SilverMachine

Books, in particular biographies, that are getting released for the key end of year/Christmas market tend to get launched around this time of year. Live Nation's involvement also gives creedence to the book theory when considering the corresponding interview/spoken world tours that Bono, Bruce Dickinson, Bruce Springsteen and Dave Grohl have all done in recent years. The counter argument is that I can't imagine Axl Rose ever signing up for something like that.

Scraped always makes me laugh - there's some interesting ideas but it's all over the place in terms of arrangement. It was an even bigger incoherent mess when they played it live - always sounded like Axl was having an argument with the song. This mix does at least strip things back and you can hear that a song of sorts was actually in there.

In agreement - every Guns gig that I've been to since never came close. Rabid crowd, and so much anticipation. A month or two before the Illusions release so the first time most folks in the crowd would have heard November Rain, Estranged etc. Izzy's last gig as well. Outside of that, for me it's the Ritz gig - the broadcast was the gateway for a lot of fans getting into the band, particularly in the UK. One of the few TV recordings of any band that really captures the magic of a club gig. Just incredible energy - particularly My Michelle.

You can tell its a 128kbps or lower rip just by how crappy the cymbals sound - that "washy" sound is always the tell tale.

GNR fans often wonder why Axl hasn’t done any proper “non partisan” press for the best part of 20 years. I don’t think it’s a major stretch to suggest that him being asked about certain aspects of his past and accusations levelled at him like the one in this lawsuit are the chief reason. The last few years has seen something of a rehabilitation of Axl’s public standing and perception with an outward sense that he had matured and in some ways evolved from the angry firebrand that he was widely perceived to be. Getting back on board with Slash and Duff has unquestionably helped that, as well as the tacit endorsement of the current rock fraternity - the Glastonbury headline spot and being friendly with the likes of Dave Grohl would have all seemed unthinkable just a few years back. Nevertheless, to me there was always a nagging sense that his past would at some point catch up with him and it was all going to go tits up. I actually thought that the reckoning would have come at the time of the release of the Look Away documentary. The disjointed nature of that film always struck me that there was a big chunk of that film missing in the final edit - reading between the lines it seems the makers had intended to include a section on further accusations from “Little Michelle” but for whatever reason chose not to include them. There was next to no blowback for Axl and the band after the film was released and a bullet appeared to have been dodged, but the emergence of this lawsuit yesterday brings a likely end to a cosy period of media treatment and public sentiment. I’m not going to bother arguing the merits of this particular lawsuit - we can of course all make our own conclusions when the legal process has played out. However, while the accusations aren’t anything I wasn’t already aware of, their emergence has given me some pause for thought about a lot of stuff. Stuff like the nature of “fandom” and what we project on artists we admire, how the love for the band I had as a teenager always felt overshadowed by an embarrassment of the cringey misogyny inherent in large parts of the group’s output and behaviour (Back Off Bitch felt childish to me when I was 13 years of age when it first came out), and how some of the comments on this thread have highlighted just what women are still up against in 2023. I’ve probably bored you all with the length of this post, but I’ll leave you with this thought. There’s a great amount of evidence we have now that abuse is tragically cyclical - the abused can quite often become an abuser. Axl since the early ‘90s has seemingly been on some sort of path of finding redemption from his unquestionably troubled early years - it’s all there in the music. As hard as it might be for Axl, the opportunity has presented itself for him to finally rid himself of the burdens of his past once and for alI.

That GNR statement (and the fact that they were counter suing) reads to me like they were expecting the copyright claims and had a response prepared, but weren’t expecting the sexual harassment allegations.

No acknowledgement of the sexual harassment accusations in that Guns n' Roses statement.

My bad, I genuinely thought it was the official GNR account. I’m usually up with this sort of thing, and with a cursory glance it does look like the real deal. Either way, I guess my point still stands - folks searching up for the song right now on YouTube will be getting served this version.

I know - the point I’m trying to convey is that anyone wanting to listen to the song for the first time having read that there’s a new Guns n Roses out, are right now getting served a low bit rate version of the old demo leak from the band’s official account, rather than the actual official release.

Also interesting to hear actual interviews with almost the whole band (barring one significant absentee) - I'm not sure I've ever heard Frank speak. Can't think of a more challenging job than being Axl's monitor guy! And what's with the Sweet Child remix?

One of my main observations from watching Guns in Dublin last year was that Axl continually had timing issues throughout the gig, regularly coming in late or early or just generally out of time. My only explanation was that there was some sort of sync or lag with his IEMs. From the footage I've seen this year that doesn't appear to be an issue - wonder if its because of a change in how they monitor their gigs now?

The timings good for a first airing of a new song tonight for sure - two days before the now stand Thursday release day

Can't believe I'm wataching GNR at Glastonbury. They're off to a great start. Bad Obsession sounding great.

Manic Street Preachers are currently bossing it on the other stage.

https://twitter.com/jibbajabb/status/1672571893877030912?s=46&t=jrg5Kp2uZ7k_eg4NYJiLsw

This will get you in the mood for later:

Will say it again - this gig will be late-stage career defining in the same way their appearance at the Freddie Mercury tribute concert was. Massive night for them tomorrow.

Guarantee there's going to be at least one guest. Could well imagine one of Ron Wood, James Dean Bradfield or Dave Grohl making an appearance. Were it not for the bad blood between him and Michael Eavis I reckon you could have seen Brian May popping by.

While Arctic Monkeys' set on the Friday is being shown on BBC2, GNR's performance is being shown live on fucking BBC1 - you couldn't get any bigger exposure in the UK - there will be literally millions of people watching this. Going to be funny seeing unaware parts of the country's reaction when they come out to Its So Easy!

Are you sure you've listened to the demo? Its got a very prominent Brian May solo on it.

Set times confirmed - GNR get 2 hours and 15 minutes. Rick Astley opens the Pyramid Stage that day! https://glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/line-up/line-up-2023/?stage

Still can't quite believe its happening, but happening it is: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/mar/03/arctic-monkeys-guns-n-roses-elton-john-all-male-glastonbury-headliners-a-pipeline-problem-says-emily-eavis Sounds like the slot became available because of Taylor Swift pulling out. Will be a lot of scrutiny the band now for sure, both in terms of Axl's performance, and how they're somehow headlining a "right-on" music festival. Quite a rock orientated line up this year which is a bit of a surprise - Guns, Manic Street Preachers, Queens of The Stone Age and Royal Blood are all on the line up.