HMV and Play.com have it, too. Rolling Stone reported this back in early October, saying that Major online music retailers Play.com and HMV have now published a release date February 11 2008. Here we run into the egg and chicken problem. One major retailer puts out a release date, another one follows suit, a major media entity picks it up. Then story gets its wings and people start thinking, maybe the record is coming on such n' such date. Of course, the anticipation has steadily diminished over the years, aside 2006, when Axl repeatedly promised the record to actually come out.

The one thing that's never answered is where do these dates come from. Amazon, HMV or Play.com (whichever of them would be the originator) would have little to gain by putting it up. Not that they'd be bristled over it, as no-one's going to blame the retailers for the lack of the product, not in this case. They're established enough not to pull all those dates from their asses. What would be the point, what would be their angle? So it kind of makes you wonder. Even if the date would turn out to be bogus, the question remains. Currently, it's a reasonable timeframe (nearly three months from now) if the record is truly finished and the band is negotiating with Interscope on the release.

Enough to get excited? Hell no.

Absolute hogwash? Not necessarily.

'Tis true.

Sharon Maynard has passed on to a better world. An obituary was written by her husband.

If anyone's interested in the rather good audiobook on The Mist, it can be found here. The trick is, it was recorded with the Kunstkopf method (aka synthetic head), which allows the recorded sounds to emulate real-life acoustics when listened with headphones.

I guess I'll check this out. I've been looking forward to Darabont abandoning all pretentions and getting back to the genre that got him established in the first place.

Another enlightening article on the Geffen/Interscope situation back in the day:

Schur Aims To Revive Geffen
By CARLA HAY
Publication: Billboard
Date: Saturday, October 9 1999

NEW YORK-In what appears to be a dramatic revival of a label that some industry observers had believed was on its way to extinction, Geffen Records has appointed Jordan Schur as its new president. "Geffen Records is back, and I want it to be everything it was and more," says Jordan Schur, who is the founder and president of Los Angeles-based Flip Records (BillboardBulletin, Sept. 30).

Following the merger of Universal/PolyGram, the Universal-owned Geffen experienced massive downsizing of its staff and artist roster (Billboard, Jan. 30). Its former president, Bill Bennett, and former chairman/CEO, Eddie Rosenblatt, departed at that time, along with most of the label's staffers. Most of the label's acts were also dropped, and Geffen, which includes the DGC imprint, has since been assimilated into a hybrid label group called Interscope/Geffen/A&M.

Releases from the remaining Geffen acts - including Hole, Rob Zombie, Counting Crows, Beck, Lisa Loeb, Guns N'Roses, and Peter Gabriel - are being worked on by Interscope staffers. Sources say that the executive reporting structure for Schur is still being discussed. The executive, who will continue to be based in Los Angeles, says that in his new Geffen post he will be "working closely with" Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field (co-chairmen of Interscope/Geffen/A&M Records) and Interscope/Geffen/A&M president Tom Whalley.

In an unusual arrangement, Schur will retain ownership of Flip while assuming the helm at Geffen. Schur tells Billboard, "I'm very fortunate that I've been allowed to still own Flip. I'll still be working with the acts currently on Flip's roster," which include rock bands Limp Bizkit, Staind, and Dope. Flip signs separate 50/50 joint venture deals with record companies for the promotion, marketing, and distribution of its acts on a case-by-case basis. For example, Limp Bizkit is on Flip/Interscope, Staind is on Flip/Elektra, and Dope is on Flip/Epic.

"There will be new management handling the day-to-day operations at Flip," Schur notes, "but we're not sure who it will be yet." He adds that he will continue to be a key decision-maker in the management changes to follow at Flip.

"Universal is a great company, and I'm very excited about working with this great team," Schur adds. According to a prepared statement from Whalley, "Jordan's success at Flip Records has proven his keen sense of A&R and talent in developing young artists. We believe he'll bring those same skills here to continue building Geffen's roster for the future."

Schur says that his revival plans for Geffen include "building my team slowly. It's not my style to go into this with a lot of hype and by hiring 100 people."

Flip employs five full-time staffers at its Los Angeles headquarters, and it retains street team members nationwide. The label's A&R reps, Eric Hunter and Jenn Littleton, will move over to Geffen in a similar A&R capacity. Schur estimates that over the next year there will be "four to six new acts signed to Geffen."

One of the first Geffen projects released under Schur's leadership will be the soundtrack to the Arnold Schwarzenegger film "End Of Days." The soundtrack, due Nov. 2, features "Oh My God," a new song from Geffen act Guns N' Roses. Other acts on the soundtrack include Korn, Limp Bizkit, Rob Zombie, Creed, and Powerman 5000.

