Kaneda

I did, I did.

All I can say is, "wow", what a concert. But tonight was far more than a concert. Let me walk you through the evening.

I get there at 10:30pm and the people at the front are saying, "we're filled to capacity, everyone go home..." I'm like fuck, Ron said meet at 11pm and we'd be fine. He tells me to go around back and I'm met by another security guard who won't let me pass. I had to grease that fucker $50 to get to the next security guard waiting by the back door. Luckily, someone I knew in the camp who knew the security guards showed up and we walked in. We walked into the downstairs sections of CBGB which was reserved for band members, friends and some celebs (saw Rachel Hunter and Kevin Bacon). While I was down there, I finally got to meet DJ Ashba, Frank and Sebastian Bach. Let me tell you, these are some of the nicest people going (that's what happens when you send cases of Dr Pepper their way, take notes people). But seriously, these are all down to earth, genuine people that are approachable and easy to talk to. Wonderful, wonderful folk.

At around 12:30, people started putting on their coats to go back around to the upstairs section. People were saying the band was on stage. When I walked through the doors, Mr. Brownstone was on in full force. There's something surreal about walking into CBGB and hearing GNR coming through the speakers and you look up and the band is on stage, playing live. It's magical when a huge stadium act like GNR take center stage inside such a small venue. The sound was amazing. Now I've seen Axl many times over the years, but I can honestly say, that tonight, he sounded just as good, if not better, than when I saw him in 1991. His range, his rasp, his power was all there and in full force. But you know what made tonight sooooo special? It was the rawness of the band. Ron was on an acoustic guitar all night and DJ on the Les Paul. This softer and simpler setup reminded me so much of Guns when they first got on the scene. WIthout the layers and layers of guitar, Axl's voice just comes right at you...that's why I fell in love with Guns N' Roses in the first place and it was magical hearing it for the first time on a cold night in 2010. I'll do my best to recapture the set list, but I was too busy jumping up and down to take proper notes. This is in no way the proper order, but use your imaginations....

Mr. Brownstone

Welcome to the Jungle

It's So Easy

The Blues

Patience

Catcher in the Rye - this song shines with Ron on acoustic. Was even better than the album version tonight.

Rocket Queen

Sorry

My Michelle

Knocking on Heaven's Door

Whole Lotta Rosie

Paradise City

Encore:

Sweet Child o Mine

This I Love

Nightrain

I may have missed a song or two, but as you can tell, it was an amazing set list. But you know what impressed me the most? Axl put everything he had into each song. With only about 150 people in attendance, he sung like there were 150,000! What a professional. The only annoying thing was most of the crowd weren't die hard GNR fans (aka, they didn't sing along to the new songs), but that's too be expected in NYC...everyone's too cool for school here. But when Axl plays MSG, it will be all die hards for Jersey and Long Island singing each note with him...

And lastly, after all these years, I finally got to meet the man himself. Fernando and his sister were super cool and once I introduced myself (as the dr pepper bozo), they were so gracious and made sure I got a chance to meet Axl. He's just a really, really nice guy. We had a great little chat and that was that, the perfect end to a perfect evening.

In the end, after all these years, after all of the ups and downs, Guns N Roses has manifest itself into a great band filled with amazing people. When you get close, you realize, these aren't rockstars, they are just people that want to laugh, have a good time and enjoy life. I'm just glad I got to see them in such a special setting giving their all. You know, life is short, and I'm so happy my turn on this rock also includes a little band called Guns N' Fucking Roses! Thank you Ron, Frank, DJ, Axl, Fernando and the gang for an amazing night. You're the best...

CK (aka, Kaneda).

Never mind, my computer clock is off..I'm a mess these days...Delete this thread

This is silly, but the countdown clock is ALL WRONG. Think about it like a New Year's celebration. November 23 comes 3 hours earlier in NY than LA, but the countdown clock is set for LA...Who's managing this promo? LOL...

Calling Best Buy now is silly...just wait until they make the official announcement. Should be next week. YES!

Hopefully we will get band confirmation on this...

GNR's 'Chinese Democracy' Gets Release Date

Axl Rose

Related Links:

Best Buy Snags Guns N' Roses Album Exclusive

Purported New Guns N' Roses Tracks Hit The Web

Dr Peppet Sweetens The Pot For 'Chinese Democracy'

Similar Stories | Topics

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STORIES

Guns N' Roses 'Negotiating' To Release New Album

Best Buy Snags Guns N' Roses Album Exclusive

Purported New Guns N' Roses Tracks Hit The Web

GNR's 'Democracy' To Be Retail Exclusive?

