Tom2112

I'm pretty sure Load and Reload were both quite successful sales wise... with some big singles. Black ice was huge! Rock n Roll train was a huge song given a lot radio and TV time... anything goes was also relatively successful. NIN had the 'With Teeth' album and that was pretty big "only" was a pretty succesfull song. U2 have had consecutive hits, yes, even after "one"... "beautiful Day" was no slouch

Chinese could have been managed better, with the help of some promotional videos. If a video for better was released in oct. 08 that would have got the ball rolling and gave the public (who were still unaware of the new direction) a chance to warm to the new sounds coming from GnR. Videos are not that big a deal these days but... when a band chooses to not release any, and expects high sales... I don't know what to tell you. Also, deciding to wait a full year to get on the road? at the very least they should have played the VMAs again playing Jungle and one of the songs from CD. If you want a big album you have to play ball. Considering GnRs reputation they definitely have to play ball

Finally, Chinese did pretty well regardless of all the obstacles... 3? 4? million copies sold worldwide? not sure of the figures but it's somewhere close to that.

You guys act like there are no profitable rock acts. Obviously I don't think a fifty year old a l rose could ever write something as popular or relevant as Bruno Mars. But certainly we can agree he can at least top nickleback. Right?

Stop lowering the bar guys. I believe axl is every bit as capable of writing a song half as popular as slither.

It's not Axls writing ability that people question... there's very few who can deny how catchy "better" or "street of dreams" are. the problem lies in the fact that Axls not the new hot young thing like all those morons on The voice or X factor. Labels want to work with them... it's easier. Axl has marketability but... he needs to A) write an album that the majority can like, not just the fans that are open minded and willing to go with an artist when they change direction. 2) be willing to do some more press. 3) Get a bit of a look overhaul, I don't mean cutting his hair or anything - what I mean is he needs to get back in shape or at least as good as he looked in 2007/07 so the older women who were 17 when appetite came out can drool over him again... it would also help No. 4. 4) Get his physical fitness back up to scratch so he can still do his usual running around... while not being completely breathless and vocally shot.

There's no reason Guns can't have a pretty successful album... bands like AC/DC, Aerosmith, KISS, Whitesnake have all released albums recently and have all sold respectful amounts... not all in the millions but 500,000+ (which would have been a couple of million by 90s standards), obviously AC/DC sold in the millions but thats because A) their huge B) their older fan-base went out and bought the cd... and C)their record label knew how to promote them...

I think the evidence that the labels wasn't behind CD is pretty obvious, look at the release... you had to search, the advert campaign was lazy, a lousy tv advert that did very little in hype building. When I bought the cd there was no stands displaying it, it ws just another cd not the album in the works for 14years.

The label dropped the ball, most bands will agree that labels have no time for older bands, they just want to make money off the young guys (get one album out of them and drop em' attitude) A guns album is too expensive and they can't predict it so... they choose to not back it. I'm sure there's a label who would back them but I'm not universal is that label judging by the last fiasco. Obviously the band shares some blame... No iterviews, press etc.

I think Richard is my favourite, just about about beating Bumble to the finish line. Fortus is great on stage and he really knows his instrument. Bumbles great... complete all rounder! great voice, stage presence and unbelievable playing. DJ is... ok, really not on the same level as the others... not even in the sense that he can't do crazy runs or taps... he just doesn't have much character IMO. Seems like a down to earth and decent guy but he's not a great guitarist - I'm yet to hear any of his original work that impresses me too - It's all a bit generic.. it worries me that Axl seems to think the sun shines out of DJs ass when he's got 2 great songwriters in Bumble and Richard... not to forget Stinson who's no slouch in the writing department.

Richard didn't get a look in on Chinese so I hope he's more up front next time around.

That doc was full of it, Duff said as much in his book. he even said that he told Axl but he wouldn't listen. I don't buy past life regression but if it helped him what's the harm in it. It sounds like he was taken for a ride, he seems to have a history with people taking advantage of him... management included.

