11dayempire

I don't watch them regularly. Like a lot of things they were a product of their time so in retrospect they seem corny. Around the same time I was obsessed with a comedy duo called The Mary Whitehouse Experience (I bet Lenny will recognise this). I had their video at time and played it to death, I re watched a loton YouTube recently and a lot of the humour hasn't stood the test of time. Or maybe I got old!

Hah! I remember that! The MTV Unplugged videos for electronic acts, and the Milky Milky bloke. And Jarvis: "I cruise around Soho in my Bentley. Unfortunately the passenger door is permanently ajar and it insists on veering towards the curb. Oh God. What must people think?"

imo they'll play arenas in the uk and in the rest of europe

I'll be amazed if they don't do either Wembley Stadium or Hyde Park as a one-off.

Only other option, as has been suggested before, would be a mini-residency at either the O2 or Wembley Arena.

Agreed on Wembley or Hyde Park. Those are certainly the sizes promoters would need the band to play to make any real money (if the figures of how much GNR are getting paid per gig are true).

Eminem got forced to move his Hyde Park gig to Wembley Stadium as the local residences campaigned against him playing. Depending on their views of the band, that and the notoriously early curfew/sound restrictions would likely be a sticking point for Hyde Park. AEG Live have exclusivity on Hyde Park for the Summer too so they would need to be the promoterfor the UK tour i'd imagine.

An O2 residency would make perfect sense as the curfew is way more relaxed, it would suit the venue and promoter so long as they could put enough dates on sale and the demand was big enough. Summer doesn't tend to suit arena shows though.

If i was a betting man i'd say they'll play a number of high profile festivals or one off stadium shows across Europe and USA this Summer and do a multiple date arena tour at the end of year into next.

I'm still hoping for Reading Festival – they haven't announced two of the headliners yet, and it's only a short hop down the road from me.

I hope they call it the "Not In This Lifetime" Tour.

You gotta kinda feel sorry for the DeLeo brothers. You just know everyones gonna be harping on about how they should've done more and how they abandoned him etc. I think Scott himself even uttered those very words not so long ago, about his former bandmates. Whether there is any truth to that is anybody's guess, but really, people have to take responsibility for their own shit and can't go pointing the finger when stuff like this happens.

The DeLeo's really got to me with the second breakup. They were both going on and on since 2008 about how they rehearsed all these bizarre STP songs and Scott was the only reason they played the same set every night. So then they kick Scott to the curb yet again in 2013. Scott immediately goes out and plays the first two STP albums nearly in their entirety, including songs STP hadn't played in 20 years. STP immediately goes out, picks up CB, and go out and play the same damn setlist they were with Scott during the reunion. That really soured the DeLeo's to me, since it's harder to believe they weren't at least part of the problem in the reunion.

Here comes the waterworks...

"As for you, you made my life worth living, hey...

I pray one day you will be happy, without me"

I cannot hear this song without crying. 9/11, Scott, the voice fuck

Messages may be my favorite song Scott sang on. It's just...perfect.

Never really followed the inner politics of the band, so never really took sides. I just enjoyed the music, but didn't even bother listening to their music once Scott had been kicked out. I think I listened to one or two songs from that EP they did, but it was completely "meh" without Weiland.

And yes, Messages is a very special song. My personal favourite of his, out of all the STP, VR, solo and AOA stuff. The song is so poignant and relevant even today. Should've been a massive hit for VR.

They should re-release Messages as a single and give the proceeds to charity. I can't think of a better way to honour Scott than to have his finest work in the charts. It's almost unbearably poignant to listen to now.

You know what's a great fucking song? You Got No Right - it hits me hard for some reason.

God damn, I remember when they first broke that one out at the Smashbox fashion show. That's when I started to get really excited about the potential of this band.

Thanks for the link to that version, I'm all torn up now. Him and Duff sharing a mic is just so great. I'm sure I'm reading into it a bit, but they just look like they have a tight connection on that stage.

That cover of Angie is fucking majestic – Weiland's really pouring his heart out on stage. IIRC at the time he was going through some difficulties in his marriage, and it's addressed to his wife, hence "Mary."

Slash, Duff, Matt, Mary, the Deleo's.......all turned their back on Scott.

Duff fucking wrestled him into rehab when he joined Velvet Revolver – literally. If not for that, Weiland probably would've died back in 2003.

You know what's a great fucking song? You Got No Right - it hits me hard for some reason.

God damn, I remember when they first broke that one out at the Smashbox fashion show. That's when I started to get really excited about the potential of this band.

