Subtle Signs

This can only mean one thing......

Also why would he be upset?From what I understand most indie stores are paying like 12 bucks and up per new release meaning they have to sell them at like 15-17 bucks.Who is going to go there when they can go to Target or Best Buy and get them for 10 or less?

Perhaps Bono provided guest vocals on ChiDem.

ALBUM NAME: unknown; possibly No Line On The Horizon, based on a Universal Music domain registration of nolineonthehorizon.com

PRODUCER(s): Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois, and Steve Lillywhite have all been in the studio during album sessions

ALBUM RELEASE DATE: A reliable source tells @U2 the album will be released on November 18 in N. America. That would presumably mean November 17 worldwide, except certain countries that get new releases even earlier (November 14).

These are songs that have been mentioned in the buildup to U2's next studio album:

* "Sexy Boots" - tipped as the album's first single in this Evening Herald article

* "The Cedars of Lebanon" - Daniel Lanois revealed this track in an interview with the Montreal magazine, Voir. He said the song was inspired by Jimi Hendrix.

* "Moment of Surrender" - Brian Eno reportedly told fans about this song outside Hanover Quay studios in early June, 2008. Eno called it "the best thing" he's recorded with U2.

* "For Your Love" - a song title seen on the band's white board, as described in this article from the Fez recording sessions

* "One Bird" - a song title seen on the band's white board, as described in this article from the Fez recording sessions

* "No Line On The Horizon" - Bono and Edge played this song for a USA Today writer during an in-the-car interview at the Sundance Film Festival. On hearing it, writer Anthony Breznican says "heavy distortion fills the car," and later adds: "The song is rough, weaving between brutal guitar blasts underscoring the mellow title refrain." Edge explains that the song "It came out of a new distortion box that my guitar tech got."

* Unknown Title - in the same interview with Anthony Breznican, Bono and Edge played a second song whose opening lyric is, "It's six o'clock...". Bono tells Breznican that numbers are significant in each of the new songs.

* "If I Could Live My Life Again" - Bono says this song is "inspired by the great Argentinian poet Jorge Luis Borges." Bono said he had just begun the song while speaking with author Michka Assayas in December, 2005. Their interview appears as the extra material in the paperback version of Bono in Conversation with Michka Assayas.

* "Love Is All We Have Left" - a song Bono named during his May, 2006, trip to Africa as one that he had recently written. "It’s like an old Broadway tune. I thought it was a Frank Sinatra song," Bono said.

* "North Star," a song from the How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb sessions which included a guest organ appearance from Michael W. Smith. In this CCM article, Smith describes the song as a tribute to Johnny Cash.

* "Mercy", one of the last songs to get cut from How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, described in Blender magazine as "a six-and-a-half-minute outpouring of U2 at its most uninhibitedly U2-ish"

* "Lead Me In The Way I Should Go" -- a contender for Atomic Bomb first mentioned in this February, 2003, interview with Bono in Grammy Magazine

* "You Can't Give Away Your Heart" - a contender for Atomic Bomb first mentioned in SPIN magazine

LATEST NEWS

August 11, 2008: According to this Evening Herald article, the first single will be a track called "Sexy Boots"

July 21, 2008: Universal Music have registered the domain, nolineonthehorizon.com, which is one of the known song titles listed above. It could be the album name, or perhaps the name of the first single.

July 6, 2008: As described in this Sunday Mirror article, Steve Lillywhite has reportedly told Irish DJ Tony Fenton that the new album is U2's best ever.

June 28, 2008: Somewhere around this date, U2 has finished recording the new album. Daniel Lanois told Le Journal de Montreal, "It's going to be different in several ways, but I think it's similar from one point of view, namely that it's going to push the known limits in the sound arena, the way Achtung Baby did in the past."

http://www.atu2.com/newalbum

Believe it or not The Goos were at one time a punk rock band.Now, not so much, but they are in their forties.Anybody here like them?If so, what is your favorite album? Mine are Hold Me Up, SuperStarCarWash and Dizzy up the Girl.

