Here Today... Gone To Hell!

Richard Fortus was asked by us what the current guitarist situation is with GN'R.
He said, "At the moment Robin Finck and I are the only guitarists in the band. We switch off between lead and rhythm".

Merck Mercuriadis has previously told us that GN'R would only hire a new guitarist if the right person came along. Our choice, John 5, is yet to hear from the GN'R camp.

There will be more words from Richard Fortus soon, so stay tuned!

From: sp1at.com (http://sp1at.com)


 Edit:Made clear that this is a rumour from sp1at



Edit #2: Changed subject since the whole Q&A is now available /jarmo

nice to know they aren't out looking for  a guitar player and that is the reason for the wait..

If John 5 joined I wouldn't buy CD, he's a weird motherfucker? :nervous:

 :smoking: Izzy? :smoking:

whos john 5?

i think he played with Manson but I could be wrong.. Whatever happened to bumble foot

I'm getting sick and tired of these lame excuses. Why do they need another guitarist? Hasn't the music supposedly been done for a long time? It just defies all logic. The band hasn't been together in a year and supposedly Richard has more news coming. Yeah Right! And who is this "right person" thats gonna come along and save the day? No one! Its time for the excuses to end! Either you have an album finished or you dont. Make up your fucking mind! I would rather hear an announcement of no CD than for these games to continue.

His real name is John Lowery I belive, he played for Manson and another band excuse me for frogeting who. He also did a solo album

 :smoking: Izzy ?:smoking:

c'mon dude.... :hihi:

john 5 hey, its cool!! :smoking:

Please don't post news or Rumours from sp1at to other boards. Respect the wishes of Bigboss and Gigger.
Thank you.

What excuse? No one said they arent going to do anything untill they get another guitarist. Robin and Richard are the guitarists for gnr now. The album is coming, so just have a little more patience.

I see this as good news.  He states that Robin and Richard are trading off solos.  That means to me that they are actually working.  Sounds like to me they're getting ready to tour.  And I'm pessimistic for the most part. :beer: : ok:

Theres not gonna be a tour before november at the earliest. Richard is touring untill the end of September, then they would need about a month or so to rehearse together before a tour started. IMO.

maybe they are leaving the door open for a possible return from Buckethead.  :drool:

Their choice? Those splat people never cease to make me laugh  :rofl:



That's been repeated several times, but some people seem to be unable to fathom that concept. Guess I'll soon have to start locking some threads again....

IT WONT FUCKEN HAPPEN dude!!!!!

I'd be happy if guitar duties were left for Richard n' Robin!!!!

you really hate buckethead.. :hihi:

Na :hihi:? ? i really like him, but people with a BH pic on there profile are obviously a fan of him, prob even more then GNR, BUCKETHEAD IS GONE PEOPLES!!

He's suckin' farts from record labels!!

Meh , it's certainly up to anyone what their opinion is of Bucket. Everyone has the right to either hate or like him. I choose to like him.

It has no beaing on my love of GNR , been a GNR fan since 87.

That said , two of the 3 pics in my avatar arent Buckethead , it's me.  : ok:

I wouldn't want another guitarist. John 5, though a good guitarist, is too fucking weird. He is versatile, though: he played with Manson, and then toured with some country singer. Buckethead was too much, in my opinion, even though I enjoyed some of his solos. Finck and Fortus should be the only guitarists... We don't need anymore freaks: Queenie is enough. I think Buckethead was just brought in because of all of those thrash/ shred fans.

/kev miller

John 5 is great, and he is not any weirder than BH. Hell BH talks to a puppet, and made Axl make a chicken coop in the studio so he could record. It does not get much weirder than that.

It`s hard to be more weird than Bucket.

Any news is good news and this works for me.

i think Robin and Fortus are great! 2 guitars should be enough!  : ok:

He played with David Lee Roth before that, too. He impressed me during his short tenure with Roth's band.

Any guy off this site would be fine with me, though most are old.  The guy that runs the site is doing the one on Slash next.  Read the requirements of what it takes to be a Dinosaur Rock God.  You don't get on for being a shredder, or playing great blues.  You have to right monster riffs.....

Check it out, it is a great read.

http://www.dinosaurrockguitar.com/alchemy.shtml

Is John 5 a shredder??

only heard him in Manson!!

If not John 5 my next choice and he looks normal, is Nuno Bettencourt.

