Blackstar

Slash mentioned he had written a song with that title in 1999/2000 and gave it to Rod Jackson to put lyrics to: Slash: I met all the guys at gigs. I met Rod Jackson and he put a lyric on a tape of mine, a song not on the album called ‘All Things Considered’. I didn’t know who he was, he was just a mutual friend from the neighbourhood, who knew Wes Arkeen. https://www.a-4-d.com/t5252-2000-12-25-classic-rock-mr-brownstone-slash

For Axl it's a no-BRAINer

Yes, this too.

I think the main "complaint" would be that they should have gotten Izzy. There will also probably be conspiracy theories by some people (especially if there are songs they like) that the songs have not been really written by the current lineup but by Buckethead etc.

I think Bad Apples appeared in an alt setlist from the last GN'R tour and Perfect Crime was in a setlist of a previous leg. Maybe there was talk about Don't Damn Me, too, but it wasn't included in the set eventually. And so maybe Slash just decided to play these songs that GN'R hasn't played with his own band, just like Duff played Dust N' Bones when he toured Tenderness Also Slash hasn't done much promotion for the SMKC album and tour, so playing a GN'R deep cut kind of does the job since the media report about it. I don't think there's anything else to read into here.

The live debut and release of Absurd/Silkworms by this lineup was the most unpredictable thing GN'R has done since the '90s.

Coincidentally, I was just listening to a Duff interview on Eddie Trunk in May 2019 when he was promoting Tenderness. Trunk asked him the same question (whether he had only his solo project in mind when he was writing songs or GN'R, too) and Duff avoided answering. So it's surprising that in this recent interview he brought the Amen song up as a potential GN'R song.

Here's a transcription of what Duff said in this interview: * Brian Koppelman: When you write these songs, I mean when you get an idea or you get a groove, do you ever… how do you know “Okay man, I’m gonna save this bit for a band that I’m working with.” Because you’ve done so much band stuff, not just with Guns N’ Roses, but so much of that stuff. Duff: Yeah. Brian Koppelman: How do you know, “Okay, this little melody and riff, an idea, feels right for me,” “I should play this one for Slash,” “I should not,” “I should play this one for…” How do you… Or is that not in you head at all and you address it like, “All right, I’m doing a Duff project now”. How does that work for you? Duff: Man, okay, so if you could see my screen, if I could share you my screen on my iPad – which I’m talking to you on right now – I got a thing called Garage Band and I just hit the microphone and I have my acoustic guitar with me at all times on the road everywhere. It’s my punk guitar killer, it’s my everything. But I just love to play having the guitar in my lap. And I’ll write songs – there’s all this I call my crappy demos, they’re all on my iPad. I’ve shared my crappy demos only with a couple of people, Slash being one, because he knows what I’m trying to get. Or Mark, my producer. My crappy demos. So I will label them, you know, with a question mark: “GN’R?” or “Iggy?” Or, you know, “Ozzy?” But most of them for me… I wrote a song called “Amen”. It just all came to me when that - you know, everything that went down in Gaza and Israel, like that day. I was on the road watching TV and just heartbroken. You know, I’ve read so much history about that area dating back pre-Christ and all that. But like, they have just been under siege forever, you know, and this isn’t… I guess you don’t get surprised anymore. That’s happened a million times. But heartbroken you can be. You can be heartbroken. Brian Koppelman: And in fact if you’re not heartbroken a little bit by this stuff - when you see kids in these situations… there’s something broken. But it’s so interesting like you just casually said that- Duff: So I wrote a song called “Amen” and I sent it to Slash, and I said, “This is a Guns song. This is a Civil War, this is a new Civil War type of song.” Civil War is a Guns N’ Roses song- Brian Koppelman: Of course, I know. Duff: Those out there listening might not know. Brian Koppelman: Yeah. Duff: And I’d say there’s a new civil war. *

I think this Duff interview just slipped under the radar. It eluded me, too - @6lake sa66ath found it.

You mean that Oklahoma could end up being sung by Duff? From what I understand, this Duff song, Amen, is a demo he wrote but has lyrics, so all it would need from Axl would be the vocals and it all depends on whether Axl would be willing to get into the studio and do that.

New update: Kat refiled her lawsuit on Jan. 5. Yesterday both parties filed motions to dismiss each other's lawsuits.

https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/women-slam-music-industry-for-ignoring-sexual-assault-by-major-stars/

Yes, I'm not a fan of their work on the tour visuals and this video, but they're not just a random company. They seem to have started around 2016, but they've had a few other clients besides GN'R: Aerosmith (before GN'R), Metallica, various media etc.

Slash said the album will be released after the tour (which ends in late April). So it's likely that the first single will be released earlier.

Yeah, that's likely. Regarding what Andy Morahan said, upon further review (from memory), I think he was actually talking about the scene Axl jumped in the water (saying that they used an Axl double there) and maybe he mentioned a Slash double as well.

I think it was Andy Morahan who definitely said it was a double. I don't remember if Slash has stated this clearly. Edit: Andy Morahan said it was an Axl double in the scene he jumps from in the water.

As far as the concept of the video and it's relation to the subject matter of the lyrics, I don't think it has to be directly related (like showing a child being abused). I actually prefer it when it's more allusive. But the concept is not served by the way it is executed and the video game aesthetic of fast moving disjointed images.

Frank and Gilby https://www.instagram.com/p/C2YDsAXyEOd/

My gender is the same as my sex (which you can see under my avatar on the left). (I thought my gender was known to everyone after all this time )

Yeah, they tweet on Steven's and Izzy's birthday every year.

And psychology and human nature

Going by the narrow definition of what consists creation (making something original), AI doesn't create art (or anything else) nor is it a tool for creating art. AI is something new, so the debate about whether it can be used as a creative tool is new as well. But the debate, in general, about what can be considered a product of creativity and, by extension, art goes way back and it applies to a lot of other stuff, including modern visual art. Does someone who relies on the use of existing original works/concepts to make something new create art? Or is it just derivative? For example: Does a collage consist art? Did Andy Warhol make art? And how about the Kostabi painting that became the artwork of UYI? Or the GN'R lithographs that use classic paintings, movie posters etc. as basis replacing some key elements in the originals with GN'R themed stuff (skeletons, skulls, roses etc). I suppose it depends on whether there is an artistic purpose and process. A collage made of family photos is not the same as a collage made by a visual artist. And I think it's not much different with AI.

(Educating myself)

It has been discussed before. Sounds fake to me.

Could be. Like I said, I don't know...