I agree maddy seems overblown. The MLK speech is too much-and the sad thing is  that there is a buckethead solo behind that speech. I like the vocal melody in the verse but the song lacks a big hook. The length seems forced and the MLK speech totally kills the song IMO. Also, whats up with the vocals, i think Axl's vocals in the RIR 3 was better and thats live-i dont see why the "final" version sounds like this.

LOL this thing is really interesting. Reality is stranger than fiction. I thought when the album came out this 10 year internet fiasco would come to an end as we knew it. Little did i know......

The inertia is dead. This album has had its intial push and now the laws of gravity will be taking over. As i previously mentioned this inital push was a)diehard fans who would have bought the album no matter what b)the result of the hype that had been built up over the last ten years+. There will be no push from a super-single. Gravity is going to pull this thing down to whatever cavern "oh my god" dissapeared into.

Like i said before, a band can't be forced, chemistry is a wonderful accident. Thats why individual talent is less rare than great bands, because even if you get a group of talented guys in a room it doesnt necessistate the elusive chemistry. Thats why this album wont come near to Contraband, because at least there was some chemistry in that band, admittedly i dont think between Wieland and the rest, but the other chemistry carried over between the other members and held the thing aloft.

This should have been Axl's solo project and it might have been considered in a different light. I think i was partially in denial over the last few years along with others due to the fact that i craved the music i grew up on, or at least the quality of that music, that energy that was gnr. I remember slash saying in the 90's: "GNR is a LIVING ORGANISM." That organism was brought to life by chemistry. This band, while having its brilliant moments is, in comparison to the "living orgasm" as described by slash, this endevour was a Frankenstein-an attempt to artificially create a band (a living organsim) by artificial means. The laws, and accidents of nature are stronger than even Axl Rose.

It's possible there is a secret plan, but i do find it a bit strange that there is a secret plan, and hidden mega-singles. Maybe this is just how things are, has this thing ever made any sense? This entire thing being inconsistent has been the only consistency for a decade.

Axl needing slash has nothing to do with a nastalgia trip. It has to with the fact that when Axl, Slash, Izzy, and Duff write together, its a proven formulas for rock n roll greatness that can stand with any of the great bands in the history of rock and roll. People conceptualize GNR as a certain energy and sound-these other  guys were integral to that. Thats why truly great bands can probably be counted on scarcely more that one hand-its a collective effort at a comprehensive sound, an amalgamation of visions and influences that feed off of each other. Thats why this record seems to be lacking something, because implicitly we "hear" the input of the other original members that contributed to Axl's individual talent-it was the accidental, spontaneous train wreck that was GNR.