Could they get Jeff Beck out of retirement?  Slash gave him a lifetime acheivement award today.

so, it means that they ARE "waiting" for a new guitarrist but they ARE NOT looking right now... couse there?s NOTHING to do RIGHT NOW because the album is not coming out RIGHT NOW and they will NOT TOUR for a long time... ( just my thou about the new guitarrist learning a bunch of songs fot the tour) ... ???

Ive said it before, Dave Navarro would be perfect
I realise it ain't going to happen, but I rate him as the second best guitarist of his generation (Slash being the best!? : ok:)

But failing this, I think Fortus and Finck should be enough - they'll just have to rework some of his faster leads
I have a feeling that a lot of BH's work on CD will be more textural and experimental so this could cause a problem? There is a chance that some of the trickier stuff could be sampled by Pittman? (although in principal I dont approve of this approach, it could be the only feasible answer)

wait wait wait wait wait...what about tommy stinson?  is he not a guitarist in GN'R?

David Lee Roth's band.

Do we want Bass solos?

He can pull it off when the situation is warranted, definitely.

Not really. he's a interesting player though.

Shredders are a dime a dozen anyway, go to any Guitar Center across the US and you'll find a few there...working behind the counter...

In Rob Halford's "Two" as well..

I hope saul is right. Bring back the bucket.

I didn't expect to answer to that topic but I need to say something:
Why some people don't trust the guitar duet richard and robin and want a 3rd guitarist? 2 guitars + 2 keyboards are enough.
"The star" will be the band as a whole. don't forget that led zeppelin (for exemple) only had 1 guitarist and no keyboard...
robin and richard are enough talented to play the guitar parts. I see that as a good news because it means richard will have a mor important part in the band. I want to see his full potencial.

Who knows?  Didn't Axl say they were leaving the door open for negotiations in his last statement.

Just having Finck and Fortus would be fine with me.  : ok:

It's not 5's looks that bother me, he's a strange person? :nervous:

How about Les Paul as a new guitarist? :hihi:

 :smoking: Izzy? :smoking:

Your point aside, Which Led Zeppelin are you talking about?  ???

John Paul Jones played the keyboards

 :smoking: Izzy  :smoking:

jimy page was the only guitar player and I don't remmber they had keyboard onstage(was john paul onstage or was he just a session studio keyboardist?). I speak about their live shows because obviously in studio you can do what you want, double the guitar parts, add keyboards etc..

John Paul Jones was the bassist, I belive they used keyboards onstage aswell

 :smoking: Izzy? :smoking:

hey izzy, i know you are a guitarist, did you hear my friend's guitar demos on the "bad obsession"? give me your opinion? 8)
To come back to the topic, VR have 2 guitars and no keyboards and they sound incredibly loud onstage. 2 guitars are really fine.

Yeah JPJ played organ on stuff like Stairway to Heaven and bass on other things.

Ok, I'll check them out

 :smoking: Izzy  :smoking:

I just picked a gallery av I have no albums by him and i don't listen to him on a regular basis, I only saw his talents while playing with axl's crew.. I saw them live he was quite good.. I am not in anyway more a bh fan then gnr fan you must be crazy :rofl: I used any old pic so I didn't just have to find my username

Led Zep had keyboards on a ton of songs and JPJ played them onstage and in the studio. Geez, you guys really need to listen to some other bands and really need to brush up on your rock history. Of course, sometimes I forget I'm talking to kids in their teens! :rofl: :rofl: ps how is this a rumor? It is a direct quote from one of the band members. The current status and official line is there are only two guitar players in the band-that is a fact-not rumor.  ::) ::)

You've been to a Zeppelin concert you must be 50

 :smoking: Izzy  :smoking:

Does this mean they are actually recording/playing/getting together and doing stuff nowadays ? as in today...?  ::) that's a bit positive considering how I thought Axl was alone in the basement playing Halo while the other bandmembers are playing solo gigs.

oh ok, nevermind.  i thought you were talking about gn'r guitarists in general. 

And Axl isn't?

GNR need a new guitarist - what they have isn't enough by any stretch of the imagination

I think three is a crowd, but I'll buy CD even if Satan himself plays on it

 :smoking: Izzy? :smoking:

If Bucket's parts stay on the CD they will need someone who can play the solos.

