Are There People Who Became GNR Fans Cuz of ChiDem?

[machinegunner]

The dramatic story behind CD will continue to make it lure ongoing generations of fans.... nothing can sell it (promote it) better than that. I'm glad Axl didn't bother with trying to push it when it came out (and in fact I predicted that as a strategy) ... it sells itself. Better to have a no-assed publicity blitz or campaign than a half-arsed one, imo.

[downzy]

Probably, and their entire population probably posts here. Probably 40 - 50 people! Not too bad.

Edited April 25, 2013 by downzy

[machinegunner]

Probably, and their entire population probably posts here. Probably 40 - 50 people! Not too bad.

Does that really reflect the reality, though? The band has touched base with a lot of people with the touring since CD was released. They have done the hard work of consolidating their fanbase. Now that fanbase is primed more than since UYIs for a new album.

[downzy]

Probably, and their entire population probably posts here. Probably 40 - 50 people! Not too bad.

Does that really reflect the reality, though? The band has touched base with a lot of people with the touring since CD was released. They have done the hard work of consolidating their fanbase. Now that fanbase is primed more than since UYIs for a new album.

Sorry, I really don't see fans outside of those who post regularly on fan forum sites as waiting with great anticipation for the next GNR album. Casual fans could care less. They want the hits, which is why the live show is based on them and not on new material.

I don't discount Chinese Democracy brought in more fans than had the band not released the album, but how many exactly, I can't see being all that many.

[bran]

I would say yes but CD didn't sell that much and didn't have a 'big' single/video to draw in newbies and casuals. It only shipped, just over a million and I imagine 90% of them were hardcore Gunners. It if shipped five million it would be a different story.

You cannot, as a newbie, discover new music if there is no chance to discover it: CD had no interviews (that is, no magazine coverage), no music promos, no singles, no personal promotion (bands at record signings, touring). Axl simply disappeared when it dropped and consequentially, the album bombed. How were newbies meant to discover Better and Twat if the radios are not playing them, and if, Axl cannot even be bothered to promote his own album?

if this was the 80s and 90s i would agree. today you dont need radio or videos to get into a band or discover them. album sales are irrelevant, total albums shipped is irrelevant. you have full streaming albums available on youtube, you have links of albums everywhere. more new music is discovered on youtube than turning to some shitty new rock radio station.

[TombRaider]

I was a fan of the hits-never listened to the entire AFD album or the others until recently, thanks to joining the site I purchased what albums I could find at my local best buy.

Still needling my way through but am glad I did .

I cannot find ChiDem at my local best buy and prefer to have a CD instead of mp3's and will order that one.

I also do not have the live cd " lies, lies, lies " I think it's called ( forgive me if I'm wrong) or the cover album.

Just have AFD and UYI 1 + 2.

The cover album is very good, imho. And if you're referring to Lies, it has 4 acoustic tracks and 4 "live" songs, which had already been released before Lies came out, in an EP called Live?!*@Like a Suicide.

And I think Lies is a must-have too. But that's just me.

Edited April 25, 2013 by TombRaider

[wasted]

Probably, especially with some fans only getting the chance to see them live bcos of the CD related tours. Seeing people at the shows with KFC buckets was fun.

[DieselDaisy]

None of this transpired into them, actually going into a record store and buying the album though.

Not so sure about that. It was when the grumpy older brothers and sisters whined about "It's not GNR, Slash isn't in it! Slash rules, Axl sux!" etc that the little kids became intrigued. This, coupled with the obligatory thinking that your older siblings are idiots, gave them a chance to dicover something to make their own.

It was THEIR generations' bad-ass album, THEIR afd....Then they made their mum buy it.

I disagree because it bombed. If there were loads of newbies discovering Guns N' Roses based upon that record we would surely have seen much larger sales figures than we did. What was it, circa 200,000 first week sales in the States? 200,000 probably covers the whole of the Guns N' Roses internet community.

Chinese Democracy made me realise how much Axl carried destroyed he band in the nineties.

Corrected.

I was a fan of the hits-never listened to the entire AFD album or the others until recently, thanks to joining the site I purchased what albums I could find at my local best buy.

