Estrangedfx

I'm not sure whether we'll see any today,more likely tomorrow,but if anyone comes across any,could you post 'em here? Thanks!

P.S. Back in '02,Spin had an awesome write up on the show.I'm hoping last nights performance can top that.

Nice post,Iamme.I agree with you for the most part.However,Dels comments,specifically the part where he doesn't consider the members here "real" fans,well ... with the exception of a bitter few,thats just ridiculous.I can understand the importance of pleasing yourself as an artist,doing what your comfortable with doing.I'm not even going to speculate here,but obviously,Axl had alot to work through (emotionally,I'm sure) to get to where he is today,and whether or not you consider the current tour what "you" wanted,well ... in my mind,in his,as well as many others,it's already a triumph;Because #1,most importantly,Axl Rose is among us once again,with new material on the horizon and following up on a tour that never materialized.To be honest with you,I expected to wait a hell of alot longer than 4 years to see him again.Fortunately,we have,and for whatever reason,this board (as well as htgth) has become a war zone.

Anyways,my point is ... That while the majority of the people there (meaning those in attendance) could care less about our "set list concerns",I'm pretty certain that what Del refers to as "real fans",probably don't have the slightest fucking clue as to what we've been waiting for.In their minds,I'm assuming they actually go expecting to see Slash,Duff,Etc.Personally,I've never expressed any concern regarding the current setlist.Sure,I'd like to see it mixed up a bit,but I can understand why it's not.So while Del makes alot of sense,at the same time,he should be careful who he points the finger at.All of us here,for the most part support Axl and just want to see things done right.We know all too well about patience,and compared to the average joe,who doesen't even know what the fuck Chinese Democracy is,who is Axl going to want/need on his side here? It's a shame that it's gotten this far,that word from a freakin message board got to Axl,and that it's now "us" against "them".I say you just fucking cool it and try reminding yourselves that there was a time ... 1997,1998,1999,2001 and so forth that we had NOTHING! So suck it in and just be grateful for what we've got.I know I am.

Has anyone actually gotten this issue yet? The article on Rollingstone.com says it's merely a "preview" of the ish itself,so is there more to it,or just what we've already read? Also,is there a picture included?

Damn.I was also hoping for a review from the San Fransisco show Rolling Stone attended,but the only thing I saw was in the last issue (Fergie cover),with the small mention of "I Saw You At Guns N Roses".Ya know,the feature about fashion,concert wear,etc.

Ya know,for the one of the San Fransisco shows? I heard from somebody here that some guys from Rolling Stone (magazine) were there,seeking out reactions afterwards and all.I'm hoping to see something in this months issue,but if anyone hears anything in advance,please let us know.Thanks.

http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/enter...cle_1286422.php

Inland Invasion: Duds N' Poses

Review: Axl Rose's delayed return at Inland Invasion fell flat, but Muse and Alice in Chains saved the day.

By BEN WENER

The Orange County Register

The harder-edged sixth staging of KROQ's Inland Invasion festival was supposed to be remembered for the highly anticipated but somewhat dubious return of headliner Guns N' Roses, marking oft-ridiculed, long-missing Axl Rose's first major performance near his adopted hometown of Los Angeles in nearly 15 years.

Instead, it's just as likely that the event will be remembered for the final 90 buzz-killing minutes before Axl and his technically proficient but still fake GNR emerged.

The 30,000-plus multitudes on hand Saturday at Hyundai Pavilion were well aware he was due on at 10, which already made the 40-minute gap of nothing that followed a surprisingly strong turn from a reconstituted Alice in Chains an irritation, considering how the rest of the fest arrived almost nonstop. Tack on an extra 50 minutes of downtime, filled with bone-chilling gusty winds and a loop of the same dozen songs KROQ had been playing for hours, and it's little wonder that trash was soon flying and fires on the lawn started blazing.

It was a long enough wait to make even never-say-die fans wonder if Axl would cause yet another riot by flaking at the last minute, as he had more than once when GNR attempted a quickly aborted North American tour four years ago. To say that everywhere you turned there was palpable, rapidly accelerating tension among ready-to-rumble types who had been downing giant beers all day is an understatement. A rumor that Axl wasn't even on the premises once Alice finished its set didn't help.

Gratefully, just before 11 the seemingly impossible became a reality – and the crowd let out a deafening, cathartic cry as the teasing opening of "Welcome to the Jungle" rang out. Out of the darkness sprang the notorious one himself, wrapped in leather and leaning back to shriek with all his might: "Do you know where the (bleep) you are?"

It was undoubtedly a striking moment, exactly the jolt not-so-patient devotees were hoping for.

It was also the best moment in GNR's set.

