Brunzopolis

Gave up on nugnr releasing new music that was in the same league as old GNR when CD came out.

I thought that the stuff that leaked was just the 'filler' stuff and that I was going to put on CD and be blown away.

I'll never stop caring about GNR and following along though.

Hair of the Dog

Human Being

KOHD

All three, to me, are much better songs than the originals.

Jumpin' Jack Flash to me, is one of the greatest songs of all time. It's perfection. It seems unlikely that it could ever be improved upon. GNR's interpretation of it is very poor imo.

Totally agree. I think musicians give themselves too much credit when it comes to how great songs come into existence. It comes from somewhere else.

But even if the original lineup wanted to recreate the enviromenment that was there when all the great GNR songs were written, too much other stuff has changed. Things that are probably impossible to bring back or recreate. Money, living situations, camaraderie and other things.

People think writing music is a skill. It's not. Think of a carpenter. Carpentry is a skill. Someone who is a good carpenter in their 20's, will probably still be a good carpenter in their 50's - maybe an even better carpenter. You don't really see this in music.

Oh man, so many.

I'll stick with two though. NR, and PC.

NR:

My main exposure to it in the early days was the video. I didn't get my own copies of the UYI's until about 96. Anyway, I'd hear NR, and my brain would just be something like: "There's nothing to see here. This is Bon Jovi-esque wussy ballad shit. Move along." Then one day at a friends house I finally heard the solo, which was awesome, and instantly made the rest of the song awesome too.

With PC it's different. I'd heard the entire song a million times. The 'cheese factor' of the chorus always put me off. I always liked the part where the guitars kick in for the verses, but it wasn't until I started watching more concert footage when the internet came along that I started to "love" said parts. The chorus still seems a bit cheesy/cliched to me, but my love for the other parts trumps it.

I love both shows, but it's Ritz for me.

Paris: Axl's voice is better.

Ritz: Better guitar tone, and I love Adler's drumming.

The most interesting theory about CITR, the book, is that it's really all about sexual abuse. Salinger was abused as a boy (the theory goes), and Holden Caufield, in the way he sees the world, and the odd things he says, is really how Salinger remembers that time in his own life.

It's of course all speculation. The main thing the theory has going for it are the little odd sort of 'throwaway' lines in Holden's mental dialogue - just odd little things here and there.

The other "evidence", would be Salinger's life. The recluse stuff. Why did he stop writing? Was he like "Nobody got CITR. I give up."? There's a lot of speculation about his personal life too.

Sometimes things come to be by strange, seeming "coincidences". "Synchronicities" to those who ascribe meaning to them. Axl thought he was sexually abused (does he still. I don't know). Then there are the stories/accusations of Stephanie and Erin. Not saying I believe them, or don't believe them, but the stories are there.

...leaves you wondering who is the woman and what does she do lol?

Axl mandates that when band members are interviewed, the interviewer must either submit all questions beforehand, OR, agree to have a legal/PR person 'virtually chaperone' the event? Or, maybe it's not done at Axl's behest, but his/GNR lawyers?

Must be serious business though if Dizzy gets this treatment. The guy is like Mr. Toe the LIne.

The interviewer, Mitch Lafon, asks if it is OK to ask Dizzy about the Dead Daisies band. Then, some woman, who I guess was also on the phone the whole time, gives her approval.

Is this standard practice when GNR members give interviews? Is she a lawyer? A 'media relations' person?

Question comes at 14:40. Maybe start at 14:00 for context.

So Limulus,

Are you thinking days, weeks or months?

Not trying to be a pest, just that I'm so looking forward to this.

I ghink Dont damn me also mentions illusions too.

Wasnt there a painting called use your illusion? the one on the cover.

Yeah, what's on the cover is a painting by Mark Kostabi, which is itself a sort of re-interpretation (copy?) of a section of a painting by Raphael called School of Athens.

Relevant thread here:http://www.mygnrforum.com/index.php?/topic/203478-uyi-artist-mark-kostabi-on-gnrs-use-of-his-painting/

The guy lounging in the middle of Rapheal's painting is Diogenes, who (if he really existed) was a sort of ancient times version of Jeff Bridges' character in The Big Lebowski. At least, that's how I imagine him.

