Duff Interview with EW - Says New Music is "In the Pipeline"

[Edward Nygma]

All sounds great. Just hope Guns doesn't take to long to release the music. They have tortured us long enough in that regard.  

[todreamofwolves]

21 minutes ago, Rovim said:

CD's biggest issue is that it wasn't released in 2002, at least commercially speaking.

One might argue that its biggest issue was that it didn't contain many, if any, good songs.

[Rovim]

7 minutes ago, todreamofwolves said:

One might argue that its biggest issue was that it didn't contain many, if any, good songs.

Good one. Well... can't argue about taste I suppose. To each their own.

[rocknroll41]

48 minutes ago, Rovim said:

CD's biggest issue is that it wasn't released in 2002, at least commercially speaking. I'm a firm believer that it doesn't matter how you get the job done as long as the task is completed and Axl has said musically Chinese was exactly the album he wanted to create and release.

Also I don't think Axl is feeling actual pressure releasing an album in a timely manner, he seems to care more about making sure it's a great album.

Generally speaking, dates and deadlines do have value for creativity as you say, but Axl works in Axl time the "it's ready when I feel like it's ready" approach seems to be the course of action.

Seems to me the only way to speed things up is if everything goes well aka it all comes together, the band chemistry in the studio leads to a positive Axl reaction and they take it to the finish line. I think you can't just set a date to finish a Guns album, you have to throw everything you got at it until it shapes up to be the kind of album Axl will be content to release.

I used to think ChiDem should have come out in 2002 and, while you’re right that the album’s release would’ve been more commercially successful that way, I don’t think it would have been appreciated as much in the long run.

Think about it! Had it come out in 2002; the title track would’ve still sounded like a techno song instead of a rock song, Shackler’s and Better and Sorry (arguably the most popular songs) wouldn’t have existed at all (Mick Wall confirmed this), TWAT wouldve been missing the epic buckethead solo (as seen from the 2002 demo that leaked recently), Catcher would’ve been missing the nice bumble solo at the end, and IRS would’ve been missing that essential rhythm guitar track from bumble that helped to really “string” the song together.

i suppose the other side of that coin is that we would’ve had an all-around superior version of The Blues, as well as Brian May’s kickass “solo” (made from fragments) in the middle section of Catcher.

With that all being said, I think there’s a fair argument to be made in that they should’ve maybe pushed harder to have the album out in 2006, or even 2007. That alone probably could’ve made a lot of difference for the album’s initial reception. But that’s life. At least SOME backlash was inevitable, and I think Axl and everyone else involved knew this from the get-go.

[Rovim]

15 minutes ago, rocknroll41 said:

I used to think ChiDem should have come out in 2002 and, while you’re right that the album’s release would’ve been more commercially successful that way, I don’t think it would have been appreciated as much in the long run.

Think about it! Had it come out in 2002; the title track would’ve still sounded like a techno song instead of a rock song, Shackler’s and Better and Sorry (arguably the most popular songs) wouldn’t have existed at all (Mick Wall confirmed this), TWAT wouldve been missing the epic buckethead solo (as seen from the 2002 demo that leaked recently), Catcher would’ve been missing the nice bumble solo at the end, and IRS would’ve been missing that essential rhythm guitar track from bumble that helped to really “string” the song together.

i suppose the other side of that coin is that we would’ve had an all-around superior version of The Blues, as well as Brian May’s kickass “solo” (made from fragments) in the middle section of Catcher.

With that all being said, I think there’s a fair argument to be made in that they should’ve maybe pushed harder to have the album out in 2006, or even 2007. That alone probably could’ve made a lot of difference for the album’s initial reception. But that’s life. At least SOME backlash was inevitable, and I think Axl and everyone else involved knew this from the get-go.

Oh I totally love most of the changes that were made to Chinese, Bucket's Twat outro is a shining example of that. I get the advantage of delaying it to 2008, I just think it would have sold a few millions more had it been released in 2002 is all.

