Wow- Chinese democracy was released 16 years ago ! Can we define GNR as a touring nostalgia act now ?

[billie]

Or what is a better way to define this band 16 years later...

And this is not a negative by the way. Why be creative and make new music that is only going to be crticized  when you can tour the hits from 30 years ago , and make millions and still fill stadiums

It almost makes no marketing sense to release a new album..

 

Edited December 31, 2024 by billie

[allwaystired]

Definitely a nostalgia act. No need for them to be, but it's what they've chosen.

 

[SoulMonster]

Not as long as they keep releasing singles. 

[WhazUp]

Considering most of the vocals and many on the instrumental tracks were nearly a decade old by the time the album came out to begin with, they were ironically sort of a nostailgia act in its own way even by the time they hit the road in 2009

 

 

[Dean]

The meat and bones of the shows is made up of their back catalogue and while paling in comparison to other Legacy acts in regards of quantity, their debut record is widely heralded as one of, if not the greatest Rock record of all time and will continue to attract and bring new generations to their shows for however long they wish to continue. Guns N' Roses are a lot more than just a one album band though and things could have been a lot more fruitful, but the position they are in now with touring stadiums all over the world, didn't seem a possibility a little over 10 years ago, which even then they were teetering on the whole Cabaret/Nostalgia act schtick to some. Being branded a nostalgia act, is it necessarily a bad thing? Maybe for some of us on here that frequent the boards, but it shows the weight behind their handful of official releases accompanied with the majority of the classic line-up that allows them to reap the rewards of their work that they laboured over 30+ years ago and still be one of the biggest touring attractions even so late into their career and not having to bother about recording new records.

The Stones, another legacy act that hadn't released much at all in the last 25 years prior to the release of Hackney Diamonds, were touring and packing stadiums based on their back catalogue. Fans old and new will always go and see them based on their work, newer generations exposed to what a great fucking band they still are etc and Guns are in the same bracket now with how influential their material has been. That said - The Stones had the 'machine' fully behind them for the release of Hackney Diamonds. It was everywhere. Guns had it to some degree for the archival release of Appetite in 2018, but I don't understand why these recent singles have been nothing more than a throwaway with very little advertisement and commentary, other than being "songs that Axl had lying around" etc. Once upon a time, they carried weight, substance, at the very least to Axl.

I'd still like the band to release music, preferably an album, and right all the wrongs from the botched release of Chinese and do similar to Hackney Diamonds. Have it plastered everywhere. Interviews etc. I'd also love for them to document what a success the NITL run was with a Blu-Ray/Live Album, a video was in the pipeline at one point but fuck knows why we've never seen anything of it - and finally a documentary covering the bands history up until now. Then you can throw in all the archival releases on top of that.

[thomasmcole]

1 hour ago, SoulMonster said:

Not as long as they keep releasing singles. 

While I appreciate the singles they really are the bare minimum, done solely to pacify the die hard fans. 

[HOOSIER GUNZ]

Still have my LP in the shrink wrap!

[SoulMonster]

22 minutes ago, thomasmcole said:

While I appreciate the singles they really are the bare minimum, done solely to pacify the die hard fans. 

It's absolutely the bare minimum. But if a nostalgia act is a band that is 100% about the past, then it is sufficient. 

[evilfacelessturtle]

46 minutes ago, Dean said:

I don't understand why these recent singles have been nothing more than a throwaway with very little advertisement and commentary, other than being "songs that Axl had lying around" etc. Once upon a time, they carried weight, substance, at the very least to Axl.

We've gotta get him off meds and back into manic swings where he's productive and has a grandiose vision for everything.

[Gordon Comstock]

2 hours ago, SoulMonster said:

Not as long as they keep releasing singles. 

 

The only material they've released was 2-3 decades old. How are they not a nostalgia band? The first reunion single was Shadow Of Your Love ffs

[Sweersa]

48 minutes ago, evilfacelessturtle said:

We've gotta get him off meds and back into manic swings where he's productive and has a grandiose vision for everything.

Yes, I by far would take CD2 mixed and mastered like the 2008 album over these stripped down, reheated CD2 songs with new tracks pasted on top of with poor production.

Though at least with the NITL CD2 singles, we can hear the bass pretty well. Helps distract us from the clipping.  

[SoulMonster]

50 minutes ago, Gordon Comstock said:

The only material they've released was 2-3 decades old. How are they not a nostalgia band? The first reunion single was Shadow Of Your Love ffs

Because they are not 100% relying on nostalgia but also release some new music occasionally.

[allwaystired]

11 minutes ago, SoulMonster said:

Because they are not 100% relying on nostalgia but also release some new music occasionally.

I don't think there is a single nostalgia act touring that don't do that bare minimum is there? Can't think of one off the top of my head. 

Billy Joel maybe? 

[SoulMonster]

10 minutes ago, allwaystired said:

I don't think there is a single nostalgia act touring that don't do that bare minimum is there? Can't think of one off the top of my head. 

Billy Joel maybe? 

You can’t think of a single band that tours without having released anything new in the last, say, 10 years? 

[Gordon Comstock]

17 minutes ago, SoulMonster said:

Because they are not 100% relying on nostalgia but also release some new music occasionally.

 

They very clearly are, though. The next tour is a reference to the club days lol, going by the imagery they use (cross, monster, bullet logo) you'd think Appetite was the only thing they've ever done.

