5 Years of reunion

[allwaystired 2,887]

1 minute ago, SoulMonster said:

Ok, gotcha.

We want the same thing - more changes to setlist, new music being played, and more enthusiastic live shows. But I only see this happen as a result of a new album dropping, and maybe not to the extent that you expect. Only with a new album to promote will they change the setlists dramatically, play new songs, and get some enthusiasm back, in my opinion. If they continue without new music we will likely get more of the same thing we've had for a long while now (but hopefully they will come back fresh and enthusiastic after a long break,) and hopefully the audiences will be willing to pay to see Guns N' Roses again. We will soon find out.

Couldn't agree more.

I think people underestimate how important doing something new is to the band themselves. It's treated like a business ('people might not buy it, so why do it') but it goes far deeper than that. No band can keep playing the same songs over and over and still bring the enthusiasm. News songs would absolutely rub off on the way they played old ones. 

I know a lot of people don't like 'The Seeker' but I always did, as it definitely had a lot of energy which I attributed to the fact it was something 'new' for a lot of the band members. 

 

[PatrickS77 1,361]

21 minutes ago, jamillos said:

 Well, they have – through releasing more material and gradually incorporating it in the playlist. You got about 5 songs that should be played (in fact, I’d say just 3 or 4), then they should play 3–5 new songs, plus more later, and the rest should be the known songs but not just those that were played to death in the recent years, and they should alternate these as much as possible. Add some wanking around and you got the whole setlist.

But that is the difference, they have gradually released new material. They've never allowed themselves to become a nostalgia act. Unlike, GNR. So the expectancy is something different. And nevermind that new music isn't all. It also has to hold up next to the old stuff. And yes, when I went to Iron Maiden shows (the 2 times I saw them), I definitely walked away missing some songs. And that kinda sucked.

Edited April 6 by PatrickS77

[jamillos 2,080]

42 minutes ago, PatrickS77 said:

But that is the difference, they have gradually released new material. They've never allowed themselves to become a nostalgia act. Unlike, GNR. So the expectancy is something different. And nevermind that new music isn't all. It also has to hold up next to the old stuff. And yes, when I went to Iron Maiden shows (the 2 times I saw them), I definitely walked away missing some songs. And that kinda sucked.

Sadly, yes. But they handled it analogically on the UYI tour, so they'll handle it again. There will always be something missing. Think about the poor people who got to hear the entire CD minus Riad at a single gig in 2009 - those heaps of old songs they could have heard instead but didn't! 

[PatrickS77 1,361]

12 minutes ago, jamillos said:

Sadly, yes. But they handled it analogically on the UYI tour, so they'll handle it again. There will always be something missing. Think about the poor people who got to hear the entire CD minus Riad at a single gig in 2009 - those heaps of old songs they could have heard instead but didn't! 

But on the UYI they could play all the AFD songs anyone expected and still could do new songs with no one missing out, as people where expecting those new songs anyway, as it still was a productive band and that's what band do, when they start out, build the setlist with adding songs from the current album. But yeah, it can't get rougher than being subjected to all of CD, when you come for AFD and UYI.

[MaskingApathy 2,401]

On 4/5/2021 at 10:12 AM, Sosso said:

I don't think that he takes GN'R to serious now. SMKC is still his main gig. 

Yes it is.

On 4/5/2021 at 12:59 PM, Free Bird said:

 

You are absolutely right. We would have more music from SMKC and Duff's projects by now.

 

As for GNR music? Well that's simple as mathematics. You have two guys who are releasing music on a regular basis and one guy who doesn't. Now if you subtract the two guys who are releasing music, from the guy who doesn't, then you still have the guy who doesn't release music. The result remains the same. 

We would probably have 2 or 3 new SMKC albums by now (after WOF).

19 hours ago, jamillos said:

I don’t think it’s about literal making him release music he wouldn’t be content with. It’s more about the distribution of power/influence in the band. Slash’s opinion really can affect Axl more than that of anyone else in the past (which also includes speeding things up). Not to mention that the preceding (hired) gunners often may not have even dared tell him anything or make any kind of pressure. Slash can do that; he knows he won’t get fired, and since Axl started sounding the way he has since 2017/18, Slash has been the one actually carrying the biggest show on his shoulders. His position is way stronger these days than it ever was in the old days. GN'R would be over if Slash left again, and I think they all know it. 

Secondly, I believe most of the upcoming tunes won’t be the CD 2 stuff rerecorded by these guys. Maybe some Axl’s old lyrics, but I doubt Slash returned to the band to keep playing someone else’s notes. In fact, most people probably don’t perceive this as a “follow-up to Chinese Democracy” but a “follow-up to Use Your Illusion”. 

