What was 2006 like here on the forums?

[sweetness]

I joined right before all of that happened, it was pretty sweet.

[Iron MikeyJ]

I lurked during the early 2000s, when the new band actually started doing things, and even created an account, which I have no idea what it is now. But I didn't get "serious" about forums until 2006, which I joined here and newgnr.com. although I spent most of my time over there until that placed started dying around 2012, that's when I came back here, it's far more active.

[EverythingWasRoses]

It was great. I was still in high-school and was on the forums quite a bit. The leaks were great! Started out slow, little teaser clips. Rumours everywhere. Then these great songs.

I remember being so excited when Axl was going to be on Eddie Trunk. I listened to the live stream until we brought it down. I think that everyone really thought something big was going to happen.

The Hammerstein shows were amazing, I flew from the west coast and caught 3/4 shows. Front row after waiting in line all day on the 17th. The band was so tight and Axl sounded amazing. Still easily the best concert I've ever been to.

Really, I think we need some CD2 leaks to liven things up a bit lol

[Faxl Rows]

I joined chinesedemocracy.com in 2006, good times. Leaks almost all over the place, tons of enthusiasm and excitement, really felt like things were happening.

Next year it'll be a decade ago. Fuck.

[Bono]

I wasn't here in 2006. I was banished to the cesspool that is HTGTH but from my recollection the first half of 2006 was great on all the GnR forums. Fans were positive, Better had leaked, the Hammerstein shows were announced(I went to the 2nd show), and for a moment it really did seem like Axl's version of GnR had a shot and was going to make a decent comeback.

Then the 2nd half of the year it all went to shit and the band was exposed for what they are now. A big clusterfuck of dysfunction, disorganization, empty promises and no follow through. It became very apparent that despite promising to release the album that they had no intention of releasing it and were using the tour to drum up cash. Then Merck's bullshit statement with the X amount of Tuesdays left was an insult to fans as they were just stringing people along with no intention of eleasing the album. They couldn't tell fans no album was coming because they still needed to sell tickets to the shows. Then before you knew it 2006 was gone. Axl released some bullshit letter blaming everyone under the sun except himself for no album and now here we are. It took them almost two full years after 2006 to release the album and since 2006 they have all but treated the fanbase with disregard and contempt.

2006 started off great and deteriorated into disappointment. It's the year when even the most loyal supporters started to throw their hands up in disgust. Me being one of them. So much promise, so much potential and it was all wasted and hrough it all they showed no respect to their fans. Just a "Get on board or fuck off" attitude. It was kinda like the twilight zone really.

When you really think about 2006, it's beyond pathetic that it ended the way it did after such an exciting start.

Edited March 28, 2015 by Bono

[Patience 4 Axl]

I remember the forum was very positive. I was a lurker back then.

Not sure if positive is the right word. HTGTH and Chinese Democracy were positive. Mygnr has always been the most negative GNR forum out there. Not that it's a bad thing though.

I'd replace the word negative with the word honest. Other forums didn't allow criticism, while this place usually welcomed a wide spectrum of fans with differing opinions. That's not a bad thing.

For the most part, the forum did indeed have a positive vibe back in '06, and during the Hammestein shows especially. It had been a long time coming. Obviously everything wasn't perfect. Finck for example, Bumble and his goofy looking guitar, no new album, no Slash, those ridiculous braids, etc., but overall, it was pretty fun.

[bran]

the leaks certainly helped a lot.

[carsonskitz]

It was a great time, probably my most active posting time on the forum...since then I've posted lesser and lesser but I still lurk daily. But yea, good times. 2008 was pretty good also with the album release obviously and the axl chats.

[Axl_morris]

People used to get on at people if they slagged Axl.

The forum was pro Axl

[Lies They Tell]

I remember the forum was very positive. I was a lurker back then.

Not sure if positive is the right word. HTGTH and Chinese Democracy were positive. Mygnr has always been the most negative GNR forum out there. Not that it's a bad thing though.

Only so far as it allows critical opinions, which is the primary reason why this forum grew and maintained versus many of the other boards.

Fans get disappointed; it's an eventuality that can't be avoided. Whether it's GNR, a sports team, or even a loved one, disappointment will always pop up in matters of devotion. It's the flip side of the fandom coin.

The question is whether a forum allows for such disappointment to be voiced and hence exercised or whether it doesn't. For many, remaining a GNR fan has been predicated on working out feelings of disappointment. I myself was extremely disappointed over Axl's response to the band's induction into the Hall of Fame. Thankfully this forum existed where myself and other disappointed fans could share in our frustrations. It helped me move past it. Had this platform note existed, who is to say I wouldn't have written off Axl or the band?

That's why I said: "not that it's a bad thing"

[Dr. Who]

I don't get the Floyd reference to GNR.

CD is just GNR meets Alt Rock. That is kind of bizarre I suppose. It's a simple idea really.

I ''thought'', i.e. past tense. This was before the album dropped. A lot of people at the time thought he would put out albums of a Floydish, Zepplinish, scope. And then we got the thing!!

It was described as Trent Reznor meets Zeppelin as produced by Beck.