Still needling my way through but am glad I did .

I cannot find ChiDem at my local best buy and prefer to have a CD instead of mp3's and will order that one.

I also do not have the live cd " lies, lies, lies " I think it's called ( forgive me if I'm wrong) or the cover album.

Just have AFD and UYI 1 + 2.

GN'R Lies is a masterpiece. It is short though, but sweet. Buy it immediately:

The Spaghetti Incident (the covers album) can be dispensed with.

[Street Of The Blues]

I was a casual fan of the old band. But once I heard DJ and BBF play the classic songs.............well, this new band just took all the classic songs to a different level. DJ simply owns Slash in every aspect of the guitar. This current band really does make the old band, who were full of drug addicts and alcoholics, look like grade A rank amatuers.

I'm super glad that the old band split up. Judging from the works of Slash and Duff's solo careers, one can only shudder at what a 1996 album would have sounded like from GnR. The mediocrity and chemical dependencies of Slash/Duff and Sorum would have drug Axl down to embarrassing levels. We are SERIOUSLY lucky as fans to NOT have any music from Axl from the 1993-through-1999 time frame. It all would have been horrible. Especially with the way Slash and Duff bullied poor Axl. They constantly enforced their will on him, causing him to be late to years worth of shows and turning him into an egomaniac prick. All because of they way those two abused him. MAKES me so angry.

Luckily Axl hired an excellent group of musicians to replace the old guys. And that band really created a masterpiece. Unfortunately, the majority of the music world was NOT intelligent enough to understand the complexities of Chinese Democracy. Also, the mainstream media are all biased against Axl Rose. And the label chose to screw Axl by ONLY spending 14 million dollars and waiting over a decade for Axl to finish it. Clearly Axl deserved an 19-million dollar budget and 15 years to complete it. The label was so stupid and biased against Axl.

So the album really never got the credit it deserves. Some people say that the songs just didn't excite people............but we all know that is false. People ONLY dislike the album because Slash is not on it, they are mad the old band broke up, and because they are jealous of Axl. Oh, and because they are too stupid to understand it. And it had no label support.

Luckily times two......Axl got rid of some of the dead weight from that second group. He got rid of the overrated Bucket and just terrible playing Robin, and replaced them with powerhouse BBF and DJ Ashba, who is probably the most talented guitar player on the planet. And not only is he a guitar playing mastermind, but he also designs and sells a top-notch clothing line called Ashba Swag. The man is just an all around legend, delighting us with stories of how much alcohol he can drink and how much ass he has kicked. This guy is pure Rock n Roll bad-ass. (If you don't believe me, just ask him - he'll tell you). Dj also sells cars. And was bullied as a kid. Axl also replaced the drummer.

Around the time that Axl put this true dream super group together, he also made a decision that lifted GnR to heights not yet acheived by any band in history (Or as Gary Busey likes to say, a place 10,000 miles higher than the top of heaven).

SOMEHOW Axl was lucky enough to win the career-lotto of having the most succesful and well known manager in the world choose to work with GnR. She also filled out the management team with her children, who are all no doubt extremely qualified for their positions.

Since snagging the super manager and her family, as well as securing the three latest members of his dream-team..............GnR has continue to rock the heck out of the songs created by the former bands. Playing them at a level that the former bands could only dream of. They have also set trends and reached goals that normal bands can only dream of..........playing for weddings, private shows for fashion designers, putting Axl's face on baseball trading cards along side Kip Winger and the girl from the Cherry Pie video. They have also released a killer concert video and a 3-D blue ray video, as well as several music videos from CD................but unfortunately, all the people out there who are in cahoots against Axl, have prevented those things from being released. Luckily though, being a paid member of the band's fan club has given me a chance to earn a one-size only tour t-shirt from last year, or a beach towel.

