Here Today... Gone To Hell!

Just a question that bugs me...
Why do you think the whole GNR & record company foul up is so centred around the album?
Could GNR not release their best song as a single now with an amazing video? This would give the band about three months breathing space as the single gains momentum worldwide. If it does the business, maybe Axl & the business heads would would relax a a bit around money and credability issues allowing the album to move closer to the store shelves.
U2 released 'Beautiful Day' three months before the album because they agreed that the whole 'POP' album schedule was a farce. The fans were at fever pitch by the time "All that you can't leave behind' came out and it stormed to No. 1 world-wide.
If GNR even released 2 singles they could gauge how the public are reacting to their sound and maybe finalise the CD track listing to suit that reaction (they have 70 to choose from or so we are told).
Does anyone here understand the singles game and how it works? I mean the rock world is gagga for VR now and much as I like 'em, I am a tad disappointed with 'Slither'. It's not 'SCOM' or 'Sex Type Thing' by any means. If 'Cather in the Rye' is as good as is rumored surely they can't loose???
peace,
Rubie

Seems like a good idea to me and as brought this up I started to wonder 2
why they havent released any singles.  

well i guess you don't put out singles when you are not sure when the album can be released...

you dont release singles until you know are ready to release the album. especially in gnr's case. Why release a single then have the buzz just die becuase you might not even release the album. its pointless. and im glad they havnt done anything liek that

ill wait as long as it takes. just do it right. and they will

I owuldnt say the music world has been gaga, but thats your opinion. CITR will not even be on the first album so why would it be there first single? What they lose is there momentum.

Bullshit. Some of the best Beatles songs weren't on their studio albums...Hey Jude for example. Singles have been released since the beginning of rock and roll. I always thought Axl should have just made an ep after Rio to wet everyone's appetite. The Blues, Chinese, Rhiad, and Madagascar would have been perfect. These songs allegedly aren't the big guns anyway so what would be the problem. ps Chinese Democracy the song doesn't have to be on the album either...Houses of the Holy was cut from the album of the same name by Zep. There are no steadfast rules to go by. Fuck, at this point, I don't think anyone except Axl has any idea what the final tracklisting will be for this fiasco. I wouldn't be suprised if only one or two songs played so far, of the six, even ended up on the album. We know less now than in Dec 1999. Amazing. >:(

What i find amazing is that none of the stuff has been leaked or any info on the album has been leaked

It baffles me too

Why can't Axl release a 12 tack ep - the 6 new songs played on tour plus a live version of each

It would be a way of appeasing the fans, plus it keeps GNR's name out there - i can't think of one good reason why Axl can't do this - especially with the GH going strong

-it would make him a bit of money to wage war against Slash/satify Geffen

-a bit of publicity

-the songs are already out there - its not as if Axl can get a bad press from the songs - people heard them 3 years ago!

Its all very strange to me

Maybe he will release 2 or 3 singles before thr album come out, but maybe this is not the time. I think he will do it when we will be closer to the release.

The reason we have no single is because we're never getting an album. I used to think he was just waiting until the perfect time or something, but that has come and gone so many times I have just realized he is never going to sack up enough to release the album. He can goto his grave telling everyone how great it would have been and keep that aura about him, because if he did release it and it didn't go well that would ruin him personally as Guns really would be dead at that point. I used to think we were waiting along time in 2002, and if not then then it had to be out early 2003. That was over a year ago, and we are no closer now than we were 5 years ago to a release. Next year will be 2005....still no album....Axl yet another year older. We have a two year window of viability before he is percieved as being totally over the hill age wise, I hope he capitalizes on it.

Maybe this idea of releasing a single to see how people react and then release an album has already been used on 1999, when Oh my God was shown.

Well people didn't seen to like it and the result is that we are still waiting.

Same thing with the VMA`s 2002.

Anyway, something concrete must happen until august! If it doesn`t guess it's over.

Exactly, it just seems like another year anotehr year without the album. I just cant see it coming out after all thats happened

Axl has NEVER told ANYBODY that the album is great. Don't exaggerate.

You get the point, its easy to create an aura about an album as long as you never actually release it so people can judge for themselves. As long as he doesn't release it, no one can ever say it isn't good or not as good as the old Guns stuff. And then he won't have to answer questions about why the old band broke up and how he couldn't recapture the spirit by himself. Emotionally, there is just no way he will risk this sort of thing by actualyl releasing an album. I mean it is either done or has been done for a while, so the only reason we don't have it is some sort of fear on his part. Nothing wrong with that, but we just all need to realize he isn't going to wake up one day and go "Maybe I should release an album and tour for a couple of years today". Its just not going to happen, he cuoldn't handle a month of the CD tour without some sort of catastrophe, he just can't take all that goes with releasing an album in terms of promotion and making nice with the media. What in the last 7 years has he done that would suggest otherwise?