[Naupis]

At least we could still hang on to the myth of what CD was at that point. Sadly once everyone heard it and subsequently saw Axl's half assed level of commitment we realized it was all over but the shouting.

Not to mention at this time it become apparent just how much TB had brainwashed Axl and how far gone he was. The realization he was no longer a fully functioning human being was kind of sad for many of us compared to what we had all remembered.

[seagullview]

Sounds like a good time.

How was the media's reaction to the band at the time?

[tentonneskeleton]

Is there a thread or something with the CD demos back in 2006?

[RussTCB]

I was a metric shit-ton more hopeful back then. I saw the first Hammerstein show in person, then saw them later that year in Detroit. In between there was a lot of positive press and a lot of lot of buzz including the leaks being played on radio stations quite a bit.

[dando]

I can remember in 2006 at the gnr shows I was at there was a real buzz that chinese was actually going to happen, didn't feel any hope in 2002 and don't have a good feeling about anything new from 2010 tour onwards.

2006 was great, Axl was bang on form

[DieselDaisy]

For being excited for new gn'r, it was definitely 1999-2002 over 2006 for me. Never really understood the hype for the 2006 era.

[wasted]

2006 live shows were meant to be good and it was the year of Better I think.

By the time CD came out most songs had been used up.

Shacklers and If the World were like pre-release singles. So on release Scraped probably should have been used follows by Sorry, TIL and Prostitute.

[downzy]

The funny thing is, if you told most fans back then that between then and now (2015) that GNR would release one album, most would probably have taken it. Back in 2006, nobody felt too confident that we'd ever see Chinese Democracy.

[Bono]

The funny thing is, if you told most fans back then that between then and now (2015) that GNR would release one album, most would probably have taken it. Back in 2006, nobody felt too confident that we'd ever see Chinese Democracy.

In the begining of 2006 everyone was confident it would come out. They said it was coming out, Better leaked, the Hammerstien shows were announced. It looked to finally be happening. It was about September when the wheels fell off and most started to realize what a joke the whole thing was and that the organization as a whole was lying to and playing the fans for suckers. Touring for a cash grab with no intentions of releasing the album.

Edited March 30, 2015 by Bono

[Seb91]

Sounds like a good time.

How was the media's reaction to the band at the time?

I used to read Classic Rock Magazine at the time and they were really positive Axl and the band. The Hammersmith warmup show for Download got an amazing review. The reviewer finished with something like "and at the end of the day who's going to be playing Velvet Revolver songs in 20 years?" Plus, in 2007 (pretty sure it was then), Chinese Democracy won album of the year based on the leaks.

[J Dog]

The funny thing is, if you told most fans back then that between then and now (2015) that GNR would release one album, most would probably have taken it. Back in 2006, nobody felt too confident that we'd ever see Chinese Democracy.

See, that's kind of how I am. There was seriously a point where I thought CD would never come out, and probably more important to me, Axl would never do anything again like perform live. I for real thought the dude was done. So when he actually toured, and I got to see him, then dropped CD, shit I'm good.

[trqster]

2006 was the year that I discovered this forum and I couldn't have chosen a better time - Axl was back in town in great physical and vocal shape - still remember I was quite amazed after the shitty '01-'02 voice how strong his voice (and rasp) had comeback.

[amacfantasy]

I honestly thought Axl was making Floyd style albums that would set the world alight. What an idiot I was.

Seriously?

An album with ten Estrangeds on it? I was not the only one. In the end we ended up with nothing like that.

I would say CD was every bit as progressive as any Floyd stuff. I like some prog rock (in the usual prog rock band sense) but to me it as a whole sounds kinda of souless and there is no real identity to the songs and the bands as a whole that fit so tightly into that category usually. So an entire GNR album of that i dont think I would like the idea of (again if it was the usual prog rock style).

It's a matter of preference really, I think CD as a whole displays as much scope as any mainstream prog rock album, just in different ways and vibes.

And I hate beating a dead horse but come on guys we all know more now than ever that over those X amount of years Axl worked on more than just those 14 CD tracks, so to really judge Axl you have to wait to get your hands on ALL the material (which we may never). That's my opinion. I'm almost certain there is an album worth of material out there that are Estranged esque songs not counting others, maybe we get each one little by little but they are out there and conceived. I'm pretty sure if you took the absolute best X amount of songs Axl ever created/conceived since 1993 to present and you put them all on one album it would be a masterpiece.

See my problems over the years since CD's release has nothing to do with the music. Nothing on that album has hurt my opinion of Axl's mad genius I think he has. My only problem has been with how Axl has handled everything since 2008 as far as trying to be an music artists the world can take seriously.

Edited April 2, 2015 by amacfantasy

[Rovim]

The funny thing is, if you told most fans back then that between then and now (2015) that GNR would release one album, most would probably have taken it. Back in 2006, nobody felt too confident that we'd ever see Chinese Democracy.

Well I wouldn't say nobody. There were people here that thought it was only a matter of time and it did finally come out 2 years later.

Axl said in 2006 it was "this year". A lot of people were confident it was gonna go down that year.