raodonne

Most other bands can't keep the actual music from leaking, so there is no reason to think that Axl could keep news of the album being turned over to the record company a secret. No news means that the album isn't done yet.

I agree 100%....Sad it works like this...but Axl cannot keep the lid on things once they are actually done...

All albums leak. Period. Therefore, IMHO, you'll know the album is done when it actually leaks...Which is sad because I assume that will make everything just go to hell...I'd rather a solid release date and then have the album leak a week or so before it hits shelves...Instead, we'll prob. get silence, then a leak of the album, endless debate over whether it ACTUALLY IS the album, then an upset Axl deciding to not release it at all...

Hope I am wrong, but let's face it: EVERY album leaks. The Industry's biggest albums from last year (which, sadly, are of a much higher priority than GnR at this point) leaked. J Timberlake, Jay-Z, Carrie Underwood, Fucking Nickleback-all those leaked. And, from the industry's perspective, keeping those from leaking were/are more important from preventing CD from leaking. CD won't be an INSTANT multi-platnum album...it will take a little time for Axl to win over the fans/critics he's pissed off over the last decade...But if the tunes are there, GnR will be back...but in the mean time, wait for the leak.

cause HMV knows everything

Not saying they know everything but come on-March 6th? Right....This is just one more hint at what everyone already knows: No CD on March 6th...

Hope I am wrong...Hope HMV is wrong...etc etc Amen

The HMV Pre-Sale Date is now set for:

April 2 2007....

http://www.hmv.co.uk/hmvweb/simpleSearch.d...ubmitSearch.y=0

Besides, do you want CD known for producing songs like Layla? Fuck with all due respect to Clapton, that type of song is not what I am waiting to hear on CD....Even November Rain, a ballad, maintains an edge missing from most Clapton songs....GnR is not a Blues band in the way Clapton's groups were...While Gnr can adopt a bluesy edge similar to the Stones, an element of raw punk has always kept Guns a little harder, a little edgier..I hope CD adopts a similar balance...

Funny how every postivie review gets

Yet anyone who doesn't write the band a valentine gets death threats and people imploring others to spam his inbox.

Funny that even in a positive topic, there's always at least 1 person still complaining.

Enjoy the ride dude.

But would logic not dicatate that maybe every show is not a life altering experience?

And maybe, just maybe, the band can have an off night...like every other band on the planet??

Not around here. Around here every show is "the best show I've ever seen".

All I'm pointing out is that is speaks to objectivity, or more to the point, a lack thereof.

Duh, what did you expect on a FAN forum, hahaha!

Um yah like livedaily has no stake in giving Axl a great review....

Not to say the show wasnt everything the guy said, but just keep in mind people's motivations...

thank you snatcher i really liked your post ..i have been waiting along time too and i understand what you are saying....nice post ..happy holidays to you as well mate...

cheers

like an abused wife when her husband shows a touch of affection...

Funny how it's OK for the Slasholes to continually rip and say negative things about Axl . . . but when somebody makes a bad comment about Slash/Duff, then you people come out and rip that person for being a jerk! Apparently in your minds, freedom of speech only means if they agree with you.

Merk sayin that the new band kicks the shit out of the old band is HIS OPINION. It doesn't make him a saint or a cunt. It's just his opinion.

I take my hat off to him for not being "politically correct" and worrying about offending anybody.

Good job for having the balls to state your opinion.

Personally, I don't know yet. I'll have to hear a final product before I can start judging which band is better. The old band seemed to have more grit and emotion live than the new band. But the new band seems a little more professional (throw in your buckethead jokes here) and on top of things live. I know, the "old band" people will throw a fit at that comment - but face it sirs, your not seeing Fortis and Brain playing concerts high on heroin, like you would have seen Izzy and Adler and Slash back in the day.

At 17 years old, it seems cool when your favorite band has a reputation for being party animals. But at 35 years old, I wanna hear a tight show and not one where half the band is high.

And you people forget what position Merk is in. He knows inside scoop stuff about the new band and the old band, that fans like us have NO IDEA about.

I respect the man for voicing his opinion.

The only reason Merk said this is because its in his best financial interest to do so...

the new Guns N' Roses (which kicks the shit out of the old)

FUCK YEA!! Well he did say something right!

the new Guns N' Roses (which kicks the shit out of the old)

Look, not to beat a dead horse, BUT HOW THE FUCK CAN ANYONE SAY THIS? What are you a fan of then? The 3-4 leaked songs in demo version? The same new songs played live? That is what you are a fan of? Jesus Fucking Christ...People need to get a grip...The sky is the limit for Axl and the new lineup...But, for the time being, its ONLY POTENTIAL GREATNESS...So please save everyone a bit of agony and dont make such silly comments...The old band is, currently, the only reason anyone can legitimately give a fuck about this band...Now, after CD is released, it will be a different story....But for the time being, PLEASE...just...stop...