New Guns N' Roses Song Heads To 'Rock Band'

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October 09, 2008 , 11:40 AM ET

Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

More than a decade after its conception, Guns N' Roses' "Chinese Democracy" will finally see the light of day before year's end, sources close to the situation confirm to Billboard. As first reported here, the set will be a Best Buy exclusive and will be available Sunday, Nov. 23, rather than the usual Tuesday.

Beyond enticing pre-Thanksgiving shoppers, the move is tied to the structure of Best Buy's sales week, which runs from Sunday to Saturday. As such, "Chinese Democracy" would not be eligible to chart on The Billboard 200 until the week of Dec. 1, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

In the run-up to release date, album track "Shackler's Revenge" will debut in the video game "Rock Band 2," while a portion of "If the World" is playing over the end credits in the new Leonardo DiCaprio/Russell Crowe film "Body of Lies."

In addition, GNR's seminal 1987 debut, "Appetite for Destruction," will be reissued on vinyl on Oct. 28 via Interscope.

The band's last new studio albums were the simultaneously released "Use Your Illusion I" and "II" in September 1991. A covers set, "The Spaghetti Incident?," followed in 1993, and featured some of the last GNR recordings from original guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan.

This spring, soft drink manufacturer Dr Pepper offered to send a free can of the beverage to "everyone in America" (excluding ex-GNR members Slash and Buckethead) if "Chinese Democracy" were to arrive anytime during the calendar year 2008. A Dr Pepper spokesperson was unavailable for comment at deadline.

How was the new intro? - It sounded similar, maybe a little more drums.

How many people stayed and listened to it? - Everyone because it starts playing during the movie.

Did you hear anyone comment on it? - I was sitting with a bunch of stuffy new yorkers.

Did it end in any special way or just fade out? It just faded out.

A minute and a half...

Sat through 2 hours of a fairly good movie and hear, get this, only a minute and a half of If The World. It was short but sweet. The song comes at the way end of the movie and it's very cool the way Axl's voice just appears right when the directors name Ridley Scott appears. It was awesome hearing Axl's voice again in public, especially on a new track.

Out of all the leaks, this one had me a little worried. Axl sounds much better on the final mix and the song wraps around his voice a lot better now. I think that's the main issue I had with the leak was it all seemed flat and Axl's voice just seemed drop on top of the music. Now it all blends together much nicer. I don't pretend to be a sound engineer but clearly a lot can be adjusted to drastically change how a song sounds.

I wish the song would have played longer because I didn't get a chance to hear any of the guitar solos or how the "la la la" goes in the final mix. Overall, I think this album is going to be exactly what Axl promised, a GNR album that has something for everyone. I am glad Axl is experimenting with new sounds and this album is going to be so refreshing. It takes a brilliant song writer to have a song like If THe World sitting next to a song like Better....I think when we view this album holistically, it's all going to make sense and be so rewarding.

A final note. Judging the tracks by the leaks is a mistake. I know it's all we got at times, but it's like viewing a painting before it's complete. I just can't wait to hear the final versions of the songs we know (PROSTITUTE IS GONNA ROCK) along with a bunch of brand new songs. I am a fan of If The World...Keep em coming Axl!

If it does come out this year, it will be before Thanksgiving at Best Buy...Best Buy is a client of mine and what you guys don't realize is the Best Buy circular goes out to Millions of People and THAT's why GNR management is looking to drop it this way...You don't need TONS of promotion when the millions of people shopping at Best Buy are going to see the damn album at end caps throughout the store. They will market the shit out of it in store, in print ads and online. In today's world, you don't need 6 months to drum up interest, especially not for this album. This thing is gonna sell like hotcakes. All they have to do is make it available.

CK

Looks like they just picked the last Tuesday in November, but would make sense (don't we always say that )

That's hilarious...at least we know someone can release an album called Chinese Democracy. Axl blows so hard right now it's not even funny. Does he have any support left? NO...

GNR and Imminent don't mix my friend. It's not coming out anytime soon...watch, he's going to tour again without the album out...he'll run to every continent that will accept him, but Axl Rose is history in the US.

Seriously, I feel like I am filling out a medical form, not on the GNR forum anymore...This new site look sucks!

Please, I would love to see the Axl-lites repsond to an actualy intelligent observation of the GNR brand...

My biggest concern with GNR as a brand is the constant re-inventing of the group will make the brand suffer...anyone that's studied why successful brands work, it comes down to a simple feeling of belonging. Fans feel as if they belong to the brand, there's a sense of community...It's the reason why people choose Starbucks over other coffee houses, not because it's better, but because they feel comfortable with that brand, that brands identity, that brands history, the leadership and the icons, these all play a role in why someone goes into Starbucks and not Dunkin Donuts...

Now lot's of things go into making a brand strong, one of them being "words" that people assoicate with a brand. For many years GNR was associated with words like Axl, Slash, Izzy, Drugs, Booze...you get the point. But now the language of GNR continues to change, words that once meant Guns N Roses do not anymore...so what has developed is the WORST thing a Brand can ever experience - CONFUSION.