And remember, the plan was to play it at the Paris 92 PPV - with Jeff Beck no less. Would have made an already pretty awesome gig even better.

I have never heard one single song of Megadeth, at least, not consciously. Where do I start? Are they a good band?

I never used to care for early Megadeth, or early Metallica, or Slayer (no early/late distinction, really) for that matter. But now, my fav Megadeth stuff is all pre-Countdown to Extinction. Hook in Mouth, and The Conjuring are their best tracks imo. The end of The Conjuring at sufficient volume makes my body do stuff involuntarily.

Great find.

It's hard for me, when thinking about this, to filter between what are legitmate changes that have occured in the music industry between then and now and my own corrupted memories + the "get off my lawn" factor.

But, it seems like, in the music biz back then, time intervals were different. Much more happened in a shorter amount of time? Things came and went quicker? Trends were more pronounced and frequent? Maybe people expect less now?

"Just an urchin livin' under the street..."

That whole first verse of PC is great. I just love the way he sings it - the cadence of it, and Urchin is a great word. It's almost like a rap, like something Busta Ryhmes might come up with.

In my head, the original idea probably started out as something simpler like "bum on the street", but to make it more descriptive and drive it home, he turned 'bum' into 'urchin', and on the street, to fucking under the street.

axl was looking and sounding great in 2006 but the best ever? every performance from 87-93 is better than any one from 01-14.

Sure

Every YCBM performance from 2006/2010 is better than this.

"Performance" in this instance is denoting the quality of Axl's voice, not whether or not the microphone is turned on or not.

Holy Grail for me as well.

But, it was never finished though, right? If so, probably zero chance that we'll one day get anything closely resembling what the original vision of it was - what with all the backstage stuff - which was no doubt fascinating, but probably doesn't paint the members in a light they would like today. Like, Axl's theme parties, and getting mixed up with the Sedona crowd and all that. Not that I actually know what was planned on being included, but I bet there's lots of footage at least alluding to all that stuff.

Man, there must be so much footage and goddammit it would be so cool to see it all.

And all those pro-shot shows too, just sitting there, somewhere, waiting to be remastered.

Question for anyone who might know: Would all of that stuff been shot on vhs (with high-end equipment obviously)? The Tokyo DVD wasn't shot on film, right? And if the same recording methods were used for all those UYI show, does that mean it was all done on VHS? Were there any other ways to record stuff back then?

And if it was all shot on video, would it degrade over time?

I wasn't quite in my teens yet, and I certainly wasn't as up on the music scene as people who had MTV and/or regularly read the magazines of the day, but looking back there is one thing that hasn't really been mentioned yet that maybe other people felt too; and that is, that it didn't really matter?

Again, I was pretty young and not very informed so my take on it might not be accurate, but I don't think, even if people may have been disappointed with the album, that it was that huge of a deal.

I suppose one reason (like others have mentioned) would have been that everyone just assumed there would be much more GNR material to come. While the other, I think bigger reason, was that back then, there was great rock n' roll coming out like every two months. Maybe people who were informed, and major, GNR fans back then saw it differently though.

It's like "Yeah, OK. GNR were the biggest band in the world and are selling out stadiums. But now there's Nirvana, or this other band, and when that plays out, I'm sure there'll be another equally awesome huge band that will take the world by storm. And on and on this will go until the end of time." I don't think very many people would have predicted that very shortly there was going to be a time when there weren't any new rock n' roll bands that were capable of getting 70 000 into a stadium.

In 1992, his voice still had power. That's all that matters. Was it different from how he sounds on recordings? I guess, maybe? Who cares? It still sounded great.

The fact that some people flat out state, or even consider the possibility, that he somehow, in any way, sounds better at any point post 2001 than he did pre-94 is completely ludicrous to me. Said people (not saying you OP) might have something wrong with their auditory circuitry. Serioulsy, his voice is completely different now. The issue isn't "he used to sing with rasp, and now he mostly sings in the 'Mickey' voice". Both sound shitty (in comparison) when there's no "ooomph" behind them.

This is best explanation I've ever come across on this board for why this is, and what happened (emphasis mine):

Axl's voice didn't "turn" into Mickey Mouse - he started using falsetto to hit the notes he used to hit with his "head voice", then eventually started to use it for the notes he used to hit with his chest voice as well. He changed the way he sings completely.... added more rasp (kind of like a screech) to that falsetto with time. If you don't believe me, try it yourself, it's easiest to get that screech rasp on the REALLY high notes when you're pushing out the most air - impossible when you're singing lower notes.

