I'd love to be wrong but I'm not particularly optimistic.

I think the most reasonable expectation the fans can have is for a VBO with some unreleased bonus tracks.

The label probably wants to release music ASAP. Their cash cow is sexier than ever and everybody wants some milk. I also think the label wants to milk that cow dry.

The business and artistic sides of things are pretty complicated, tour selling like hotcakes.

Soon isn't the word. Same old shit.

I agree, but...

The 1999 record would've been a modest and perfectly balanced group of songs. Half UYI III and half industrial faire.

Even if Ezrin is right, three good songs are enough to carry an album. It's your Zeppelin I. Good stuff. Build from there.

There's no reason, creative or financial, that Axl's 1997 summer project shouldn't have been out by the end of 2002. Anything after that is smearing your steak in ketchup or just poor business.

I tend to say pre-2003 = label, post-2003 = Axl but the whole thing is a comedy of errors and the fans are the ones who suffer.

All very good points, especially this one.

I agree that there's a need for a VBO, if only to have something to sell during the tour, but I think it's fairly delusional to think anyone will care about a VBO beyond hardcore fans or fans of rock in general. There's no such thing as introducing someone to GNR. GNR is a crazy woman with multiple personality disorder. That and it's 2016. The attention span is not there, the economics of music are in dire straights, and rock's relevancy is at an all-time low.

I can't think of a major act in recent memory who hasn't done a quick or surprise release like Apple. Here's the thing or here's the thing next month after a lead digital single. We have your attention? Good. Go get this thing now. No Machavellian three step plan or anything like that.

The world has changed considerably since 2005, while smart them, those philosophies have gone the way of the dodo.

Another reason they should just release CD2 and then get to today is because CD itself was a mishmash of genres, styles, and musical period influences. They need to get into 2016 / contemporary sound and message if they want to even be close to being relevant again. The longer Axl / the label hoards, the more quickly the world will pass them by. The sooner they release music, the better position they are for the future.

Release 3 EPs each with a relatively cohesive direction (OMG, CD, Riad, Shacklers, Silkworms, Scraped) and keep the momentum going and repeat. Station To Station, Low, Heroes. Man this guy is diverse and brilliant. 

I posted this here or in another thread but let's say they do release new music bundled in with a VBO. What do they put on it?

They gain nothing by throwing out some new tracks unless a full album is close by. OMG isn't indicative of CD. Maybe it was supposed to be but putting the burden on 1 song or even 1 album will suffocate GNR like it did the new band. The less they release, the more it's compared to AFD and Jungle. They need death by a thousand cuts and attentive fan-service to do the job, not 1 song that's going to have to change music or other nonsense.