I like both versions of Catcher but I prefer the Brian May one. I personally feel the offical studio version of the blues with the orchestration and Bumble's guitars is the best of the bunch. The only demo I prefer to the final studio versions is Catcher so I guess it worked out fine for me. Not a popular opinion, but I think Bumble added another dimension to the record like his Chinese Democracy the song fretless or his tapping on Shackler's Revenge so I would have missed out on those additions if they released it in 2006. Maybe after Bumble finished recording in 2007 it would have been better but perhaps shit other than music delayed it to 2008.

Also I wonder what year it was that Robin convinced Axl to include This I Love on Chinese cause that tune contains one of my favorite solos ever. In every bad there is good.

Edited June 14, 2019 by Rovim

[Gordon Comstock]

4 hours ago, Gnrcane said:

MAYBE 1 brand new song if we are lucky.  Mostly, I'd expect Chinese leftovers with reworked guitars and bass by Slash and Duff.  There's no chance we're getting an entire Album (or even half an album) of brand new, from scratch creations.

I think covers are way more likely than brand new, NITL-era songs. A new album would probably be mostly CD-era songs, maybe some re-worked stuff from the mid-90s, and maybe Wichita Lineman and/or The Seeker.

But it depends on how much music they're trying to get out, Slash has said he wants to do an 'album/tour/album/tour' cycle, it wouldn't be the worst idea to just get 10 re-worked CD-era songs out there, and work on new stuff while touring those songs. Then they can release the NITL songs 'same bat time, same bat channel'.

[Eddie Money]

21 minutes ago, Gordon Comstock said:

I think covers are way more likely than brand new, NITL-era songs. A new album would probably be mostly CD-era songs, maybe some re-worked stuff from the mid-90s, and maybe Wichita Lineman and/or The Seeker.

But it depends on how much music they're trying to get out, Slash has said he wants to do an 'album/tour/album/tour' cycle, it wouldn't be the worst idea to just get 10 re-worked CD-era songs out there, and work on new stuff while touring those songs. Then they can release the NITL songs 'same bat time, same bat channel'.

They could continuously fart in a microphone for 80 minutes for all I care and I would buy it.  Just please.... NO FUCKING WICHITA LINEMAN OR THE SEEKER!!!

[RussTCB]

4 hours ago, Towelie said:

What makes you say that?

Because I'm certain that's what they're gonna record. 

[rocknroll41]

27 minutes ago, RussTCB said:

Because I'm certain that's what they're gonna record. 

Are you basing that off gut instinct?

[RussTCB]

9 minutes ago, rocknroll41 said:

Are you basing that off gut instinct?

Strictly a guess. I don't know any more information than anyone else on here. 

[MrMojo]

1 hour ago, RussTCB said:

Strictly a guess. I don't know any more information than anyone else on here. 

Do you think if any material was to be released it would be most likely around 2021 in your own opinion? Just asking because it would be the 30th anniversary of UYI? Sorry I haven't posted in a long time.

[GNR 1991]

“We’re working on thirty-two songs, and twenty-six are nearly done,” he says. Of those, thirteen are slated for the final album.

- Axl Rose (January 2006, RollingStone)

Thirteen turned into fourteen with the addition of “This I Love”. With the 14 from Chinese, that leaves us with 18 “working on/nearly done” tracks as of January 2006. Of course this is before Ron and Frank added parts in January 2007.

18 tracks are probably in the can by now and finished. Among those are surely the excised “The General”. I can see Duff, Slash and Melissa adding to the best 12-14 tracks out of that 18.

Also fair to assume those 18 include Silkworms, Going Down and very possibly Oh My God. All of which will never be released or remade by the current lineup.

 

Edited June 15, 2019 by GNR 1991

[rocknroll41]

33 minutes ago, GNR 1991 said:

“We’re working on thirty-two songs, and twenty-six are nearly done,” he says. Of those, thirteen are slated for the final album.

