Blackstar

If there is a trial (doubtful) it will probably be in 18 months - 2 years. In Steven Tyler's NY case, his lawyer filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. We'll see if Axl's lawyers follow a similar strategy, although the cases are different regarding the laws they rely on (so I don't know if there are potential legal holes in Sheila Kennedy's lawsuit that would allow an attempt to dismiss it in this stage or it will have to get to the next stage of proving or disproving the factual allegations with depositions from witnesses etc.

https://apnews.com/article/wayne-kramer-died-mc5-kick-out-jams-90d2858255bf18ae7758ccb9e453a3ca

It looks like he won't: “Funnily enough, while I was there, they had a book that was basically a bunch of anecdotes about all these different country singers over the years. And it inspired me to go out and buy a pedal steel, and I've been playing pedal steel. So, it definitely had a long-lasting impact.” That’s when Slash drops a hint for what fans can expect from the upcoming tour: the pedal steel is coming out for at least one song. “I actually am playing it on this tour,” he explains, “I've been woodshedding, you know, up to this point, and I finally decided I can get away with playing at least one song with it. So, it's part of the set.” https://themusic.com.au/features/slash-myles-kennedy-the-conspirators-australian-tour-4-album-interview/dATKZmloa2o/01-02-24

Another article: https://bnnbreaking.com/arts/guns-n-roses-leverages-generative-ai-for-new-music-video-the-general/ While the initial plan was to create a fully animated video using the Unreal Engine, the project took a fascinating turn when the band’s management introduced Creative Works to the DiffuseTogether generative AI competition. The contest, inspired by famed musician Peter Gabriel, set the stage for a new dimension of creative expression. I guess the idea had something to do with the fact that Peter Gabriel has always been a pioneer in the music video department, so someone from the GN'R camp thought that the use of AI would be a real novelty that could create some buzz. Interestingly, Peter Gabriel's Digging In The Dirt was the outro song played over the PA on the last tour, and the outro songs are usually picked by Axl.

Yeah, I don't remember all the comments on their social media and like I said their responses were a bit over the top. I think this was their first work on a music video and so they took some of the criticism to it to heart.

I think their reactions were not so much to people who said they didn't like the video, but mostly to those who said it didn't take any effort to make it and it was just generated in minutes with AI software. I'm not a fan of the video either and their reaction was a bit over the top, but I kind of understand it, because clearly there was a concept and some creative work done, it was not just AI generated images.

I highly doubt it has anything to do with the song. I think some of the wording and what was said is just part of the PR campaign for these lawsuits (there's a PR campaign for everything, in the U.S. especially - I guess it's deemed necessary in order to get the word across, which is kind of sad).

Definitely Hard Skool. But Monsters I don't think so.

Axl's writing of "G" letter is different and he also doesn't always write "E" this way.

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.