Axl has developed this "huge" sound for CD that requires 3 guitarists. you know, much like Collective Soul  :rofl: :rofl: (I'm KIDDING) :rofl: :rofl:

IMO, the band needs 3 kinds of guitarists:

1.) A rock n' roll doublestop/lick rhythm player like Izzy or Gilby used to do in GN'R. Fortus can do that, but he lacks charisma.

2.) A blues / Hendrix-influenced lead guitarist like Slash was/is. Finck goes a bit in that direction with his emotion over technique style, so it's gonna be intresting to hear how much he improved since the last tour.

3.) A cold shredder. Buckethead? Michael Angelo Batio?

I'd love to see Satan play a guitar.....must be a killer.

A return Bucket would be even better. If not I'd rather they'll find a rising new talent.

He plays pretty good fiddle on "the Devil Went Down to Georgia" song by The Charlie Daniels Band ;D but that Johnny is way better :rofl: :rofl:

That tune is killer. I love it.

A question to whomever, why are most obsessed with the notion GNR has to employ a shredder?  Only to replicate BH parts (if they stay on the record) I suppose is the logical explanation..

That being understood, does anyone really believe BH's parts will stay on the record?  Given Axl's tendency to hold grudges and cut off those who aren't on board 100% with his vision, I see little possibility of Axl affording the slightest chance of the possible career advancement an appearance on CD would bring BH...

That is my reason


But the only word we have is Tommy saying that Bucket's parts were going to remain. If we can believe Tommy is another story :)

very good question. I don't understand neither...

I could care less about shredder but if the songs have that type of playing then how can they do them live?

Tommy and Brain said to THEIR knowledge Bucket's parts would stay. However, that was six months or more so ago! Dark Side of the Moon was recorded in less time! Bucket's parts could have came and went 3 times over in the last 6 months. Bucket also plays slower solos as well so the shredder thing is way too premature. I agree with Falcon that Axl would erase the parts...unless he wants to hold the door open for a return. Hmmmm. This whole Bucket saga reaks of conspiracy! I know what the official line is but..... ??? :nervous:

It's not that I don't believe Tommy, I just can't see Axl leaving BH's parts on the record after the scathing press release portraying BH as opportunist..

Gotta agree with you there, Axl seemed quite bitter with Buckethead when he left

If bucket doesn't come back I'll be surprised if his stuff is on CD (cause I see Axl as unforgiving too) but like I said, Tommy said (and brain too I guess) his stuff is supposed to stay. If all bucket's stuff is on and it's crazy fast, then they need someone to play it live. And, personally, I can't see Finck or Fortus filling those shoes.

It was an odd press release; actually Axl seemed more confused about the situation than anything else. It wasn't bitterly scathing, but it did express second hand gossip that could be neutralized if the sides got together and talked about it. There is an opening for a reconciliation, but that would take some movement from this lumbering beast.

axl seemed puzzled and hurt more then anything when bh left in his rio speech..

Hmm, interesting take.

I seem to remember the tone of the release being less than kind, bitter even.

Personally, even though I enjoyed BH presence in the band, it just never seemed like a good fit. ?I'd actually prefer his parts be removed and the move ahead with Finck and Rochard..

axl was like ok get in touch with bh for rio4 we need to rehearse a little.. What do you mean he hasn't been in the band for 5 months, that's news to me..  There is a little shock value there..

I think otherwise. :D
The first grousing paragraph was just like...as if he was on about himself, not about BH.
And then he said

"I would also like to express my gratitude to those who chose to embrace Buckethead's role in Guns and support our new line up. We greatly appreciate Bucket's contributions and remain open to "discussions" as there are obviously several issues to resolve."

It's a popular belief.
A gossip spread with frills and embellishments of people's imagination and gets established.
a Likely story.  :yes:

Very Likely unless there have been changes since Tommy n Dizzy heard the final mix.
I'd rather believe Tommy than sheer hearsayers n such. :yes:

I didn't know of the song so I checked it out and.....Oh shit! you were right.   :-[

This is not a rumour, it's a news article.

Article my ass. Sp1at are not the New York Times as far as I know.

Bottom line, they don't want their stuff posted on any other board. How hard is that to understand?

wouldn't tommy or richard just say we re did the parts if they did?? That's a prettysimple thing to answer when people ask them if BH is going to comeback or is he is getting replaced..

What? GNR and simple, are u on drugs?  ;) Axl has never done anything the simple way, never has, never will!

