shotgunblues1978

CD is about breaking free from oppression. Real, imagined, self-imposed, imposed by others, you name it. That is the theme of the album. Certainly, Better, SOD, ITW, TWAT, IRS, and This I Love are related to moving on from broken romantic relationships

It's pretty clear that the next album will be the remaining songs from the CD-era sessions. This has been evident for a long time. The question is whether the current lineup starts work on a new album any time soon; at this point, they have not started, although certain members or factions may have written some things or worked on some ideas for that project.

I don't think anyone really cares if the new band surpasses the old band.

All that most fans of the current iteration care about is that they release music (they finally accomplished this in 2008, and should do it more often) and that they put on good shows (they've achieved this each time I've seen them live)

People get way too caught up in comparing the new band and the old band. What is wrong with enjoying both? Why are people so hung up on the name?

Didn't the OP used to be all for the new band, and now is constantly complaining about Axl continuing the GnR name?

Depends on the stereo. On a high quality stereo, it rocks hard and sounds huge, especially the guitars beneath solo. On a mediocre stereo or CD player it seems to lack punch and definition. But the same goes for a lot of CD; it is really an album that requires a good stereo or set of headphones to fully enjoy. But this is one of the songs where the difference is very noticeable. I think the drumming on Scraped is excellent. Lyrically, it's not Axl's best effort.

I don't think it's one of the better songs on the album. Though it did sound pretty awesome the few times they played it live.

OP clearly gives a fuck about them. Why are you so angry, OP?

Ah yes, the Madison incident. One of the more entertaining moments in MyGNR history. Madison was like the female version of the Comic Book Guy, lording over her one little dominion in the world with a smugness and arrogance rivaled by few. Didn't she once claim that Axl personally told her backstage what the name of the first single from CD would be, and then refused to tell anyone the name of the song? Kind of summed up her whole persona.

Honestly I think the biggest issue it faced was the length of time between when recording started and when the album was actually released, combined with the fact that about 75% of the album had already leaked a year or more prior to its release. Fatigue had set in, even within the fanbase.

If they could've released the album between 2000-2003 maybe things would've turned out differently. The music industry was still thriving at that point and it would've certainly sold a lot more copies, would've gotten more label support with a big music video or two, etc. The only real difference between the 2002 songs and the 2008 version were some changes in the arrangements and Ron's additions (which, to his credit, did add some needed warmth and texture that was lacking on some of the leaks IMO). Maybe there would be 2 or 3 albums in the past decade instead of just one.

Anyway by the time it came out, it was so long in the making that it faced an almost impossible task; there was no way it could live up to expectations.

The other issue was the different musical direction. While in many ways it seems a natural extension of UYI, it was different in that it was for more driven by melodies and arrangements than it was by riffs and hooks (though guitar solos remained a huge component of all songs). It also is not easy to get into; Stephen Thomas Erlewine had a great line his review where he said "Axl forces the listener to meet him on his own terms." There are not any songs that grab you in the first 10 seconds like Jungle, SCOM, YCBM, etc.

I also don't think it tries too hard to be epic. If anything, it doesn't really try that hard. I mean, think about it. The only song that truly tries to be "epic" is TWAT. I also don't agree that it is a half-baked attempt at a concerpt album that he couldn't pull off; clearly, he wasn't trying to make his version of Tommy or The Wall. Rather, it's more of a loose concept album about breaking free from oppression: real, imagined, imposed by others, self-imposed, etc. It's consistent through the album and honestly I think it is the most positive and uplifting album that Axl has done; AFD and UYI are both far more nihilistic and pessimistic in terms of lyrical content.

I'm a huge fan of CD, I think it's a great album, but it's not hard to see why it didn't connect with a larger audience beyond the core GNR fanbase, and why it was polarizing within the fanbase.

Jimmy Iovine?

Great lyrics, great instrumental, huge chorus. Only thing lacking is the mix/production; would love to hear an updated version with the same sound quality as, say, Shackler's

Axl had a very difficult life coming up. Many similar artists could not cope with what he has and ended their lives prematurely, either through outright suicide or through excessive substance abuse (Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, Layne Staley, John Bonham, Bon Scott, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, etc.)

When he speaks, he says what he feels, regardless of what others may think. It's a large part of what made him popular in the first place. He deserves more respect than he gets, for sure. Especially from many "fans" of his band.

Strep throat symptoms usually last 3-5 days without treatment and 1-2 days with treatment. Of course, all the usual morons on here think they're clever talking about Axl's "miraculous" 24 hour recovery from a disease that, yep, takes 24-48 hours to recover from if treated.

These numbers are skewed for a number of reasons

-Substantial increase in ticket prices

-Economic downturn

-2002 and 2006 included shows at both MSG and Air Canada Centre which both hold 20,000+ and both sold out; they didn't hit either of these venues in 2011 and only Air Canada in 2010 (which sold out)

-I believe 2006 is counting the KROQ festival

-Different venues/markets played

The reality is that if you go city by city, the results are roughly the same in most markets so long as the venue is the same venue or a comparable one.