I went! Same set pretty much minus All in that suit.Weiland was fucking on tonight! I have seen STP numerous times and this was one of my fave performances.Aside from a slight flub during Sour Girl (which I am sure nobody else noticed) they were fucking great.Weiland was moving around a lot and, yes, he is bald from my view anyway. Here is the only downside for me. The kids I was supposed to ride up with ended up stopping at a bar on the way back when they saw a big tour bus.Weiland was inside and my friend Jeramy who is probably the biggest STP fan I know besides me got a pic with him.I guess Weiland wasn't going to take any but the woman he was with took the shot when she heard the pic was for my friends nine year old son(the kid really does love STP).Anyway, I know I am rambling but I am tired and I guess I will have to make-do with the pic of me next to Weiland on the SLDD couch which you can see right here on belowempty.com this site under Family Values ( I would love to know who sent those in)

I know people have said Weiland is hit and miss this tour but tonight was a hit.I loved the group bow at the end.Lots of people must not care to read the set lists online because everyone around me was like WTF? when they came to Big Empty.

Robert did a couple cool jumps tonight, he is just, well cool.Once again,sorry for the rambling but it is 3 am and I am tired.I was so unsure what to expect from our boy after reading the reviews on here but tonight, he was great.This was one of the first STP shows that I was not in a pit for so I was able to take it all in instead of trying to hug a barrier.I know I have talked about my desire for a changed setlist and I wish they would switch it up,but I guess they must see how people seem to calm down during TCQ, Coma and a few others.

I had seats by the lawn but moved up a good thirty rows thanks to the 80 year old ushers they had at the venue.

I mean I have been hoping for Still Remains or something we don't always hear but like I said after reading reviews from hardcore fans saying how bad Weiland was, I was kind of nervous about what to expect.Believe me, STP is my favorite band other than GNR (so guess who thought VR was a dream come true?) and I would admit if Weiland was bad but tonight, it was like the Scott of old.

These are mine as of right now. Laugh if you want but this song will be huge on radio very soon:Kristy, are you doing OK?-The Offspring:

There’s a moment in time

And it’s stuck in my mind

Way back, when we were just kids

Cause your eyes told the tale

Of an act of betrayal

I knew that somebody did

Oh, waves of time

Seem to wash away

The scenes of our crimes

But for you this never ends

Can you stay strong?

Can you go on?

Kristy are you doing okay?

A rose that won’t bloom

Winter’s kept you

Don’t waste your whole life trying

To get back what was taken away

Though the marks on your dress

Had been neatly repressed

I knew that something was wrong

And I should have spoke out

And I’m so sorry now

I didn’t know

Cause we were so young

Oh, clouds of time

Seem to rain on

Innocence left behind

And it never goes away

Half-Truism-10/10-Great,fast catchy punk.Would be great to open the shows with.

Trust In You-9/10-Old School!Would fit in nicely on Smash or Ixnay.

Your Gonna Go Far Kid -10/10-Definite third single material, very catchy, just gonna have to edit the dance fucker dance- And no one really knew-It was really only you-LOVE that part.

Hammerhead-9/10-Too long my ass! Reminds me of when All I Want was the first single from Ixnay.Very ballsy single.

A Lot Like Me-10/10-A great song that builds.Love the lyrics.Awesome vox by Dexter.

Takes Me Nowhere-9/10-Should be a fun singalong in concert,

Kristy,Are You Doing OK? -11/10 My favorite song on the album.Beautiful lyrics and melody.Should be huge.

Nothing Town-9/10-Catchy,fun song.

Stuff is messed up-10/10-This rocks.LA NA NA NA-I Dont know too much but I know this shit is fucked up!

Fix You-10/10-Great slow song with meaningful lyrics. Ha la la la la-She sees a million stars like holes in the sky.All Gods tears for her they cryAnd I am in her rain

Lets hear it for rock bottom-10/10-Wasting all my days /All in all its not so bad.

Rise and fall-10/10-Green day my ass!

Enough hardcore punk rockers om here for the diehards.With a few punk ballads thrown in for good measure!

A+=My favorite since Americana. Now lets not pull a Def Leppard and take 5 years between albums, thanks!!

Anyone like them? My three favorite albums by them are:Bloody Kisses, October Rust and Dead Again.

IBTL!

I think even when we see an actual true release date we might all be too shocked to believe it.

UK's Rock Sound and Metal Hammer magazines have posted separate reports on the listening session for the new METALLICA album, which took place earlier today (Wednesday, June 4) in London.

Rock Sound writes: "On first impressions and just one listen, Rock Sound can confirm that the songs we've heard sound very much like classic METALLICA in vibe, harking back to the days of 'Master Of Puppets', '…And Justice For All' (but with bass) and the [self-titled 'black'] album — without sounding dated or tired.