Exactly!! ?Unless who is on lead is gonna be a big secret or they don't know what the fuck is going on or they have been sworn to secrecy under pain of death :hihi:

I think it's safe to assume that it's the second option.

why as fans can't we just know a little bit more.. ?? Axl pumped up cd to us and he came back with a new band just let us know what is going on being fans who visit gnr sites about eevryday looking for info about anything new..

In my opinion it's not a real news article. I mean, it's just a comment on a thing most of us have guessed, Buckethead hasn't been replaced yet.

I don't know how sp1at works, but it seems like they get a one line reply from somebody, add a few other old quotes and write a news article around it.

In any case, at least it's not a guess about when the album's gonna be released or something similar....



/jarmo

For sure.

Didn't Merck say only 3 people knew what exactly is going on with GNR/CD?....

..not that I take anything the GNR Propaganda Lord says too seriously..

It is not a news article or a rumor...it is simply a one line quote from a band member. Real simple. Splat does one thing well-they do get at least some responses from band members and people who have worked on the project at one time or the other. It seems like more so than all the other sites. It is not a lot of information but it is current dialogue from the band. The people from the message boards are the ones who twist and turn the words around to mean whatever suits their position on the new gnr. Blame the posters in this thread for over analyzing simple information-don't blame Splat.  :rant:

Thank you, Madagas!  Thank you very much.

It's really simple, all Fortus is saying is that at this time, there isn't a third guitarist.  That's it and that's all.

Ali

I can assure that it was not a one-line reply mixed together with older quotes in order to create a news story.  The bit about the guitar situation and Richard becoming a father was from a straight, simple Q&A with him.

I agree that the part about no new guitar player for GN'R not necessarily being news.  It was just an answer to a question posed in a Q&A session conducted through e-mail.  There was no manipulation of past and present quotes to create a story.

However, the bit about Richard becoming a father is news, good news.  Congratulations to him and his girlfriend!  :beer:

Ali

Stop the presses! This Just in! According to Splat, their next 25 choices to replace BH,? Brian Setzer,? Ace Frehley, Ted Nugent,? George Thoroghgood, Vince Gill, Trey Anastasio, Arlen Roth, Alvin Lee, Link Wray, Reverend Horton Heat, Dave Gilmour, Malcolm Young, Glen Tipton, Dickie Betts, Ike Willis, Keith Urban, Alex Lifeson, Jimmy Page, Nils Lofgren, Nigel Tufnel, "Fast" Eddie Clark, Ronnie Woods, Tom Schulz, Dan Donegan, & Johnny Hiland have NOT, I repeat, HAVE NOT yet heard from the GnR camp.

They're following this breaking story closely, I've been assured, more "news" to come!

how does splat get all these questions to them?? DO they email them or call them or show up at gigs?? Is it real journalism or some dudes having a blast on the net?? I know they ask alot of stuff so why not write some good questions down and have a go at it even if they don't get answered..

Have the parts been redone that BH played.. ?If bh didn't leave would the album have come out during the rio 4 time, was that the time to launch a tour or was it just one show because axl personally loves it??

Usually through e-mail.

As far as the rest of your questions, I think only Axl and maybe his manager and Caram Constanzo know for sure.

Ali

thanks you mean the other two guitar players or the band wouldn't know if axl was redoing the guitar parts??

I respect the fact Sp1at try to make contact with the band members, after all we're all fans of GNR and its fun to think that we can interact a little with them.

Jarmo did a great job with Tommy, and I think this site needs some more of that, if only to keep interest up (or us from going mad) until there is a release date announced. I'm sure with Jarmo's / Mysterons connections this could be arranged.

On a slightly diffrent subject I believe that the profile of these band members is growing and could be used to great effect in promoting the new GNR. If they were allowed to open up a little and Axl showed support and interest in their activities in the lead up to the new album it would be a winning strategy. It may also stop the whole 'hired musicians' criticisms.

that would be key, if they were all doing seperate tours or whatever they could say cd is coming out by the years end and get a real jump start on promotion... But the idea no one says anything means they don't even have any near date set.. I think like us the guys in axl's band just hope one day it happens..

maybe they read gnr boards everyday hoping to find out news and a release date!  :hihi:

hey , it aint so far fetched , axl found out about the european tour on the internet afterall.  :rofl:

First off Mike, this is just my opinion.  I don't have any information definitively one way or the other.  IMO, they probably would have heard had someone else recorded guitar parts for the album.  However, since they are not actively involved in the mixing and track selection, I don't think they'd know whether or not Bucket's parts remained on the album.

