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Re: Please Play TWAT more when a tour happens
It's been safe to assume it's dead since January.
Universal didn't want to sink another dime into this thing, and hasn't since 2004/05, and Axl wasn't going to pay for it.
That's the reason it got rolled out the way it did.
That is the most likely scenario. Again, it's not that Unviersal necessarily didn't believe the album had/has any potential. It could be as simple as they were sick and tired of waiting and putting money into the album. They got their money and were glad to wash their hands of it. They also may not trust Axl to go out and tour the album successfully, as the last 2 tours haven't exactly gone as planned 100%. It probably is as simple as that. Axl made it pretty clear that he wasn't counting on the record company anymore, so anything we get from here on out would be from the band and without their help. And as some have pointed out, why would Axl bend over backwards to make money for the record company when they've seemingly given up?
I guess if you look at it that way, it is pretty bleak, and ultimately just time to move on. You mean to tell me, whenever the Best Buy deal runs out the CD will show up in all record stores without a peep? That just seems odd.
- monkeychow
- Rep: 661
Re: Please Play TWAT more when a tour happens
I can't remember any single being successful with as little promotion as GNR has given. I think the public, radio, etc. gave up on the album because they viewed it as Axl just didn't
I think the problem was basicly that GNR wasn't dancing to the established beat.
Sad thing is the quality of the material isn't really very relevant to musical sucesss these days, it's more about the overall business stuff.
IMO chinese is a very high quality album, fantastic even, but lets imagine it wasn't, I don't think that would matter to the general public: it could suck and sell millions IF, and only IF, the rest of the business dance' was done right. Let's face it - there's lots of stinker songs from a musical perspective that have sold buckets of records in history.
The industry is like a machine, radio and TV and print media are all content hungry, the public attention span is increasingly shorter, and 90% of people will eat up what they are told without any critical evaluation. Everyone is out there flogging their own wares. The result of this is that the media will move on fast unless you feed them new stuff...bcause a ton of other people are.
CD was given loads of coverage when there was something to tell. The leaks, the DR Peper thing, that a release date was announced. But once you've written up that story...then X days later you need something new or what are they to do - write it again? Normally a tour would be announced or some interviews would be done...but when these things didn't happen...and everyone else in the world kept pumping out their daily press releases...well I guess the people in the industry just went with what they had. Remember in 06 - there was a bit of a splash when Axl warmed up playing those NYC shows...the media will run with it..when they think stuff is happening....if miore interviews and stuff had happened to coinside with the release...or a tour...generally...if the band had looked to be following the pattern of a normal commerical release...then the media would have gone with it...
Whats the media going to do? work hard to generate and research a good GNR story? or run with a spoon fed easy work package from some rap singer's pr department. It's a no brainer for them. You have to play the game or it's too hard for them.
If chinese had been pushed down our throats the way Ac/Dc marketed Black Ice...i think the kiddies would have rushed out the same way they did for that album....but it wasn't done that way...and hense it's mostly
the hardcores like us who support it.
In a way it's a shame, as I feel it's a great album and I'm sure many many people would like it as much as I do but they're unlikely to be exposed to it.
Re: Please Play TWAT more when a tour happens
Some really good points here.
The whole thing wasn't done the way we expected it to be done.
We always expected the release of the album to work alongside band promotion. They're supposed to be a band and now was the time to show it.
But in the end, we should have seen it coming. Universal was done with this deal years ago. There was no backing. They had come out of it with their head still over the water and was happy with that. The rest was up to GNR management. Now, knowing Axl and how this works, it happened as things have happened the past years. It was underwhelming. The ball was pushed into rolling, but once it got rolling the people who pushed it just stopped and went home. No band interviews, not even a TV apperance. A lead guitar player off in NIN and the rest of them scattered around like strawberry jam.
So what is the media left with? Axl denies interviews and no one is really interested in the other guys anyway. There's nothing left. Who do you call then? There was nothing to feed off and so the media left it behind.
There's no videos, no apperances, a few written interviews with Axl and that's it.
In the end the release just seemed to be a deal of "release it and move on". Axl don't wanna play ball with the media. The label doesn't seem to really care and the Best Buy deal did nothing for it either.
But, economically, it's a success. Everyone got their money back and that's how things are.
Re: Please Play TWAT more when a tour happens
Well, yes. They stopped supporting it because their calculations told them that if they continued supporting it, they would loose money 100% for sure. No matter how much promotion they would put into it. It wouldn't be wise.
Yes, but I'm even talking about post release, or even when it was released. Universal saw it for what it was. Had they thought the album was great and had any chance of succeeding commercially, they would have supported it and promoted it in an instant. The fact that they didn't is very telling of what they thought of it.
Re: Please Play TWAT more when a tour happens
It was more than just universal that was responsible in promoting it, Buzz. BB was more responsible than anyone. And by all accounts, none did a real good job, including Axl.
The album did good for the most part, no matter how much that pains you. Critics liked it. It got a lot of great reviews from the big mags. It's sold 3 million copies. And it was actually one of the best selling albums for Geffen in 2008. CD the single did well for more than a very, very, very, very brief time, like you're trying to spin it (shocking)...
Could it come back and do something else? Who knows. But its not the kind of album that will rule the world. It's never going to be as big as Appeite. It's not dead, it can still sell more albums if promoted right. But if you're holding a 1987-1991 standard on what a GNR album should sell today, you need to update your 'business world' books... Or you're just jaded.
I agree with Duff when he said recently that Chinese Democracy will be much more appreciated as time goes on, and will also become more successful -- that it's a slow building album.
Re: Please Play TWAT more when a tour happens
I dont think it was the music, I think its more they had completely lost confidence in Axl Rose as a dependable person way back when they finally cut the purse strings in 2004.
After all those years of getting nothing for their investments and also the fact that they, just like the fanbase, have been waiting around for fucking years and are now fully wisened up to the shambolic way GNR operate.
I think if universal believed 100% that they could rely on Axl/GN'R, they would have backed it more. Mabye they did see the plans for release and thought "you've gotta be fucking kidding, naaaaaah I dont think we'll splash out on this one"