Confused people are impossible to motivate and even harder to persuade. As a GNR fan we are always in a constant state of confusion. We don't even know who's officially in the band, we don't know who's worked on the album...we dont' know a lot. All of this confusion, all of this doubt has really destroyed the GNR brand over the past 15 years, and it's not going to return magically with just an album. The reason why is while we are all GNR fans, we have spread our confusion and doubt to everyone we've come in contact with...how can we convince people the album is going to be amazing when deep down inside, how many of us actually believe that? We are in a holding pattern of uncertainty.

When you really look long and hard at GNR as a BRAND and not just a band, you realize that Axl and Co have fucked up so many of the essential elements that make a BRAND succeed...Not even Axl and all of his abilities can overcome the damage he has done to his own brand. Constantly switching musicians, always showing up late, never releasing an album, remaining silent for years...the BRAND is weak, and if the half-empty arenas on this tour didn't prove that, I don't know what else people need.

By having 7 different itterations of GNR, it becomes impossible to love GNR because GNR doesn't mean anything anymore...there is no common language, nothing to binds all of us together except for the confusion and doubt we experience as fans...and these are weak links, not strong ties that elevate the brand. I really think Axl is going to be in for a rude awaken when he tries to release the album expecting legions to follow...it's not going to happen for the reaons I stated.

Fan friendly or a dork? Seriously, was Slash ever fan friendly? The man was a drunk and we loved it. When bucket shows up somewhere, he has presence to say the least (albeit because of a chicken bucket on his head)...but Ron and the rest of them have no such presence...which is why they are always re-inventing their looks...

Slash was weird and strange, so was bucket

Ron is a nice guy, but who cares...I don't want a GNR lead guitarsit to email me back his vacation photos, I want a GNR lead guitarist to do this...

It's so irritating the way people on this forum try to say Ron is better than Bucket and Frank is better than Brain...please, neither is the case. We all know the truth, that the more talented musicians where on stage back in 2002...while the band has gelled more, there still is no kickass lead guitarist winning the crowd over. In fact, you never really know who's playing solo at any given time, which is a problem.

But let's stop bashing members Axl himself wanted as part of Guns N Roses...this revolving door into the family of GNR is a bit rediculous and it's going to do nothing more than hurt GNR as a brand.

Let's discuss why Axl always whines and cries about how it's so hard to do this, how it's a never ending nightmare for the last decade making this album...I mean seriously, does this guy even know how blessed he is to have this as his career? Imagine Axl having a real 9-5 job that has hourly deadlines, he couldn't make it through a day...

It's sort of ironic that Axl complains because at the end of the day, HE is the nightmare for everyone that works for him or with him...we've all heard how he berates the crew, how he pushes away producers, musicians, friends in general...Axl Rose makes it hard on himself and then he points the finger at everyone. Hello, bi-polar!

There's a strange sense of relief that comes when you read offical statements from Axl and Merck...it's similar to the feeling of coming up for air when you are underwater...I think it's time we all take a break from Chinese Democracy, at least until we get the next official piece of news (the release date).

Doesn't the release date for this album feel like the location of El Dorado?

I think we are all drained of speculating and theorizing...

Here's some key take aways I will be thinking about during the break I will be taking:

1. Axl says this is "just an album", but he's made it into so much more and the pressure he feels is self inflicted.

2. Will more time create more delays? I always feel like Axl is constantly improving this album and more time off and he'll want to record a new song, or have Ron add all of his touches to the music...Axl is a man that misuses his time...

3. Axl should get the fans back with a single and fast.

4. Why does Matt13 let wild monkeys pound him in the ass?

5. Is Brain gone for good?

6. The 2006 tour was POINTLESS! Hate to say it, but we all got suckerpunched bad.

Did I miss anything?

Can anyone really blame Universal? Axl Rose has been a fucking thorn in their side for 14 years? Imagine investing millions in something and you get shit return on your investment...that's what it is like for them to work with Axl. I am sure Universal has a ton of artist willing to play ball and do things the right way...in struts Axl Rose, a man that hasn't had a hit album since 1992, a man that can't sell out a 1/3 of the arena's he used to, a man that is impossible to work with, a man that's hired and fired more people than George Steinbrener...

But before we all start blaming Universal, this 100% Axl's fault...people, it's December 2006 for christ's sake, Axl has been working on this album since 1998...it's probably STILL NOT DONE!! The fact that it's not going to be out in December 2006 is 100% Axl's fault.

Here are my list of peeves about how we all talk to each other.

1. First, I never claimed to know Axl personally, but we are all human being and we can all understand why human beings behave a certain way. I hate it when people are like, "If you don't know Axl then shut up!" I don't know Osama personally, but I can still come to the conclusion that he's a dickhead.

