kozydogg

Fun topic, but AFD is a bit predictable.  When this is over how about a survivor round for ChiDem?  Feel like that album would offer less "unanimous" opinions.

14 minutes ago, Master Of Reality said:

Slash's nickname was curly wasn't it? Could that song or main riff be a leftover from the 95/96 sessions?

Or, could just be a reference to the 3 Stooges.

Forget the other stuff, this is my favorite part of the interview.  Confirms the fact that they all know that together they are greater than the sum of their parts.  Was also neat to hear that Slash and Duff had fun redoing Axl's stuff.  I always wonder if those two are just doing it to please Axl and keep the peace (which they very well could be), but it's nice to know they at least enjoyed it.  Hopefully, that shows in the music (I think it did in Absurd).

Overall, what’s been the best part about getting back with GN’R?
I think the biggest thing was getting past this horrible black cloud that was perpetuating, having to do with me and Axl. We had a lot of issues born out of third-party stuff. It was very insidious, and the longer we didn’t talk, the more it got blown out of proportion. But the more significant part was, when Axl and Duff and I first got into a room playing, it was just like this fucking thing that I can’t even really verbally describe. It was like, “Whoa, that’s what that is.” Then, just to go out and play together, it’s like, I wonder how the fuck we got into that mess that we were in in the Nineties.

Really puts into perspective Axl's songs; most notably, the latest releases of Absurd and HS.  They're honestly just much more interesting in my opinion.  After listening to SLASH, I had to cleanse my pallet by giving Absurd and HS a listen.  Yes, Slash can come up with some cool riffs.  But riffs alone are NOT SONGS.  Each of these songs is sooo formulaic it's nauseating.  At least with GNR we get something different and interesting...whether or not you like it is a different story.  I for one prefer it over this boring, generic rock.  

I mean, if you're going to go down the generic or formulaic rock avenue, at least have some balls and sleaze!  Totally lacking in Slash's band.

16 hours ago, Shacklers Absolution said:

I honestly liked the older versions of old skööl n' absurd. I don't like the new guitars on old stool they just don't fit. And I don't think Slash do the CD material justice live. I don't think these new recordings with Slash is gonna fit. I mean CD was full of guitar virtuoso work and its not gonna fit with old CD material.

I agree that the guitars on Hard Stool don't fit.  Definitely not the same vibe the original guitars gave the song.  I'm searching for the words to describe why they don't fit, but I can't.

I guess, the new guitars give the song a more "cheery" or "up-lifting" vibe, whereas I feel the original guitars (versus only) gave the song a more sinister or "epic" feel, which is what the tone of the song should have been the whole time.  This is probably because I listened to the 50 second clip of just the verse 1,000 times before we ever got the full demo and in my head I created a specific idea of what the whole song should sound like and it's nothing like what was actually released.

In summary, original demo verses are awesome...the rest of the song is kind of a turd.

5 hours ago, gunsfanoldie said:

1. Reunion with Izzy and Steven and Matt. The tour should have always been Axl, Slash, Izzy, Duff and Matt (with Steven either playing an Appetite encore every night or just coming on to play the Appetite songs during the show), and Izzy should be getting the same money as Axl, Slash and Duff. He wrote the fucking songs, and even if you're not missing him being up there, he should be there with them. Its nothing against Fortus or Melissa or Frank (well ok, I couldn't care less about Melissa and I just don't like Frank's drumming), but the reunion lineup should have always been Axl, Slash, Izzy, Duff, Matt and Steven guesting, and Dizzy if Axl insists.

2. An honest to god new album. NOT of Chinese leftovers, not cover songs. Write some fucking new material, which everyone besides Axl is clearly still capable of doing and record them.

3. A comprehensive Chinese Democracy box set. It was actually revelatory, and dare I say changed my mind about the entire Chinese endevour. When you hear the 200 songs back to back to back, you actually hear what he's going for, and the journey he took throughout that time (and by that time I mean like 97-2003 when the album was basically honed). Its fascinating, it vindicates Chinese which turned out to be a release that was just "here's what we have" and a hodgepodge that ruined what Axl was going for, and its truly pitiful that it took them finally being leaked for us to hear them. 500 people probably even care about them, put them out to us, and you could actually get a wider audience like those that enjoyed the recent Beatles documentary and such. There are great box sets for albums that underwent intense journeys like Pet Sounds, and Chinese absolutely deserves it. 6 discs or so of everything you have with a large booklet outlining the process.

4. A documentary similar to the Eagles doc, helmed by me of course, interviewing past and probably future GNR members knowing this insane group of people being honest about their history, with a home release that includes like 10 hours of bonus features about the Axl wilderness years, Slash's solo years, Duff's solo years, Velvet Revolver, Gilby Clarke's solo albums, Izzy's solo material, the porn films Steven Adler has made, the multitude of whales Matt has saved from slaughter. 

5. A true Use Your Illusion box set (and a redo of the Appetite one at that) as even though Slash said it I'm either skeptical it won't come out, or that it probably will and be another complete missed opportunity.

6. Start an online archive portal for Use Your Illusion tour and video audio that we know they have all of.

 

Do those then we can come back with another list, but those are the obvious key ones that need to be addressed.

Everything you just said is 100% spot on.  That would be the dream list.  