The band is excellent live and that is where I believe the majority of current fans have came from. DJ's hulk hogan poses and the way the current band plays all the former band's material...........it is all magical!!!!!!!!!! Again, the common rock fan just isn't sophisticated enough to enjoy the music, and that's why the band attendance numbers aren't that great. But to be honest, Axl could sell out 50,000 seat arenas in the US. He just chooses to play 3,000 seaters instead to give the fans a more personal experience. Slash plays small venues because that's all the tickets he can sell, Axl plays them because he wants to give fans their money's worth. Slash is such a media whore, with all his tweeting and playing the super bowl and winning a grammy and wearing his top hat on stage and releasing new music every couple of years!!!!! He could really learn a thing or two from DJ on how to promote your career without going overboard on the media whoring. Swag up baby!!!!!

We might not hear a new GnR album this year, and all the band members might be confused about when one might happen.......but that is all just part of the Beta and family master plan!!! Trust them, people. Their background in the music industry should calm all your fears and worries. They know what they are doing.

So to answer the question........yes, I'd say that the new band has drawn in millions of fans to the GnR fanbase.

You lost me when you stated that Buckethead was overrated and Axl had gotten rid of him, ha. He brought alot of good to the band, his solo material is great. Maybe his style throws you off but his songs are beautiful and weird all at the same time. So many different influences with a huge catelog that the average person hasn't heard, so..

Edited April 25, 2013 by Street Of The Blues

[TombRaider]

@Groghan: eres un puto crack, macho.

[machinegunner]

Probably, and their entire population probably posts here. Probably 40 - 50 people! Not too bad.

Does that really reflect the reality, though? The band has touched base with a lot of people with the touring since CD was released. They have done the hard work of consolidating their fanbase. Now that fanbase is primed more than since UYIs for a new album.

Sorry, I really don't see fans outside of those who post regularly on fan forum sites as waiting with great anticipation for the next GNR album. Casual fans could care less. They want the hits, which is why the live show is based on them and not on new material.

I don't discount Chinese Democracy brought in more fans than had the band not released the album, but how many exactly, I can't see being all that many.

None of this transpired into them, actually going into a record store and buying the album though.

Not so sure about that. It was when the grumpy older brothers and sisters whined about "It's not GNR, Slash isn't in it! Slash rules, Axl sux!" etc that the little kids became intrigued. This, coupled with the obligatory thinking that your older siblings are idiots, gave them a chance to dicover something to make their own.

It was THEIR generations' bad-ass album, THEIR afd....Then they made their mum buy it.

I disagree because it bombed. If there were loads of newbies discovering Guns N' Roses based upon that record we would surely have seen much larger sales figures than we did. What was it, circa 200,000 first week sales in the States? 200,000 probably covers the whole of the Guns N' Roses internet community.

Has it not sold ...<like Dr.Evil> millions ??

Well whatever the exact figure is, I don't think you can underestimate the potential groundswell effect of Guns N' Roses....

And sure, 'casual' fans might not have anywhere anywhere near as much anticipation, but doesn't mean they won't be drawn in when it matters, as to a magnet when it is close enough. We are just the <0.001% that happens to be inclined to post on messageboards... yes, a very small minority. But the number of dormant 'potentials' just waiting for the chance, is huge, I am conviced... I see it around me all the time.

CD didn't "bomb"... the jury is still out... it is still having an impact....

....it is perhaps 'The GREATEST ALBUM of the last 10years' (see here - http://www.mygnrforum.com/index.php?/topic/198425-what-is-the-greatest-album-of-the-last-10yrs/?p=3403980 )

[jimb0]

If I hadn't gotten into GNR in '89... I highly doubt that CD woulda made me a GNR fan. It's a weak album. Axl's vocals don't compare to his heydays. The music is lacking serious balls most of the album, and the fillers are the worst I've ever heard.

As far as this new band being better than the old band. I believe nothing beats the original but they are very good and put on one fuck of a show. The classic vibe is missing tho, so is the voice.

If people are following GNR cuz of the new band or CD GOOD. Hopefully it means Axl will once again release music... someday.

[Carburetta]

If CD was the first I'd heard of Gn'r I think there's enough there to make me a fan. I think I'd enjoy it more if I didn't have a 15yr history with the band.

[volcano62]

Chinese Democracy made me realise how much Axl carried the band in the nineties. If anything, Chinese Democracy made me love and appreciate Axl even more which I thought was impossible.