"Of the six tracks Rock Sound heard this afternoon, only one had a working title — 'Flamingo'. With a slow intro, the song was reminiscent of 'Battery' in vibe, with two guitar solos and an undercurrent of melody and groove.

"The first single is an epic power rocker in the vein of 'The Unforgiven', 'Nothing Else Matters' and 'Sanitarium', with a mid-tempo, head-banging section and some THIN LIZZY-esque twin guitar riffage.

"Another song features the lyrics, 'Into abyss, you don't exist, you can't resist the Judas kiss'; another features an almost RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE-esque drum 'n' bass undercurrent and lyrics about 'suicide' and 'cyanide'; while the final song we heard, dubbed 'The Song', clocks in at under five minutes and is a galloping thrash attack with quirks, and a sniff of TESTAMENT about it!

"We suspect other song titles could include 'Die Hard', 'Show Your Scars', and 'My Apocalypse' — but we cannot be held responsible if none of these titles or lyrics are accurate!

"Thankfully — there are plenty of Kirk Hammett traditional guitar solos and a decent drum sound. Hetfield's voice sounds in fine form too. All of the songs have many different parts to them, giving the impression that the quartet is revisiting the epic vibe of the band's 'classic' period."

Metal Hammer reports: "What do the songs sound like? Track one, which is only known by the cryptic working title 'Flamingo', opens up on thunderous rolling drums as lead guitar meets them head on, a flaring up in stop-start motion before it pulls itself together in rushes forward in classic thrash style, all crunching 'Fight Fire With Fire' riffs and drilling beats. It takes at least two minutes for James Hetfield's vocals to come in, and while they sound furious, this isn't the grittiest he's ever sounded, more open in tone, but while there's still a memorable vocal line for the 'chorus,' and there is so much going on in the song, and so many ideas thrown in and discarded for the next one that it's hard on first listen to pick out one riff that you're going to remember it by. But with galloping riffs and the return of guitar breaks rising up from out of the grooves you can hear the true METALLICA spirit, even though its as if reflected in mirrored mosaic.

"Track two is at heart an anthemic ballad that recalls 'Fight Fire With Fire' and 'Nothing Else Matters', with a chiming guitar intro, airy vocals and some slightly convoluted, progressive-style bridges that mutate into urgent riffing, more galloping riffs and guitar solos. Again, the song has a number of different sections, but it still sounds massive.

"Track three kicks off on a stop-start riff flecked with Eastern touches, as other bustling guitar lines play off each other and Hetfield's vocals retain the power of old, like some monolithic prophet overlooking events as mid-paced, chugging riffs come in, sounding like an army on the march, methodically shooting anyone in their path.

"Track four is reminiscent of 'Master Of Puppets' with more than a touch of heads-down SLAYER pacing thrown in. After an artillery-lobbing drum-led intro, it quickly sets off on marching, thrash mode, Hetfield's spat vocals taking melodic digressions, as he roars 'Bow down, surrender unto me.' The song's groove carries you along as it opens up into guitar atomospherics that bring LED ZEP to mind. It isn't quite the kind of irresistible monster they've created before, but METALLICA still prove they can still sound lean and epic at the same time, and when the track drops out into the grove mid-way though, you can imagine the chants coming from the crowds live.

"Track five has another strong opening, with an uncharacteristic bouncing groove not a million miles away from RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE making appearances throughout setting off sharp riffs that come up against an irregular barrage of percussion that sets it off briefly on a more melodic path and builds up once again into a thrilling riff-fest mayhem.

"Track six is the 'song', considerably shorter than the others, but full of clinically sharp riffing, more SLAYER-esque parts and galloping grooves, all hustle and bustle with a tinge of Eastern melody thrown in once more.

"Initial impressions is that this is an album that's going to get our blood chugging, but whether it's all we hoped for is going to take more plays to answer. Ultimately we're hugely relieved and pretty damn thrilled, and we can't fucking wait to hear the rest."

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermo...ewsitemID=98355

CHINESE DEMOCRACY STARTS NOW!!!!111111

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/earcand...ives/134700.asp

I love Nirvana but I don't know if I would buy these.

It has been almost five years since St.Anger. I remember being really excited for it and then reading many ,many negative reviews. I think that a lot of people base their opinions of the album on those reviews. The live DVD that comes with it smokes the album. My three favorite songs are Frantic, St.Anger and The Unnamed feeling.

