DUFF MCKAGAN Says AXL ROSE Has Come Up With 'Some Magnificent Stuff' For New GUNS N' ROSES Album

[DTV88]

18 hours ago, Gordon Comstock said:

An album of only CD-era tracks would be ideal. Save all the NITL ideas until there's enough for their own album, I don't really want 1 or 2 NITL tracks sprinkled in among 10-12 CD-era tracks.

I get what you're saying, but the Illusions were essentially a collection of old and new songs. If Slash and Duff completely replace all of Stinson, Bucket, etc, I would expect the album to sound cohesive if that makes sense.

[dontdamnmeuyi2015]

Yeah;, just read this on blabbermouth.net.

Honestly, I believe Duff because he's the most honest one of the band. Also saying how GNR don't talk about stuff all that much and work on their own time. That part is super true.

So both Slash and Duff have talked about Axl working on new songs. I hope this is true and it doesn't take another 20 years to release new songs.

I think whatever GNR come up with is going to be magic once more!

[dontdamnmeuyi2015]

Guys! Let's have a little faith. Nothing is going to sound like the GNR songs from the 80's an 90's, but it'll still have the GNR sound, I believe it.

Time will tell like it always does.

This is honestly the first news in years that can actually be true.

[Tom-Ass]

19 hours ago, gunsguy said:

The ones concerned about "left overs" Lets all remember that a lot of Use Your Illusion was "left overs" from many years before it.

Leftovers from  Guns N' Roses that were written by the real Guns N Roses... Not Axl's solo band.. Big difference there.. CD was terrible.. Having Slash and Duff playing on the songs live didn't make them any better either... Zero interest in an album that is pro dominantly "Chinese leftovers"..  The term Chinese Leftovers is also a joke.. It sounds so dumb...

[Tom-Ass]

19 hours ago, GNRfan2008 said:

 

Ian Astbury with Slash/Izzy/Duff/Steven...that would kick ass. 

I would take almost singer any to get that band back together.

[Stoymatic]

Just curios why everyone assumes Axl's new stuff to be Chinese related music?

If he is playing with his "old" band members, wouldn't he want to do music that relates to old GnR?

If Slash wasn't into creating Chinese type material back then, why would he want to now? Has he made anything similar to Chinese Democracy music?

Why couldn't the band be working on GnR type music, not Chinese Democracy music?

 

Just some thoughts I had and they could be wrong. I will take ANY style of new Guns music!!! 

[DK6]

42 minutes ago, Stoymatic said:

Just curios why everyone assumes Axl's new stuff to be Chinese related music?

If he is playing with his "old" band members, wouldn't he want to do music that relates to old GnR?

If Slash wasn't into creating Chinese type material back then, why would he want to now? Has he made anything similar to Chinese Democracy music?

Why couldn't the band be working on GnR type music, not Chinese Democracy music?

 

Just some thoughts I had and they could be wrong. I will take ANY style of new Guns music!!! 

I agree. There's no reason to think that every song Axl has is from the chinese democracy era. 

He's a genius so he would always be creating music.

Just because you're not releasing music doesn't mean you're not writing any.

Would love slash and duff to work on anything axl has got going.

[GNRfan2008]

1 hour ago, Tom-Ass said:

I would take almost singer any to get that band back together.

 

Not Myles in the upper register. So annoying. Nasally as hell. If they could get Myles to stay with his more natural voice it would be great!

[RussTCB]

1 hour ago, Stoymatic said:

Just curios why everyone assumes Axl's new stuff to be Chinese related music?

If he is playing with his "old" band members, wouldn't he want to do music that relates to old GnR?

If Slash wasn't into creating Chinese type material back then, why would he want to now? Has he made anything similar to Chinese Democracy music?

Why couldn't the band be working on GnR type music, not Chinese Democracy music?

 

Just some thoughts I had and they could be wrong. I will take ANY style of new Guns music!!! 

Sure, Slash WAS against the Chinese material but he has no problem playing it now. 

