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#351 Re: Guns N' Roses » New Slash solo album with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators incoming » 389 weeks ago
Axl was always mythic. People were afraid of him in the club days because of the vibe he gave off.
The UYI era only solidified things: the late starts, diva behavior, stage dives, arrests, supermodel fucking, and the like.
The CD saga functioned as a filter, amplifying what was already there to begin with. The trips to Arizona to get aura readings from a psychic master named Yoda, the recording and re-recording because of band drama, and flair for the dramatic. It was all there, wrapped in a Chinese themed box.
Hell, Brain talking about thinking Axl was back at his house with a girl on each arm really gives you a peak behind the curtain. No one knew what the fuck was going on. Crazy. Of course, Axl knew what was going on. You don't get a bedpan and Uncle Axl animated video at Rio if the guy wasn't keenly aware of how he was perceived. I think he got off on it and it's why he likes Bucket. He likes playing the puppet master.
I've interpreted the saga as Axl's Great Rock N' Roll Swindle. It kept him solvent, crew paid, and turned us onto some great musicians. But I think the truth is far less romantic in that Axl was just really afraid: of old demons returning, of old creditors and enemies out to get him, of the public reaction, of being exposed as some sort of fraud. But I think he wanted to release stuff. It would take a sociopathic devotion to the con to hire, fire, or otherwise alienate that many people.
I don't think the learning guitar and whatever else was just Axl doing something to pass the time. I think he was trying to prove to other people and himself that he wasn't just a glorified child star or something. That he had depth and talent to him. There's something deeper going on under the surface there, not sure what. And as Dale points out, healing himself.
And in view of the music industry $14m is quite decadent but in view of say, the movie industry, it's really just a drop in the bucket. It just became a scapegoat: of the music industry at large, of Axl, of America, of this and of that. I do think it's absurd but after awhile it became just a cheap hacky joke.
#352 Re: Guns N' Roses » New Slash solo album with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators incoming » 389 weeks ago
I laughed my ass off at the dishwasher record comment. Thanks for that, Monkey.
It could be full on electronica but he also said similar but meaner. That's sellable. Then there's Jackie which sounds UYI III-ish.
Hell, Shacklers is almost a fucking coked out dance party song and "tough guys" pick that out as the standout of the record.
We don't really know.
All I know, is it's a joke.
#353 Re: Dust N' Bones & Cyborg Slunks » Buckethead 2017 tour » 389 weeks ago
Bucket sounded good.
He messed up a couple transitions between the songs but his riffs felt chunky and like he was focusing on them. A couple of moments his shredding blew my mind a little bit. I literally said wow. I'm jealous of anyone who saw his shows with Brain and Brewer because this was incredible.
He slowed down Soothsayer and some of the faster stuff a bit and it had a different energy to them which was cool.
The venue was tiny and my back was killing me so I missed the second half of the set.
#354 Re: Dust N' Bones & Cyborg Slunks » Buckethead 2017 tour » 389 weeks ago
Bucket show tomorrow, will post a pic or two after the gig.
#355 Re: Guns N' Roses » New Slash solo album with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators incoming » 389 weeks ago
Not really. All acts listed have a fan base mainly interested in their old material. U2 recently put out an album and nobody cares. Metallica puts out an album a decade now and they go on major tours in between.
This isn't the 90s where people are lining up to buy Load. This is 2018 where people are lining up outside the stadium to hear Enter Sandman.
How many people here like the Stones? How many listened to their new album?
I don't really get your logic.
Especially when you're taking the "it's just a promotional tool" track.
It's a phenomena that affects every artist out there. You have your peak time and then the decline. But Scorsese put out solid work in the 90s/00s even if it wasn't 70s/80s levels. Taxi Driver and Goodfellas is always gonna be preferred to The Aviator and The Departed but they're solid entries. Same with Metallica. I dislike U2 and am unfamiliar with their work so I can't comment but they are at least trying to remain relevant.
I don't know how many people listened to the Stones new album of all cover songs - probably about as much as those that listened to and liked Garage Inc and The Spaghetti Incident but like those acts, the Stones also felt it was significant enough to release and do a music video for and so on.
A brick wall is reached for reasons unknown to the fan base. You blame Axl....I blame a combination of things. Stinson gave us a peak behind the curtain when it came to label issues with CD. These issues would likely be magnified in the current situation.
I can see this being a thing but what doesn't mesh is Axl being quiet as a church mouse about it.
Tommy told us the record company was a combination of unhelpful and incompetent, not that they were legally obfuscating the project.
For the record I think management has vastly improved since the early-mid 2000s. Having said that, there is definitely room for improvement.
I don't think there's been all that much improvement.
I put this on LiveNation probably taking the ball dropped by Goldstein, Merck, and Team Brazil and doing the bare minimum with it.
If its one and done, what do you release? It's not an easy question and there's no easy answer.
It's better to try to answer the question than not answer it at all.
Who knows, Axl could have been working on it but the impression doing AC/DC leaves isn't positive.