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20197250,00.html

With his cut-glass cheekbones, artfully mussed hair, and Mick Jagger wardrobe, Scott Weiland looks like the Platonic ideal of a rock star. And indeed, he has the album sales (35 million worldwide), the hits (15 top 10 singles since 1992, including 6 number ones), and attendant bad habits (a well-documented cycle of addiction, arrests, rehabs, and relapses) to back it up. As he stands distractedly in the dim anteroom of his Burbank studio, the whippet-thin frontman sounds the part, too. ''Man, I am so fried,'' he murmurs, rubbing his jaw with ringed fingers. ''I can't believe I'm standing right now.''

Days from now, he'll be dealing with the repercussions of a November 2007 drunken-driving charge, an arrest that broke a four-year clean streak. But on this sunny April afternoon, having ingested nothing stronger in the previous two hours than a wan-looking muffin and an endless succession of cigarettes, Weiland is disoriented from sheer exhaustion, not illicit substances: In the preceding days, he has officially split, somewhat acrimoniously, from rock supergroup Velvet Revolver (more on that later) and reunited with Stone Temple Pilots — the band he led for 16 heady, lucrative, and often unhinged years — for the first live appearance since their dissolution in 2003. On this balmy day in April, there are songs from that appearance to be mixed for release, a massive summer tour to plan, a solo album to finish, and, just his luck, a journalist here to observe it all.

''I feel extremely fortunate to be here,'' he says, gesturing around at the velvet-draped, bordello-like space, strewn with instruments, hand-scribbled lyric sheets, and water bottles — but clearly meaning something larger. ''There were a couple years in between when I was starting to question whether I would make it, for different reasons, but I've been driven all my life to make this happen.''

What he has made happen is undeniable: Stone Temple Pilots' roaring grunge-era anthems — hits like ''Interstate Love Song,'' ''Plush,'' and ''Big Empty'' — owed much to the snake-hipped, narcotic-swathed allure of Weiland himself, whose rock & roll excesses were constantly, almost gleefully chronicled in the press. But for all the band's commercial success, music critics were habitually unkind, lauding contemporaries like Nirvana, Alice in Chains, and Soundgarden while dismissing STP as mere slick imitators, opportunistic grungy-come-latelies. ''It was really painful in the beginning,'' Weiland admits, ''because I just assumed that the critics would understand where we were coming from, that these weren't just dumb rock songs.''

The most infamous example of that disconnect came in 1994, when Rolling Stone magazine simultaneously dubbed them the Best and Worst New Band in its readers' and critics' polls, respectively — an incident Weiland remembers well. ''Our story is similar to Led Zeppelin, who were hated by critics,'' he says. ''They called them a poor version of other bands, too. When STP came out and our first album was massively successful, fans adored us and the critics hated us. The second album was also really successful, started to get better reviews, but was still not critically adored. By the third album, the fans thought it was a little bit strange but the critics finally got what we were about. And our last album critics loved. Of course,'' he adds, ''that one sold the least of all.''

His fellow band members are slightly more sanguine; over a fruit plate and tea at the Sunset Marquis hotel in Hollywood, 42-year-old bassist Robert DeLeo, alongside his guitarist brother Dean, 46, is able to laugh good-naturedly at that dubious critical distinction. ''I would have settled for mediocre,'' he cracks, ''but I guess you either love us or hate us.'' Haters aside, their catalog has turned out to have a surprising longevity: Many of the songs still get regular spins on rock radio stations across the country. The band is one of the core acts featured on Sirius Satellite Radio's '90s station, Lithium, and remains consistently popular because, according to Sirius' VP of programming, Gregg Steele, ''first and foremost, Scott Weiland is a prolific entertainer, not just songwriter. There are very few major frontmen today in rock music that you can truly say, 'That guy's a star.''' The appearance of the band's music on the enormously successful Rock Bandvideogame also, no doubt, helps explain the presence of peach-fuzzed college kids pushing up against the late-30s superfans at the band's inaugural, invite-only reunion show in early April, a circus-themed affair for 300 held at the creepy-decadent, only-in-L.A. estate of Harry Houdini.

It's a pleasant, humbling shock to the band that their music has been passed along to another generation. ''We haven't toured, we haven't done any press, we don't sell merchandise. We haven't even had a manager,'' drummer Eric Kretz, 41, marvels, ''and we're still getting played? It's amazing.'' Even so, the band took its time making the leap from nostalgic radio presence to a full-fledged, touring reunion act. ''We'd all been doing other projects, but a lot of different bands and our record-company people started talking about it, and I was getting the buzz off of them,'' says Kretz. ''It wouldn't have been the same two years ago. We weren't ready.''