Just my opinion.

Ali

This is the actual news article that was posted on sp1at:




I assume the Merck quote is older because it says "has previously told us". So to me it looked like you guys took Richard's quote and put it together with Merck's quote and then you have a news article.


I've noticed that Blabbermouth does the same thing when they have a really short news article..... The first paragraph is the actual news and then they add two paragraphs about things that have been reported earlier.





/jarmo

I guess it is "news" since alot of people were wondering if GNR had hired a new guitarist to replace Bucket .. and richard answered that , no they havent.  :hihi:

gnr news.  :rofl:

it is news I just wish it would start or end already.. One it's on or it's off that would make my year,.. :love:

i didn't know you had sounded like you knew.sorry. I don't know everyone that works for the company so when you said by email I thought you might be someoent hat is involved and knew :beer:

He said that, but he was wrong. Three people think they know what's going on, and one of them is Axl Rose  :rofl:

Yes, Jarmo.  I see what you're saying.  I thought you meant that an older quote was "snuck in" there in order to beef up the story.  What I was trying to say is that there was no intentional "sneaking in" of an older quote to try make something of nothing.

I misunderstood what you meant is all.

Ali

 ::) I might add that the GNR Propaganda Lord actually said the above was a fair assumption.

 :rofl:

Ya, I know. 

So it's a fair assumption the 2 remaining guitar players have no clue what's going on with band, right?

Well, I'm not sure.
At least Richard didn't say
"At the moment it's fair to assume that there are the only two guitarists in the band, who are Robin Finck and I.
I suppose we switch off between lead and rhythm".

I tend to give preference to the musicians over the management, as you know.  :P

I'd give the musicians the benefit of the doubt over Merck anyday.

That said, let's hope Richard's not getting his info from Splat, Blabbermouth and the like.

Mick Mars named his son Les Paul. :rofl:

Splat posted the complete interview with Richard Fortus: http://www.sp1at.com/item.php?id=534

I dunno if they allow me to put it here, so I'm sorry if it's wrong.

In my humble opinion, that should've been the news article. ;)






Wonder where he heard those rumors?  ;D



/jarmo

yeah, well so is Axl so go figure  ::)

Finishing vocals? WTF.

Axl must really be lost vocally if he is still working on these. Maybe the Times was right, this has been in Axl's lap for a long, long time now.

What is the latest news on Guns's forthcoming album, 'Chinese Democracy'?

Axl is still finishing up vocals on the record

Still finishing up vocals?! OMFG!  :o

Yes KillingVector, this is troubling news indeed. We aren't even close to seeing this album hit the record stores. Occasionally, someone in the GNR camp will say something that makes you realize how pathetic the situation really is. This is one of those times. I remember when Tommy was on tour and he made that remark about getting to hear music on CD that he hadn't heard in years. YEARS!! And then he went on to say that he didn't get to finish hearing it because he had other things to do. This would all be hysterical if we hadn't been waiting so long for it. Mark my words, some journalist is eventually going to blow the lid off this motherfucker and prove to the world that CD is nothing more than a fraud.

finishing vocals?

Richard, are fucking kiddin?right?
Axl, are fucking kiddin?right?
Merck, they are are fucking kiddin?right?

Nope, they're not kiddin!!

I'm still trying to digest what I've read.

Wouldnt this mean that 2005 is now  out of the question for a democracy release date?! It certainly means they havent mixed and mastered all the tracks .. they certainly havent pressed any copies yet .. so I guess no album art is done , the booklet etc etc .. no lyrics for the booklet can have been printed if axk is still doing vocals.

wow.

I had figured the album recording process was done months and months ago when tommy said he heard finished songs and stuff. This started off being small news of "no new guitarist yet" to now in my mind being huge news pretty much saying "no new album in 2005" , maybe a tour is possible but I cant honestly see how they could get an album out by years end if the recording still hasnt finished.  :'(

I sincerly hope and pray that this does not mean we wont see CD this year

Perhaps Axl has finished the vocals and he just doesnt know as he isn't one of the 'three' in the know is he?