They haven't released any new music. Every article about the NITL singles mentions they're 20 year old CD tracks. Obviously 'previously unreleased' is not the same as new.

[SoulMonster]

5 minutes ago, Gordon Comstock said:

They very clearly are, though. 

As long as they release new music they clearly aren't 100% relying on nostalgia. It's not really an opinion thing, it's a fact. 

[Gordon Comstock]

3 minutes ago, SoulMonster said:

As long as they release new music they clearly aren't 100% relying on nostalgia. It's not really an opinion thing, it's a fact. 

 

Ok, so whenever they get around to releasing new music we can upgrade them from 'nostalgia band' to 'legacy band'.

I like Perhaps, I'm glad we got to hear The General, but nobody in their right mind considers 20+ year old songs to be 'new'.

[SoulMonster]

3 minutes ago, Gordon Comstock said:

 

Ok, so whenever they get around to releasing new music we can upgrade them from 'nostalgia band' to 'legacy band'.

I was talking about being 100% a nostalgia band. There is no denying that it is nostalgia they are mainly serving and that it is nostalgia that draws the crowds. And with such a less rigid view on it, most bands that became popular years ago are today trading in nostalgia. 

But even with the strict definition there are quite a few nostalgia bands that make zero efforts to release anything new. The Cure was one of them until recently. 

[Gordon Comstock]

26 minutes ago, SoulMonster said:

But even with the strict definition there are quite a few nostalgia bands that make zero efforts to release anything new. The Cure was one of them until recently. 

 

GNR is one of them. Literally everything they've released since 2018 has been a vault release.

Sure, we can say Slash and Duff added some new parts to the singles... people also debated about touch-ups on SOYL, but nobody except Fernando was dumb enough to call that a new song

[gavgnr]

5 hours ago, billie said:

It almost makes no marketing sense to release a new album..

And this is what makes the band a commercial entity and no longer an artist

[thomasmcole]

3 hours ago, SoulMonster said:

It's absolutely the bare minimum. But if a nostalgia act is a band that is 100% about the past, then it is sufficient. 

But the new singles are about the past, they're all at least 20yrs old. 

[ZoSoRose]

They’re 100% for sure a nostalgia act but who cares? They’re in their 60s and at least you get 3 of them in the band. 

Id take 2016 over anything else they could have done . The rest has been gravy to me. Chinese, almond boneless chicken gravy.

They are a consistent touring juggernaut that acts like a business entity (as they should) worth millions in revenue. If you believe you are going to get the 3 of them in a room to write now, you are going to be unhappy. In a perfect world, I’d have loved for them to try an actual, new creative project that they create together, but they just aren’t going to do it. There isn’t a reason to, at least for Axl. 

Id like more classic era live releases and some more Chinese leftovers with Slash and Duff, and I’m good. 

The archive boxes for AfD and UYI had some good stuff. 

Edited January 1 by ZoSoRose

[Bitchisback]

35 minutes ago, ZoSoRose said:

They’re 100% for sure a nostalgia act but who cares? They’re in their 60s and at least you get 3 of them in the band. 

Id take 2016 over anything else they could have done . The rest has been gravy to me. Chinese, almond boneless chicken gravy.

They are a consistent touring juggernaut that acts like a business entity (as they should) worth millions in revenue. If you believe you are going to get the 3 of them in a room to write now, you are going to be unhappy. In a perfect world, I’d have loved for them to try an actual, new creative project that they create together, but they just aren’t going to do it. There isn’t a reason to, at least for Axl. 

Id like more classic era live releases and some more Chinese leftovers with Slash and Duff, and I’m good. 

The archive boxes for AfD and UYI had some good stuff. 

There are plenty of bands i love that have become nostalgia acts over the years not playing 3 hour shows....

[allwaystired]

2 hours ago, SoulMonster said:

You can’t think of a single band that tours without having released anything new in the last, say, 10 years? 

Off the top of my head I really can't. The Eagles and Billy Joel are my best guesses? 

We're splitting hairs a bit to be honest as HS, Absurd etc are all ancient anyway. 

Edited January 1 by allwaystired

[allwaystired]

50 minutes ago, ZoSoRose said:

They’re 100% for sure a nostalgia act but who cares? They’re in their 60s and at least you get 3 of them in the band. 

Id take 2016 over anything else they could have done . The rest has been gravy to me. Chinese, almond boneless chicken gravy.

They are a consistent touring juggernaut that acts like a business entity (as they should) worth millions in revenue. If you believe you are going to get the 3 of them in a room to write now, you are going to be unhappy. In a perfect world, I’d have loved for them to try an actual, new creative project that they create together, but they just aren’t going to do it. There isn’t a reason to, at least for Axl. 

Id like more classic era live releases and some more Chinese leftovers with Slash and Duff, and I’m good. 

The archive boxes for AfD and UYI had some good stuff. 

Yeah this sums it up. It's a touring business, it's a nostalgia act, and that's just the way it is. If you want new material you're out of luck, but you might get a few old songs dusted down and officially released. 

I hate the expression but 'it is what it is' now. No point in dressing it up or pretend it's something it isn't.

They could do more, they don't want to, up to them. I think it's a waste of talent personally, but there we go.  The shows (in my view) are decent, and that's what they're offering.