Several months ago, Dean DeLeo reached out to his lead singer to discuss a concert promoter's offer to have STP headline a few summer festivals. Weiland was sitting by his hotel pool in Atlantic City with wife Mary (they've since separated) and their two young children, still on tour for the 2007 Velvet Revolver release Libertad. VR, which is essentially Guns N' Roses minus Axl Rose, had done solidly with Weiland as frontman, releasing well-received albums, winning a Grammy, and touring consistently throughout Europe and the U.S. Nevertheless, their last album was foundering, and Weiland found it hard to resist the call of his old bandmates. ''I pulled [VR guitarist] Slash aside,'' he explains, ''and said, 'Listen, it's really no big deal, we'll be done touring by this time, but STP has some offers to headline some shows this summer and make a lot of money, and I agreed to do it. We'll be done in the fall, and then I can commit to the next VR album.' And everything was cool. Then it wasn't. Things got weird, and nobody was talking to me while we were on the road. So March 21, I announced on stage that this would be the final Velvet Revolver tour.'' He did so without telling his VR bandmates because, he says, it was clear they were already pushing him out; he and drummer Matt Sorum, who had clashed in the past, were soon engaged in a war of words fought largely secondhand, through the media. (''He's an ass,'' Weiland says simply.) In the end, though, claims Weiland, it was fairly straightforward: ''With STP, it's a situation where it just feels good. And the opportunities — selling tickets like crazy, a whole new generation turned on to us, people being appreciative in the press...I mean, VR was fun for a while, but it's just got so much baggage from guys who went through hell with Axl Rose. It's not how I want to spend the next 10 years of my rock life, so I had to make this decision. They can say whatever they want to say.'' (VR's remaining band members declined to comment for this article.) ''Honestly,'' he continues, ''I think they should just get GN'R back together. And I'm not being facetious.''

Weiland will be busy anyhow, finishing that solo album, working on the four other acts signed to his imprint, Soft Drive Records, completing a memoir due out in the fall, and planning for a summer on the road with STP. As they gear up for the 65-date tour, which kicks off May 17 in Columbus, Ohio, the band is looking to fans to help determine the set List — ''We're asking on our website what songs they want to hear,'' Weiland explains, ''and then we're also gonna play some nuggets, more obscure tracks'' — and hopes to reenter the studio later this year to record their first original material since 2001's Shangri-La Dee Da.

Before all that, however, he'll have to make a detour through the L.A. County penal system. On April 28, Weiland was sentenced to an eight-day jail term for his DUI, to be served before May 28; the tour, his team confirms, will go on as planned. While it's easy to be skeptical, Weiland insists that his sobriety is reestablished and stable; in fact, he's surprisingly open to talking about his past abuse. ''Creatively, in the beginning, I think heroin helps a lot of artists for a while,'' he says. ''It gave me confidence, it took away pain, and it just did something. Eventually, though, it destroys what it helped.... It's like a self-injected cancer.'' For many years, it was his only constant. ''When you look at it on paper, all the ODs and maybe 40 or so detoxes, it was like a revolving door,'' he recalls. ''And back then, rehab was not a hip thing like it is now. It was better if you just died, your record would go to number one and you'd sell a lot of T-shirts.

''There are a lot of junkies that have died with that Keith Richards poster pinned inside their minds,'' he continues, alluding to the legendarily hedonistic — and still thriving — rocker. ''Like, 'He can do it, why can't I?' But no one is Keith. God doesn't make many of them. There's going to come a time when I'm not going to feel very comfortable on stage in skinny jeans and boots, doing this thing. I want to evolve gracefully and more realistically.'' His bandmates, who've seen him through far more harrowing times than these, remain upbeat; each one says he has faith that Weiland will be able to stay straight through the upcoming months.

Even if he doesn't, one gets the impression that they'll stand by him, and do whatever it takes to preserve this thing they've spent nearly half their lives building. ''There's an acceptance that STP has always been an unmade bed, you know?'' Dean DeLeo says, leaning back in his seat and spreading his palms on the table. ''It's messy at times. But at the end of the day, you always crawl back into it.''

Am I missing something? I though the album was turned in months ago? Or did Master Del James say something else?

It is the same day as Bach's album or bust! Annoucing a late November release in the beginning of October is still a possiblity ( hey, a guy can dream can't he?

