versions.

[RussTCB]

1 minute ago, TheSeeker said:

Well it sounds like...

-Tom Zutaut, a proven Yes-Man, was brought back into the fold and Axl brought him CD's filled with songs - Tom told Axl there were dozens of songs worthy of finishing

-Tom was fired

-Axl brought the same CD's to Bob Ezrin, a proven producer of countless hit records, and was told "you have 2 good songs" 

Right. So again; Bob was wrong. 

[sebagn'r]

Beautiful song! I love the melody.

[Nick85]

3 minutes ago, RussTCB said:

Reminder #1164514598:

We do not allow insults of users here, nor do we allow insults of other mods & admins at other forums. 

Thanks. 

Yep. 

This really puts me in a mental bind. The Wall is my favorite piece of art ever and Ezrin produced it. 

On the other hand, he was 1000% wrong about Chinese. 

 

Dammit Bob. 

He fully admits he was already put off and annoyed when he sat down with Axl at that restaurant as he was upset he needed to leave a dinner party he was hosting to meet him. He told Axl had 2-3 good songs and the rest needed work and he wanted to produce and help him, which would have no doubt been a huge pay day for him had Axl accepted his help. Too bad Axl didn't say "fuck him" altogether. 

[TheSeeker]

2 minutes ago, RussTCB said:

Right. So again; Bob was wrong. 

What songs from the Chinese Democracy sessions would have been a hit in 2001

Name one

The title track got pity airplay in 2008 and quickly died off

[Gibson87]

1 minute ago, Gackt said:

I miss the extended solos in the final album versions.

Bucket's solo alone makes the final version of TWAT superior to the demos

[Estrangedfx]

1 minute ago, TheSeeker said:

What songs from the Chinese Democracy sessions would have been a hit in 2001

Name one

The title track got pity airplay in 2008 and quickly died off

Better, had it not been pro-tooled to death. Misread that. Ok. The Blues, I'd say. 

Edited September 5, 2019 by Estrangedfx

[AxlRoseCDII]

No joke just listened to the song and cried tears of joy. This has always been my dream and I never thought I’d get to listen to this, or Checkm- Hard School, or CD Demos, and I’m just so happy about it. 

Too bad Axl couldn’t have just released this sometime over the past 20 years so I could’ve paid him and the band for his amazing work. Damn shame.

[RussTCB]

1 minute ago, TheSeeker said:

What songs from the Chinese Democracy sessions would have been a hit in 2001

Name one

The title track got pity airplay in 2008 and quickly died off

Chinese, Riad, The Blues and Catcher all could've been hits. 

There's a ton of reasons why 2008 went the way it did. 

[Nicklord]

There're exactly 0 hits on that '00 album. Not a single one. And remember at that time there were a lot of huge rock anthems. Which of those songs could compare to Californication, Time Of your Life, In The End, Everlong, Bitter Sweet Symphony etc etc I'm not talking just about quality, I'm talking about potential to be a hit. Exactly 0

Would they be played more than in the '08? Sure, but there're 0 big hits there and GnR should be compared to the other rock giants

Edited September 5, 2019 by Nicklord

[Jordan Rose]

28 minutes ago, Stro said:

There aren't "holy grails". I think people misunderstood what Axl was trying to do with CD because of the silence and delays. He wasn't Brian Wilson trying to make a world changing piece while losing his mind and being unable to piece together what he was trying to do. It was just Axl trying to write songs with a different crew of helpers that freed him up to try different types of songs than he would have written with Izzy/Duff/Slash. All of these songs likely would have been out by now had the label accepted what he turned in in 2000/2001/2002. He wasn't trying to make the greatest album ever made, he wasn't even trying to make the greatest GNR album ever made. Songs about the things going on in his life at the time (lawsuits, break up of the old band, relationship hangups, a brother in law he didn't like, etc).

 

He thought what he presented was finished multiple times and the label/producers said "not good enough" and that forced him to keep tinkering. 

 

What really doesn't make sense to me is that if they had let him get all this stuff out and out of his system, it would have likely made a reunion more possible at a much earlier time, especially if the new material had flopped, but the label would have been able to recoup on their investment and move on. No one gives a fuck when Steven Tyler or Mick Jagger or Roger Daltrey put out solo records and it doesn't harm Aerosmith or The Stones or The Who when they don't sell. Even putting all this stuff under the GNR banner and it not being a huge hit wouldn't have mattered much when the reunion came around: See the reaction to the actual released CD and the reunion. 

Brilliant post. It's been lost that Axl said he was just trying to make a good record, not the greatest or even best Guns record etc etc. And from 2002 to at least 2007 when he played Baz stuff he was thinking in terms of a trilogy with running themes etc. I could like a finished Atlas in the context of a record with different things. Just isn't the soaring epic I erroneously imagined it to be. 

[Nick85]

I think it would have absolutely done better in 2001 or 2002 than 2008.  Fuck, 2008 could've gone better if Axl and the label could've been bothered to, you know, try to promote it in a remotely acceptable way.