[TombRaider]

Now that I'm getting older and I find myself listening to different genres, not just metal and rock, I find it easier to listen to and enjoy Chinese Democracy. Of course, being a fan of Axl´s voice helps too. And not paying so much attention to who´s playing what. But my enjoyment of CD now has a lot to do with me not being such a metal and rock elitist.

[Iron MikeyJ]

My story is a little different, I was too young during gnr's heyday, and was a grown by the time cd finally came. I became a gnr fan during the late 90's, while I was in high school. I was a huge hard rock fan (still am), and like many others I was on my own personal rock history lesson at the time. Aerosmith was the first real rock band that I really got into, get a grip was one of the first cd's I ever bought. From there I went to van halen, acdc, ozzy, Hendrix and then finally Zeppelin. Zeppelin were the band that really blew me away, they were just plain better than the others, they were the realist rock band that I had ever heard. Then my rock history lesson lead me to Appetite for Destruction. I knew about guns n' roses, I knew the hits from the radio. I even have two gnr memories from my youth. My parents had a Trans Am and I remember hearing Paradise City riding in that car sometime in 1988 or 89'. And a few years later I remember seeing November Rain all over mtv when it was new. So I was very much aware of who guns n' roses were, but I wouldn't call myself a fan.

When I was in high school during the late 90's anything from the decade of the 1980's was considered quite cheezy at that time. It was cool to listen to acdc or zeppelin, but bands like van halen were considered lame. I didn't care because Eddie Van Halen was the best guitarist I had ever heard, so I wasn't worried about being an outcast. ANd besides I loved bands like Rage Against the Machine and Tool, who were a couple of the biggest bands at that time. But back to gnr, I finally decided to bite the bullet and see what appetite was all about. I want to say I first heard it around 1996 or 1997, and it blew me away. I listened to that album over and over again, I was hooked!!! Gnr reminded me of everything I liked about zeppelin and aerosmith, but my dad didn't listen to them. They felt more like a band of my generation, not my parents. I then proceeded to get all of their albums, I dove into gnr hard!!!

As we all know, the late 90's was the "dark period" to be a guns fan. Info on anything guns was very few and far between. And when info did come it wasn't good, "slash quits, duff quits, axl's gonna rebuild the band etc." But I was starving for anything guns related, so I bought welcome to the videos, live era, and the end of days soundtrack all on the day of their release. And when I first heard OMG, I actually really liked it, so did some of my friends. I was ok that it wasn't "appetite" sounding, because at that time nothing was "appetite" sounding. Rock music was very industrial sounding at that time. SO I was ok with Axl trying to go in that direction with gnr, it made sense to me. I actually thought it was wise to try and bring in new fans, I didn't think about how this direction would piss off the old fans, but that's a different topic.

Slowly the whole Chinese Democracy saga began. I sat and waited patiently, reading articles about it in magazines and what not. It seemed like it was coming every year. But eventually 2000 turned into 2008. By now I am in my mid 20's. I had waited through the 2006 tour and all the leaks. I was shocked the album didn't come in 2006. Anyways when CD finally came in 2008 I was super pumped. I bought it the day it came out, along with the vinyl version (which is awesome btw and is the way I listen to it the most to this day). The two songs that appealed to me the most then and even to this day are sorry and this I love. Even though I enjoy most of the songs on it, those two songs made the album worth the wait to me. They reminded me why I liked gnr to begin with, so I personally felt Axl had achieved his goal, make a great record that sounds like a guns record. I don't view it as a solo album at all, its a guns record to me, and has some amazing guitar work on it. I would actually go so far as to say it is the best guitar album of the entire decade of the 2000's.

