Nothing new under the sun

[SoulMonster]

I intended to post these quotes in a thread some days back, but it is closed now so here they are in a new thread:

"It's no easy job being a Guns N' Roses fan."

"Even though new Guns N' Roses music is said to be finished, however, some fans are wondering if they'll ever get to hear it."

"With the kind of helter-skelter track record Guns N' Roses has laid down, why do fans even bother following the band anymore?"

- The Milwaukee Journal, May 19, 1991 - months prior to the release of Use Your Illusion I & II

[SlashisGOD]

Shit, if they thought it was tough to be a fan then, how the hell does it feel now?

[gavgnr]

Ha! Nothing changes in the world of guns!

[SoulMonster]

Shit, if they thought it was tough to be a fan then, how the hell does it feel now?

It feels better today than in 1990. I guess I have just become desensitized.

[IncitingChaos]

They waited 4 years for a record to be released and thought that took a long time? It was a 17 year wait between creative records after that!

When Axl sees us begging for music he knows this is how it's always been so he's in no rush.

[SoulMonster]

They waited 4 years for a record to be released and thought that took a long time? It was a 17 year wait between creative records after that!

The wait after GNR Lies took a long time because we EXPECTED a new album sooner and because we - or I - were kids and our whole lives were about music.

After The Spaghetti Incident!? the expectations just weren't the same, at least not for us who had been around for a time and saw the writing on the wall. Personally I was just happy we got the Illusions.

[IncitingChaos]

They waited 4 years for a record to be released and thought that took a long time? It was a 17 year wait between creative records after that!

The wait after GNR Lies took a long time because we EXPECTED a new album sooner and because we - or I - were kids and our whole lives were about music.

After The Spaghetti Incident!? the expectations just weren't the same, at least not for us who had been around for a time and saw the writing on the wall. Personally I was just happy we got the Illusions.

Ok even so the classic guns fell apart in 97 when Slash left. So that was a 6 year wait between 91-97. Then let's reset the clock for Chinese Denocracy Era. It took 10 years from 98-08 to replace the band and make an album. Probably Guns N Roses most anticipated album ever. We expected that album to be out in 2002, 2004, 2006, and finally got it in 2008.

I know you said people expected illusions to come out sooner, and I know you aren't a kid anymore, but didn't we expect Chinese Democracy to come out much sooner?

[Brunzopolis]

Great find.

It's hard for me, when thinking about this, to filter between what are legitmate changes that have occured in the music industry between then and now and my own corrupted memories + the "get off my lawn" factor.

But, it seems like, in the music biz back then, time intervals were different. Much more happened in a shorter amount of time? Things came and went quicker? Trends were more pronounced and frequent? Maybe people expect less now?

[SoulMonster]

They waited 4 years for a record to be released and thought that took a long time? It was a 17 year wait between creative records after that!

The wait after GNR Lies took a long time because we EXPECTED a new album sooner and because we - or I - were kids and our whole lives were about music.

After The Spaghetti Incident!? the expectations just weren't the same, at least not for us who had been around for a time and saw the writing on the wall. Personally I was just happy we got the Illusions.

Ok even so the classic guns fell apart in 97 when Slash left. So that was a 6 year wait between 91-97. Then let's reset the clock for Chinese Denocracy Era. It took 10 years from 98-08 to replace the band and make an album. Probably Guns N Roses most anticipated album ever. We expected that album to be out in 2002, 2004, 2006, and finally got it in 2008.

I know you said people expected illusions to come out sooner, and I know you aren't a kid anymore, but didn't we expect Chinese Democracy to come out much sooner?

I can only speak for myself, but I didn't expect anything in regards to Chinese Democracy. I thought GN'R was dead and buried when Slash left. It was mildly interesting when Axl continued with the band, but I never really expected much. I just weren't in on the hype. I thought there would be new music, eventually, but I both knew it would take a long time before that happened and personally I simply wasn't as interested anymore as I had been before the release of the Illusions. I guess I adjusted my expectations when I saw how hopeless Axl was when it came to releasing music (and I knew it wouldn't be better when no other band members would function as mitigating partners) and at the same time I grew older and stopped caring that much about the trivialities of a rock band and its music.