Everything that followed became increasingly laughable, from Axl's hilariously overstated trademark phrasing (you know: "oh, don't you cry-eee-yi," "knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's doh-oooh-whoa") to momentum-shredding, stage-clearing solos from L.A. scenesters that merely helped a 75-minute set stretch to nearly two hours. (I'm sure a two-guitar solo built around Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful" is precisely what GNR die-hards were hoping to hear.)

It's bewildering how this pseudo-GNR has earned near-raves overseas and elsewhere stateside. Yes, the seven-man band performs the group's hard-rock staples (the overwhelming majority this night from 1987's seminal "Appetite for Destruction") with considerable skill, though I'd expect nothing less from players whose resumés include stints in Nine Inch Nails (guitarist Robin Finck), Primus (drummer Brain) and the Replacements (bassist Tommy Stinson).

But, c'mon, Velvet Revolver (sporting three former Gunners) is more GNR than this sham – and they've got a frontman (Scott Weiland) with still-strong pipes. At 44, Axl Rose, who really should perform under his own name, is a hulking, huffy shell of his former terrifying self.

His cornrows remain, and now and then he can flash his old sinisterly sweet smile. His beefiness, however, can appear bloated. His bursts of comin'-to-get-ya energy have all the danger of a belligerent dad at a family picnic – that is, when he's even on stage, since much of the time he disappears to change shirts or perhaps have a cig.

Worst of all, his voice is shot. Once in a while here he could muster the high-pitched police-siren wail of yore (notably during "Sweet Child o' Mine" and parts of "November Rain") as strongly as he could summon his skull-piercing screech-bark (at its best during "It's So Easy" and "You Could Be Mine"). I have no doubt that, well-tweaked in the studio, his cartoonish nasality could still be potent on record, should the fabled "Chinese Democracy" or anything else ever see the light of day. (Though if new glop like the Billy Joel-ish "The Blues" is any indication, maybe it should stay unreleased.)

Live, Axl simply lacks force, his faint words fading into the mix, his "act" reduced to mythologizing the past. At least Velvet Revolver has recaptured that spirit and moved forward. Axl is just idling in a glorified tribute band.

To be fair, Alice in Chains, one of the small handful of truly noteworthy bands to emerge from the Seattle explosion of the early '90s, is little more than an homage to what it once was as well, with relative unknown William Duvall filling in for vocalist Layne Staley, who was claimed by drugs in 2002. But where heightened expectations after a lengthy absence helped sink GNR, zero expectations after nearly a decade away made Alice's return that much more invigorating.

Usually reunions with new singers mimicking old heroes are doomed to fail instantly. But frankly it's been so long since Alice's finest sides have been heard, much less performed so confidently by original members like guitarist Jerry Cantrell, that it was like discovering some of these heavy but lysergic and uniquely moody songs all over again.

"Rooster," for one, is a slow burner like few have attempted since, and "Man in the Box" – here treated to a deeply impressive vocal turn from freshly mohawked Chester Bennington of Linkin Park – will remain a stone cold classic. Those cuts alongside the rest of the band's equally superior material reminded that Alice should be lauded for the multilayered density of what it created, not what it spawned (that is, dreck from Candlebox to Godsmack).

No band on the bill, however, could hold a flame to the staggering power of Muse, the tenacious, gifted, few-frills English trio that is finally surpassing years of all-too-easy Radiohead comparisons.

Nothing else here compared. Not Papa Roach, though its newly Hollywoodized metal continues to gloss over its self-pitying annoyances. Not Jared Leto's star trip 30 Seconds to Mars, which, like My Chemical Romance, is all style and no substance. Not Chicago's Rise Against, an out-of-place punk band nowhere near as strong live as it is on record.

And not any of the day's O.C.-based or -related acts, be it Avenged Sevenfold (which, youth on its side, can handily out-GNR the real thing these days) or the Aerosmith-y throwbacks of Buckcherry and illustrated frontman Josh Todd (who, though he resembles Willem Dafoe, can easily out-Axl Axl) or the talentless growling and emo whining of Atreyu.

Muse, led by the sick skills of guitarist Matt Bellamy and bassist Chris Wolstenholme, simply operates on an entirely higher level. Its wall of sonics can be as tremendous as anything at Ozzfest, but the intense, almost Tool-like complexity of its frantically but fluidly arpeggioed structures, set against Bellamy's near-operatic, emotionally rousing melodies (think neo-Queen) and the group's inventive danceable grooves, puts it in a class by itself right now.

It took a great album ("Black Holes and Revelations," its fourth) to make me hear Muse's greatness at home. Took seeing the group amid a fairly redundant and formulaic metal fest to solidify that realization live.

Now I'm reallykicking myself hard for having missed its recent Greek gig.

Still no offical pictures yet??

