Jboogie

From the way Axl speaks, he still considers this to be the Chinese Democracy "era', it's still relevant to him. And who can really blame him? He spent so much time and energy try to perfect that album and get it release, it'd be hard to him to let it go and move on to something else. But fact is, it came and went, three years ago. There's going to be some people who haven't heard it, who hear new songs on this tour and who go out and get it/download it. But realistically, how many people are expected to do that? It's a great album, I really enjoyed it, but it did what it did, I don't think any amount of touring is going to bump it back onto the charts. Hearing the songs on this tour might make people who have it throw it in their CD player again for a while, and it might get a small percentage of people who haven't heard it to check it out, but for the most part it did what it was going to do...and a lot of that might not be Axl's fault. There were legal issues along the way, they may have caused the messed up release or delays.

It would have been ideal if the album was available to buy when they came back and toured in 2006. Even better if a proper tour was possible when it came out in 2008. A video, interivews, all of that would have been nice. But it didn't happen that way, and I don't see how touring in 2011 is going to do much to promote an album that came out in 2008. That's not to say it's a bad album. I think it's great. And that's not to say there's anything wrong with touring it again. GNR always put on a great show live, and I'm sure anyone who's lucky enough to catch them on this tour will have a hell of a time...it's just a little disappointing to hear that they're not thinking about a new album yet, in part because they're still focused on CD.

I really think they missed the boat in 2006. I don't know what the specific hold up was at that time...but some songs leaked, garnered some interest. They go on tour, Axl looks great, the band sounds great, they really kick some ass. It would have been nice if the causal fan who just got his ass kicked by IRS could have gone right out and bought it. They had some momentum there. Then two years later, it just comes out. No public appearances, no videos, no tour, just an online interview and some tv spots. Not that it made a difference to the hardcore fans, I played the hell out of CD for over a year, but had it came out in 2006, we'd have heard maybe 5 songs, rather than all but 3 by the time it did come out.

I wish they'd just simplify things. Not everything has to be epic. Just get together, write and album, record it and let the public take it in. I think Axl takes the GNR name and reputation a bit too seriously at times. I'll probably get flamed for saying this, but the GNR name isn't what it used to be. It's tarnished, due to the break up, Axl's disappearance, CD taking 14 years to be release, the endless delays, rotating band members, etc...that might not be fair, and I certainly don't say it to be insulting, but even us hardcore fans have to be aware how GNR are viewed by many now. Putting out an album that isn't epic or legendary isn't going to tarnish the name anymore than anything else has. We're not talking about trying to follow up Appetite here, and I, sadly, don't think there's any quality of album that can be made that's going to make GNR the biggest band in the world again. Just accept that GNR's on a smaller scale now, and write music for yourself and your fans, forget what the media thinks.

It was a lot of hold ups in 2006 & before & after making this album,mainly..guess who..Axl. For me I got tired of hearing every year that this album was dropping. Check out the timeline for the making of this album.

http://www.gnrevolution.com/viewtopic.php?id=5059

Damon Johnson (Former Alice Cooper guitarist and current Thin Lizzy guitarist) posted on Facebook:

"I, Damon Johnson, am a rock star. I'm hungover as hell from drinking Bushmills' with the lads last night, have an appointment to call my therapist this afternoon, and am topping off the night with Axl and GnR at the Izod Center here in East Rutherford, NJ. Can I get a witness????"

Thin Lizzy was just here last night,they along with Black Label Society opened for Judas Priest.

http://www.billboard.com/news/dizzy-reed-new-guns-n-roses-album-eventually-1005528352.story#/news/dizzy-reed-new-guns-n-roses-album-eventually-1005528352.story

Guns N' Roses current concert swing through North America has generated plenty of talk about a follow-up to 2008's "Chinese Democracy." But keyboardist Dizzy Reed, who's been part of GNR since 1990 -- second only to founding frontman -- doesn't feel a new release is imminent.