[janrichmond]

3 minutes ago, RussTCB said:

Sure, Slash WAS against the Chinese material but he has no problem playing it now. 

I guess the shit ton of money he's getting must ease the burden for him 

[GnR Chris]

On 2/22/2019 at 5:31 PM, Georgina Arriaga said:

I don't get it....why is cool and fun not know what to do next?

For fucks sake Duff...

My take on that is, they haven't set hard deadlines or discussed concrete details as in "these are the songs that will be on the record" and "we're looking at a September release." I think that's what Duff probably means by that. Mystery to it. Not transparent in this social media world. If that assumption is correct, then one must also assume they are sending ideas back and forth and sharing them with each other. Inception stages. Who knows? 

[novemberparadise23]

Certainly wouldn’t be against best of the Chinese leftovers and any “new” new stuff that they come up with lol as much new stuff as we can get! 

[RussTCB]

1 hour ago, janrichmond said:

I guess the shit ton of money he's getting must ease the burden for him 

Yep and that'll be his approach to the new album too. 

2 hours ago, DK6 said:

I agree. There's no reason to think that every song Axl has is from the chinese democracy era. 

He's a genius so he would always be creating music.

Just because you're not releasing music doesn't mean you're not writing any.

Would love slash and duff to work on anything axl has got going.

I think it'll all be Chinese era music because that's what Axl has said for the last 17 years. 

[GNRfan2008]

1 hour ago, Creed said:

Axls post 93 voice is too high and annoying as well. 

 

His live voice sucks for sure. I think he can do better in the studio than Myles with that higher voice. I'd take Axl's vocals on CD over anything Myles has done in the studio with Slash, other than when Myles goes into the lower registers (he's great there...wish he would stay there). 

[Chester 524]

On 2/22/2019 at 7:29 PM, Gibson_Guy87 said:

Soul Monster

Thyme (Tyme?)

Seven

Checkmate/Jackie Chan

The General

Atlas Shrugged

 

That'd be a pretty killer track list, plus whatever Axl has that we don't know about

totall agree.  they can even add OLD stuff like corn shocker, ain't goin down, tastes good dont it and you have an album that can be made real quick. 

 

and let's not forget the obligatory song "the seeker" lol

[jekylhyde]

[DeadSlash]

On 2/22/2019 at 6:54 PM, RussTCB said:

Not sure how songs we haven't heard aren't original material. 

This.

+ with only having seen working titles, we'll have no idea if they were new or old songs.

++ If you don't want "big guns" like "The General" finished with Duff and Slash, how are you even a fan?  Why in the world would you want to deprive yourself or the world from that?

+++ It wouldn't be all that different from Don't Cry, or November Rain "leftovers" from the AFD days did that make them garbage?

++++ Axl wrote Estranged and then Had Slash the guitar part, kind of EXACTLY what would happen with the "Big guns" from CDII.  Was Estranged garbage?

+++++ The pre-release bitching is that an album "will blow because they aren't young and will sing about raising kids and milk of magnesia. ... But also we fucking hate it if it was written a few years ago when they were still fucking." 

 

Fuck me.  Just fucking be happy, crazy ass GnR fans.

[OmarBradley]

 

On 2/22/2019 at 6:33 PM, Silent Jay said:

Who wants Newnew ?

Living the Dream was the worst album Slash ever done and Duff just released a song so terrible it makes me wonder if I appreciate So Fine.

The Slash album was a surprise. He went several steps backwards and I agree it's probably his worst post-GNR release. And yeah that Duff song made me lol a bit. But Slash is capable of writing interesting things recently(ish). Only after the GNR tour and the massive paycheck has his material diminished in quality. Are the two related? Hard to say. We just don't know enough about what these individual actors' motives are to do anything more than speculate. I suppose that's what forums are for, but if GNR wasn't so damn cryptic and quiet the fans wouldn't resort to circular discussions about the same several topics.

On 2/22/2019 at 7:29 PM, Gibson_Guy87 said:

Soul Monster

Thyme (Tyme?)