So really, Richards guess is as good as ours and all he has to go on regarding his own band are rumours like the rest of us?

Truly pathetic - it'd be fine if Axl would bite the bullet and admit this is a solo album with hired session musicians, but he is calling this Guns N' Roses for chrissakes and Guns N' Roses is/was a band

Saul, you hit the nail on the head! 2005 is NOT the year of Guns N Roses. More than likely 2006 isn't the year either. We're in big trouble! I seriously dont think the GNR forums can handle several more years of waiting. In a thread from about a month ago, I stated that the forums would crumble once word got out that nothing was gonna happen. This news is gonna piss alot of people off. Some people might give up on CD completely.

its disappointing alright, although I dont think any of the other 'band members' have a clue whats going on so perhaps little weight or validity should be placed on Richards comments

if the album doesn't drop this year, I think Axl will have exhausted everyones patience including the record co.s
he will have also missed a golden opportunity to maximise on the current GNR renaissance going on not to mention a stronger shift back towards rock music that hasnt been seen since the early 90s

I always felt he is using the name because he knows the name alone will sell atleast one million copies and the label is probably pressuring him for an album with the name "guns n roses" on it.

absolutley, can see the 'reasoning' behind it

IMO it becomes a farce when members of said band have to rely on rumours and clearly havent a clue what the story is

Jimmy, the troubling aspect of this comment is that its the truth. In the past, whenever a hired gun is asked about it, they say all kinds of positive shit about it. Not this time. The GNR house of cards is about to fall! This simple statement confirms that everything said previously over the past year or two was bullshit! Remember it was 95% done? The only thing left was artwork? The album was in the final mixing stages? Now we've jumped into our GNR time machine back to 2002 with Axl working on vocals. It doesn't take a genius to see why Buckethead left. CD is a never ending joke, without the punchline. Earlier, I said a journalist would expose this as a fraud. Let me correct that. What can expose it is some simple truth by someone in the GNR camp.

A question for everyone, did anybody really expect to have an '05 release?

I mean for crying out loud, there's only been vague snippetts of news for a while now. ?Nothing concrete by any means outlining any sort of release date and no live activity since the '02 fiasco.

Not saying '05 is still out of the question, but it looks bleaker by the second.. ?

You could be right. Especially if he was asked not to spend time on his projects or other projects such as c2b3 because "somebody" wanted all of buckets riffs to himself.

But again , what if .. big what if ... what if axl actually did finish what he considered was the "album" , and handed it over only to have the label reject it because of the singing? Could that be possible?

LOL , slash made that comment way back that only two songs had finhsed vocals and most of us laughed and it became a joke ... I aint laughing anymore.  :nervous:

Yes , I really did.  :yes:

But again , I expected a 2001 release after rir3 ... no go.
Then I expected a 2002 release because of the tour and VMA's - no go.
Then I expected a 2003 release because - bleh .. why did I expect a 2003 release?
Then I expected a 2004 release because of the BTM rumor of "november 2004"
Then/Now I expect a 2005 release because , well , jesus .. axl isnt getting any younger , all the members keep saying "soon soon soon" .....

*SIGH*

Saul, I've brought up the rejection scenario and no one believed it. I'm also one of the only people who believed Slash when he made those comments. I feel bad for all of us. The light at the end of the tunnel was a mirage. I think we're definitely heading towards the nightmare 'worst case scenario' for CD. Either its proven to be a fraud, or Axl just abandoned the project. Either of those two scenarios is more likely than an actual album release.

I still think we will eventually see it , I just dont know if soons the word.  :hihi:

Im not attaching too much weight to Fortus' comments.
I think this is kind of irrelevant in the scheme of things and I still have high hope for a release by years end
All it does is illustrate further what a farcical situation GN'R is right now

Jimmy, you think its irrelevant!! Far from it. Its actually a huge contradiction to the GNR spin machine of the past few years! How does an album go from being in the final mixing stages and artwork being completed to Axl working on vocals again? Either Richard's statement is the truth, or he should be fired. Gilby was fired for saying much less than that.

When I 1st heard of "The project" aka , velvet revolver (the project was such a cooler name!) I never imagined they could release 2 freaking albums before axl got democracy out.  :nervous:

i agree. we have been waiting for years for this cd to come out. people are beginning to loose hope, it's no good...
yeah if there is no cd it would be nice to know cos sitting around waiting for this cd is driving people mental.
it mite take years for "the right person" to come along. i am willing to wait, but people are getting impatient, and fusterated.
if they keep playing us along like this they wont ge getting more fans they will proberly be loosing them... ( not me of cource )
i feel sorry for the people that have been waiting for like 5-7 years for it to come out.. the waiting must be excrusiating!

