Conspiracy against GNR in the music business

[volcano62]

Ok lets see here...

AC/DC Black Ice

Promoted to the point it was shoved down our throats

Metallica Death Magnetic

Decent promotion, TDTNC pushed hard as a single

Foo Fighters Wasting Light

Already has two singles over played on main stream radio

Van Halen A Different Kind Of Truth

If I hear Tattoo one more time i'll fuckin' stab the first person I see

Bruce Springsteen Wrecking Ball

I love the new single "We Take Care of Our Own" but 15 times a day on main stream radio? come the fuck on

My point is why was CD put on the back burner? The album IMO is 1000000 times better than all the albums I mentioned.

Did Axl piss off the man that much to deserve this shit?

[Nick85]

To play devil's advocate, all of said artists were there to heavily promote those albums, even Eddie Van Halen, who's a known recluse. I think Axl's disappearing act was one of the most damning factors in CD's lack of promotion and slow sales.

Edited February 1, 2012 by sofine11

[axlsalinger]

I could be wrong, but I still believe that things could have been different with CD if Axl had shown more interest in promoting it. I mean, he said during that chats that a Better video would be out "in a week or so", something like that, so obviously it had been filmed and edited, but it never came out. They really should have pushed that as a single, cause it should have gotten a lot more airplay than it did.

All water under the bridge now, though. If GNR releases a catchy single on iTunes tomorrow, and does some promotion for it, I truly believe it would get a shitload of hype and airplay, which would continue right through the HOF, Eurotour and beyond.

[Mastodonny]

It was all part of Axl's self fulfilling prophecy.

[CoolRanchDressing]

I think it has to do with Axl achieving such heights early in his career. Sour grapes all around. The music industry is full of people who wished they could have any small fraction of the talent Axl has. So they set out to bring him down and slander him. There are also people who once got to work with Axl, but got the boot and got bitter.

[James Bond]

I suppose Axl disappearing for two months after the release didn't help, but I do think the lack of support from the label was a huge factor in the lack of promotion. I'm willing to bet if Axl reunited with Slash and Duff and did an album with the same label they'd be all over promoting it. At the end of the day it's all about money and it seems the label was just not that enthused about promoting what is perceived as Axl's album especially after all the years and money put into it. They were just interested in recouping those costs. The Best Buy deal secured their money and they ran with it. There was probably no drive from the label to put extra money into a promotional campaign since they happily made their money back off the deal and probably weren't ready to spend any more on the album.

That's what I gather from all I've read over the last couple years here.

[spunko12345]

Consistency was the key. All those other artists had been active in releasing music, touring and engaging with the music industry for years before. GNR for all intents and purposes dissapeared for a number of years and suddenly came back with unknown musicians when people knew GNR as ALL the members.

To be fair most people were scratching their heads, and it must have been very hard to market the band to their readers/listners. Guns N Roses are back, but hang on a second no theyre not because wheres that guy with the hair and the hat, what the fuck is this. In the end it seemed like they didnt bother to try and understand it. The music isnt that great either, if it was then it would have flown anyway regardless of promotions. Old guys not there? So what if the music is good enough music stands on its own two feet, Sadly this was not the case.

[moreblack]

Van Halen A Different Kind Of Truth

If I hear Tattoo one more time i'll fuckin' stab the first person I see

LOL, if it's a Van Halen fan, you won't get that arm back...

[Guest RonMexico82]

Because unlike Axl, those artists haven't made a habit out of burning every bridge in the music industry coupled with Axl refusing to promote it and the material having few memorable hooks to warrant a second listen. There is no conspiracy, only a lack of interest in an artist that has a reputation for being difficult and litigious.

[Nosaj Thing]

Axl doesn't want to promote shit. It's his way of doing things. Nobody is conspiring against the man or his band... I think?

Edited February 1, 2012 by pi2loc

[Georgy Zhukov]

The label could have promoted it when Axl played Houdini.

[WhazUp]

All of the albums and singles mentioned in the OP were all heavily promoted by the artists. For example, for the new VH single there has been a music video, Roth releasing a video talking about the lyrics, etc.

[Guest NewGNRnOldGNR]

The recent tour efforts behind Chinese sort of remind me of a father that wasn't there for the kid in the beginning, for whatever reasons. Missed opportunities and so on.

[AGS]

The documents Axl n their team presented vs Azoff coverer this if im not wrong

(cant find them :/)

[sweetness]

All of the bands you listed are largely still intact, it really isn't that hard to understand why the rock world didn't get all that excited about a band who's only original member is the lead singer. Of course hardcore Guns N' Roses fans were all over it, but outside of that demographic few people gave a shit, and its really as simple as that. Why did you guys want it to be such a critically acclaimed success anyway? It did good enough considering the circumstances...