2. What's really stupid is how so many memebers on this board try to make sense out of senseless actions because those actions came from Axl. It's like Axl could release the album buried inside a box of elephant shit and people on this board would be like, "Releasing an album inside elephant shit is genious, nobody's done it before, anything can happen with GNR!"

3. The "Anything can Happen with GNR" phrase...with Jesus anything can happen, with Axl, the only thing that happens is NOTHING. I mean seriously, everytime we think something big is going to happen, some deuche bag says, "This is GNR, anything can happen!" Things such as performing at the Superbowl, VMAs, AMAs, little Joeys birthday party, climing Mt. Everest, curing cancer, driving a Mr. Softee truck through a brick wall...this is GNR guys, anything can happen!

4. Retort with reasoning, not with a "Fuck off and die" comment. I make suppositions and claims backed up by actual occurences, I get back a whole bunch of "FUCK OFFs" without any reason why I am wrong.

But you know what I love about this board? That we can say whatever the fuck we want and we aren't a bunch of pussies like Jarmo over HereTodayGoneToHell.com. We don't censor our absolute hatred for each other, we fucking embrace it. And the biggest shocker of all, MATT13 is actually my alter ego, my other account! HA HA HA HA HA. Try and get around that MATT? O wait, that's me, I will reply with a fuck you Kaneda shortly. CHeers...

I really don't think Guns N Roses needed to go off in some crazy musical direction...it's obvious that Axl felt that direction was a sound like "Oh My God"...which failed miserably. The musical direction point is a mute one because this new band has never released a single...and from the material that I've heard, all of the old band memebers were more than capable of creating this material (minus bucket's solos).

It's sad, it's just really really sad that in December 2006, instead of all of us having and discussing the album by now, instead of preparing at which location we are going to grab it at a midnight launch, instead of having those fun nervous jitters before a big release, we are reduced to the same feelings of pain and suffering that has plagued our following of this new band since 1998...I almost feel sadder for us than I do for Axl. We all lose...only the fake gunners up on stage gain anything.

I think we can stop speculating if 2006 is the year and start discussing why Chinese D will never be released. While the Axl lites continue to count the Tuesdays left in 2006, can the rest of us at least find some closure to this pain by speaking, not with frustration anymore, but with empathy for Axl?

Axl wanted to make a solo album, but the moment he decided to think that he alone was Guns N Roses was when it all went wrong. I think deep down inside he knows that this ersatz Guns N Roses is not really GNR, and while you can slap a name on merchandise and sing the same songs, the sum of GNR is not greater than its parts. And deep down inside, Axl probably still loves the original band...for how could he not, they delivered him from poverty to god-like status. It wasn't all him, we've heard Axl's material prior to GNR, it was shit.

So releasing Chinese D, calling it the new album from Guns N Roses, is sort of like the final nail in the coffin for the old band...and it's a move Axl himself can not do...nor does he intend to do it...you can tell by his body language when Kurt Loder asked him about the release date this year, Axl shrugged back, he cowered at the question...not the body language you would expect from someone excited to put the past behind him and drop the ultimate GNR record.

Also, Axl's new role as ultimate leader of GNR is too much for him to handle...there's nothing for him to gain, only everything for him to lose. So he helps the careers of the hired new gunners, but what do they do for him? Nothing except lower his status for people blame Axl for losing Slash, for calling this new band GNR, for taking so long to produce so little.

Everytime Axl must say to himself Chinese D is done, he probably catches in the corner of his eye the album cover for Appetite for Destruction and that image cripples his confidence. Sure Chinese D may have 13 wonderful songs on it, but will it do what Appetite did? Will it capture the energy and grab people by the throat and say, "you know where the fuck you are?" Most likely no...

A 44 year old man is chasing shadows, spoiled by unimaginable success at an early age, Axl Rose is trying to recreate Guns N Roses...the transformation of the band is only complete when the new album drops; this new band has been together longer than the original GNR and can't even release a single: doesn't that speak volumes to all of you! It does to me. I feel bad for Axl, but please William Bailey, just call up your old friends, release Chinese D as a solo album, the reunite as GNR...that wouldn't be so hard...

Just curious to see how many of you would pay to see Axl again with no new album?

Now that it's December and a 2006 release seems improbable at best, people are starting to dial in the excuses as to why Axl misled the fans once again. One of the excuses I keep hearing is that Axl has handed over the album to the record label so surely it's the label holding up the release, not Axl. I sort of think this scenario is bullshit.

Axl is the only one to blame for the album not coming out this year. Back in September when he once again guaranteed 2006 would be the year, was the album even done then? Why would he say publically mutliple times 2006 if it was still a work in progress? So what the hell happened?