Now that some time has passed I appreciate that album for what it is, and that's Axl's natural sequal to Use your Illusions. And very much like the Illusion albums it has its good, ok, and bad songs. The good IMO are better, shacklers, Twat (Estranged part 2), Catcher, Sorry, and This I love (NR part 2). The ok songs are Cd, sod, maddy, and prostitute. The bad songs are if the world (even though buckets solo is freaking awesome and one of the best on the whole album. But this song sounds like a weak version of D'yer Ma'ker), riad (bad version of Immigrant Song), Scraped (way over produced) and IRS (boring lyrics). I love the album, I feel that it is on par with the Illusion records, but I feel that the Illusions are slightly better. mainly because CD is missing a true rocker in the vain of ycbm or rocket queen. So for me its 1. Appetite 2. UYI 1 3. UYI 2 4. CD 5. Lies 6. TSI Even though I prefer the older albums, I am satisfied as a fan because I feel that it ranks up there with the previous releases. I view it as a successful album by todays standards. Like I have said in other posts I feel that it is a far superior album than anything done by Meatallica, Van Halen, AcDc or any other of guns contempories during the same time frame. Sure maybe other bands have released more albums, but of far lesser quality imo.

As a fan I am hoping for and expecting two more newgnr albums. Chinese Democracy part 2 with Ashba and Bumble solos on it, and eventually a true Ashba and Bumble album. I am expecting CD 2 with in the next year hopefully, and hopefully a completely new album with in the next 5 years. Axl could and should be able to do this. At this point I am sick of the whole "it's not the old band" complaints. I loved the old band, and nothing would make me happier than seeing them together one more time, but that's not my decision to make. I am just happy that one of my favorite musicians of all time (Axl) is still preforming, working on new music, and keeping me entertained as a fan. If I can eventually get the two more newgnr albums I think that would make for a respectable amount of out put for Axl's career 5 classic band albums, 3 new band albums, 1 live album, 1 greatest hits.

[TombRaider]

Great post.

[useyorappetite]

Honestly? In 2008, did you then start listening 2 back catalog? How did ur interest progress?

I think from 2007 or so I first started hearing about ChiDem (apart from reading some article circa the VMAs in 2002 lambasting Axl and his band). I played Guitar Hero II and really liked Jordan, so I checked out Buckethead on Wikipedia, and saw he was in Guns N' Roses. I only knew it as the band with Slash (who I liked) and that Axl guy (who I didn't really like). I had 5 GNR songs on my iPod at the time, WTTJ, LALD, KOHD, SCOM and November Rain (which was, and still is, one of my favourite songs ever). So I read a bit about the story, found it interesting, and then forgot about it.

Then in September 2008, I was reading a review for Rock Band 2 on the Xplay site, and they said they hated the ChiDem track (Shackler's) on that game. So I checked it out on YouTube, thought it was batshit insane, but kinda dug the outro. Then started reading about ChiDem again, and then a few weeks before the release ChiDem was streaming on the band's MySpace page.

Madagascar was the song that really blew me away at first. I loved the horns intro, and Axl sounded like an old black female singer, not what I was expecting (I didn't like how high-pitched he was on the old stuff, and still prefer his lower voice on stuff like ChiDem and Sympathy). I checked out Sorry after reading Bach's description of it as a "doom metal" track (again on Wiki); not a doom metal fan, but thankfully for me it was nothing of the sort, and I really liked it, though I found the lyrics a little cheesy. Then I went through the album. The title track seemed like half a song to me, missing something, but now I love it. Better I couldn't get into at all at first, and thought one of the solos (the tappy one) was too short, but now I love it. Street of Dreams I didn't like and still don't like, it sounds to me like a poor man's November Rain. If the World I really dug at first, so different, listen to it less than now but still like it. TWAT I just couldn't get into for ages. Now it's one of my favourite songs of all time. Catcher, my feelings haven't really changed. The song is way too busy at the beginning, and should be building up/crescendo to the ending, but I still like it (think I've always preferred BBF's solo, too). Scraped, I like the lyrics. Riad, I couldn't get into, though a student at the school I was teaching at at the time said it was the only track he liked, weird. I.R.S., I love, though the rhythm guitar is overbearing on the track for me, and I liked the prominent synths on the demo which I checked out (though I still prefer the album version for a lot of the other guitar bits). This I Love, I just found so cheesy at first, but then I found its sincerity touching and I love it now. Prostitute grew on me over time, absolutely love it now.