Edited February 1, 2012 by sweetness

[ITW 2012]

The industry wants a reunion because there is way more money to be made off of it. Chinese Democracy was a dud track that should have never even been given single consideration in the first place though. However, it did get a lot of airplay.

Edited February 1, 2012 by ITW 2012

[Coma16]

It's not up to the artist to get airtime on the radio. Most radio stations have been instructed not to play CD tracks. Just call in and request SOD or Better Shady business....

[Guest NewGNRnOldGNR]

There are those who dispel the conspiracy as apologism for Axl's disinterest, but the fact is, it's a literal happening.

Axl didn't move because the label were unsupportive in terms of producing a viable promoting scheme for the album.

Figures like Iovine were sent into sabotage Axl's kid while masquerading as sympathisers, then the label take the attitude "Well release Axl's album because we know it to be decreased in stature through our employees, make no effort to support our artist's album and let the response demoralise him into accepting the mills and playing with Slash".

[Iras]

Axl doesn't want to promote shit. It's his way of doing things. Nobody is conspiring against the man or his band... I think?

Agree + label did not belived they could recoupy costs as ChD looks to be mediocre album

Some people here think it's great because they listen to it everyday but world is much bigger

I know a lot of people who gave it a try & didn't like it - just as simple as that

And to be honest judging by sales numbers it looks like most ex-gnr fans don't like it

After all great records always sell no matter what, even without promotion

[Kaneda]

It wasn't a conspiracy - which implies some secret plan to sack Axl. Many of you have pointed to a few factors, but ultimately, as a marketer, I still believe the way the music was delivered lacked any real punch. Best Buy's promotion was laughable. The free stream on MySpace seemed like an outdated approach on a has-been channel. No music videos. No integration with a major film. No TV spots. Nothing wrapped the music. And these songs, delivered naked were just not enough in a world where marketing matters.

Deep down inside, I also feel that there was no true radio single - no anthem song with a simple easy hook for people to get into. We all love the tracks, but most people wanted just another Jungle or Sweet Child after all this time. Axl delivered an album for the real fans, and I'm happy with that and I think he is too.

[prettytiedup88]

As much as I enjoy CD (I'm a firm believer played loud through quality headphones/speakers makes it sound much more impressive) its far from a mainstream rock album. It's sounds and influences are dated, complex production and a pretty big leap away from the sounds of afd/uyi meant it didn't entice casual rock listeners. For all it's quality it's actually a very niche sounding album compared to what is currently selling big volume in the rock genre.

As important as promotion and well crafted marketing campaigns are, the product has to have mass appeal to sell real volume and dominate airwaves, CD just doesn't have a mass appeal sound. If they had made 'Better' less industrial sounding and more stripped back rock n roll I would have made for a killer lead single.

[Kaneda]

As much as I enjoy CD (I'm a firm believer played loud through quality headphones/speakers makes it sound much more impressive) its far from a mainstream rock album. It's sounds and influences are dated, complex production and a pretty big leap away from the sounds of afd/uyi meant it didn't entice casual rock listeners. For all it's quality it's actually a very niche sounding album compared to what is currently selling big volume in the rock genre.

As important as promotion and well crafted marketing campaigns are, the product has to have mass appeal to sell real volume and dominate airwaves, CD just doesn't have a mass appeal sound. If they had made 'Better' less industrial sounding and more stripped back rock n roll I would have made for a killer lead single.

I couldn't agree more. I always tell people, mainstream music makes GUYS and GALS want to sing along. Better starts nice and poppy, but I can't see any girl singing "NOW I KNOW YOU BETTER, NOW WE ALL KNOW BETTER!!!!"

[Naupis]

All of the bands you listed are largely still intact, it really isn't that hard to understand why the rock world didn't get all that excited about a band who's only original member is the lead singer. Of course hardcore Guns N' Roses fans were all over it, but outside of that demographic few people gave a shit, and its really as simple as that. Why did you guys want it to be such a critically acclaimed success anyway? It did good enough considering the circumstances...

Thank you for the dose of sanity to this thread.

Sadly many on this board are oblivious to the idea that Axl doesn't get the legacy treatment those other bands do because those other bands are largely still comprised of those who made them the legacy band they became.

To pretend that GNR's situation isn't different than those, and that the fact Axl is the only remaining member of the band doesn't make a difference in their treatment compared to those others is just incredible naivete.

[Janabis]

Axl definitely wasn't the victim in all this. The label wasted millions of dollars so Axl could jerk off for 10 years, all to produce a mediocre album which Axl had no interest in promoting. The label got raped hard in that deal, while Axl got millions of dollars to produce an hour's worth of music. Good for him.

[bumblecool]

mediocre