What a senseless, goddamn waste. RIP.

Just heard RHCP, how many headliners do they usually have?

WTTJ – non-negotiable. The show has to open with That Riff and Axl asking us if we know where the FUCK YOU AAAAAAAAAAAAAARE.

You're Crazy – never as big a hit as the others, and perhaps for that reason it's always been the one that the band felt free to fiddle around with. Slow versions, fast versions, electric, acoustic – even Fortus tweaked the main riff a bit. I'd like to see how they mix it up this time.

Nightrain – really want to hear Fortus and Slash trading licks on this one.

Rocket Queen – just 'cause I'm curious how they'd divvy up the solos. Would Fortus get to do the slide guitar while Slash does the talk box stuff?

SCOM – come on, who wouldn't want to hear Axl and Slash belting out the iconic GN'R song one more time?

With each passing day, I get more excited the reunion is actually happening. But with each passing day it keeps seeing like that hybrid lineup is really happening. And thats so not what I want. I'll obviously accept it, but haven't we taken enough abuse already as fans? Give us the lineup we all want, or at least Sorum to prove that its just Izzy being Izzy that doesn't want to tour. The hybrid lineup is really gonna be such bittersweet news.

I'll simultaneously be shocked Axl would even agree to be on the same stage as Slash, and also have a lot less respect for Slash that he's agreeing to something that isn't a full reunion. Those are my two cents. Even GNR could ruin a reunion.

I genuinely don't understand the hate-on people have for this hybrid idea. Izzy's pretty clearly shown he isn't interested in a full-time gig, and Fortus is a phenomenal rhythm player with amazing stage presence – and his playing would complement Slash's style perfectly. On top of that, we've already seen that Duff, Frank and Fortus form a tight rhythm section. And Fortus has stuck around for the long haul, since 2002 – why would Axl kick him and Frank to the curb in favour of Gilby and Matt, when they haven't been involved in any capacity since 1994 and 1997 respectively?

I love Fortus. I've got no issues with him. Admittedly I'd prefer Gilby as an Izzy replacement, but Fortus is fine. He was my favorite member of NuGNR anyway. Its the drummer situation. There's no logical answer not to include Sorum, and this is literally Steven's life. Both drummers are alive and well and could bring much more legitimacy. I don't not like Frank but he's so unnecessary. Fortus would be there could Izzy is just too much of a wild card. Thats not the case with Sorum. His lack of presence leaves a bad taste in my mouth because it seems so easy to include him. Thats all.

I'd love to see Adler involved as much as anyone – the guy deserves a break – but I'm not sure you could trust him to see out a full tour. Given that Matt isn't an original member of the Appetite-era line-up, Frank (or, indeed, Brain or Josh Freese) has as much right to be there as him. Don't get me wrong, I can see why people would like to see Matt there (and it'd certainly be nice to bring him and Adler up for the odd guest spot), but I don't regard his presence or absence as a deal-breaker. Also, I like a lot of Frank's additions to the old songs.

With each passing day, I get more excited the reunion is actually happening. But with each passing day it keeps seeing like that hybrid lineup is really happening. And thats so not what I want. I'll obviously accept it, but haven't we taken enough abuse already as fans? Give us the lineup we all want, or at least Sorum to prove that its just Izzy being Izzy that doesn't want to tour. The hybrid lineup is really gonna be such bittersweet news.

I'll simultaneously be shocked Axl would even agree to be on the same stage as Slash, and also have a lot less respect for Slash that he's agreeing to something that isn't a full reunion. Those are my two cents. Even GNR could ruin a reunion.

I genuinely don't understand the hate-on people have for this hybrid idea. Izzy's pretty clearly shown he isn't interested in a full-time gig, and Fortus is a phenomenal rhythm player with amazing stage presence – and his playing would complement Slash's style perfectly. On top of that, we've already seen that Duff, Frank and Fortus form a tight rhythm section. And Fortus has stuck around for the long haul, since 2002 – why would Axl kick him and Frank to the curb in favour of Gilby and Matt, when they haven't been involved in any capacity since 1994 and 1997 respectively?

Because it is not a reunion and it will never be a reunion (of anything much in particular)! It is nugnr with Slash copping out to Axl as a hireling. A lot of people also dislike nugnr - me for example - and every association with nugnr (including Fortus and Frank), so if they are hoping to attract all die-hard 'reunionistes' it is a rather odd way to go about it.