This is something I believe he's done because he damaged his vocal chords on the Illusion tours... nobody can sing like he did in 1993 and get away with it.

http://www.mygnrforum.com/index.php?/topic/194453-was-axls-voice-turning-to-mickey-mouse-in-93/?p=3250093

...Can anyone point me to some leads he has done that they consider good? I really want to like him but his solos make it so hard.

Limo Wreck. Can't remember how they do it live, and I don't know if it's technically a 'lead' or a solo, or whatever, since it's kind of low in the mix and only on one channel. It starts around 4:50 of the song. Fits the song perfectly and sounds brilliant, to me.

As to the reissue of this album, I think it's awesome. But I think what would be far more awesome is if they FINALLY release that compilation of B-sides that they've been teasing for years years.

It has an amazing delayed intro, but that's where the enjoyment ends for me. Mediocre verse and chorus riffs, boring solos and most noteably, lyrics feel unstructured and all over the place.

Anyone agree?

I rarely listen to it all the way through. After the intro, I usually skip ahead to Duff's bass bit, and then crank the volume to 11 for the breakdown. But I still think it's one of the greatest songs of all time. Just a different definition of what is required for a song to be "good" I suppose.

Is anybody here in the "metclub" or whatever they call it? Don't they release soundboards of every concert for their members? Or did I make that up? Would love to hear a non-shit-phone recording of this.

i have no faith in metallica to put out a good album, the magic is gone.

Cool riff and all, but Hetfield has completely forgotten what a vocal melody or hook is and just shouts crap into the mic...it's all the fucking same song now.

I'm in close agreement with this.

But still, I liked DM, and I really like this too. I think Kirk's playing is fantastic. Really makes the song for me.

I kind of doubt that Metallica is ever going to write a song again that is of the calibre of their greatest stuff, but I bet they'll keep churning out albums every 4 or 5 years that are as good as DM - really decent albums. They're always talking about how James is just like this riff machine now, and that they've got this like vault full of 'em.

Axl might be a little bit psychic.

There is a quote in the book "Everybody Loves Our Town", from Bryn Bridenthal, who used to be the head of PR at Geffen:

"...when Axl was starting work on the album that would become Chinese Democracy, Jim Barber was A&Ring the project. And Axl at one point told me that Jim came to the studio and Axl felt Courtney Love energy coming off of him and made Jim leave. He couldn’t work with that energy in the room.

What I found out later, and Axl didn’t know then, either, is that Barber had taken up with Courtney. They kept it a secret from me and the company. So for Axl to feel Courtney Love energy coming off Jim Barber’s forehead, not knowing that they had a relationship, was sort of like, Whooooo! It was just amazing."

Just to do something with all that pro-shot footage from the UYI tour (and earlier, if they have it). Jesus, such a treasure trove there.

Take the best stuff, get it restored, and release a DVD/DVD's.

Probably 8 days out of 10.

Buttrock?

I read all three books right when each one came out - so it's been a while. I can't remember any specific instances where one book contradicts another.

But, I think Duff, just as a person, at least to me, seems like someone I would trust more than Steven or Slash. Slash has the whole 'guitar god' personna that probably colors his recollections and how he wants to be seen. Like that quote earlier in the thread about Slash from Canter illustrates

Adler to me, is a classic addict. Addicts will tell others, and themselves, ANYTHING to avoid facing the truth about their addictions. They get very good at spinning things, inventing new narratives, etc. I think this skill, that addicts develop, probably shows up in other areas as well; like for instance, verbalizing stories to the person writing your auto-bio.

But really, it's best not to take any of these books as 'truth'. Obviously. Everyone is going to remember things differently, even if they are all trying to be objective. That's how history works.

A great example of this, and one that is not at all far removed from GNR, is the book "Everybody Loves our Town", which is about the grunge scene. The 'author', went around and interviewd people involved in the scene, then compiled the quotes so that it reads like a chronological recounting. So, you'll have three different people recalling a fight that Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love had, and all three remember things very differently, and these people where THERE, IN THE ROOM!