"We haven't really talked a lot about that," Reed tells Billboard.com. "There's a lot we've recorded, a lot of material back when we started working on 'Chinese Democracy,' so there's a quite a bit of unreleased stuff that would be really cool to finish and put out." In addition to that, he adds, "everyone has great ideas and songs and stuff, so we're always sort of bouncing stuff off each other. I'm recording stuff all the time; I'll record something and say, 'Hey, this might be cool' and play it for everybody and just kind of go from there. I think eventually something's got to give, and then it's gonna come out."

Among the reported stash of songs GNR worked on during the "Chinese Democracy" sessions are titles such as "Ides of March," "Soul Monster," "The General," "Atlas Shrugged" and "Berlin." During a recent interview on VH1's "That Metal Show," Rose said that the group and its new management was discussing the group's next release but offered no definitive details. "I just stay out of that," Reed says, noting that "there's not really anything" he can do on his end to push the process forward.

But Reed adds that "all of it is great, so any selection of another 12, 15 songs would be awesome. I'm not just giving you an easy answer; I truly believe all of it's pretty amazing."

Reed remains upbeat about GNR in general, dubbing the current edition of the band -- which has dates scheduled into mid-December -- "the best version of Guns N' Roses that I've ever been in. I think everyone is just super-talented, and it's just great chemistry. Everyone is a lot of fun to be around and a lot of fun to play with, so to me it's definitely the best lineup we've had." Reed has also used tapped his GNR mates for a solo album he plans to put out in 2012, tentatively titled "Rock 'n' Roll Ain't Easy" and featuring "stuff that I've done over the years."

As for GNR's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nomination, Reed says he found out late but is rooting for the group to be inducted. "Obviously there's a lot of great, great people that I respect and grew up admiring and idolizing who are in and part of that institution," he says. "So just to be mentioned in the same breath as them, I take it as an honor. "I don't know what's going to happen or how all that goes down, but it's definitely something to feel good about, I think."

He know he has no choice but to stay out of it,seeing how long it took & the numerous people it took before Chinese Democracy saw the light of day.

It strikes me as very disappointing to hear Axl talk about Chinese Democracy like its still the main ongoing project.

Especially hearing Axl say he thinks that Chinese Democracy can do more,that porject is already 3 yrs. old. Time for new material.

Don't know why Axl has DJ there. Shows half over & they haven't asked him nothing yet.

Axl just said that he thinks the Chinese Democracy album is going to do more cause a lot of people like it.

Talking about the start times of the shows now.

Dude, they're making a big fucking deal out of this. Wow. They've never done anything like this before.

0_o ??

They're making a really dramatic opening. REALLY dramatic.

what do you mean... details?

They started off with Axl showing up to the interview as the beginning. Segued from that to preparation & showing the traveling to Miami,got to arena,talled to a member of Buckcherry & then Bumblefoot & like someone said 2 of Bumblefoot's answers we're drowned out. Talking to Axl with DJ sitting in now.

No, he says they wanted him to tour when he wasn't in his right frame of mind. And then he chuckles and says, "But I've always been late."

He does say that but this was all in response to the question about his tardiness,so yeah he's placing blame on others also.

Oh please,there's nothing twisted. Whether they showed it on the preview or not he still said it and oh yeah....Axl still blames everyone else,accept it.

Please point out exactly where Axl blames people other than himself. I, for one, can point out exactly where he blames himself.

He blames the manager & Slash on the clip.

Oh please,there's nothing twisted. Whether they showed it on the preview or not he still said it and oh yeah....Axl still blames everyone else,accept it.

It's well documented how Axl was late or getting pissed off & ending shows going back to 1991, but he continues to blame others. I don't believe one word of this current statement.

Although I think that the current band is talented,I'm waiting to hear more new music from this lineup. Axl's touring power is from the classic lineup as far as music. It's sure not frpm Chinese Drmocracy. Smells like a lot of Slash hating around these parts also.