Seven

Checkmate/Jackie Chan

The General

Atlas Shrugged

That'd be a pretty killer track list, plus whatever Axl has that we don't know about

Aside from a 15 second clip of Jackie Chan (which I actually liked a lot!), have we actually heard any of this stuff? Why would this be a killer track list?

8 hours ago, Gordon Comstock said:

Fair enough lol. But, we know there's at least one finished album of material sitting in the vault - throw Slash and Duff on it and there's 1 new album without a ton of work. It's not impossible to think they'd keep 3-4 CD songs, work on some new songs and record a few covers for a final NITL record (AKA, not CD 2).

Do we? I've heard rumors, is there evidence of this? I remember Bach said something about three albums, but I don't recall anything else. It's quite possible I missed this as I didn't follow the CD saga too closely. But if he has a finished album sitting in the vault, why isn't it released?

I'm not a professional musician, but I've been involved in some semi professional things and I know people in the industry (not rockstars, just regular musicians). It's just not common to record and compile finished albums without releasing them, to then just sit on them for a decade(s). Axl may have 50 demo WAVs sitting in his studio, but that doesn't = a finished album. We don't know how many songs are finished, how many Axl feels are ready, how many a producer feels are ready, how many are actual full arrangements vs. how many are an amalgamation of parts, how many are stylistically appropriate for Slash/Duff, etc. We don't even really know what kind of record Axl wants to make. He did CD and maybe he got that out of his system? Or maybe he didn't? We have no idea. Those among us expecting CD 2.0 may be disappointed. Like all people, Axl has changed over time. 

That being said, GNR is often an anomaly, so for all I know there are literally 3 sealed records sitting in his closet that sound exactly like CD.

But personally, I think there is far less completed and organized material in Axl's studio than the fanbase has been led to believe. And if there were genuinely 3 albums worth of songs to choose from for CD, that's not terribly reassuring that the material that didn't make CD is that great. Because while a lot of CD is very good, a lot of it is just fine too. Hardcore fans may love the album and every note on it, but that sentiment is not reflected outside of these communities. I'd also be concerned if the reason for CD omitting the majority of what Axl worked on was "the material isn't ready yet." That attitude is so counter-productive to writing. That is the attitude that leads to overproduction, long gaps between releases, and releases that are lackluster. Not saying CD is bad, but is it the masterpiece Axl wanted it to be? No, not to anyone aside from a handful of people on GNR forums.

Another major point to consider: the audience for a GNR album has shifted with the reunion. Releasing something CDesque right now would likely be met with criticism, aside from hardcore and/or staunchly pro-NuGNR communities. In 2008, hardcore fans cared about CD, but there wasn't significant public interest in the album. But now, Slash is back, Duff is back, and they just completed one of the longest and most profitable tours in history. GNR has a lot more attention on it in 2019 that it did in 2008.

50 minutes ago, DeadSlash said:

This.

+ with only having seen working titles, we'll have no idea if they were new or old songs.

++ If you don't want "big guns" like "The General" finished with Duff and Slash, how are you even a fan?  Why in the world would you want to deprive yourself or the world from that?

+++ It wouldn't be all that different from Don't Cry, or November Rain "leftovers" from the AFD days did that make them garbage?

++++ Axl wrote Estranged and then Had Slash the guitar part, kind of EXACTLY what would happen with the "Big guns" from CDII.  Was Estranged garbage?

+++++ The pre-release bitching is that an album "will blow because they aren't young and will sing about raising kids and milk of magnesia. ... But also we fucking hate it if it was written a few years ago when they were still fucking." 

Fuck me.  Just fucking be happy, crazy ass GnR fans.

Have we heard The General? All I remember about that song is it's supposedly about Tommy Stinson? I don't even know if that's correct. 

I think this old songs vs. new songs debate here is missing one major item: Izzy. I don't think GNR will ever sound like classic GNR without Izzy. Slash's and Duff's presence will help, and while you can hear traces of GNR on Slash's records, it was the combination of these guys that made that sound in the late 80s/early 90s. 

