How do we think Axl feels about CD?

[bucketfoot]

I'd imagine he's very proud of it and rightly so.

[Jw224]

I'd like to thank everyone for their contributions to this thread. I was honestly thinking it would just be filled with people saying they hate CD and arguing. A lot of good discussion going on here. 

[RussTCB]

4 hours ago, Wagszilla said:

 

It should've been 12 songs tops and needed a little more work.

But I like Unbreakable, Break of Dawn, You Rock My World, 2000 Watts, Cry, Whatever Happens, and Threatened.

Michael was on the decline of his career but still a handful of really good songs.

 

Not to derail, but I love Butterflies and Speechless as well. 

[wasted]

I still think for Axl he didn't miss much in terms of getting his material out. We got less GNR albums in that 96-2008 but I think we got what Axl would have finished in that period. 

99 album from Old Guns would have had This I Love and Catcher

2000 album would have The Blues and Madagascar

2004 would have If the World and There was a Time

2008 - Sorry and Prostitute

If Elf Guns were writing and recording I doubt Axl would have finished all of them by 2000. 

The albums would be filled out by Izzy solo songs and Slash material, Duff songs. 

So I don't think we missed out on much Axl material. 

Edited July 6, 2017 by wasted

[The Cosmic Ted]

I think it's a very personal album for him.

Edited July 6, 2017 by The Cosmic Ted

[Jw224]

8 hours ago, RussTCB said:

Not to derail, but I love Butterflies and Speechless as well. 

Honestly it's not that bad of an album. I just think it's pretty crap compared to his previous stuff or even unreleased stuff from the same period. 

[J Dog]

Just the fact that he still wants CD songs in a live set with Slash n Duff in a semi-reunion speaks volumes as to how he feels about it.

[Sosso]

17 minutes ago, J Dog said:

Just the fact that he still wants CD songs in a live set with Slash n Duff in a semi-reunion speaks volumes as to how he feels about it.

And how they (Slash and Duff) feel about it. 

[bucketfoot]

1 hour ago, The Cosmic Ted said:

I think it's a very personal album for him.

Definitely this. It'll probably mean the most to him for a number of reasons.

[J Dog]

50 minutes ago, Sosso said:

And how they (Slash and Duff) feel about it. 

True. I've said since the tour started last year, the fact they've been cool with playing them gives me the best feeling that there's a small chance they will do something together (new album) in the future. It kinda says a lot that they're willing to play them.

[Sunset Gardner]

I think he regrets it, I think he learned the hard way how special guns n roses really was and that you can't just hire employees and call it a band and you can't just hire people to write with and for you and get gnr level songs.  It's not how it works no matter what the lawyers tell you.  

i think CD is the document of axl's lost wilderness years.  it's a lost  record that was layered to death in the hope that each layer might hide the fact the songs were patch-jobs written by a hired group of musicians that had zero chemistry. You can't buy chemistry, you can't buy lightning in a bottle.  

I think axl and Team Yes will spend the rest of their days trying to legitimize axl's solo record as a gnr record, axl will insist on doing CD songs live forcing everyone in attendance including the band to watch him masterbate.

every time axl walks on stage and sees and hears the crowd that have turned out for three gnr members he knows the price of his ego, the price of poor management and the price of a prime lost to a solo album that back-fired immediately.  

for the record no one is rooting harder than I am for axl to get it together, make a new record/chapter and reclaim his place at the head of the class with the best front men of all time.

[Zurimor]

He should be proud of it, it's what he always wanted to do and his idea what Guns N' Roses should sound like. He's most probably not a fan of all the time it took, but still, it's his work and definitely the most personal GN'R album.

I'm sure in some decades when time moved on and it became a legendary album (well, it already is in some way ) he'll be very proud of it.

 

Edited July 6, 2017 by Zurimor

[effectfreak]

What really amazes me is that Axl thought that making a sort of comeback with 'Oh My God' was an good idea. I think it's an interesting song but not an anykind of hit song by anymeans. Did he really thought that fans of that kind of, more indie music, would be into Gnr song at Arnold movie, or did he thought that he could transfer that sound to mainstream? He might haved had chance if similar album had come out around same time...

[Sosso]

7 minutes ago, effectfreak said:

What really amazes me is that Axl thought that making a sort of comeback with 'Oh My God' was an good idea. I think it's an interesting song but not an anykind of hit song by anymeans. Did he really thought that fans of that kind of, more indie music, would be into Gnr song at Arnold movie, or did he thought that he could transfer that sound to mainstream? He might haved had chance if similar album had come out around same time...

That song was on the album because of Arnold. Axl said that the song was still a demo 

[BangoSkank]

I think he's generally proud of it, not pleased with all of the bullshit he endured during the process of getting it out (and yes, not all of it was his fault).

He's a perfectionist when it comes to recording so I'd bet he hears it and thinks that there are small tweaks he would add here & there. 

I say this with the idea, though, that he may have wanted something totally different in his head initially than what came out. Pretty sure it was in one of the chats here that he said, "Honestly, the fact that this version of the album came out at all is a miracle" - something along those lines.

[Tadsy]

I went to see nuguns version 27 in March 2014 for one reason, and one reason only! To see Axl. Up until that point, is never seen any version of GNR live. 

i know my point of view on this topic is probably in the minority, but  I couldn't care less for any of the line ups post Slash n Duff departing and returning. That whole 20 years is just a big stain on the history of the band, and a massive missed opportunity for the band. 

Finck, ashba, the idiot with the kfc bucket on his head, fortus, Emo girl, frank, and all the other dudes who have come and gone in between 1996-2015 are lost in a haze for me and I've never considered them anything else but Axl's yes men. 