Very good read. I somehow have now a much better opinion on Merck.

I dont get why so many people are getting a good vibe off Merck? He and Beta are the two most glaring additions to the GnR fold in the last half decade or so and, without question, the last half decade or so has been the least productive in the history of Guns....I mean, at least in the late 90s we actually got a Live CD and 2 (albeit shitty) singles...What are the variables introduced to the GnR equation since things started getting really wierd? Beta and Merck...Lets put 2 and 2 together....

Let me add that this is NOT to say Axl is blameless and he should be relieved of all responsibility...Clearly, he needs to be making some decisions on his own....But I dont think anyone can argue that Merck and Beta have enhanced Axl's creative output....(let alone his media communication skills)

On behalf of the censorship going on over at HTGH, can anyone re-post that really ugly picture of Jarmo?

Axl had no funding for this album, that was made public a while back when the record label pulled the plug.

This has been a general consensus around here for a while-that the tour was a cash grab...which, as it now appears, was a correct assumption...Now, if the album really does come out in march and the tour was to fund it, ok...

Is it me or is Merk basically saying that Axl has really needed to only have 3 or 4 days solid days of creativity to complete the record and hasnt managed this for nearly a year????

If thats the case no wonder this thing has taken 15 yrs.

Thats exactly what he's saying...For everyone who thinks this makes Merk look like a good guy or something-fuck that....If he was a real solider he would have kept his mouth (or email) shut...His comments about the "muse" are especially irritating cause they are all backhanded slaps at Axl-basically he's saying everyone else did their shit except for Axl...its just a more poetic way of saying it...

Now this is not to defend Axl-lets be honest: the whole situation is insane...Its a fucking rock n roll album. Period. From the details released today, its clear it should have been done a long time ago. However, its Merk's job to shut the fuck up. He's management, not the star. and I feel like the fact that he has taken such a public role-especially in his assertion that he basically kept Guns going the last 5 years, belies a desire for recognition/personal success that is inappropriate for his position...The manager should basically be seen and not heard, making things happen behind the scenes and not getting publically involved...To say the things that he said about Axl and the band-that hes kept them going, that he drafted emails for Axl-(whether true or not) is an incrediblely selfish move and I'll say it again: WHAT THE FUCK IS A MERK

For all his efforts these past 5 years we have....uh, nothing....

For the years before Merk what do we have? 6 albums and 5 DVDs....

The lack of professionalism is stunning....

FUCK MERK and good riddance

Axl has a family?

Its amazing that this random Rasputian (Merk) has so much say over GnR's music now....If people should be pissed at Axl for anything, it should be this horseshit...Can you blame Slash/Duff etc for getting into a legal battle over this? WTF does Merk have to do with Guns n Roses and, since his appearance, what have Guns n Roses done? It seems pretty clear what the problem here is....(and I am DEF NOT excusing Axl-this is all on the assumption that Axl allowed Merk to put Guns in this position in the first place...Apparently it was NINETEEN MILLION dollars that someone else forgot...)

After Axl sued Slash and Duff for the rights to the GnR name, I cant fathom he'd grant "Merck" any ownership rights....

Correct me if I am wrong (I can't be arsed to search for the info) but I believe that at some stage Merck tied up a deal where he either owns, or has part ownership of the publishing rights to GNR's CD recordings.

haha I love that phrase (arsed)...If anyone knows anything about this, I'm very curious...and would def. stand corrected...But I cant imagine how/why that would be the case...

First, I just wanna state that Merck leaving Sanctuary should not have any effect on a CD release...Its irrelevant to the issue: Merck is just the fucking manager...He has no rights/ownership in the material

I think that is where you are misinformed.

How so?

First, I just wanna state that Merck leaving Sanctuary should not have any effect on a CD release...Its irrelevant to the issue: Merck is just the fucking manager...He has no rights/ownership in the material and hence no say in the matter...He doesnt do the marketing: thats the labels job...He is basically a personal assistant: that is all. He gets Axl coffee and helps FACILITATE communication between Axl and the label...He provides a service-he does not CREATE anything...or OWN anything...and therefore, the fact he changed corporate affiliations means jack shit to the release date...Can you see Universal saying "well this Merck creature changed management firms-we'd better hold off on releasing the album we sunk 13 million+ into"....Riiiiiiight

And so while we are on the topic (btw-best comment I've read on these boards was "whats a Merck?")