Bought a copy of ChiDem off eBay (need to buy a new copy, the Prostitute track skips in one bit, was waiting for alternate artwork release, oh well), then when I was in London for Xmas I bought AFD, Lies, and the UYIs. I remember playing AFD, WTTJ being familiar to me (first time I'd really heard it was a couple of years back in an ad for San Andreas), but when Nightrain came on, I was like, "Where has this song been all my life?!" Same with hearing Estranged when playing UYI II for the first time. Got Spaghetti Incident a few months later, underrated album. Refuse to buy Live Era, though, the overdubbed vocals kill it for me.

So yeah, ChiDem got me into GNR. For a while, Axl could do no wrong in my eyes, but recently I've been a disheartened and seen where he is to blame, etc. I still think the media is way too biased against him. I remember at the Geneva gig I went to, doors opened at 7pm, opener came on at 8:30, finished at 9:40 or so, and Axl came on at 10:30. The paper the next day said he was 3 and half hours late??!! I've checked out Velvet Revolver again, but can't get into them beyond Slither and a couple of other tracks. Checked out Slash's solo albums, think I prefer the first, I like both, but I still prefer ChiDem to them all.

I think it comes down to 2 things: 1) The myth definitely got me intrigued and contributes to understanding what the album is about, and 2) it's the only album I know that combines classic rock that I love with the kind of epic film score-type music that I also love (wasn't surprised to see Axl say in a chat that he listens to a lot of film scores, it shows).

Having seen GNR 12 times since listening to ChiDem, I think it's safe to say the album made me a fan

Hey another person who loves Madagascar and TIL! These songs don't get enough love. You have good taste sir.

I'm a new fan but i listened to albums in order. Took me awhile to get into CD besides madagascar, TIL and TWAT that I loved from the beginning. I became a fan mostly because of axl though. I'm a singer person and also I think he was very charismatic back me in the day. Crazy people fascinate me i guess.

[Black Roses]

My friend.

I like some songs on CD but i'm a fan because of NR and Jungle.

[TombRaider]

I became a fan after hearing the SCOM solo, like millions of fans I guess, and the Paradise City chorus.

Edited April 25, 2013 by TombRaider

[useyorappetite]

The first time i heard SCOM even though the solo was great i just thought that's one of the most annoying voices i've ever heard and didn't check out to the rest of their songs.

I became a fan after watching don't cry video on youtube. love that song.

[Iron MikeyJ]

The first time i heard SCOM even though the solo was great i just thought that's one of the most annoying voices i've ever heard and didn't check out to the rest of their songs.

I became a fan after watching don't cry video on youtube. love that song.

So you must be a newbie? Which is fine welcome aboard. I just find it amusing when I hear someone became a fan after watching a music video on youtube. I had to watch that shit on VHS!!! So I guess guns is still bringing in new fans, so Axl must be doing something right.

Great post.

Thank You!!

[TombRaider]

The first time i heard SCOM even though the solo was great i just thought that's one of the most annoying voices i've ever heard and didn't check out to the rest of their songs.

I became a fan after watching don't cry video on youtube. love that song.

So you must be a newbie? Which is fine welcome aboard. I just find it amusing when I hear someone became a fan after watching a music video on youtube. I had to watch that shit on VHS!!! So I guess guns is still bringing in new fans, so Axl must be doing something right.

>Great post.

Thank You!!

You're welcome.

[moreblack]

bolded parts are true

can't argue with that math

[Apollo]

I was a casual fan of the old band. But once I heard DJ and BBF play the classic songs.............well, this new band just took all the classic songs to a different level. DJ simply owns Slash in every aspect of the guitar. This current band really does make the old band, who were full of drug addicts and alcoholics, look like grade A rank amatuers.

I'm super glad that the old band split up. Judging from the works of Slash and Duff's solo careers, one can only shudder at what a 1996 album would have sounded like from GnR. The mediocrity and chemical dependencies of Slash/Duff and Sorum would have drug Axl down to embarrassing levels. We are SERIOUSLY lucky as fans to NOT have any music from Axl from the 1993-through-1999 time frame. It all would have been horrible. Especially with the way Slash and Duff bullied poor Axl. They constantly enforced their will on him, causing him to be late to years worth of shows and turning him into an egomaniac prick. All because of they way those two abused him. MAKES me so angry.