CD doesn't do much for me, it's listensble when slash plays, but overall I'm not a fan, Axl can say what he likes about what means most to him (presumably CD songs) but for the majority of the fans that stuff doesn't stack up because of the personnel on the album. 

This post isn't intended to spit on CD, I personlly just think that if you stripped it back, took the layers off and added duff n slash back in, with sorum it Adler... Wait... Yep, you'd have your GNR record again. 

The other problem with that record, I'm not sure there was a hit song on there, certainly not twhat was actually released, maybe stripped back with slash on lead we get a different version and there is one, but for commercial success, you need a radio song, at least one! 

Anyway, I'm not as harsh on cd as I used to be, but what was released on that album is junk imo, what you get live on this tour is far better for obvious reasons! 

Edited July 6, 2017 by Tadsy

[bucketfoot]

11 hours ago, Sunset Gardner said:

Team Yes

[ludurigan]

On 7/5/2017 at 4:18 AM, mikeman5150 said:

I agree with you for the most part. For the time VR was good, but you're right, not in the same league as GNR. I'm just sayin that I think Axl probably has some regret about not involving slash and co because it could've been so much bigger. Like W-A-R said in this thread, it would've had a more raw sound. Concert tickets would've been selling better than they are now and it could've started a whole other chapter in the GNR storybook. They were still in their 40's then, much like Aerosmith did in the mid 90's I think guns could've regained their crown. Obviously people are still stoked about this reunion, I know I am, but I still believe they waited way too long to do it.

I like to think if the reunion and an Axl + Slash Chinese democracy happened in 05', we'd be talking about guns new tour featuring tracks off their 10th album. Ok that last part is just my own personal happy ending. I need to go to bed because I'm sounding like a crazy person. Peace!

yeah, of course they should have never broken up and of course they should have reunited much earlier -- like when Izzy came back in 1993 to replace Gilby, that would be nice timing. then i am sure we would be talking about that 10th album!

[wasted]

It just comes down to Slash and Izzy not really wanting to be in GNR anymore. They didn't want to work together and collab or keep working on Axl's songs (which became a big part of Guns). They wanted more freedom to do things their way. 

[Sunset Gardner]

38 minutes ago, bucketfoot said:

amazing.  Love it.  

[ludurigan]

On 7/5/2017 at 7:38 PM, RONIN said:

November Rain brought them a huge mainstream audience. It's the most watched rock video on youtube and possibly the most watched song on youtube pre-2000. That's a huge accomplishment and testament to the popularity of those infamous ballads.

sweet child and patience (and even knocking on heavens door, that was in a Tom Cruise blockbuster movie Days of Thunder) brought them a huge mainstream audience long before november rain and whatever they did later.

huge

anyone will tell you that sweet child o mine and patience (and, again, even knocking on heavens door) were among the most played songs on radio on the late 80s and 1990 (when GNR wasnt really doing much). believe me, it is very likely that every human being on the planet was exposed at least once to those songs durinng the 1988-1991 period.

These songs actrated pretty much very same audience that fell in love with November Rain much later.

Of course a zillions of kids who were too young in 1988-1991 only discovered GNR later and obviously NR (the song, the video) must have a huge impact on these people that discovered GNR post-illusions

that doesnnt change the fact that GNR was the biggest band in the world before the illusions were released.

Just check this shit in Brazil, pre-internet, seven months before the illusions were released

 

[wasted]

Not sure, Paradise city and sweet child really made them as big as Iron Maiden. Nov rain, Don't Cry, You could be mine really made my suburban homies get on board. Not to mention Patience. This double talkin jive made them big. Doing 90s Alt record was a similar move. NIN fans could now get into Guns. I am from the future. 

[Jw224]

On 05/07/2017 at 4:33 AM, ludurigan said:

thats a terrific question and it would be priceless to have axl say whatever it is that he believes and feels about that album

there is an interesting point in your question: Do you think he has regrets spending so much of his life on the one album

if I had to guess, id say that axl actually didnt spend all that effort and all those years on the album. he probably sat on it for most of the time without doing much -- or nothing at all. one day he woke up and noticed all those years (and all that money etc) had gone by...

I definitely think if he has any regrets it will be with the time it took rather than what the album became. Wanting to release it and knowing Forces outside of his control were keeping it from doing so must've been annoying. 

[ludurigan]

48 minutes ago, Jw224 said:

I definitely think if he has any regrets it will be with the time it took rather than what the album became. Wanting to release it and knowing Forces outside of his control were keeping it from doing so must've been annoying. 

 

i dont buy the "forces outside of his control" story for one minute. i believe this talk is basically axl bullshiting us like he has done quite a few times basically. in 1996 he was the biggest rock singer since forever, forget about kurt cobain, forget about all the nu-metal crap that ruled mtv at the time. and even after alienating all the GNR people who created GNR music with him, he was given all the money and all the creative control do exactly what he pleased. i dont think there has ever been any other singer in rock n roll music that was given so much creative freedom, money and time to do exactly as he pleased.

[bucketfoot]

12 hours ago, ludurigan said:

 

i dont buy the "forces outside of his control" story for one minute. i believe this talk is basically axl bullshiting us like he has done quite a few times basically. in 1996 he was the biggest rock singer since forever, forget about kurt cobain, forget about all the nu-metal crap that ruled mtv at the time. and even after alienating all the GNR people who created GNR music with him, he was given all the money and all the creative control do exactly what he pleased. i dont think there has ever been any other singer in rock n roll music that was given so much creative freedom, money and time to do exactly as he pleased.

Agree with this. The only person responsible for the album being delayed is Axl himself, he was massively indulged by the record company.