It's done, says Beta, and in order to negotiate, Axl needs to preview it. Makes sense to me.

$13 Million under the Geffen/Interscope/Universal banner, from at least Aug '96 to Feb '04. Additional four years of production (Feb '04 - Dec '07) from Axl's own pocket, possibly another $2 Million or so. I wouldn't be surprised if Axl'd want his recording expenses to be covered before they'd go any further.

I believe this might have something to do with the publishing rights of the material. Axl sold his share of the publishing rights - which covers all music to be published from the CD sessions - to Sanctuary Publishing, and Universal inadvertedly got their hands on 'em during the corporate buyout.

Axl may argue that Universal doesn't have the rights, or simply flat out refuses to release anything beyond   the initial 13 tracks for the time being. He knows that the tracks are his only as long as he doesn't turn them over. After that, Universal's free to license them to whatever they choose.

Robin's closing solo is pretty self-explanatory; it's no wonder a lot of NIN fans will always consider him as the definitive lead guitarist. I do find it a bit saddening that so many GNR fans failed to recognize the meaning of such a status over the years. During Robin's original tenure in the band, he was always surrounded by talented musicians on their own right. By the time the Fragility tour was announced, there was a long queue of people out for his job.

The NIN fans are far from through with Robin and he's not completely over them, either. I hate to say it, but all things considered, in his position I'd think very hard if Trent would now offer a chance to become a regular studio contributor and tour for a long time. You rather be loved for what you are or dissed for what you're not?

Since they're just in it for the road trip, I personally call them 'hangnails'.

Define 'band'. Seriously, I'm not trying to break your balls, I'm curious as to how you consider that word.

Because in this case, what we have is about 10 years worth of studio time, countless of tryouts with various musicians, people doing 'guest appearances' and leaving as quickly as they came... The GNR studio band, if you may, had at least one consistent lineup that never toured, yet completed an album (Axl-Robin-Huge-Tommy-Freese-Dizzy). Cue Dave Navarro, Brian May, Buckethead, Brain, Pitman, Fortus... Everybody post-93 (aside Tommy) has had another person doing his parts in the studio.

If people who "made" the current album together (or, more precisely, likely contributed the most) are the band you speak of, I'd wager a wild guess and point you to the RIR3 lineup. Paul Huge, who wrote and recorded material for the project just about forever before unceremoniously leaving, and Buckethead, whose contributions and significance cannot be denied.

Then there's the live band, which has more recently lived a life separate from the studio band. While Fortus had all the time in the world to become amalgamated into the band, it's not pretty to see first Bucket leaving, then Brain. Now, if Robin should leave, expect it to effect the overall sound at least as Bucket's resignation, for better or for worse. Of course, this doesn't hurt the album much, as for the most part, the studio band remained mostly consistent for four to five years. That's why the album will be a band effort. Just not by the band you see on stage, because time's caught up with that lineup.

Partially it's because Axl needed people who could contribute. Without Slash (and Izzy - and Duff), he was pretty clueless about where to go with the band name. He couldn't have gone back even if he'd wanted to, he didn't know where he could/should go. That's why people came in and got back out again, jamming on a nightly basis, so that Axl could figure a direction and recruit a steady lineup piece by piece   from the rows of people checking into the studio. If it sounds like a one great audition, that's exactly what I think it was, trying out players - and trying out the sound.

Axl's more into composing with the piano, anyway. He can do things like November Rain and Estranged, but he still needs some capable people to round up the songs. Personally, I don't think Axl could even write an album completely on his own. He needs people like Slash and Izzy to help out. Once he has those songs, those raw structures and the guitar solos, he can pull off his UYI antics - the band recorded their parts and Axl locked himself into the studio for a year or so to write and record lyrics and add various touches. Producing other peoples sound and writing/singing are the areas towards which Axl has always shown most interest. He knows his own talents and limitations, the only question which always remains is that are the songs his band wrote worthy to carry the GNR name. While he's probably lost a few nights sleep over it, it's never solely up to him to decide.