Luckily Axl hired an excellent group of musicians to replace the old guys. And that band really created a masterpiece. Unfortunately, the majority of the music world was NOT intelligent enough to understand the complexities of Chinese Democracy. Also, the mainstream media are all biased against Axl Rose. And the label chose to screw Axl by ONLY spending 14 million dollars and waiting over a decade for Axl to finish it. Clearly Axl deserved an 19-million dollar budget and 15 years to complete it. The label was so stupid and biased against Axl.

So the album really never got the credit it deserves. Some people say that the songs just didn't excite people............but we all know that is false. People ONLY dislike the album because Slash is not on it, they are mad the old band broke up, and because they are jealous of Axl. Oh, and because they are too stupid to understand it. And it had no label support.

Luckily times two......Axl got rid of some of the dead weight from that second group. He got rid of the overrated Bucket and just terrible playing Robin, and replaced them with powerhouse BBF and DJ Ashba, who is probably the most talented guitar player on the planet. And not only is he a guitar playing mastermind, but he also designs and sells a top-notch clothing line called Ashba Swag. The man is just an all around legend, delighting us with stories of how much alcohol he can drink and how much ass he has kicked. This guy is pure Rock n Roll bad-ass. (If you don't believe me, just ask him - he'll tell you). Dj also sells cars. And was bullied as a kid. Axl also replaced the drummer.

Around the time that Axl put this true dream super group together, he also made a decision that lifted GnR to heights not yet acheived by any band in history (Or as Gary Busey likes to say, a place 10,000 miles higher than the top of heaven).

SOMEHOW Axl was lucky enough to win the career-lotto of having the most succesful and well known manager in the world choose to work with GnR. She also filled out the management team with her children, who are all no doubt extremely qualified for their positions.

Since snagging the super manager and her family, as well as securing the three latest members of his dream-team..............GnR has continue to rock the heck out of the songs created by the former bands. Playing them at a level that the former bands could only dream of. They have also set trends and reached goals that normal bands can only dream of..........playing for weddings, private shows for fashion designers, putting Axl's face on baseball trading cards along side Kip Winger and the girl from the Cherry Pie video. They have also released a killer concert video and a 3-D blue ray video, as well as several music videos from CD................but unfortunately, all the people out there who are in cahoots against Axl, have prevented those things from being released. Luckily though, being a paid member of the band's fan club has given me a chance to earn a one-size only tour t-shirt from last year, or a beach towel.

The band is excellent live and that is where I believe the majority of current fans have came from. DJ's hulk hogan poses and the way the current band plays all the former band's material...........it is all magical!!!!!!!!!! Again, the common rock fan just isn't sophisticated enough to enjoy the music, and that's why the band attendance numbers aren't that great. But to be honest, Axl could sell out 50,000 seat arenas in the US. He just chooses to play 3,000 seaters instead to give the fans a more personal experience. Slash plays small venues because that's all the tickets he can sell, Axl plays them because he wants to give fans their money's worth. Slash is such a media whore, with all his tweeting and playing the super bowl and winning a grammy and wearing his top hat on stage and releasing new music every couple of years!!!!! He could really learn a thing or two from DJ on how to promote your career without going overboard on the media whoring. Swag up baby!!!!!

We might not hear a new GnR album this year, and all the band members might be confused about when one might happen.......but that is all just part of the Beta and family master plan!!! Trust them, people. Their background in the music industry should calm all your fears and worries. They know what they are doing.

So to answer the question........yes, I'd say that the new band has drawn in millions of fans to the GnR fanbase.

bolded parts are true

LOL.........you are being sarcastic, right?

What part of the track record of recordings from Axl/Duff/Slash and Izzy would lead you to believe their next album would have sucked? Lies? Illusions? Appetite?

And I hate to burst your conspiracy bubble, but the entire world's media isn't out to get Axl. That continues to be one of the most ridiculous things that GnR fans cling to. You guys never stop and think that maybe......just maybe.........people don't like the music Axl has produced post the classic line-up. It can NEVER be that. If a critic gives a poor review, it is ONLY because they can't get past Slash leaving the band. It is so ridiculous that at times I can't tell if people are just saying that to be sarcastic or if they really truly believe it.