100%

[ShadowOfTheWave 816]

19 hours ago, jamillos said:

I wouldn’t say “evidence” is the word, as we barely have anything similar to that in this background world of GN’R, do we. And if so, we usually only get to it retrospectively, after years. 
As for any emotional bond – no, I see it strictly politically these days. It’s about whether Axl wants to keep it all going. If he does, he has to listen to the two guys, or let's say just Slash, at least partially. Again, he could afford to fire Slash back in the 90s but cannot do the same now. And that is the key, that’s why it’s different now IMO. So you’re right that Slash cannot ever make him release anything, but what he could do with no problem is say “I’m not doing another big tour without new material”. They might eventually settle on a few festival gigs, but otherwise, Axl could do shit about it, other than try to accelerate his work on a new album. 
Again – I don’t subscribe to any black-or-white approach. I.e. not saying he can really make him release anything, but on the other hand he does have influence he didn’t have in the 90s (and someone like Tommy the General could have only dreamed of). 

If Slash left, yes, Axl could release CD 2, but if he wanted to tour it with hired guns again (I believe Duff would leave too, and even if he didn’t, the one really important here is Slash), the ticket numbers would go down drastically. And what would be the point in releasing it without a supporting tour, especially if everyone pirates it, knowing Slash isn’t there anyway? So in the end, we theoretically might get our hands on another, final piece of (old) music, but it would still be the end of GN’R. How many casual, Reunion fans would buy some 20-year old songs with musicians like Buckethead or Bumblefoot on it? 

As for the new songs, the only “evidence” we have suggests both – their working on brand new tunes plus their mentioning Axl has a lot of material. There is nothing preventing Axl giving them isolated pre-recorded vocals and letting them add their own music, for example. I think it could be a nice mixture of all these approaches. But we won’t know until we know. 

We have no evidence that suggests they are working on "brand new tunes".

Edited April 7 by ShadowOfTheWave

[TeeJay410 961]

So someone help me remember:  were there rumors leading up to the troubadour that this was happening? I remember day/day before we heard about it but in the months leading up were there more credible rumors than there had ever been?

 

I remember 2006 being the hottest and closest we had ever been to it happening, with even more and greater credible sources saying it was real. I would love to hear what happened there.

[WhazUp 4,152]

1 hour ago, TeeJay410 said:

So someone help me remember:  were there rumors leading up to the troubadour that this was happening? I remember day/day before we heard about it but in the months leading up were there more credible rumors than there had ever been?

 

I remember 2006 being the hottest and closest we had ever been to it happening, with even more and greater credible sources saying it was real. I would love to hear what happened there.

I think that Slash and Duff posted the "GNR at Coachella" ad and logo on their social media prior to the Troubador show although I could be remembering wrong.  I do remember the first time we knew they were back in GNR being them posting the GNR logos on their own social media, prior to the Troubador show - but the Troubador show itself was unannounced and a total suprise

[jamillos 2,080]

2 hours ago, ShadowOfTheWave said:

We have no evidence that suggests they are working on "brand new tunes".

I thought Slash said he was working on new material, didn't he? 

[Blackstar 8,881]

Slash mentioned "jamming" with Axl in one interview. The word "jamming" doesn't make much sense if all Slash has done is laying down guitar on existing songs.  So they have probably at least tried to work on some brand new ideas - it doesn't mean that they have completed anything, though.

[allwaystired 2,887]

Just now, Blackstar said:

Slash mentioned "jamming" with Axl in one interview. The word "jamming" doesn't make much sense if all Slash has done is laying down guitar on existing songs.  So they have probably at least tried to work on some brand new ideas - it doesn't mean that they have completed anything, though.

'Jamming' is such a deliberately ambiguous term. It could mean anything from 'warming up in a rehearsal' to 'playing each other ideas'. 

To my mind though it's very far away from 'recording', which he's quite happy to say he's doing for SMKC and other projects. The word doesn't really fill me with confidence that anything has really happened. 

[jamillos 2,080]

Slash also said something about folders in his phone. They could have jammed/played numerous times during 2020 without us knowing it (together or sending each other ideas) - the one time it leaked on Twitter, but I imagine it cannot be too hard to bind people with an NDA, and if you tell anyone, you're fired. 

In short: I want to believe. 

[19AT5 223]

I saw GNR live in NYC in 2017 and it was a cracking show. I'm due to see them again in Glasgow in 2022 (rescheduled from last year). Though at this point I can't help feeling really disappointed by the reunion overall. If no new music is released by this time next year, I'm likely to sell ticket for Glasgow show. I'm kinda of the opinion that they should've called time on the band after 2017 as things went downhill rapidly thereafter. And I have zero belief that they will release any new music. There are few bands that treat their fans with such contempt in terms of updates, progress, etc.

[allwaystired 2,887]

Just now, 19AT5 said:

I saw GNR live in NYC in 2017 and it was a cracking show. I'm due to see them again in Glasgow in 2022 (rescheduled from last year). Though at this point I can't help feeling really disappointed by the reunion overall. If no new music is released by this time next year, I'm likely to sell ticket for Glasgow show. I'm kinda of the opinion that they should've called time on the band after 2017 as things went downhill rapidly thereafter. And I have zero belief that they will release any new music. There are few bands that treat their fans with such contempt in terms of updates, progress, etc.

You'd be better off taking the refund that they offer at the moment due to the changed date. That way you can re-buy if needs be nearer the time (i.e. if they release new music) but you won't lose money on selling it privately for under face value......

That's probably what I'd do anyway! 