I think GNR has a sense of humor and knows this whole situation (and how Axl runs things in general) is absurd...which is why they released Absurd as the first "single."  They didn't release it first because it's the best song, but because it's more of an inside joke.

I mean, they're fully aware that for 15 years Axl's hired hands were playing and covering songs that the original members wrote, and now 5 years later, original members are playing and covering songs (and officially releasing them!) that the hired hands wrote.  Think about it...how ABSURD is that?! 

Whether you love or hate how they operate, you have to at least respect that GNR do not follow any trends and they do whatever the fuck they want.  In that sense, they're still "the most dangerous band in the world" because you don't know what the heck is going on with them.  They're certainly unique. 

2 hours ago, Draguns said:

From what I remember offhand, "Welcome to the Jungle" was the first song that Axl and Slash wrote together in a bathroom. Within 5 minutes, they created the song. Sweet Child was Slash fooling around. Axl was upstairs in the house writing lyrics for the song. Paradise City was written in a van when they made the Hell trip. Some of the other songs were brought in by Axl and Izzy like Don't Cry. I don't really remember which songs  were jammed in a room  with the entire band. I would guess Patience would be one song. 

Translation: their best songs were written quickly and together.

...as are most of the best songs in RNR history.  

The way Axl works now is the antithesis of that.  It takes him 20+ years to tinker with a song and it looses ALL magic (if it had any to begin with).  I feel like the only song on ChiDem that has "magic" is Madagascar, and we know that Axl and Pitman wrote that pretty quickly and together in the same room.

5 hours ago, Underhardy said:

Anyone else think this is just a guy acting dumb to avoid much more follow ups about GNR lol we never get honest interviews 

Exactly my thought.  No way in hell he doesn't remember song names.  I think he's just playing dumb because he's bitter about how GNR ended with him and is trying to make it seem like GNR wasn't a significant part of his life or career.

The first minute of Atlas is great...the rest sucks.

Is it just me, or does he say "pussy full of maggot" live?  I kind of like that better than "maggots."

Something brand new, written in the last 5 years by the current band.  Sick of this rehashed shit.  It wasn't good enough back then, it most certainly isn't good enough now.

12 minutes ago, JohnnyUtah said:

I had similar thoughts, give it a few spins, it's not as whacky as the demo, but it's a good rocker. Once you get the demo out of your ears.

True, it's a good rocker.  But the good parts from the original gave me high hopes that a reworked version would improve everything that was wrong with the original and to me that just isn't the case.  It's not bad, I just don't think it lives up to it's potential.  

Hope this isn't the case for Atlas Shrugged.  There is so much potential in that song, especially the first minute of the song.  Hopefully they can improve the rest of it.  

Very disappointed.  The parts from the original I hated (intro, bridge) I thought would be replaced and were...but with bland generic crap.  What a shame.  The intro has NO build up.

Also, the vocal mix is better on the original - you can actually hear the emotion in the original ("to save what we had" part), and in this version that's just all wiped out.  Oh well.  

I think what they did with ABSURD is 100% better than HS.

Would you rather hear HS or have them open with Pretty Tied Up?

PTU please.

1 hour ago, Gunsdrummer63 said:

These are sick. As a die hard Red Sox fan this is so cool

Funny how subjective tastes can be. Im also a hardcore sox fan, yet i HATE this design haha.  Granted, i hate almost any design that doesn't use the classic illusions era GNR font.

The ending part of Prostitute (the part with the guitar solo/drums) reminds me of the Prince song, Darling Nikki (the 2:50 mark).  Seems like that section was highly influenced by this Prince song. 

I don't give two shits about this band. They're a novelty act now and IF "new" music ever comes out it will be uninspired with a weak vocal performance.  

Why should I care about a band that doesn't produce content?  That defeats the whole purpose of a band.

Nothing is 100% scratch vocals.  He just singing the melody to get it recorded, then will finish with real lyrics later.  It couldn't be more obvious based on the repeated lyrics and the mumbled section.

While the music portion isn't great and wouldn't be happy with that as the final version, it does remind me a bit of Zeppelin (D'yer Mak'er), which I like.

On 2/19/2021 at 4:31 PM, DurhamGirl said:

'Now that Guns n Roses ...I HAVE to do that'  Sounds really enthusiastic 

Exactly my take on that, too.  GNR is dead.  

Even when GNR tours it's a half-hearted cash grab.  Anything they put out in the studio (if ever!) will suck: Axl's voice is shit, and the band has no chemistry.  Not to mention, they won't be writing from a place of passion...I mean, they're all 50+ millionaires now.  They're no longer in their 20's trying to scrape by or make it big.  Just won't be NEARLY as good no matter what.

Agree with everyone that you can't really just pick one lol.  

Look at Your Game, Girl is a pretty great performance.

What is your favorite studio vocal performance by Axl?  Must be the whole song, not just a line or two.

For me it's One in a Million.  That song has the perfect blend of my favorite Axl attributes:

• The patented drawn out words like "starraarr" or "make us cryyiayy"
• The perfect balance of rasp and phlegm, especially in the line "they come to our country, and think they'll do as they please"
•  The power is clean but raspy/rough/phlegmy all at the same time
• Shows off his incredible range between baritone and screeching 
• The attitude.  Right or wrong, the attitude and swagger in the song can't be matched (Ok, maybe ISE matches/exceeds, but still...)

Love these covers!!

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