I kinda miss it when Axl was in hiding

[Georgy Zhukov]

WTF? 2002 Axl looked like a botox-filled Fred Durst wannabe and sounded like Live at the Joint in his best days!!! The band was tight, that's true. But the setlist was shorter, the chemistry wasn't there, they had a bunch of Pitman effects on SCOM and YCBM, plus Brain's YCBM intro sucked. Best thing was Buckethead and Robin Finck. That's it. And they don't have that stage charisma Ron and Ashba have. IMO, the 2006 nuGnR steps all over 2002 GnR.

Yeah, Brain's YCBM intro was weak. Great in the other songs but Frank plays better. 2002 was the Axl and Buckethead show. 2009 to present is GN'R at its best.

[vaida]

Twitter, Moustaches and the Myths that made Chinese Democracy.

..you forgot the leaks. They promised so much.

They should have kept CD in the vault, so it could retain its mythical status.

Edited April 19, 2012 by vaida

[The Macaroni Incident?]

I remember those days. I remember reading that Rolling Stone article from 2000(?) and being intrigued by the mystery of it all. How could Axl Rose, the biggest rock star on the planet, just disappear like that. It sucked as fan, but it made one hell of a mystery. I just pictured Axl spending months in the studio agonizing over one riff or one line of lyrics. I though Axl was Dr. Frankenstein and Chinese Democracy was his monster.

Edited April 19, 2012 by SHoUP

[vaida]

I remember those days. I remember reading that Rolling Stone article from 2000(?) and being intrigued by the mystery of it all. How could Axl Rose, the biggest rock star on the planet, just disappear like that. It sucked as fan, but it made one hell of a mystery. I just pictured Axl spending months in the studio agonizing over one riff or one line of lyrics. I though Axl was Dr. Frankenstein and Chinese Democracy was his monster.

Axl once mentioned the epic collection of songs that made up Pink Floyd's The Wall. I had a vision that Axl was attempting to equl or top The Wall, and release a 2 or 3 CD collection of songs that work only when listended to one after another. The result was 1 CD, individual songs, not one hit single. The album was a major sales disappointment compared to previous albums' to feature Axl Rose. They never bothered to make a video for any of the singles.

[Black Horse]

I miss the days when our heads had created a kind of mythic persona about axl during his silent days before he was on twitter post chinese democracy release. Im so glad i saw the band in 2006.

If he was silent you would probably miss the days when he used to talk and tweet

Exactly.

I remember when people used to complain and say that Axl should grow a beard and when he appeared with the goatee a lot of people complained as well . Who understands these people lol?

[dalsh327]

I remember those days. I remember reading that Rolling Stone article from 2000(?) and being intrigued by the mystery of it all. How could Axl Rose, the biggest rock star on the planet, just disappear like that. It sucked as fan, but it made one hell of a mystery. I just pictured Axl spending months in the studio agonizing over one riff or one line of lyrics. I though Axl was Dr. Frankenstein and Chinese Democracy was his monster.

Axl once mentioned the epic collection of songs that made up Pink Floyd's The Wall. I had a vision that Axl was attempting to equl or top The Wall, and release a 2 or 3 CD collection of songs that work only when listended to one after another. The result was 1 CD, individual songs, not one hit single. The album was a major sales disappointment compared to previous albums' to feature Axl Rose. They never bothered to make a video for any of the singles.

I think the Wall is a bad comparison, because it had a storyline. Plus Roger was the one to say Pink Floyd was over, because he made himself the spokesman for the band. He decided to take his risks as a solo artist, and watch Dave, Nick and Rick play stadiums, while he was struggling to fill arenas.

In hindsight, Axl should have made the late night talk show rounds and done a short tour, but whatever was going on at the time sounds like he was expecting the worst backlash possible and went into hiding.

He could blame the record company and the artwork, but I think he held on to ChiDem for so long, he didn't want to let go of it.

Hope he learned his lesson about master tapes... when you're on a major label, you don't own your songs. Anyone who signed to Island did own their master tapes. U2 had the best deal possible, because Island owed them money, they gave them stake in the company.

