Thanks for the full quote Blackstar.

I get the creative impulse to destroy but yes, it’s annoying just like erasing This I Love in 2000 was.

And it all underscores the need for all of the material available to leak for archival purposes.

I’m unfamiliar to who deserves credit for what but no Chris Cornell, no Guns n’ Roses.

I know music doesn’t sell for shit these days and Soundgarden isn’t exactly a huge act but $300k? For what? Permission to use “I was in Soundgarden” on your club show tour?

Yeah, you’re probably right.

Or, they could’ve found Axl in his 2001 mood where he was gracious and grateful and did a good job managing it. He could’ve rehabilitated his image.

I guess I always hope for the best for the guy. We’ve all got that soft spot still.

¯\_(?)_/¯

The question is label politics and all we have to go off there is what Bob Ezrin told Jimmy Iovine and led Jimmy to pull back on the accelerator.

We’ve also vague comments (NYT) about turnover of people in Geffen —> Interscope —> Universal which is why I’m open minded. Perhaps there’s more dirt under the fingernails there but as of now the lions share of the burden falls onto Axl.

He wanted to turn in an album once, 2000. When he did it was the more stripped down act, perfectly fine. But what did he look like when he popped up in 2001? Like Axl Rose, the millionaire has-been and not like Axl Rose, the rockstar. I know Reebok track pants were in vogue in 2001 but that Rio show is just one big mess. You can’t make up for it with a Chris Jericho rave shirt and some Oakleys.

He finally looked the part in Dec 01. That’s when the launch sequence should have been activated. Fuck you, the missile is going out. He looked cool. The band? Circus freaks but he looked like the ringmaster. Do it, feast or famine, victory or death.

Instead he got a little chubby again and retreated into giant jerseys pandering to audiences like an asshole comedian in 2002. And backing up, it was Axl Rose who never showed up to rehearsals just like it was Axl Rose Inc. that couldn’t get an album released. This is your job. Do it, make it happen. I don’t care about security guards at the VMAs. Figure out how to make that happen, prepare so you don’t have stage fright, whatever. Axl is a “classic case” of a once genius ruining himself through his own hubris.

If the record company was cock blocking him so hard, then do more than say, a vague Rolling Stone piece as your “evidence” the album is ready. And again, he only did this in 2000.

After the abortion in 2002 he came back with Merck as his festival barker pulling a Cyberpunk 2077 over promising an album release when everyone knew that wasn’t happening.

At the end of the day, it’s at least 6 solid years of Axl sitting on his ass leaving everyone to wonder what’s going on. Nothing, it turns out.

I’m sure there are people in the know who can add their additional “Axl diva story” from 2001-2002 as well. I’ve heard some doozies.

I’m half in a mood to put the record company at 4 or 5 instead of Axl’s mentally deficient friend but when you bully your own band and your own fan base well you get what you deserve.

2001 and 2002.

The 2001 tour had been booked by Goldstein without Axl’s go-ahead, I guess.

The 2002 tour had supposedly been booked by the record company to make money. Axl wasn’t happy because he wanted to finish the album instead of touring.