It's been this way for a while. But they're still listed under the UMG roster. My guess is that any future releases will be under a different imprint. Interscope started off as a hip hop label and that remains its primary focus; GnR was rolled into the Interscope roster when Geffen was swallowed up by the merger. Geffen is still technically a label, but it's basically just a subsidiary run entirely by Interscope (Jimmy Iovine), rather than being an actual label. Been this way since the late 90s. Wouldn't be surprised if GnR shifted over to another one of the UMG subsidiaries like Island or V2 for their next release since there appears to be some issue with Iovine and Interscope

Of course, it would be best if GnR could in fact go independent. Major labels are a thing of the past and are more of an impediment than a necessity these days

i've been plenty critical of Axl, but other than the U.S. their touring numbers are pretty good.

Slash won the U.S. fair and square.

In terms of getting positive publicity from the mainstream press, Slash wins hands down

In terms of record and ticket sales, not so much. His last album was about 85,000 copies sold when it fell out of the Billboard 200, and he was playing 1,500-3,000 person venues and failing to sell out at most shows.

I hope Guns can recreate the massive success of Apocalyptic Love (85,000 copies sold in the US before permanently exiting the charts)

Remind us all again how many copies DJ's last solo album sold? Y'know for a fair comparison and all?

This insinuates that I'm claiming DJ is more popular than Slash, which I'm not. It's just funny that HTS is making fun of DJ for appearing on the show, when Slash is a fixture on the crappy late night talk show circuit every time he releases an album.

sitting in with the late, late night show band is a great way to stir up some publicity for their upcoming casino gigs. maybe after CD II comes out, dj will be famous enough to earn a seat on the sofa.

Doesn't Slash hit this circuit to talk up his albums and perform? If so, seems like a great idea. I hope Guns can recreate the massive success of Apocalyptic Love (85,000 copies sold in the US before permanently exiting the charts)

The most interesting part of this article is this quote from Axl:

".....three partners of GNR Music"

when he is speaking of approving the use of material.

THIS IS HUGE for personally, as I've often wondered how material can be agreed to be used, ...obviously we all know Axl owns the name, but I've always known that there will be more to it than just Axls say.

Anyone know who the three partners of GNR Music are? Imagine this shit is public information?...dunno tho.

Yes, it is Axl, Slash and Duff. This was a legal agreement reached many years ago. Something along the lines of Axl received the name but they all need to sign off on decisions to license the old songs (or at least old songs they all have writing credits on)

I can't wait til he loses.

Axl will emerge victorious yet again, leaving you and the rest of the haters in tears

Jesus, you're overly dramatic aren't you?

I was joking; I'd hoped the post was over the top enough to convey that

I can't wait til he loses.

Axl will emerge victorious yet again, leaving you and the rest of the haters in tears

This is like saying it stands to reason that all of the best songs from the UYI sessions ended up on UYI I. We all know that isn't the case.

Now before some genius chimes in that it's not the same, those albums were released on the same day, blah blah blah, you have to remember that the record business is far different now than it was back then, and the record label politics when it came to getting CD released were incredibly convoluted.

I don't think they need a record company to put the next album out. Axl just needs to do more interviews and interact with fans a little more. Ustream is a no brainer for that. If he's feeling in a good mood after a show and kicking back in his dressing room before doing his vocal exercises, why not come on for 15 minutes? He just needs someone moderating questions, but some Ustreams are just video without interacting.

They need to "play ball" with the record company if they are contractually obligated to release the album through Universal and/or if Universal owns the rights to some or all of the recordings that they want to release

Based on what he said following CD's release, Axl's fears about the way the record label would handle the release and promotion were pretty well founded; the album artwork was botched and any promotional support whatsoever ceased the moment the album went on sale. Unfortunately I think he's looking for certain assurances from the label in terms of marketing but that's just not how it works nowadays. The record labels are all broke and they have no interest in pushing established artists; what marketing budgets they do still have are almost exclusively devoted to newer acts. GnR needs to be willing to think outside the box with some viral and web-based marketing to promote their album; as Billy Corgan recently said, the labels have no money so they expect they now expect the artists to self-promote a lot more. For someone like Axl who at one point had the label funding multi-million dollar videos and had one of the largest marketing/promotion campaigns ever behind the UYI albums, it's probably a bitter pill to swallow when the label expects him to go gladhand with lame talk show hosts and promote his album on Twitter, Facebook and Youtube. But that's the state of the industry at this poiint

The tickets don't even "officially" go on sale until Friday. My guess is that the balcony seats during weekday shows will be $45 (plus fees, which brings them to like $60+, thanks Ticketmaster).

This is like saying it stands to reason that all of the best songs from the UYI sessions ended up on UYI I. We all know that isn't the case.

Now before some genius chimes in that it's not the same, those albums were released on the same day, blah blah blah, you have to remember that the record business is far different now than it was back then, and the record label politics when it came to getting CD released were incredibly convoluted.

The facts show that GnR's US ticket sales have been roughly the same in 2002, 2006 and 2011. If they were able to book the 2006 and 2011 US shows in arenas, they'll be able to do the same next time they tour the US if they so cheese

The usual naysayers and doom and gloomers will post their usual doomsday predictions but the reality is that GnR is still a perfectly viable arena touring act in the US. This myth that you need to sell out every venue you play to be a viable touring act is incredibly misguided and naive

They would need 2 or 3 such albums to encompass all the hits

3 hired hands (Frank Tommy BF) plan on making music together. NOW THATS WHAT I CALL NON GN'R

Did you think your post was clever? Funny? Entertaining? Rung true?

If so, please go back to the drawing board. If it was just a cheap attempt at trolling, then by all means carry on.

Leaving Las Vegas, one of the best depressing movies ever