- Axl Rose (January 2006, RollingStone)

Thirteen turned into fourteen with the addition of “This I Love”. With the 14 from Chinese, that leaves us with 18 “working on/nearly done” tracks as of January 2006. Of course this is before Ron and Frank added parts in January 2007.

18 tracks are probably in the can by now and finished. Among those are surely the excised “The General”. I can see Duff, Slash and Melissa adding to the best 12-14 tracks out of that 18.

Also fair to assume those 18 include Silkworms, Going Down and very possibly Oh My God. All of which will never be released or remade by the current lineup.

 

OMG was on the setlist last year so that one is still in the mix too. If Slash and Duff are willing to play that one, I think it's fair to say they'd also be down to play Silkworms. Personally, I wouldn't both with either of those if I were them, but whatever.

Going Down is definitely out of the mix though cause reports leaked out a couple of years back that showed that Axl sold the rights to that song away or something. Plus, Tommy sings on it, so it doesn't really make any sense to keep it at this point. 

We know The General and Jackie Chan exist, thanks to leaks, and both Roy Baker and Bumble confirmed that Atlas was pretty much pulled from ChiDem at the last minute, which means its probably pretty close to being "done" as well. Fortus also confirmed a song called Motormouth back in 2006 (which apparently was almost added to the game Burnout Paradise).

And FWIW, these are the other working titles Axl confirmed on Here Today Gone To Hell back in 2008: Ides of March, Berlin (formerly Oklahoma), Down By the Ocean (from Izzy (most likely became his song Box)), Soul Monster (formerly Leave Me Alone), Seven, Thyme, Quick Song, and Zodiac.

So I'm counting 15 out of 18 songs that we know about. But again, Going Down and Down By the Ocean are most likely out of the running now, so it's really probably 13 out of 16 potential songs that we know about. I doubt all 13-16 of those will make it onto the final album, as I would suspect Slash and Duff would wanna have at least SOME writing credits on the final product, and there's only room for so much on one cd.

Edited June 15, 2019 by rocknroll41

[Ratam]

10 hours ago, Tom-Ass said:

If Tenderness was the best 11 songs out of 70 he had written, I hope Duff get's zero writing input on any new music.

Blabbermouth give Duff album 8/10.

[DeadSlash]

The main thing that keeps me from jumping in on any of the arguments about "how bad it will be" if it's "CD leftovers" is that we actually won't know and it will be a whole different debate when it's released.  "Oh 'Money Train' is really 'Jackie Chan' so it sucks!"   Even with "The General" and "Atlas Shrugged"  unless those phrases feature prominently in the song, it could easily be renamed.  For example, let's pretend "Estranged" was flip flopped with one of them, so we heard "The General" on the Illusions albums, but "Estranged" was one of the "big guns" we were waiting on right now.... If it was released with the name "How it was gonna be" we would have no fucking clue it wasn't a "new" song.

 

I think by FAR the BIGGER concern is the political climate and how the songs will be "self-censored" not to derail the money train that is the reunited band.  GnR won't touch anything even remotely controversial or dangerous in the lyrics for this album.  I feel like a song about powerful women not making the same wage as a man won't appeal to me in the same way as a song about drugs and whores.

[Live Like a Suicide]

5 hours ago, Eddie Money said:

They could continuously fart in a microphone for 80 minutes for all I care and I would buy it.  Just please.... NO FUCKING WICHITA LINEMAN OR THE SEEKER!!!

Give me Marseilles though.

[Popcorn crew]

So waiting time just skiped from 50 to 42 after “in the pipeline” message. 

[Its Tino]

13 hours ago, Tom-Ass said:

If Tenderness was the best 11 songs out of 70 he had written, I hope Duff get's zero writing input on any new music.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[Towelie]

7 hours ago, RussTCB said:

Because I'm certain that's what they're gonna record. 

You don't think Axl would work on any of Slash's original ideas?