The real question is whether or not how well ChiDem stands up now that it's been around for a few years.

[Patience 4 Axl]

it's like a weird vicious cycle. but i do know what the OP means. it was oddly fascinating when axl was silent all those years because we built up all these kind of expectations and ideas and perceived him a certain way. that was a certain era and even the forum was so different then.

i look back on it fondly which is odd because at the time it all seemed so depressing.

I definitely get what you're saying. Especially during the years between '02 and '06, when there was absolutely nothing, aside form a few words by Dizzy or Tommy, and the occassional rumor that Merck would quickly dismiss. When the Hammerstein shows were announced, this place blew up, the excitement of a new tour and the anticipation of a new album, it was a great time to be a fan!

I agree about the forum too. The people who came here day after day with the hope of some sort of news, a sighting, a statement, anything. Those were the real diehards. There was always the usual Slash vs Axl arguments, but it was a lot more respectful, and deep down, no matter which side of the fence you were on, the wait for something to happen and the anticipation surrounding it is what always kept us coming back. I guess for some, the hype didn't live up to the expectations. But they were good times nonetheless.

[liers]

Examples of how axl can never win.

1. a. Gnr Isn't doing enough old songs, they need more illusions songs.

b. Gnr is doing too many old songs, they need to play more cd songs.

2. a. Axl should get rid of the braids.

b. Axl looked better with the braids.

3. a. Axl should wear the bandana more.

b. Axl wears the bandana and hats too much.

And now this, he's out of hiding, and people are complaining.

Maybe axl should get a clone who does the opposite of what he does, so he can please everyone.

[ITW 2012]

Examples of how axl can never win.

1. a. Gnr Isn't doing enough old songs, they need more illusions songs.

b. Gnr is doing too many old songs, they need to play more cd songs.

2. a. Axl should get rid of the braids.

b. Axl looked better with the braids.

3. a. Axl should wear the bandana more.

b. Axl wears the bandana and hats too much.

And now this, he's out of hiding, and people are complaining.

Maybe axl should get a clone who does the opposite of what he does, so he can please everyone.

If Axl was releasing new music people wouldn't pay quite as much attention to that other stuff. All that stuff serves to kill time as we await the unveiling of Chinese Democracy II.

[maynard]

Examples of how axl can never win.

1. a. Gnr Isn't doing enough old songs, they need more illusions songs.

b. Gnr is doing too many old songs, they need to play more cd songs.

2. a. Axl should get rid of the braids.

b. Axl looked better with the braids.

3. a. Axl should wear the bandana more.

b. Axl wears the bandana and hats too much.

And now this, he's out of hiding, and people are complaining.

Maybe axl should get a clone who does the opposite of what he does, so he can please everyone.

If Axl was releasing new music people wouldn't pay quite as much attention to that other stuff. All that stuff serves to kill time as we await the unveiling of Chinese Democracy II.

perfect.

i guess bein over-analyzed is the price for being famous. like it or not.

[God of Thunder]

Be careful what you wish for...When the Euro tour is over and no plans for a follow up album of CD, the dark days may come back sooner than you think..

[Bruno P.]

Be careful what you wish for...When the Euro tour is over and no plans for a follow up album of CD, the dark days may come back sooner than you think..

Hardly. Axl apparently is loving to share the stage with these guys and hopefully they will hit the studio soon.

Anyway, the hiding had its mystic (sp?) side, but the wait sucked a whole lot. Im happy hes out there a bit more. But yea, getting to newgnr and downloading some of the 02-ish performances was something nice. But I obviously love much more the proshots we're getting eventually

[shades]

Proof that Axl cannot win no matter what he does.

quite the opposite really

he just let let the old band members make fools of themselves

and everyone in this forum defending it is no better than the whole system the HOF represents

ok, so the clowns performed

and you got a ring side ticket to watch

everybody happy now

not for one minute did he want to be part of that clown show at the HOF.

There has to be some sense of what you are about, and to not let someone tell you what you are about.

But you cant be told that, you gotta just know it.

Edited April 20, 2012 by shades