And we talked a bit about this in another thread, but Axl songs (NR, Estranged, Catcher, Prostitute, TIL) are almost always going to sound like Axl songs. It's the non-ballads and the rockers that significantly differ between AFD/UYI and CD. And while those Axl songs are good, the meat of GNR (to me at least) are the quick rockers and the lengthier guitar-based tracks like Locomotive, Breakdown, Don't Damn Me, Back off Bitch, etc..

I'd be interested in hearing Slash's take on the CD stuff, but I'd prefer Axl wipe the slate clean and write carte blanche.

_____

I have a specific question. To what degree is Axl involved in the writing of music? We know he has some basic proficiency on guitar and he's a solid pianist. But did he come up with the guitar/bass parts and leading melodies on CD? Did he tell Bucket, "Hey, play something that sounds like <insert something here>"? Does he just show up with a set of lyrics and give the musicians a general direction? 

There's a lot of talk about "Axl's working on things" and "Axl has material that needs work," but what is he literally doing? Is he setting up SM57s and ribbon mics and recording demo guitar parts? Is he playing with graphic EQ VST plugins? Is he cutting audio files to move Verse B before the Bridge and then doubling the length of Chorus C? 

Do we know what the writing process is for him/Guns circa 1996 - 2015?

Edited February 24, 2019 by OmarBradley

[Gordon Comstock]

@OmarBradley here is the quote from Axl about the other album being done:

"We recorded a lot of things before Chinese was out. We’ve worked more on some of those things and we’ve written a few new things. But basically, we have what I call kind of the second half of Chinese. That’s already recorded. And then we have a remix album made of the songs from Chinese. That’s been done for a while, too."

I know he only says "That's already recorded" but he says the remix album is "done too" which I assume means the CD2 album is basically "done" (mixed/mastered/etc). And that was in 2014.

 

As far as The General there's a terrible quality cellphone recording of it being played at an after-party, and there's a fan-made 'remix' based on that. But we've never really heard the actual song.

Edited February 24, 2019 by Gordon Comstock

[DeadSlash]

We haven't heard the General, but it's supposed to one of the "big guns."  

My point wasn't that "hey we've heard these songs and they are good, I want them on the new album."  My point is that NR, and Estranged were labors of love that Axl turned over to Slash for the finishing touches, and they were EPIC.  There is literally no difference between the process of creating Estranged and Slash and Duff adding their touch to any other "Big gun" that Axl wrote independently from the rest of the band post breakup.  My secondary point was that DC and NR were also both old songs.  We have literal GnR history demonstrating to us that Duff and Slash working on the CDII songs could be absolutely killer.

[Sanomatovic]

Was any Guns album ever made of NEWnew stuff? I swear every single album was always OLDnew stuff, cant see why it would be different now

[megaguns1982]

I don’t care what it is, as long as it music I haven’t heard before and not remixed stuff...... oh and it has to sound good.

[RussTCB]

This is going to end the same way the Chinese release did:

Open minded fans will give it a chance and probably like / love it. 

Fans who are still REALLY mad that it's not still 1987 are going to complain a ton.

[Sydney Fan]

"But did he come up with the guitar/bass parts and leading melodies on CD? Did he tell Bucket, "Hey, play something that sounds like "? Does he just show up with a set of lyrics and give the musicians a general direction? "

If a axl coukd do this we would have gotten the album from the 94 to 96 sessions. To the answer the question , no. Axl is no frank zappa. 

Edited February 24, 2019 by Sydney Fan

[Live Like a Suicide]

1 hour ago, RussTCB said:

Fans who are still REALLY mad that it's not still 1987 are going to complain a ton.

Even if Steven and Izzy were involved, and the new album was effectively Appetite For Destruction II, those people would still find something to bitch about. I can hear it now. "Axl doesn't sound like he used to;" "Slash noodles too much;" "Where's a song with Izzy on lead vocals?" Etc, etc.