Nobody mentions him singing the first couple of songs perfectly because he usually doesn't. I haven't heard a good version of "Jungle" in a long time, 2006? chinese is always pretty good (but it's not a stretch for him to sing to be fair), brownstone is ok for the most part and so is it's so easy. the problem is that he's messing up the hits! If you don't sing Sweet child well even the guys and gals who don't really know GnR will notice. he hasn't sang sweet child well for a long time, probably 2006 again. there's a few old songs that it suits them to have the new clean rasp free vocal but sweet child is not one of them.

Good one from 2010. Yes his voice is obviously a bit ragged but he gets the notes with a good blend of power and raspe and most importantly, it still sounds like Axl Rose.

Shame it's deteriorated so much in a relatively short space of time.

Don't know man, certainly got some rasp going but he's totally sharp for a lot of the song. maybe he couldn't hear himself... it did look like a festival, and they're always a pain for sound.

You know whats funny, we've spent years whining that the media always gave Axl and co a hard time, finally some media sources are giving them good reviews and some props for a great show - but fans now say that the band's crap live because of his voice... Are we in bizarro world?????

I just had a look on heretodaygonetohell - it's a bit more polite but the general gist of what we"re all saying is there... ^NEW MUSIC ^NOT MORE ^TOURS.

The shows are pretty good, we all know that - sad thing is Axl's voice isn't on par with the instrumental.

Now I see why he isn't on the list.

Exactly. When I heard that Rocket Queen I wanted it to end waaaay faster... that was the most boring Rocket Queen ever. I was waiting for the best part of the solo and the song, but he went on and on with a too repetitive - arguably Slash's most repetitive ever as it's even a match to the one from the Zakk Wylde jam - improvised solo that didn't add a thing to the song - in fact it made the song much worse in my books.

Have to agree, I saw Slash in 2012 at Brixton academy, when he did the extended solo during Rocket queen I nearly fell asleep... on top of that he did a ten minute blues jam/solo.... why on earth would Slash need to play a ten minute blues solo, all his solo's are blues, he gets to play about 20 solo's each night - the blues jam is overkill.

Guns N' Roses are a far better concert, much more entertaining and they actually sound like a band. Slash and co never seemed to click (in my opinion)

I think our best bet for info is Bumblefoot, If he says he's flying to Los Angeles in the coming weeks... it's quite likely he's doing something Guns related. Rons a pretty good guy and he tries his best to keep people informed... but when there's nothing to say, there's very little that you can do.

Chinese democracy II in November... unlikely, that material still needs finishing... final vocals, probably new guitars.. DJ probably has to play on a lot of it still... it would be incredibly optimistic of us to expect a release this year. Axl is incredibly gun shy when it comes to recording and releasing so I can't see him pulling the finger out and getting anything finished for a November release. maybe an EP but that really isn't his style, that's more of a calculated label move... and we know where Guns and their label stand.

"Look here: the band doesn't need "your support" nor your "hate". The band just wants you to buy its records and tickets, if you enjoy the music. That is all. If you don't want to buy the music or shows, that's fine. But no need to take things so ridiculously seriously like you are some white knight who are "protecting" the band in any way and are in your right to get personally offended when the band doesn't do thing to your liking. There is no shit being thrown at us at all, just a band fully in its right not releasing music as often as we want or communicating as often or in the manner we would prefer. If you don't like it, just don't pay attention to the band anymore. Just don't believe you have entered some magical contract with the band because you have chosen to invest your time and feelings on a band that turns out to not function the way you want it, and that according to this contract they owe it to you to behave in some particular way"

I thought I was bad, but this is just ridiculous. Talk about drinking the kool aid, the above takes the biscuit. For anyone to suggest that current day GnR doesn't need it's loyal fanbase support is moronic. take your head out of your arse they don't owe us anything, true!

What our problem is, is that for the past 2 years band member have been talking about making this new cd. 2 years later we're still waiting and we get snotty responses when we get the slightest bit impatient. I'm sorry but after waiting for CD, we are entitled to expect a new release sooner rather than later. the mediums for releasing music have opened up. bands of all ages and sizes are releasing music and doing just fine (look at Metallica, Iron maiden) ... I can't imagine why GnR would be the exception to the rule (beyond jokes, that nothing is ever easy for gnr yada, yada).