I am so fucking tired of people OTHER than the band having-allegedly-so much influence over the artistic direction/production...Merck/Paul Hughes/Beta/Del James-why the fuck do these people even matter? Like, I dig that people respect that Beta has apparently "helped" Axl but to be honest, I'm not sold on any of these people, including Beta...In fact, all I know is that they sure as hell werent around when Guns produced the music we love...(Ok Del was a hanger-on from way back and added some inspiration via "Without You" but hey-what have you done for Guns lately Del, other than penning that piece of shit article?...) So while some people sing the praises of Merck/Beta et al I ask: Was Guns better/more productive with or without these people? And, no matter how nice and motherly Beta might be, I think the question is in essence a rhetorical one cause the answer is just too obvious....

Woooow!Ron actually replied to me!Dunno if this is truly him:

''Dear *myname*,

I understand why you're so upset.I really do.I have read some of the topics from various websites and forums and I have at least an idea of how you're feeling.You're not the only one who sends me an e-mail asking for info buta to tell you the truth I dunno myself when the album comes out.All I know is that we won't be able to release it this year,or at least that's what I've heard.The main cause is that we still have to remix the album,choose the suitable album-art-cover,and get ready to shoot a couple of video clips.I am not kidding but I know as much as ya guys know,I don't even know what I'll do tomorrow,I just know that my agents will call me on my mobile phone and they will tell me when and where to meet the rest of the band and what to do.Ya ppl should get off Axl's back.Believe it or not it's not him who's leading the band,we are only doing what our agents are telling us to do.I know it's no consolation but it will have to do.Hope I've made you feel better.

Ron.

P.S.-Thanks.I'm glad you like my new braids ''

THIS GUY ROCKS

THIS IS NOT A BAND: ITS A CORPORATION WITH EMPLOYEES.....And thats not a shot at Ron-He seems like a really great guy...and can you blame him? Me thinks he's earning a bit more these days on the road with Axl...But back to the main point: WHAT actual *BAND* (a group of musicians working together to realize a common artistic vision) functions like this?

"am not kidding but I know as much as ya guys know,I don't even know what I'll do tomorrow,I just know that my agents will call me on my mobile phone and they will tell me when and where to meet the rest of the band and what to do."

I mean, seriously-how can this be considered a band...And I WANT it to be a band...I just can't believe things have devolved to this point....

Regardless of your opinion of it, the article was very well written.

LOL... YEAH MAN, SHE HAD GREAT FUCKING SYNTAX!

I'm tired of hearing every journalist and their mother's take on the new GN'R. It's always the same rhetoric. They relate it to a personal moment with the old GN'R and leave with the "HE'S A PARODY OF HIS FORMER SELF" punchline.

I could write a short novel on things wrong with axl/new GN'R. But he's NOT trying to recapture the old GN'R. Anyone with a bantam interest in the new GN'R would know that.

Simple Solution: Release CD

Remember, it's Metal Sludge:

The site for rednecks who have yet to shave their mullets talking trash from Mommy and Daddy's basement.

No one takes them seriously. It's just a place where the truely pathetic of the music world converge to bitch about who was the greatest, Dokken or Warrant.

I'm against ethnic clensing - except when it comes to Sludge!

But let's get real here.

If they put somethign up that was pro-GNR, opinions would change real quick.

Don't believe me? Is there anything more irrelevant then the 'Talkin' Metal' podcasts? Not that I can see. But they talk about 'Chinese Democracy', so we get every fucking one of them posted here and peopel can't compliment them enough.

I dont think its even debatable that the rest of the band have gag-clauses as contracted members of Guns n Roses; they sure as hell dont have any ownership rights in the band! Which makes them employees of the person who does have ownership rights to the band name: Axl. So Axl is their boss-plain and simple. Now, how to interprete that is another matter all together: is that simply the nature of the biz (Gilby, I believe, was an employee) or is it a demented control thing were the rest of the band has to check with WAR before they say shit in public...If the latter is the case-well, lets just say that doesnt strike me as particuraly "rock n roll."

And I understand how some people are disapointed as Stinson was a member of one of the most interesting and unconvential rock acts of the post-punk era...

But none of this is to defend metal sludge: fuck 'um. Unfortunately, their perception of the band is hard to refute UNTIL WE HAVE AN ALBUM WHERE THEY ARE CREDITED AS MUSICIANS....

You guys do realize you dont have the slightest fucking idea what you are talking about right? I mean really this is all speculation based on nothing. Just thought I would remind you guys of that.