Me and many others have been waiting since TSI? for a new GNR album.   :o

It's hard to understand something that is incorrect. They don't want stuff in the rumours section of the forum posted elsewhere:

This is different from other sections of the forum where you are free to copy information as you wish although we ask you credit Sp1at.
http://www.sp1at.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=328

This piece is in the "News" section (whether you think it's not news, or not even an article is irrelevant).

Saul, I'm not a huge VR fan, but here's my prediction: Velvet Revolver will have a greatest hits cd before Axl ever releases CD. You can take that to the bank. And Gunna_Girl, I haven't been waiting 5-7 years, I've been waiting 12 years!!

me too
 ::)
woww I?m old

It's nice to know Richard has also been hearing the album might come out before the end of the year.   : ok:

I think Fortus' comments lead credence to the portrait of an Axl Rose who doesn't show up to the studio consistently, sits on these tapes for months, or years, and run up costs recording and re-recording these tracks endlessly.

If this album isn't done yet, I have no more confidence in 2006 than I have right now for 2005.

I doubt management will set back and allow this nonsense to go on forever; this year could be the breaking point beyond which the only force which could compel axl to turn over Chinese  Democracy is through court order. And we all know how successful Axl's attorney's have been lately.

Killingvector, if it goes to court, it will drag on for years. And who in the hell wants a GNR album of instrumentals? If CD got forced, it would be an IRS demo, 30 seconds of clips from CD, The Blues, and Madagascar, and a bunch of instrumentals. I'd much rather Axl pull the plug on CD than to get an unfinished album.

I am really curious how much is done. I have always believed that there were not as many completed tracks as the fans were led to believe.

Im not so sure why you people are shocked by this, Is it surprising? Maybe, but the way some of you are talking its quite comical.

The band members have been saying all along that the music is DONE. That only meant 1 thing. Axl hasnt finished recording the vocals. For whatever reason. That doesnt mean he doesnt know what to do with the tracks, or he doesnt have lyrics, etc. It simply means he has decided not to put his touch on the tracks yet.

As we already know Axl has been "directing" this project since the start. In that interview he labeled himself the producer, manager,etc. As did Tommy. Its possible that Axl has been waiting for everything else to be taken care fo before he finishes the vocals.

As for the record company rejecting the album theory. Do you really think that if something like that had happened we wouldnt have known by now? People in the industry talk and if that had happened it would have been heard about already.

Anyways, who the hell knows what the fuck Axl is doing and more improtanly why. Its all one big fukin ?. That no band member{publicly}, fan, or any1 else answer.

It could take Axl either a day to finish the vocals or it could still be a big project to be finished for the album. We have no idea. If it soemthing that is not major then the release is still possible by the end of the year.

The deadline for a dec release would prob mean September, not June. Im sure it doesnt take long for them to press the album. And all they need is 1-2months promotion depending on what they wanna do....if we dont hear anything by sept then kiss 2005 goodbye.

and who the hell knows what will happen from there. Its truly ashame if the album is not released this year and truly ashame if we dont get any info on the band and album from Axl by the end of the year. when it comes it comes...we all know that ...but...for the sake of the peopel here atleast tell us that touring, and "being out there" is not the main focus of this band at this point in time...

if axl just wants to master the album and remain in the shadows fine. I could live with that. atleast i know the gameplan. take as long as you want to perfect the album and when its out its out. But if thats not the complete case.,..then lets go already...or atleast say something....

but he has been finishing up vocals for at least 18 months now......in the real world, that is a ridiculous amount of time for finishing touches.

By the comments we've heard over the years, Ive never figured Axl as the studio rat by any means.

Comments from himself from about communicating with slash "only by phone" and Matt's Behind The Music classic "The sightings of Axl Rose were few and far between" to Dave Navarro's all timer "He tried to tell me how to play my part (in OMG) over the phone!" definitely lend credence...

Does anyone in their right mind actually think he's some 24/7 musician/producer/engineer and has been working on CD tirelessly since whenever point in time??

C'mon now..