[SoulMonster]

Great find.

It's hard for me, when thinking about this, to filter between what are legitmate changes that have occured in the music industry between then and now and my own corrupted memories + the "get off my lawn" factor.

But, it seems like, in the music biz back then, time intervals were different. Much more happened in a shorter amount of time? Things came and went quicker? Trends were more pronounced and frequent? Maybe people expect less now?

It seems to me like that, too, but I don't know if it really is like that or, as you say, that it is just my corrupted memories. I believe that for an up-and-coming rock and roll band like GN'R in the early 90s, everyone expected a new record at the least every 4 years. They were lean and young and the world was at their feet. I don't know if it is the same today, I have a feeling it isn't.

[IncitingChaos]

They waited 4 years for a record to be released and thought that took a long time? It was a 17 year wait between creative records after that!

The wait after GNR Lies took a long time because we EXPECTED a new album sooner and because we - or I - were kids and our whole lives were about music.

After The Spaghetti Incident!? the expectations just weren't the same, at least not for us who had been around for a time and saw the writing on the wall. Personally I was just happy we got the Illusions.

Ok even so the classic guns fell apart in 97 when Slash left. So that was a 6 year wait between 91-97. Then let's reset the clock for Chinese Denocracy Era. It took 10 years from 98-08 to replace the band and make an album. Probably Guns N Roses most anticipated album ever. We expected that album to be out in 2002, 2004, 2006, and finally got it in 2008.

I know you said people expected illusions to come out sooner, and I know you aren't a kid anymore, but didn't we expect Chinese Democracy to come out much sooner?

I can only speak for myself, but I didn't expect anything in regards to Chinese Democracy. I thought GN'R was dead and buried when Slash left. It was mildly interesting when Axl continued with the band, but I never really expected much. I just weren't in on the hype. I thought there would be new music, eventually, but I both knew it would take a long time before that happened and personally I simply wasn't as interested anymore as I had been before the release of the Illusions. I guess I adjusted my expectations when I saw how hopeless Axl was when it came to releasing music (and I knew it wouldn't be better when no other band members would function as mitigating partners) and at the same time I grew older and stopped caring that much about the trivialities of a rock band and its music.

Oh. Gotcha. I could see how it could get old. Your one of the few I would think that didn't really care about Axl and what the new band would bring.

The loss of Slash was a pivotal moment for the band. It would have been the same way if they lost Axl too I guess.

I see how expectations could differ though.

[SoulMonster]

Expectations is a funny concept. The way you expect something and the intensity of the expectations changes with your age. As a kid completely immersed in music and with Appetite as the soundtrack to my life, I simply longed for the Illusions. I can't passionately wait for music with that intensity anymore - I have changed too much. But GN'R has changed, too. This isn't a hungry band anymore with everything to prove. Axl isn't the same guy, he has become old too, with, presumably, other things occupying his life. The band members aren't living together, jamming all the time. So while I can't muster the same level of expectations I used to have, at the same time I shouldn't because GN'R will probably never deliver on those expectations. I am not saying this is how it is with all bands, although decreased productivity is a trend wit older bands, but it certainly seems to be the case with an Axl-controlled GN'R. Lastly, the industry has changed. Modern artists release their music differently now - they always find a way to get it out to their fans. GN'R seems to demand to operate like an old-school band in regards to label, market channels, etc. The industry has simply evolved a bit away from GN'R. So your expectations should reflect all of this, I think.

Anyway, this was a little bit off-topic. I just posted those quotes in the OP because it was amusing how we criticise GN'R for the exact same things today as we did 23 years ago. I guess if there is anything we can safely expect it is that we will always be disappointed

[Padme]

I intended to post these quotes in a thread some days back, but it is closed now so here they are in a new thread:

"It's no easy job being a Guns N' Roses fan."

"Even though new Guns N' Roses music is said to be finished, however, some fans are wondering if they'll ever get to hear it."