It is almost as if they got over the biggest hurdle (Axl and Slash) only to wimp out at the last minute. It is a half way house soulution; tepid water; a limp penis; a shandy bass. At least if they had Sorum in there, Izzy could return for a few guest spots and when that happened, I could call that ''Guns N' Roses'.

I doubt they give a tuppenny fuck about the opinions of "die-hard reunionistes," as they are, by definition, die-hards; the lunatic fringe. To the vast majority of people, the Axl/Slash/Duff/Fortus/Dizzy/Ferrer line-up would qualify as Guns N' Roses. It's no different than Jagger, Richards, Watts and Wood touring as The Rolling Stones; sure, there are a few people throwing a conniption because Bill Wyman and Mick Taylor aren't there, but the overwhelming majority of the ticket-buying public don't care.

First they need to get CD II out then they can do a hybrid reunion tour of SA. If in doubt SA.

They really don't. An Axl/Slash/Duff reunion tour doesn't need an album to help sell tickets. The album can wait; hold fire, take a deep breath and look at the material they have available. There are all those VR tracks that Slash and Duff wrote (some with Izzy), there are all the CDII tracks (some, again, written with Izzy). Pool them, re-record where necessary with the hybrid band, and release it for the holiday season in 2016 (or even in support of a tour in Summer 2017).

With each passing day, I get more excited the reunion is actually happening. But with each passing day it keeps seeing like that hybrid lineup is really happening. And thats so not what I want. I'll obviously accept it, but haven't we taken enough abuse already as fans? Give us the lineup we all want, or at least Sorum to prove that its just Izzy being Izzy that doesn't want to tour. The hybrid lineup is really gonna be such bittersweet news.

I'll simultaneously be shocked Axl would even agree to be on the same stage as Slash, and also have a lot less respect for Slash that he's agreeing to something that isn't a full reunion. Those are my two cents. Even GNR could ruin a reunion.

I genuinely don't understand the hate-on people have for this hybrid idea. Izzy's pretty clearly shown he isn't interested in a full-time gig, and Fortus is a phenomenal rhythm player with amazing stage presence – and his playing would complement Slash's style perfectly. On top of that, we've already seen that Duff, Frank and Fortus form a tight rhythm section. And Fortus has stuck around for the long haul, since 2002 – why would Axl kick him and Frank to the curb in favour of Gilby and Matt, when they haven't been involved in any capacity since 1994 and 1997 respectively?

It makes sense for Axl in terms of not caving on CD era, Slash and Duff legitimize Fortus and Frank. But it could easily be the OG 5. But the Hybrid is more stable and gives Axl flexibility to release CD 2. In someways it's very smart, very Axl. He found a way to do a reunion without doing a reunion.

How is it called Flexbility if CD 2 will be 80% Robin and 20% or less of Fortus? CD 2 has got nothing to do with any kind of reunion or its members.

Where'd you get those figures from? Every indication has been that the majority of the Fortus-written tracks were held back for CDII, and that he's a significant contributor to the album.

Whenever I watch those shows, I never see Gilby as a weak link. He seems to work very well with Slash.

He did a great job, but it was more raw and dirty with Izzy, and a lot better to my ears. But I don't really want Slash/Izzy now cos i have my doubts on Izzy playing at the moment.

HOF performance. Solid, but nothing more.

4tus arrangements on classic songs on the other hand are very unique and beautiful. Like kohd. I hate gilby input on kohd live. See my point? It's just a preference, my taste.

What he said. I mean, imagine this:

being played over this:

I wish it was Ashba instead of Fortus, it would have been fun to see Ashba fuck up stuff in front of Slash.

It would really show up his overblown rock-star posturing, yeah. I always thought of Ashba as the Myles Kennedy of guitar – where Axl's vocals and Slash's guitar are all about expressing feeling and emotion organically, Myles and Ashba hit the right notes, strike the poses... but feel like they're doing karaoke.

Honestly, if I were Axl and I was considering a reunion, I'd hold fire on the album for the time being. The reunion itself is enough of a draw, they don't really need anything else to boost ticket sales. If rumours are to be believed, the band was prepping something for release in 2016, and was blindsided by DJ's departure; and if there's a semi-reunion being mooted, then touring an album with DJ, Bumble and Stinson on the record and Slash and Duff on the tour seems... well, insane.

So if they're doing an album, it'd make commercial sense to shelve CDII and start from scratch: pool the best of the CDII songs together with the VR stuff that never saw the light of day (the Corey Taylor sessions), have the band re-record parts where necessary and release it either in the 2016 holiday season or Summer 2017.