Well yeah, with only clues and no band statements etc out, this is the only way to try and figure out what's going on. Everyone who has contributed to this thread knows they're speculating by piecing together the facts that are before them. It's been a great read too!

I mean, to some extent I think we all have to admit we kind of dig the insanity of it all-its like a weird case study in an advanced psych class....Honestly-has there ever been a stranger, more complex situation in Rock n Roll than the genesis of Chinese Democracy....For me, at least to some extent, its moved beyond the music and into just a fascination with what are the motivations behind the problems with the album and basically, what the fuck makes Axl Rose tick In some ways (and without being too melodramatic) the whole reason why I think we all follow this shit so intensely is because it has so nicely summarizes so many of the weird, fascinating things that are universal to all human beings...just not on such a grand scale...

Mick and Steven make those bands what they are...

Lets just say we'll agree to disagree on this!

LA

Cant say I really blame Del James...I mean, shit-his exposure through GnR in the early 90s gave him every chance to make it as a writer...And um, well its 2006 and a quick scan of the best seller lists doesnt turn up the name "Del James" so wtf else is James gonna do? You and I would both do the same if we were in his position...Not that its a position I really envy, or think is good for GnR, but hey-thats life...

Holy Shit, that's absolutely true, Universal might be saying that you can't just release this album without promotions cause we already spent too much money on it, therefore, wait till '07 so we can do it right. Axl's like, fuck you, I told everyone '06. Universal says sorry buddy, but you spoke too soon. That's very possible.

I hate to tell you, but that's not how it works. Axl isn't talking to Universal.

Universal Canada said they had no knowledge of a GN'R release this year. I think it's pretty obvious what has happened.

Axl has unresolved legal issues stemming from the 2002 cancellation. He cost Clear Channel promotions millions of dollars. They probably gave him an ultimatum: go on tour again so we can recoup losses, or pay us out of pocket for the millions you cost us on the tour.

So they put some leaks on the Internet. They got interest going. Axl reappeared, began promoting a mysterious long-awaited album by saying "this is the year." They went on tour with the hype of the Internet tracks having leaked.

What I find odd - and what I've found odd since earlier this year - is that whenever Axl is probed about the album, he seems ashamed to discuss it. You'd think they're asking him some ultra-personal question about a dead relative or something. He almost gets an attitude with interviewers, like, "Stop asking me this." Such as at the VMAs, when he let out a huge sigh and was like, "Yes, this is the year," and avoided eye contact, and basically made it known that he was done talking about it.

Why, if you're going to release an album, would you go out of your way NOT to promote it? It boggles me.

Even with a surprise release strategy, it doesn't make sense. And people say he's playing the old songs for old fans who aren't aware of new songs - THEN WHY DOESN'T HE INTRODUCE THE NEW SONGS AT LIVE SHOWS? He just starts playing them without saying anything. He doesn't say, "This is a song called BETTER from our new album CHINESE DEMOCRACY, which is coming out this year!"

If he were trying to get people to buy it, this would be perfect opportunity to let OLD fans know that it's coming out this year, and it would help promote it.

He doesn't do any of that. I find that very strange.

I think this has all been planned well in advance, and I don't think we are going to have an album this year.

I did have full optimism up until the end of September, which is when I started to grow worried, because there's no way you can release a major label record with less than - what are we at, now, three weeks? That's insane. No way it's possible.

Axl, despite what you may think, is not in charge of the album's release. Universal is. And they want nothing more than to release it. They released Greatest Hits BECAUSE Axl didn't hand over the album to them for release.

So, we'll see. Three weeks, Axl. If you don't deliver then there are going to be a lot of angry fans on these forums.

I do agree with the idea that Axl does have serious legal issues stemming from the 2002 debacle...And I also agree that it is just really fucking wierd that he does not introduce the new songs at the shows...I mean, jesus christ-even 100% nostalgia acts still introduce new songs at shows...Its the oldest joke in the book, how rock fans cringe when acts like the Stones, after tearing through Jumpin Jack Flash and Satisfaction, say "heres one from our newest album..."

But the question I still want answered is: How the fuck does the Harley Ad tie into all of this? I mean, Harley and Universal had to work together on the Ad...Jarmo and Merck didnt just slap it together after a fisting session....Thats the one thing I really cant figure out...If it werent for that Ad, I'd say yah, its all BS and the tour is just a cash grab for a legally in-debted Axl....Oh and if anyone has a ton of free time, you could prob. check out legal actions pending against Axl using the Freedom of Information Act (maybe?)