"With the kind of helter-skelter track record Guns N' Roses has laid down, why do fans even bother following the band anymore?"

- The Milwaukee Journal, May 19, 1991 - months prior to the release of Use Your Illusion I & II

Those guys at the Journal back then clearly didn´t have a clue. How come they didn´t know about RIR II? The band played songs from the UYI album there. I bet fans had bootlegs form those shows. Besides the band was playing a few warm up shows in the U.S. I don´t think it was the same as today.

[Crash Diet]

Interesting quote esp. when you look at the date
Btw the UYI tour started earlier so the fans hear a LOT of new songs before the albums came out so it's a bit odd statement

[SoulMonster]

Interesting quote esp. when you look at the date

Btw the UYI tour started earlier so the fans hear a LOT of new songs before the albums came out so it's a bit odd statement

Some fans heard live versions of the songs. I suppose that quote is about whether all fans would ever hear studio versions of those songs. And the quote expressed a general sentiment that had been among some fans for some time at that time, preceding the debut of new material in RIR. All the way out in bumfuck Farsund, Norway, I certainly was afraid I would never hear the music (except, I guess, on bootlegs that would eventually find its way to me if they ever ended up in my one and only local music store, 'cause, y'know, Internet wasn't around back then for sharing bootlegs and I did buy bootlegs in the store).

Edited May 7, 2014 by SoulMonster

[Crash Diet]

Interesting quote esp. when you look at the date

Btw the UYI tour started earlier so the fans hear a LOT of new songs before the albums came out so it's a bit odd statement

Some fans heard live versions of the songs. I suppose that quote is about whether all fans would ever hear studio versions of those songs. And the quote expressed a general sentiment that had been among some fans for some time at that time, preceding the debut of new material in RIR. All the way out in bumfuck Farsund, Norway, I certainly was afraid I would never hear the music (except, I guess, on bootlegs that would eventually find its way to me if they ever ended up in my one and only local music store, 'cause, y'know, Internet wasn't around back then for sharing bootlegs and I did buy bootlegs in the store).

The general GNR audience really did afraid if they ever hear a new record from the band?

I don't know that, interesting

Anyway history prove that "little" 4 years is nothing compared to the CD clusterfuck waiting

[SoulMonster]

Interesting quote esp. when you look at the date

Btw the UYI tour started earlier so the fans hear a LOT of new songs before the albums came out so it's a bit odd statement

Some fans heard live versions of the songs. I suppose that quote is about whether all fans would ever hear studio versions of those songs. And the quote expressed a general sentiment that had been among some fans for some time at that time, preceding the debut of new material in RIR. All the way out in bumfuck Farsund, Norway, I certainly was afraid I would never hear the music (except, I guess, on bootlegs that would eventually find its way to me if they ever ended up in my one and only local music store, 'cause, y'know, Internet wasn't around back then for sharing bootlegs and I did buy bootlegs in the store).

The general GNR audience really did afraid if they ever hear a new record from the band?

I don't know that, interesting

Anyway history prove that "little" 4 years is nothing compared to the CD clusterfuck waiting

I can again only speak for myself, and I certainly dreaded the outcome that the band would collapse before the release of the Illusions. This could just be me wanting the music so much and therefore similarly fearing so much that I wouldn't ever have it. GN'R was a highly volatile band back then which was always, apparently, on the verge of falling apart - and this was exaggerated in articles by the music press which I devoured regularly. And as a youngster I didn't handle the wait very well But the quote above confirms I wasn't alone with my fears. There probably was a large fraction of the GN'R fan community who anxiously heard all the rumours about OD's, band members quitting, band members threatening to quit, and so on, and feared the Illusions would never see the light of day.

[- antem]

Interesting quote. It's like how Socrates said:

“Our youth now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for their elders and love chatter in place of exercise; they no longer rise when elders enter the room; they contradict their parents, chatter before company; gobble up their food and tyrannize their teachers.”

It really shows that some things never change!

[GUNNER PT]

Nice quotes...

Also, in those days, everybody talked shit about Axl's voice ...

Nothing new ...