And yeah, call the album "Guns N' Roses". Doesn't really need any other title, does it?

Not gonna lie: Axl/Slash/Duff/Fortus/Ferrer/Dizzy is pretty much my dream line-up (leaving aside the vanishingly small chance of Axl reuniting the 2002 roster). I could see Slash and Fortus working really well together; they seem to share similar musical sensibilities. Just imagine Fortus' KOHD licks with Slash soloing over them – it'd sound great. Izzy I could see dropping in for odd guest performances, maybe even contributing in the studio as he did with the early Velvet Revolver stuff.

As for Slash performing Chinese Democracy tracks? Everyone assumed that Duff would balk at the idea, until he actually went out there and happily rocked along to Better and the like. I'll admit, some of the tracks (Shackler's, Scraped) don't really seem like they're in Slash's wheelhouse, but I could easily see him belting out a solo to This I Love or Catcher in the Rye or Madagascar.

We've all heard the spiel about "managers trying to force GN'R to reform" over promoting the new band, particularly during the 2002-2010 era. I'd never really thought about why, but this article makes a good fist of explaining it:

http://www.classicrockmagazine.com/features/storms-last-stand/

Specifically, this bit:

There was a power shift from record companies to promoters and agents. In 2002 David Bowie announced that he was to perform his classic album Low in its entirety at London’s Royal Festival Hall. (“Hang on,” double-checked a cynical audience: “You’re definitely not going to play any of your new album? Really? And none of that Tin Machine guff? Ok then, I’m in!”) Acts with a similar pedigree who previously had thought that they had to release a new album in order to tour, embraced a new nothing-but-the-hits/your-favourite-album-in-full touring model. Promoters, fed-up of losing small fortunes on hot, hyped young acts with no audience, smelled money. The new law: any band that can reform, will.

I think Slash said in his book that it was a leftover song from AFD days, and should have been on the original album. For me, that makes sense since it picks up where that album leaves off.

Of course, the sound seemed much more polished than AFD. Part of that was Matt's drum. Can't imagine Steven playing that pattern. At that time, he probably couldn't.

It was a clever move, making YCBM the first single. It simultaneously harks back to the rock sound of AFD and comes out of the gate swinging with Matt's powerful drum intro, something which sounds as unlike Adler's drumming as it's possible to get. It's like a statement of intent. "This is GN'R now, deal with it."

Myles is a perfectly good vocalist in the sense that he has the vocal range to sing the old GN'R tracks, but he has no stage presence. He just stands there, holding his hands awkwardly, like... well, like a guitarist without a guitar who's been thrust in front of the mic stand.

The defining trait of a good frontman is passion. When Axl Rose sings a love song, he's tearing his heart out and putting it on display for all to see. When he's singing something like It's So Easy or Out Ta Get Me, he channels every ounce of venom into his voice. Scott Weiland does it, Michael Jackson does it, Chester Bennington does it. Myles... doesn't. He just enunciates the words without any feeling and hits the right notes.

Add to that his incredibly banal lyrics (compare "Starlight/Don't you cry, we're going to make it right" to, oh, to pluck an example at random, Coma, or Catcher in the Rye), and you've got a perfect storm of dull.

I'm sure he's a nice bloke, I'm sure he's a good person, I'm sure Slash gets on with him. But he's just not for me (arf).

A while back I would've said Chester Bennington was the man for VR – he sings with passion (unlike Myles), he's got a similar vibe to Weiland (well, obviously, or STP wouldn't have hired him), and he can hit the high notes in the old GN'R tracks, unlike Scott. But his stint with STP has nixed that – I can't see him wanting to become Scott Weiland's non-union Mexican equivalent.

The obvious choice for me now is Jeff Angell from Walking Papers – he's got a similar vocal range to Scott, albeit more gravelly, he's got the same sexy-cool vibe, he writes bluesy songs that you could easily picture Slash noodling over. And, crucially, he's got a good turn of phrase when it comes to lyrics – vastly better than Myles' "Starlight is bright tonight" guff.

I doubt anything else is going to leak – IIRC, MSL gave the four leaked tracks to someone else in exchange for the "Grenade cover" version of Chinese Democracy, and that other party leaked the tracks. MSL claims to have the following tracks:

If MSL leaks anything else from this haul, it won't be Checkmate.

I'm gonna be that guy – can someone PM me? Cheers!

It feels like it needs some hip-hop artist spitting verses, with the "Blood in the Water" line restricted to choruses. Call Kanye in, it could work.