I guess I'm just tired of waiting around, especially when the only announcements are for tours (a four year tour not including the 02 and 06/07 runs is a bit much). everybody knows fans want new music, saying that, the band will be in the studio eventually and everybody will be asking "when are you playing south America next..." so maybe there is no pleasing us

What would Dizzy do if Axl started to play more. there's no reason for Axl to play more. I've only watched one performance where Axl butchered the piano part (November rain, RIO '11) so I don't think he's regressed too much... he probably doesn't practice everyday but he seems to still be playing well enough to pull off what's need of him (in the piano department).

The funny thing is this forum is probably the best place for the GnR team to find out about their fans. We're not kissing their asses, we tell it how it is... they get way too much fan worship this should be a blast of fresh air for them. Other forums make me dry heave "Dj's a dream, such a nice guy" true he's a nice guy but what does that have to do with music? "Axls voice is better than ever, I can't understand the fan criticism" well, his voice is not better than ever, it's not that bad (as I've stated before he seems to be putting a lot more effort in recently) but, I guarantee that Axl would agree that he isn't firing on all cylinders, if he was to listen back on a lot of the live recordings.

I don't agree with the hating or racism, you can argue a point without sinking so low as to use racial slurs or blatant character attacks.

I hold out hope that someone on the GnR team is reading our posts (every once in a while at least) and can decipher between the morons and the ones that actually care and want the best from our favourite band.

I think he's mistaking passion for anger. We just want a simple answer, a date, some communication that our favourite band is in fact playing together and preparing a new album. We love and support the band but... everything has its limits. I for one cannot support a band that isn't forging forward creatively.

2 outcomes of further delays with at least starting a new record 1: band members start to leave... bumbles been itching to make a record for ever, I wouldn't blame him for jumping ship if he got a good offer. 2 the fans lose total interest and it causes more of a backlash... that means the shows don't sell out, less money, effectively shooting yourself in the foot.

I want to support the band, but I have to feel as though we're appreciated for that to continue. The band has to really get it's PR together because it seems like they haven't a clue about their fan-base. To think that your hardcore fans are your enemies is ridiculous, We love GnR, we want the best from them and for them, we have no problem with GnR associates we just want to communicated with and treated with respect.

2011 interview was far too tame, I don't want to hear Axl bashing the ex-members (vice versa) or anything but talking about the split, new music and band related stuff is important. all those issues were covered but not in any great detail. Axl can sometimes like to talk, I'd imagine he'd sit down with Eddie again if the circumstances suited him.

the 2006 interview is great, some cool stories and he came off sounding really relaxed and together after the years of bad press and hear say.

I'd like to think that Axl isn't surrounding himself with yes men but it seems to be the case. Personally, I don't know "team brazil" I have very little in terms of info on them, all I know is that Beta works closely with Axl and she has managed to get the rest of her family under Axls wing.

As a bystander it looks odd, I don't understand it. His thought process might be along the lines of "professional managers are sharks and they just want a reunion and to get the better of me, Beta and her family care about me and will look out for my best interests". if that's in fact accurate there's points in favour of both arguments... the main issue is friends and family usually have trouble saying no to you, especially when you pay their wages.

As I've heard several times watching interviews "Axls not going to give someone else control of his life... yada, yada" he's still the train conductor but I think he's dividing up the workload.

I know most people are tired of waiting for his 2010 voice to come back and probably sick of watching YouTube videos where it's not there yet but it's not like anyone said these videos are perfect. They are just examples of small moments in concert this summer that Axl showed rasp or a more powerful voice on parts of songs he normally hasn't in the past 2 years. Nobody ever mentions how he sings the first 5 songs of every concert perfect for whatever reason.