Personally, I don't feel he is emotionally stable enough to tour and his instability clearly has affected the recording of the album. But, his inability to let go and his insecurity/paranoia does NOT mean 1. The material isn't high quality 2. That it will never be released. It may be 5 years from now or it may be 20 years from now. We will see something someday. He is fucked up no doubt. But, I do have supreme faith in his one true ability-the ability to write honest, simplistic, and heartfelt melodies. Ultimately, that is what connects with a mass audience and that will again make him successful.  

Axl would only release singles IF and only IF the album(s) were finished.

Example. So lets say by August the album(s) are finished, it is shown to the record company the final proof. They start to market the album and set a release date for 3-4 months so it would be around the end of the year. During those months 1 or 2 singles would be released to see the reaction.

But the singles would only be released if the whole project is finished and the company can start organising a tour and the albums release date. Period

madagas-

I personally feel the new material is probably like nothing we have ever heard before it is most likely that good. The problem is I would like to see it released while he is still young enough to have some sort of comeback as a viable rock God. At 42 and not getting any younger, his window of opportunity is rapidly closing. I agree one day we may here something, but I want more than to just hear the album....I want the tour, and hoopla and a motivated Axl.....if this all doesn't start to happen soon, we're going to get none of it.

That's the difference..I don't care about the hoopla. I think his days as a young rock god are long gone. I just want an amazing record and don't care if it sells 10,000,000 or 500,000. I would prefer they stay in a selective hard core fan base and if they tour, play in high quality theatres of say 3000 to 5000 people. I am selfish! Already did the mega Illusion tours and quite frankly, stadiums and arenas are shitty venues to see quality music.

Would all this time have really been wasted though if all he wanted to do was some low-key album that didn't shake up the world of R&R? I mean I can't believe he would spend 6-7 years recording a servicable album with the intent of playing small venues. I may be wrong but I doubt it.

I suppose you can only put out a single when you know the album is coming out within a couple of months.

I think thats an excellent point

The reason everything is so weird in the GNR world and nothing happens as it should is because Axl is bordering on insanity.

He can't seem to even get vocals down on the tracks let alone release them

The cancelled tours and total failure to communicate are not a sign of a healthy mind , untill Axl gets it together we won't be seeing much from them

See you next summer...next summer...next summer...next summer..next summer

i think it has a lot to do with being in the spotlight again...

look at it from his point of view...he left the scene on top of the world. Just left. No explanation. Not a word or sighting in years. He pops up here and there. but he has the best of both worlds. hes reconized as a legendary vocalist yet he doesnt have all of those responsibilities. He has lived the past 10 yrs in peace and queit.

When they eventually go ahead with the comeback all of that will be gone. Its tough. he isnt getting younger either. Thats the only thing. i have total confidence in the material. that is the least of my worries.  

My only glimmer of hope is that he is waiting for all the excitment of VR to die down. Given Axl's shall we say fragile state. Why wouldhe want to to have a stand up fight with the old guns? Axl has made one thing extremly clear inthis  process and that is that he will do this on his terms only.
I believe we will get the album around August. I totally agree they should follow the u2 idea and release a single. I would not want it to be Madagascar as we have already heard it and it is now wayyyyy old.
I guess the question is is Axl ready to stand up and be counted?

Gnr isnt even in the ring yet. They are laying in the weeds ready to come down that aisle. The bell rings when the album is out. Thats when they can provide the punches or take the blows. Everything up to this point...gnr have just fucked up at the press concert.

Vr will throw the first punches. Then the big boys will come out and play. And show not just vr but the whole industry what great music really is.

It may be a good thing that he doesn't release a single way ahead of Chinese Democracy's release. He could end up delaying the album further if the public and critics don't take to the single.

It's my belief that they want the entire product to be assembly-lined, in a sense. I don't think we'll see a single until all 3 albums are done and in the can, so there will be no more worries about having to record anymore, just touring. But we'll definitely see a single in the very near future...

But we'll definitely see a single in the very near future...
Thats almost comical, just like in 2001, 2002, 2003, and so on.....we are no closer to a single now than we were 5-6 years ago. Although if the Axl plastic surgery rumors are true, maybe he is trying to pull it together. THe better idea though would be call whoever duff/matt's trainer is because those two look better than they ever used to, and are cutt and thinned out in their early 40's as well. Axl could look just the same(And no....i don't wanna see the one shot from house of blues with him and the 6 pack because there are plenty of others that would show he was not in that type of shape when he re-appeared)