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111111

CHINESE DEMOCRACY STARTS NOW!!!!!!

Polydor?

Enough with the HMV shit.

Yeah, lets take Uncle Axls word instead. He has been a reliable source in the past when asked about the release of ChiDem,and 3 weeks from now seems like plenty of time to release a single,video, and give the album the promotion it needs

Just got off the phone, with a lady from the box office. She said they are waiting for Gn'R to release the info. I hope this is just one show.

I saw that someone posted similar info on HTGTH and when I called, it was indeed verified.

Now they are trying to stop people at HTGTH from posting that info. You would think Guns would want people to know as soon as possible.

Lets be thankful we can discuss this here, unlike HTGTH.

I wish someone else would call so that I am not the only one who says that they heard this.

*Edit* just posted by General Jarmo on HTGTH:

GUNS N’ ROSES

SAVE MART CENTER

DECEMBER 13, 2006

CANCELLED

(Los Angeles, CA —December 12, 2006) Live Nation and Guns N' Roses have announced that the Guns N' Roses show at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, CA has been cancelled. Sincere apologies go out to all the fans in Fresno who bought a ticket. We hope you can make it to the band's show in Oakland, CA at the ORACLE Arena (formerly Oakland Arena) on Friday night the 15th of December, which will proceed as scheduled. Refunds for the Fresno show are available at point of purchase.

Meaning ive chatted to a few friends and managers of various music stores and they all say that releases are finished with this week., meaning they are aware of all orders made available up to the end of december and most of january.

i had a really long chat with a manager at HMV and Sight n Sound, both said "they arnt Guns N Roses, its just Axl under the same name" ....which is true

they also said confidentally that "THATS IT for 2006" .....all releases are now covered for the christmas period in stock and orders, no hesitation what so ever, which i already knew but it was interesting hearing it from the horses mouth

for those still hoping for the "tuesdays left" release .....its been completely ruled out now.

First of all... this is BS. MoJunk just backing up his own guesses from the last few weeks. I was at Best Buy the other day and just curiously asked them about when they would know about a record release. They say most of the time they'll know weeks in advance. I asked them if there's ever any 'surprise' releases... they said sure... that records will just show up sometimes unannounced with all the bells and whistles (promo cut-outs and what not).

There you go.

So, whether you take my word for it or MoJunk... it doesn't really matter. We'll all see in the next couple of weeks.

name me one surprise album from an artist like GNR that most likely needs promotion to sell and it will if Universal are covering all bases, there will be promotion so that they make the 12 million doallars back, it will have promotion before its released.

name me one well known album of the past ten years to surprisingly show up to everyones surprise?

also name me one well known album that hasnt leaked before release in the past five years.

and i can assure you that chinese democracy will LEAK before its released, if you think otherwise then you have no idea about modern music promotion and that copies do get out eventually before the release

just the way it is

You sir, are living in the real world. The Axl ballswingers union respectfully disagrees with you. They will be on this board at 11:59 on December 31st 2006, saying, "there is still one minute left in 2006"

From lmook ay HTGTH (theres YOUR credit!)

It is a nice gesture on the part of Gn'R though.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c...BAG8NMNFFV1.DTL

Oakland's latest pitch for violence prevention, a gun-exchange program in two of the city's toughest neighborhoods, would work well as a comedy skit.

This Saturday in Sobrante Park and next week in DeFremery Park, city officials will reward anyone who turns in a gun with two tickets to the Dec. 15 concert by hard-rock band Guns N' Roses at Oracle Arena.

Offering Guns N' Roses tickets in the northwest Oakland neighborhood known as "Ghostown" and Sobrante Park on the east side of town is like giving cats free tickets to the dog show.

What's next, a free pass to Michael Richards stand-up act? There is surely a disconnect between the city's promotional plan and the marketplace.

"Guns N' Roses -- the band?" asked Mike Magardo, a 34-year-old Oakland resident. "I think that's a little off the mark. In general, the folks who would show up for a gun exchange in those neighborhoods either don't know or care who Guns N' Roses are."

When I asked the question of more than half a dozen people on the street, both white and black, their responses were pretty much the same.

"Why would any youngsters want to go see Guns N' Roses," Andrew Smith, 32, asked.

Mark Lipsett, a 45-year-old banker, said, "That seems crazy to me. How about Raiders tickets, Warriors tickets, a pizza coupon, just about anything," he said.