There's just such little optimism here and maybe that's because of lack of music or having to watch the same YouTube videos over and over again, but it's exciting to hear Axl nail You're Crazy in the Brooklyn video. It's cool to hear paradise city have the rasp back in it. I wish his voice was more consistent but it's not. He's still doing great shows though, and I'm hoping these moments of rasp and power translate into something great for his voice down the line. I don't think it's fair to label his voice as dead though, clearly he's got more to give.

Nobody mentions him singing the first couple of songs perfectly because he usually doesn't. I haven't heard a good version of "Jungle" in a long time, 2006? chinese is always pretty good (but it's not a stretch for him to sing to be fair), brownstone is ok for the most part and so is it's so easy. the problem is that he's messing up the hits! If you don't sing Sweet child well even the guys and gals who don't really know GnR will notice. he hasn't sang sweet child well for a long time, probably 2006 again. there's a few old songs that it suits them to have the new clean rasp free vocal but sweet child is not one of them.

I agree with you that it's great to hear him nailing you're crazy, I too hope it's a sign of things to come. I want a new record in the not so distant future with Axls voice balancing somewhere between gravelly and clean. There's still hope, he's not that old that he can't still whip himself into performance shape... the age thing gets thrown around way to easily, lose the extra weight and most if not all of the vocal issues would be helped tremendously (obviously I don't know that as fact, but as a musician I know that a healthy body = a healthy musician /performance ability).

The couple of videos posted above actually sound pretty good. I had kind of given up watching the youtube videos as his voice seemed to only gte worse... I'm glad there's some rasp again.

I think he can't do 4 year tours anymore... that's a no brainer, he should do his world tour but split it up. he's killing his voice by over working it.

The above videos are the first evidence of some recovery in the vocal department... in general his voice has been off for the majority of the CD tour, especially on the televised performances, be it: no rasp, breathlessness, out of key... all of the above!

His voice is NOT that bad though... the reason we complain is that he's the only original member in the band and it sounds like he's half assing (I'm aware he does 3hr shows, and runs around etc, etc). I love the new guys but they are not enough of an attraction on their own merit... I want Axl to sing well too, not ok, but good. there's plenty of aging rockers still doing the rounds and they put him to shame *steven tyler, brian johnson, geddy lee, Sammy hagar* to name a few.

If the above videos are a sign of things to come I'd be pretty happy, I like his CD clean voice but I also love his gritty 'appetite / Illusions' voice, i'd rather a best of both worlds... but I'm aware he's 51 and he may not have it in him to give that much energy consistently on world tours.

I'm not sure there's any point. If it's interviewing Ron about Bumblefoot music yeah that's worthwhile... if it's about new GnR music, we know where he stands we also know that he recently said that "the band seems to be on a break but that could all change with a moments notice" and they are not in the studio or even planning on going into the studio. Bumble will give straight honest answers but I think we're all going to be just as frustrated after it's over.

Maybe we can petition for guns to get in the studio *joke* while we're at it, lets petition for Axl to get his vocal coach back and get him to sound at least as good as he did in 2006/07. I'm not sure I want a new Guns record with Axls current voice *not joking*.

the early 2010 shows had some great raspy vocals... tokyo was pretty raspy too but he's a little too out of breath in my opinion. Dublin's probably the best as he sat down for the full show after his walk off. His vocals were pretty great seen as he wasn't put of breath due to his usual running about etc.

Any mention of Seinfeld is good with me Axl's certainly not doing himself, or the band any favours... he had some good press going, well reasonable press, built a lot of momentum and now it looks like the only thing coming from GnR will be another tour... with the same songs, in the same order. I've seen the band each time they played Ireland in the last 10 years, but I'm not sure if I'm all that interested in a band that's just playing the hits.

I (the fans) want new music! saying there's no reason to make new music because of the industry and piracy is ridiculous, that way of selling music is gone for the most part (true) but... Not releasing new music is not the answer, not releasing new music makes you a nostalgia act... what happens to nostalgia acts? they start playing to empty venues because the die-hard fans are not showing up any more, what happens after that? re-issue some old albums with some bonus material? barrel scraping exercises...

If there's no new material the band's dead...