 

[Blackstar 8,881]

23 minutes ago, allwaystired said:

'Jamming' is such a deliberately ambiguous term. It could mean anything from 'warming up in a rehearsal' to 'playing each other ideas'. 

To my mind though it's very far away from 'recording', which he's quite happy to say he's doing for SMKC and other projects. The word doesn't really fill me with confidence that anything has really happened. 

Well yeah, like I said, it doesn't mean that whatever they have "jammed" has resulted in completed songs (pre-production), let alone in recording, i.e. production. (I think he hasn't recorded with SMKC either yet, they just have finished pre-production). However, as far as working on existing songs, Slash's comments imply that he has done his part and it's on Axl now.

Also Axl's comments in the China Exchange interview suggested that he was willing to write new material. He said that the felt more confident to write than he had last year. But, of course, five years have passed since he said that, "they were touring," etc.

 

Edited April 7 by Blackstar

[allwaystired 2,887]

Just now, Blackstar said:

Well yeah, like I said, it doesn't mean that whatever they have "jammed" has resulted in completed songs (pre-production), let alone in recording, i.e. production. (I think he hasn't recorded with SMKC either yet, they just have finished pre-production).

Also Axl's comments in the China Exchange interview suggested that he was willing to write new material. He said that the felt more confident to write than he had last year. But, of course, five years have passed since he said that, "they were touring," etc.

 

....or even that they've worked on songs really. 

It would probably take an actual photo of them in a recording studio to make me think anything was going on now. Vague and elusive comments that are open to interpretation have been de rigueur for too long now. 

[Spike Killer 54]

I haven't been to a concert in a long time and I haven't seen GNR in even longer.

I'd be pleasantly surprised for a new setlist but wouldn't complain too much fi they played the same songs as I heard before 

[StayofExecution2020 1,098]

1 hour ago, allwaystired said:

....or even that they've worked on songs really. 

It would probably take an actual photo of them in a recording studio to make me think anything was going on now. Vague and elusive comments that are open to interpretation have been de rigueur for too long now. 

If they were in the studio, i just don't understand why they wouldn't tease something. A picture, and be it black n fn white, from something in the studio. Keep the fans interested. If they really were in the studio, they're just idiots for not teasing anything about it - you know, like every band does. 

[SoulMonster 7,878]

Just now, StayofExecution2020 said:

If they were in the studio, i just don't understand why they wouldn't tease something. A picture, and be it black n fn white, from something in the studio. Keep the fans interested. If they really were in the studio, they're just idiots for not teasing anything about it - you know, like every band does. 

Perhaps because they want to avoid the backlash from fans when nothing materializes from any studio sessions. Why risk that? Better to wait until something is actually ready to be released.

[StayofExecution2020 1,098]

2 minutes ago, SoulMonster said:

Perhaps because they want to avoid the backlash from fans when nothing materializes from any studio sessions. Why risk that? Better to wait until something is actually ready to be released.

That raises the question: Why would nothing materialize if you go into the studio and record songs? 

[19AT5 223]

19 minutes ago, StayofExecution2020 said:

That raises the question: Why would nothing materialize if you go into the studio and record songs? 

Because that has been the story of W Axl Rose pretty much since 1997/98. By all accounts he was still fighting the release of ChiDem and trying to make changes in 2008... as it was about to be released.

[Blackstar 8,881]

There is no indication that they have been in a recording studio. By that I mean a professional recording studio, which is the final stage after the songs have been fully arranged (SMKC hasn't been at that stage yet either, I think). They have been in their own studios, though - at least Slash and Duff, and I assume Axl must have done a minimum something in his home studio during all this time.

[Chester 524 433]

On 4/4/2021 at 5:27 PM, StayofExecution2020 said:

Axl needs to realize it's just music, it's not a cure for cancer. No need to make such a big deal out of it.

I totally agree.  it's just a song that some people may or may not sing along with.  not saying it's the easiest job in the world, but let's be honest, where he's from he should either be delivering pizzas at Annie's (which he'd get fired for late deliveries) or be in jail.  or maybe have a tough as shit labor job outdoors in the hot summer or cold ass winter, barely being able to make enough to buy a record after paying rent and child support and legal shit.  

so maybe he should take a step back and realize how lucky he is, not take this shit so seriously,  bc his life could have been very very different.  just release something and at the end of the day, it's just a fucking song. not the cure to cancer

[allwaystired 2,887]

Just now, StayofExecution2020 said:

If they were in the studio, i just don't understand why they wouldn't tease something. A picture, and be it black n fn white, from something in the studio. Keep the fans interested. If they really were in the studio, they're just idiots for not teasing anything about it - you know, like every band does. 

I just think back to when Axl was rehearsing with AC/DC and they were trying to keep it secret.....but we had rumours, pictures, even videos. Something inevitably leaks. 

You could say "well, it's all being done virtually" or "they're doing it at Axl's house", but both seem incredibly unlikely looking at past recording history. 

[jamillos 2,080]

Again, an NDA for all the engineers etc. "You don't leak/publish anything, not even a rumour, or you're fired." Simple as that.