Etah Allah, 31, who grew up in West Oakland, summed it up nicely.

"I wouldn't give them a sling shot," he said. "In fact, given some of the things that (Axl) Rose has said about black folks, I think I should get a gun for just going to the concert," he said, bringing a laugh from his friends.

Joe DeVries, who runs Oakland's violence-prevention program with tax funds from voter-approved Measure Y, says the Guns N' Roses promotion is admittedly not a great match. But he hopes it's the start of a program that will expand to include acts that speak to younger black audiences.

"I recognize that Guns N' Roses isn't a band that a lot of Oakland kids listen to, but there are so many stolen guns used in crimes in this city we'll take any guns we can get," he said.

The latest gun exchange project was inspired by DeVries' experience with a half-dozen AmeriCorps workers employed in his office. Oakland's most successful attempt at a gun exchange was in October 1996, when officials offered computers for firearms. Authorities received more than 200 guns that day.

After a couple of recent killings in the city, DeVries asked his workers, most of them between the ages of 19 and 22, if they could get a gun if they thought they needed one.

"They laughed and then rattled off the names of nearly a half-dozen people who had them," he said.

A few months later, when a group of workers were confronted at a store at 32nd and Market streets by a man who flashed a weapon, the workers drove off and returned 20 minutes later. Two of them were now armed, DeVries said.

It was a prime example of how quickly a perceived slight on the street can escalate to violence, he said.

DeVries said he is focusing on corporate sponsorship to fund more gun exchanges, and he welcomed the gracious offer from the band, which is donating tickets valued at $25,000 -- a truly generous offer.

The only problem with Saturday's promotion is that if scores of African Americans were to take the bank up on its offer, the result could incite violence rather than abate it if the band plays some of its greatest hits.

In "One in a Million," released during the band's heyday in 1988, Rose sings: "Police and n -- , that's right, get out of my way. Don't need to buy none of your Goldchains today."

I don't want to stereotype too much, but verses like those aren't going to go over very well with a young Oakland crowd.

Linking good causes like gun exchanges with popular promotions has merit, but the message and the audience must be somewhere close to on the same wavelength.

Kudos to the rock 'n' roll band, but DeVries and the city would have been wiser to aim their push at the upcoming Jamie Foxx New Year's Eve Celebration at the Oracle Arena, formerly known as the Oakland Arena.

Foxx is one of the hottest, perhaps the hottest, young black male actors and musicians in entertainment today. His comedy and music resonate with young black men and his voice carries a weight and authority that comes from shared experiences.

That's a promotion that could gain traction in neighborhoods where gun violence threatens everyone's safety, and provide an on-point message to an audience that is ready and willing to listen.

And DeVries is right about one thing: The mere suggestion of gun-exchange programs has already led to a few brainstorming ideas.

"How about a job offer that paid real money to live on, so I don't need a gun?" said Allah, a tow-truck driver.

Chip Johnson's column appears in the Chronicle on Tuesdays and Fridays. E-mail him at chjohnson@sfchronicle.com.

Do you guys think that the band members have signed contracts? I could see Dizzy not having one but maybe they are in place for Fortus, Finck etc. Do they sign extensions , have roll over clauses, bonuses? I know that KISS did this with Ace and Peter a few years ago when they first reunited.

Ok, for all I know the CD may be out on the 21st. I don't know about that, because I highly doubt a multi-million dollar business like Gn'R is going to quietly release ChiDem. My question is, since a ton of albums are sold on that day, due to sales/price cuts, can Gn'R afford to miss out on that day? Of course we would all buy the album if it was released at 8:21 PM, on November 20th and it was only available at your local pet store. This album will not succeed based on our 30,000 Forum copies bought, but rather on the strength of purchaes from the casual music fan.

There is as much chance of this being true as anything else that we have heard. I think that they are making a HUGE mistake if the CD is not in stores on Black Friday (day after Thanksgiving for the non-americans) but oh well. You guys think that everyone who comes on here is coming on to fuck with us, maybe the dude is just a big fan. Either way, we will know soon, because there is no way that the CDs would not arrive the Friday before. Gn'R do not set the rules for that kind of stuff. Trust me if the realese date is the 21st the album will be LEAKED on the Friday before. If it is the 28th, it will be leaked the Friday before that. There is not a damn thing Merck can do about that. If you think a small town record store employee is worried about the big Merck/Gn'R machine,think again. They will put that shit online with the quickness.