#356 Re: Guns N' Roses » Appetite for Democracy » 389 weeks ago
That'd be interesting if Axl is steering the ship.
UYI I is pretty much baby's first speed metal. I like Slash but it started me down the road of being ambivalent about Slash's writing.
I wonder if CDII is more Floydian. I mean for a supposed Dark Side influence, it was pretty non-existent. Or maybe just the spin doctors suck at explaining things.
#357 Re: Guns N' Roses » New Slash solo album with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators incoming » 389 weeks ago
The holdup is what it's always been.
I'll give you a hint: it's got orange hair and a lot of money.
The record company is owed one more album and owns the past recording sessions. If they're not giving Axl a good deal, he walks out the door, and then they come with a better offer or none at all. If they're trying to pull something illicit, he could litigate, but he can just as easily use the court of public opinion to up the ante. If they want a Slash/Duff album, he can say okay, on these conditions, or again, he walks.
He has no serious management to speak of. This alone means the deal is not getting done.
If you told me the record company called Axl and he didn't return their calls, I'd believe you.
You can view the Chinese Democracy release that way too. Something went wrong at the label so Axl punished them with absolutely zero promotion and utter silence around the most anticipated release of a rock band in decades. Did it hurt him - probably - but he made his point.
I always laugh when I read this.
The inability to get an album's artwork delivered on time really undercuts the idea that Axl was carrying this big Chinese Democracy shaped cross all those years. Even if they totally bungled the entire thing, which I doubt, log onto the internet, post some lyrics and some JPEGs and be done with it.
We knew November was the release date for months and then somehow the artwork is this big thing like Axl was slaving away on the songs and just forgot about it or Todd the Intern didn't do his job. In all likelihood, he dropped off the face of the earth and finally surfaced on Axl time. And then Tommy's apologetics about it only being a couple week delay to get the artwork right? Give me a break dude.
Between this, the handshake deal, and so many other questionable things, it paints the picture of an amateur hour operation.
#358 Re: Guns N' Roses » New Slash solo album with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators incoming » 389 weeks ago
You could say the exact same thing about other major acts. GNR, U2, Metallica, Stones, Aerosmith, etc. Everything revolves around the rear view mirror.
That's a stretch.
Metallica has done S&M, Lulu, a movie and movie soundtrack, and 3 albums since their waning heyday.
Peak fame? No, of course not. But this is a band with a pulse.
They had several options.
That brings us back to this topic.
People aren't upset out of the blue, they had somewhat of a reason to be.
GN'R was back and popular as ever, the tour was going great, Axl mentioned wanting to release a new album at the China Exchange, there was rumors of Atlas Shrugged being re-recorded/a NITL Live album being released/The Seeker being recorded, Fortus mentioning recording an album together, a rumor about an LA band doing a new record together...
Then we get a brand fire sale in 2017 that would make Gene Simmons blush, some really terrible and misleading promos, a 6 month break, Slash doing solo stuff, and Axl doing AC/DC for a couple years.
It went from great to bizarre to downright offensive in about a year.
It doesn't take a genius to realize the needle was moving in the wrong direction.
I prefer a busy Axl over an Axl in hiding for years.
Yes but if he took a month or two off post NITL NA leg, jumped on AC/DC now, and then did that for awhile, that'd be salable.
But it's half a year off and then a non-supported European Guns leg and then AC/DC for years, presumably.
It's kind of like the 2002 tour cancellation in a way. Guns N' Roses is back in purgatory.
#359 Re: Guns N' Roses » New Slash solo album with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators incoming » 389 weeks ago
There’s some truth to what John said but I don’t agree.
New GNR kicked the can down the road from 2009-2013 and when it achieved critical mass, the band broke up and the new music which was teased was thrown in the garbage.
Then reunion. Great. Stability, popularity, Slash and Duff, and he’s done fuck all with it. And then he jumped ship to AC/DC.
It’s a giant head job.
I can imagine behind the scenes stuff, business stuff, what have you, but at some point you expect a modicum of communication.
I think everyone would be like no new album eh fair enough mate. AC/DC is a dream gig for ya? Go on and rock it out you crazy wozzer.
Instead we get stupid shit like “stay tuned for news about Chinese Democracy”, “2005 is the year of Guns N’ Roses”, “it’s this year”, “we’ll start looking very seriously in that regard”, and every vaguery from every musician who has passed through the door the last 20 years.
A wee bit frustrating. But of course par for the course.
#360 Re: Guns N' Roses » Appetite for Democracy » 389 weeks ago
If Axl had any fire left in his belly, he'd split time between AC/DC and a reformed CD band as a solo effort.
Angus could chat it up, Slash could guest on it, and Buckethead / Bumblefoot could get their due. It would be a brain trust, each leveraging other efforts, and form a defacto corporation. The conspiracy theorist in me thought Bucket playing with Brain and Del Ray was somehow a warm-up for bigger faire.
The tough nut to crack would be record company politics getting CD II liberated although could be lessened by a good manager or worst case scenario, subversion via leaks.
We can dream but sooner or later you must watch Avatar.