I'm not having any luck either with the live feed. It keeps cutting on me also.

I have to say I love Steve's drum sounds better. More raw & a better fit.

The general consenus was that it fits Chris Holmes who is a tall blond guitarist who was in WASP,who was a popular group @ the time. Not to mention Chris is ignorant as shit. A recent pic,he's 3rd from the left.

Wow by all accounts a great show. I was one of the folks who was slow to come around on this lineup of GNR bit it seems like they're hitting their stride. If they come around my way I might have to check them out.

If what Slash is doing now makes him happy then more power to him,Lord knows dealing with Axl made him unhappy in the latter days.

It was devise by Axl, not Slash:

Slash: In the end Axl finished his work, but fuck, those two records cost a fortune to make - and I'm talking studio time alone. This was when Axl started getting obsessive about the details of everything to do with Guns n' Roses, starting with the publishing splits of the songs on Illusion I and II. The days of band members getting a straight 20 percent were long gone because they were so many outside writers this go-round, especially on the old songs that existed before Guns that were now in equation, such as "Back Off Bitch". We also had to factor in Matt, who wasn't a full-fledged member: he hadn't been around during the writing of the songs, though he's played on all of them. In the end, because of contributors like Paul Huge and West Arkeen and Del James, Axl insisted upon splits that were like 22.75 percent or 32.2 percent per song for us core members. [...] The songs we worked on in Chicago also posed a problem because those months were so disjointed, and for the most part, Axl wasn't even there, so the splits he devised for songs like "Garden of Eden", "Don't Damn Me" and "Get In The Ring" were totally arbitrary; Duff and I wrote them instrumentally when Axl wasn't even in the room. There were piano-driven songs with complex guitar parts that I'd had to write and arrange that I wasn't even being given a songwriting credit. It was the same with "November Rain" and "Estranged" to be specific. It concerned me, to say the least, but I chose to overlook it.

I wouldn't have overlooked it.

You may be right , maybe thats why so many of the lyrics on the album are a lot more abstract and vague then on previous releases. I remember reading once about Zack Wylde hearing some stuff that Axl was working on and asking him when the lyrics would be ready. Axl said something like "if i wrote now it would only be about lawsuits and courtrooms" or something to that extent. It would be cool to know when the most productive and unproductive periods of the recording process took place , and what was to blame for each instance.

Zakk:

"Wylde felt sorry for Axl. 'The poor fuckin' guy's got every fuckin' cunt trying to sue his ass,' Wylde says. 'I'd be on the phone with him. He'd be telling me about all these strategic moves his lawyers were making. I was listening to him playing Axis and Allies on the fuckin' phone.'" (Rolling Stone, 05/11/00)

"I'd say [to Axl] 'Dude, did you come up with any lyrics yet?' And he's just like, 'Dude, I got people suing me right now.' He's on the phone with his lawyers 24-7. He was, like, 'I can't come up with any lyrics right now - they'd be about every other lawsuit I got going.'" (Spin, 07/99)"So we jammed together for just over a week, we jammed over a whole bunch of shit and came out with three pretty cool ideas." (Zakk Wylde, Kerrang!, 01/28/95)

"One of the riffs ended up on the first Black Label Society record [sonic Brew], [on the track] 'Rose-Petalled Garden'. The stuff that I wanted to do, eventually, would have been like GNR on steroids, man." (Zakk Wylde, MyGNR)

Moby:

"'I found it difficult to chart a linear development of the songs that they were working on,' recalls Moby. 'They would work on something, it would be a sketch for a while, and then they'd put it aside and go back to it a year, six months later. He became a little bit defensive when I asked him about the vocals. He just said that he was going to get to them eventually,' Moby continues." (Rolling Stone, 05/11/00)

Most of the lawsuits we're Axl's fault any damn way.

I go with Pearl Jam on this.