[RussTCB]

5 hours ago, MrMojo said:

Do you think if any material was to be released it would be most likely around 2021 in your own opinion? Just asking because it would be the 30th anniversary of UYI? Sorry I haven't posted in a long time.

Seeing as Slash said it'll be recorded this fall, I would guess a release would happen next year. What does the last time you posted have to do with anything? 

6 minutes ago, Towelie said:

You don't think Axl would work on any of Slash's original ideas?

Based on the crap output Slash has had on his own? No. 

[DTJ80]

1 hour ago, RussTCB said:

Seeing as Slash said it'll be recorded this fall, I would guess a release would happen next year. What does the last time you posted have to do with anything? 

Based on the crap output Slash has had on his own? No. 

I’d be surprised if there were no original Duff/Slash ideas on there to be honest. If Axl was happy to be in the background on Going Down and for all the players to get credits for CD, it’s not like he won’t entertain other’s ideas?

[Towelie]

1 hour ago, RussTCB said:

Seeing as Slash said it'll be recorded this fall, I would guess a release would happen next year. What does the last time you posted have to do with anything? 

Based on the crap output Slash has had on his own? No. 

Well that's entirely subjective and we have no way of knowing what Axl's thoughts have been on Slash's recent solo work. We know he dug By The Sword and Fall To Pieces, we also know he likes Slither.

I personally really liked the last SMKC album and the first time I heard The Great Pretender I thought "man, Axl would love this one."

I for one would be a little disappointed if there weren't at least a few genuine Slash/Axl original collaborations on the next album. I personally think fans may be in for a surprise.

 

Edited June 15, 2019 by Towelie

[Gold top 78]

Personally I like most of Slash’s work post 96 and I’d feel happier if we knew if Slash is getting some ideas of his onto a new GNR album. And what we’ve got to remember about Slash’s material from 2010 onwards is that it’s all his own songs. Having loads of ideas for an album and putting them onto it in a short space of time can sometimes dilute the quality of some songs. But if Slash has just a handful of ideas to work with to go with Axl’s songs then he’ll have more time to concentrate on those few songs and work on improving his original idea for the song. 

Edited June 15, 2019 by Gold top 78

[Sydney Fan]

12 hours ago, Eddie Money said:

They could continuously fart in a microphone for 80 minutes for all I care and I would buy it.  Just please.... NO FUCKING WICHITA LINEMAN OR THE SEEKER!!!

Nice to see you round these parts again.

9 hours ago, Ratam said:

Blabbermouth give Duff album 8/10.

Fuck thats generous.

[Sydney Fan]

13 hours ago, rocknroll41 said:

I used to think ChiDem should have come out in 2002 and, while you’re right that the album’s release would’ve been more commercially successful that way, I don’t think it would have been appreciated as much in the long run.

Think about it! Had it come out in 2002; the title track would’ve still sounded like a techno song instead of a rock song, Shackler’s and Better and Sorry (arguably the most popular songs) wouldn’t have existed at all (Mick Wall confirmed this), TWAT wouldve been missing the epic buckethead solo (as seen from the 2002 demo that leaked recently), Catcher would’ve been missing the nice bumble solo at the end, and IRS would’ve been missing that essential rhythm guitar track from bumble that helped to really “string” the song together.

i suppose the other side of that coin is that we would’ve had an all-around superior version of The Blues, as well as Brian May’s kickass “solo” (made from fragments) in the middle section of Catcher.

With that all being said, I think there’s a fair argument to be made in that they should’ve maybe pushed harder to have the album out in 2006, or even 2007. That alone probably could’ve made a lot of difference for the album’s initial reception. But that’s life. At least SOME backlash was inevitable, and I think Axl and everyone else involved knew this from the get-go.

The album should have came out, and axl sticking to his guns to have the album out (fuck jimmy lovine) in either 99 or 02, and cd2 should have came out in 05 for the shredded axl weight look and tour in 06. The competition between VR and a slimmed down axl touring with a new record at that period would have been interesting.

Edited June 15, 2019 by Sydney Fan