slashsfro wrote:

Really catch type jam song.  I love the time changes.  And that's even with the vocals that I can't figure out what Axl is saying.  This should have been on the album.

Thinking about Rough Disc #1, if you add this onto that, that album isn't even a huge departure from classic Guns stuff. 

I almost hate to bring up this next point: but hasn't all this material sort of vindicated (hate to use this but can't find it) Axl?  I mean the material here is mostly guitar driven and isn't the different direction or style that Slash (and I guess Duff) had claimed at the time.

Yeah he was vindicated and deserved a second wind. Reading that RS article today, sensing his confidence and excitement, and knowing in hindsight how it all turned out is almost criminal.

I'll say one thing...

The ambition to top UYI with a double or a trilogy was a mistake.

When the label reacted to the album in 2000 and 2001 like a fart in church, it was time to dive back in to that studio with another producer(and proper management), and chart a different course. Tackle all that material and razor focus on one album. The material was clearly there to work with.

Once you're almost done, pull a Soundgarden....do a club tour to road test the shit out of those new songs.

It never really built towards anything,..at least from the public's perspective and don't forget ..CD becomes a pop culture joke by 2003.

Drop the AFD rehash stuff, at least temporarily, to alter the perception of reality. He was too young to be a nostalgia act.

-Jack- wrote:

Man... how didn't this stuff get released!?

Axl had a bunch of great material.

I'm floored.

Most of this stuff is A list material and half of CD should have been relegated to his B list.

I saw the actual photo when all this happened so there shouldn't be any doubt.

What I can't believe is it's complete absence from the net.

@wagzilla

Amazing post and review.

I know the chances of that being THE tracklist are technically low but it's very interesting how it flows perfectly and this isn't the case with any previous leaks ever.

I noticed it on first listen and listened all the way through. Listening to it again right now and....it works.

If they lucked into the perfect track sequencing on this and never came close again even when they tried speaks volumes about the bizarre journey that is Chinese.