That being said, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Blink 182, Puddle of Mud, Saliva etc. dominated rock radio back then.  Not fitting in with that bunch is like getting a damn medal of honor.

[Gackt]

7 minutes ago, Gibson_Guy87 said:

Bucket's solo alone makes the final version of TWAT superior to the demos

The album as a whole would be much more forgettable if it didn't include Bucket & Bumble's contributions.

[Jordan Rose]

7 minutes ago, AxlRoseCDII said:

No joke just listened to the song and cried tears of joy. This has always been my dream and I never thought I’d get to listen to this, or Checkm- Hard School, or CD Demos, and I’m just so happy about it. 

Too bad Axl couldn’t have just released this sometime over the past 20 years so I could’ve paid him and the band for his amazing work. Damn shame.

Glad you're loving it. I'm jealous I don't. 

[guitarpatch]

3 minutes ago, Nicklord said:

There're exactly 0 hits on that '00 album. Not a single one. And remember at that time there were a lot of huge rock anthems. Which of those songs could compare to Californication, Time Of your Life, In The End, Everlong, Bitter Sweet Symphony etc etc I'm not talking just about quality, I'm talking about potential to be a hit. Exactly 0ž

Would they be played more than in the '08? Sure, but there're 0 big hits there and GnR should be compared to the other rock giants

You think Axl was going for that? Sounds like he was going for a melting pot of influences from the entire decade. More Ok Computer era Radiohead than freaking Nimrod era Green Day 

[Jordan Rose]

7 minutes ago, RussTCB said:

Chinese, Riad, The Blues and Catcher all could've been hits. 

There's a ton of reasons why 2008 went the way it did. 

I don't understand people saying no singles. The record is drenched in melodies and hooks. To me Madagascar is an instant grab you by the throat mega-hook. 

[RedHook]

The traditional record industry model was mostly still intact in 2000. I believe they would have helped this release immensly.

The internet culture has lowered peoples attention span, albums nowadays get one or two good sales weeks then drop off into oblivion.

I think any version of this album would have done better in 2000.

Edited September 5, 2019 by RedHook

[Nicklord]

1 minute ago, guitarpatch said:

You think Axl was going for that? Sounds like he was going for a melting pot of influences from the entire decade. More Ok Computer era Radiohead than freaking Nimrod era Green Day 

Well he tried to have catchy choruses on a lot of songs, he just failed to create a single one. He wanted to do everything in one album and failed

[AxlRoseCDII]

Has any deciphered the lyrics yet?

[D..]

12 minutes ago, TheSeeker said:

What songs from the Chinese Democracy sessions would have been a hit in 2001

Name one

The title track got pity airplay in 2008 and quickly died off

SOD/Blues would have been a hit if marketed properly without a doubt. Chinese Democracy with Freese on drums could have been a hit too, as well as Better.

With the right marketing, it would have sold, no problem.

Thing is, Axl was depicted as an asshole in most mainstream medias.

As for "what would have been a hit in 2001", just look at 2001 until now. Lots of hits that are absolute garbage. Success doesn't equal quality. Never has been, never will be.

[Live Like a Suicide]

1 minute ago, AxlRoseCDII said:

Has any deciphered the lyrics yet?

A few pages back.

[Jordan Rose]

Just now, AxlRoseCDII said:

Has any deciphered the lyrics yet?

Rusty Buckets says someone told him years ago they're about Robin leaving. They really do fit that context. I'm not sure about timeline though as it was mentioned early on as a title. 

Could do with a higher 'Like' allowance on days like this. 

[RussTCB]

Just now, Jordan Rose said:

Rusty Buckets says... 

Apparently I should explain that it's Russ - TCB.... As in, my name +Elvis' motto of "TCB" LOL. 

[Voodoochild]

2 hours ago, Stro said:

None of those are industrial songs. At all.

Always said that. I dont really think people understand what "industrial" really means. Especially in Riad's case. If anything, it's the CD song with the most AFD-ish guitar riff. 

 

53 minutes ago, default_ said:

I think the best we can do at this point is forget about "holy grails". Atlas used to be so anticipated and one of the "big guns", the next November Rain (as a journalist described, November Rain meets 70s glam) and with the last leaks we can clearly see theres nothing ground breaking. No November Rain, no Estranged. 
Bach said The General is a heavy, almost doom song, we'll probably be disappointed by Axls take on a generic Doom Metal track. 

Oh, and if we follow the pattern, doom metal was also a trend on underground metal in the 90s. Axl is always late to the party. 

I'm 100% conviced that whoever said Atlas was akin to "glamrock November Rain" or something, just mistook it with The Blues. 

 

46 minutes ago, D.. said:

Then again, those same journalists thought "The Last Jedi" was an amazing Star Wars movie when it's even worse than any of the prequels. Journalists are pointless at this point.

No it's not. But then again, it's just opinion about the quality of the product. Really different than saying it sounds like something else, when it's clearly not the case.