Two new rock bands have also been added to Geffen's roster: Cold (which previously had a joint venture deal with Flip/A&M) and Professional Murder Music. The latter band is also featured on the "End Of Days" soundtrack.

Guns N' Roses, the label's best-selling act, has experienced numerous lineup changes and hasn't released a new studio album since 1993. Schur declines comment on when the next Guns N' Roses studio album will be released, but he notes that a still-untitled live set will be released "sometime between this Thanksgiving and Christmas."

- Full article

This jives with the NYT article about Jimmy Iovine (at the time a co-chairman of Interscope/Geffen/A&M Records) taking CD under his wing. Geffen still existed from '99 onwards, as a name and as an imprint, although it was scaled down considerably from its heyday. But Interscope people looked after Axl's crew. This covered both the Sean Beavan and the Roy Thomas Baker -eras. Now, pay heed. Geffen received a major adrenaline shot in mid-2003, when it was merged with MCA Records. GNR had remained a Geffen act in the dry years and it strongly appears the band was moved from Jimmy Iovine and Interscope staff back to Geffen full-time.

Things are beginning to make more sense. Ok, consider Jordan Schur. His team worked to maintain Geffen from '99 onwards, and the labels perhaps the single most potential act was withholding them a new studio album. If released back then, CD could've made a world of difference for the stripped-down Geffen.

"The Hail Mary that's going to save the game," the recording expert who spoke on the condition of anonymity explained, "is a Guns N' Roses record. It keeps not coming and not coming." - NYT

Cue 2003. Geffen is given autonomy once again and Schur, along with his cohorts, is free to lay down the law on Axl.

--

The following is an excerpt from the GH court decision.

FN9. To summarize the evidence, Plaintiff Rose was originally informed by letter dated August 6, 2003 that UMG intended to release the Guns N' Roses GHLP, and of the specific tracks to be included on that album and their sequence. Froeling Decl. ¶ 3; Ex. B; Marenberg Decl. ¶ 2.

Geffen was playing hardball! Seemingly as one of the very first things Schur's people was putting an onus on Axl. The GH track listing and release plan was apparently decided upon, now when they had full control over the band's releases - first time in nearly five years, most of which time Axl'd spent cooped up in the studio. In late October, Amazon started listing GH for a November 25th release. Mere weeks later, GNR was confirmed to headline RIR4. Coincidence? Hardly. Axl seemed to be poised to convince Geffen he'll come out of hiding voluntarily. Soon after, MTV.de broke the news that a European tour was planned for the summer. Axl would later confirm this in his RIR4 press release.

It's a moot point whether a CD release was in Axl's cards. If Geffen would've agreed to the release being readied for summer '04, Axl would've gained 5-6 months of production time. What would've happened if the tour would've infact commenced is anybody's guess. We would've had killer bootlegs, for one.

[...] December 31, 2003 came and went without delivery of the studio LP, as had so many previous deadlines. Hoffman Decl. ¶ 6. Accordingly, in January 2004, Geffen resumed its plans to release the GHLP. At that time, Mr. Hoffman asked Ms. Lori Froeling to send another notice to Guns N' Roses pursuant to the Recording Agreement, informing Guns N' Roses that the GHLP would be released on March 23, 2004 in the United States and Canada, and on March 15, 2004 in other international territories. Ms. Froeling sent such a notice on January 22, 2004. The January 22 notice also indicated that the previously approved track listing and sequence had not changed. Hoffman Decl. ¶ 6; Froeling Decl. ¶ 6 & Ex. F.

[...] The release dates were again confirmed in a subsequent letter to Mr. Rose dated February 2, 2004. Marenberg Decl. ¶ 3, Ex. B.

The NYT article also notes a letter from Geffen to Axl dated 02/02/04.

"Having exceeded all budgeted and approved recording costs by millions of dollars," the label wrote in a letter dated Feb. 2 , 2004, "it is Mr. Rose's obligation to fund and complete the album, not Geffen's." The tab at Village studio was closed out, and Mr. Rose tried a brief stint recording at the label's in-house studio before that too was ended. The band's computer gear, guitars and keyboards were packed away. Over a legal challenge by Mr. Rose, the label issued a greatest-hits compilation, in search of even a modest return on their eight-figure investment.

And that's how Jordan Schur and Geffen were fed up. As 02/02/04 was the first working day of the month, one might assume the label had internal meetings in January on how GNR should be dealt with. Whatever decision they'd reach would thus become active starting from the next calendar month.

But GNR had been on Geffen all the way from '86 to '04. Whether the cutting of finance opted them to start negotiating a deal with Jimmy Iovine and Interscope is anybody's guess. In early 2006, Jordan Schur left his post as Geffen president. He currently runs Surefire Records, which operates alongside both Geffen and Interscope. Another stroke in Axl's column of minor victories; another exec outlived.

Waiting pays off, for some.