Any other pictures,possibly more of a closeup? By tomorrow,I'm sure there will be hundreds.

I don't know about you guys,but aside from the decent audio,the visuals were just awful.Most of the time,it was more less a blur.So my question is ... Are there any decent pictures yet? Screenshots? Anything?

Ha.No way.I buy it and it's sure to be a fake.

I dunno.I don't have time right now to research this.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Guns-n-Roses-Chinese-D...1QQcmdZViewItem

I'm 99.9 percent sure this is most likely just various live-versions,but it had me convinced for a second.

So hopefully rather than getting bashed here,what do ya guys think?

I'm a little curious as to what this is all about.Can someone pleeeease pm it to me.??Or my e-mail is raygiordanox@hotmail.com.Thanks!

Soooo ... When exactly is this issue hitting the stands?? Anybody know? Obviously,somebody has it,i.e. the article scan.

I already did,so somebody else call.1-800-520-1067 They said they had it and were indeed playing it ... sooo ... I dunno.

Well,I just called Kroq's request line and I asked if they were playing "I.R.S." and he said yes and whether I wanted to request it or not.I asked him if it was an offical single-release or the demo we've all heard.Of course,he didn't know,but did say it was now in their system.

Meeeaning ... Well,not anything,really.Damnit to hell.

Well,I just called Kroq's request line and I asked if they were playing "I.R.S." and he said yes and whether I wanted to request it or not.I asked him if it was an offical single-release or the demo we've all heard.Of course,he didn't know,but did say it was now in their system.

Meeeaning ... Well,not anything,really.Damnit to hell.

Well,if it's true that Axl/Guns were offended by the Boston article,someone should really forward this over to Merck.Dark,you should have Madison lend a hand.

Okay,more specifically ... "When" tonight are they supposed to be playing it?

Alright,after a few listens minus the lead guitar,I am convinced more than ever that Axl's vocals are in terrific shape.The way he goes from the somewhat clean toned to the rasp .. Oh,it's fucking amazing.Also,would anyone like to take another shot at the lyrics.

Again,is it just me,or does it really sound like him,but in a way he's never sang before in the intro.

::laughs:: And here I (and some of you,I'm sure) thought it sounded like a woman singing.

Well,I'm sure everyone here has windows media player,correct?Well,I was just tinkering around with it.I opened up the enhancements options and flipped the balance all the way to the left and guess what?? Everything you couldn't hear because of the guitar, YOU CAN NOW! Particularly,the intro and Axl's vocals.Minus the guitar,they are as clear as hell.So yes,I realize it sounds ridiculous,but it really works.So try it,listen and respond with your thoughts.

Plus,after some doubts,I am now confident that it is indeed Axl singing the intro.

Edit: Correction: While the intro comes through as clear as day,the rythm guitar remains,but rest assured,you can actually easily make out his words,as opposed to before,when the (lead)guitar somewhat covered them up.

Ack! I'm going crazy here."Better" going on listen #20,I believe.

I completely agree.Even before Axl said he'd be doing something "different",we all really knew he would be,and honestly,wouldn't have been capable of doing so with Slash,Duff,etc.I think if anything,they only would have held him back.

"Contraband" is proof enough that they don't come close to Axl when it comes to talent and creativity.There is no doubt about it ... This new material is fantastic and I think the majority of fans and non-fans alike will have to agree.

It's funny.Hearing idiot Adler talk recently about the good 'ol days,the excitement of the Appetite -era,false hopes of a reunion ... Seriously,I would take Axl's new lineup and new sound over the old ANY DAY! As great of an idea as a reunion may sound to some (though not to me),the Guns N Roses of today ... whether they sell up to Appetite/Illusion standards or not .. it just .. sounds so much BIGGER to me than anything else.As good as "I.R.S." sounded before (in it's poor quality),it sounds even better,despite it's slower tempo.And don't even get me started on "Better".1 minute and 20 seconds never sounded so good.

If so,could you reply with whatever chords are used.I'm trying to figure it out myself.It really does look simple enough,but I'm still having some trouble with it.

Thanks!

For what comment?

P.S. rylz and poz ... you guys crack me up.

I've got a better question than "Why reply to a Motley Crue thread if you don't like the band?"

Why the hell are you posting horrific Motley (lame ass) Crue news on a GNR message board??.Personally,I see it as an insult.Axl would be disgusted.

Motley Crue fucking blows.They did in 1985 and they sure as hell do now.Axl should have kicked Vince's ass when he had the chance.

Seriously,though ... Motley Crue is a joke.Every single one of them,with Vince being the epitome of idiocy.

C'mon,People ... Punk Rock is a fucking cliche,but one band (in addition to The Ramones and maybe Bad Religon) is The Misfits! They shall not be forgotten!