I have to agree, I think everyone is making too big of a deal about Axl supposedly completing the vocals. ?This can be done while it's being mixed, or they can go back and make a few minor updates and send the updates to get mastered again. ?It's not like it's this huge process that has to be done exactly in a certain order, with every step taking 4 months (or whatever to complete). ?I'm wrapping up my album now, and started the mastering process before I even finished the vocals for the last song.

Just relax... there's no "huge contradiction". ?The album is nearly done, and it'll be out sometime. ?Regardless of what anyone says about it being mastered, parts redone, etc. ?It has no bearing on when it'll actually be released from our point of view.

Tomorrow, Tommy Stinson could announce that he's redoing all the bass parts, and it could still be out by Christmas.  Or, Axl could announce that it's been mastered and completed, and it still might not be out until 2008.   There's no reason to spaz out about this.   : ok:

As you have already mentioned, and as its obivioulsy know...Axl is doing things on his terms and time.

For whatever reason he has decided not to wrap the baby up yet.

Axl has investors and a contract. He doesn't have the luxury to do this on his own time. Frankly, his last ally is Sanctuary. If he makes Merck eat his words then he may be standing alone on this one.

you have a really good point there...
you would think that he would have sorted everything out by now.. i mean it takes movie directors/producers 1 year maybe a lil more to make a MOVIE...
you would? think writting and recording an albem would take less time!!!

And you nor I know if Axl has any deadlines. Or if hes allowed to take his sweet time or not.

Its obivious hes doing things on his terms and not being hevaily pressured.

As for Merck. I would wager he and Merck are pretty good friends. Not just business partners. Merck knows whats going on at all times and hes going to say whatver he has to say thats best for the band.

Like I said, if we dont get a release date by Sept then kiss this year goodbye...and if Axl doesnt say soemthing by the end of the year then who the hell knows. its a big mystery that no1 here can solve.

my only guesss would be that Axl doesnt really care about being out there and has a comfort zone. The guy left the music world on his terms and during a decade long run of basically doing nothing publically he has still been able to keep his aura appealing to most people. In simplest terms, hes a legend who does not have to deal with the publicity right now. ANd in just following and observing the guy...i would bet he likes that a lot. Especially after seeing wehat its like when ur on top in the public view. Now as for the music side. It could all very well be the music sux or that hes scared. Or it could be hes not going to release it until he thinks every friggen thing baout the album is perfect. Who the hell knows....like i said...1 big mystery

Hasn't Axl been doing vocals for 3 years? This shit is getting crazy. It doesn't take that long in the real world. I wish some GNR insider would tell us how much progress has really been made on CD. I bet we would all be shocked if we found out. First, this whole CD thing was cool. Then, it started to drift towards being irrelevant. Now, its pure satire.

james, what I am saying is that if they say "it's 95% done" or "is a hairs breadth" or whatever, it doesnt matter - they clearly have no idea as to the situation regarding CD so no matter what they say, it is irrelevant as the members are relying on rumours etc...

I am no more likely to believe this latest piece of information as I would be if Fortus had of said its coming out in November

Earth to MYSTERON!! We NEED You!!

Why are you even here? Ive been reading your posts lately and it just boggels my mind. Its liek you want this thing to fail or something. Its cool if you question the way things are going and stuff but the way you come across is not liek that...anyways...

Axl has been doing eveyrhting under the sun for the past 3 yrs. No shit it doesnt take that lonmg in the real world, but we arent in the real world. We are in Axls world. You have to look at things from Axls point of view and what his priorities are. You are assuming he wants to release the album right now or soon. ?

If you lsiten carefully and pay close attention you really wouldnt be shocked about this whole process. Heres a hint. Go back and read all of the articles on this site dating from new gnr on. so thats like 97/98 ish. Then throw in all th rumblings and episodes we have picked up over the eyars and put it all together.

its not that shocking. Its just puzzling. we dont know the gameplan. If we new what Axls goals and priorites were, there would be less confusion about the situation. Instead it looks like a mess. It very well could be, but theres a real possibility everything is going as planned....

fuk mysteron and fuk splat

It doesnt matter if the vocals are really done or not, its not going to matter until we get a offical release date.
Also, for all we know this could be a swerve so the album wont leak before the release date.   Bitching about this, is not going to make axl finish any faster, so just deal with it. If its even true since depending on who you ask you get a difference answer. Didnt splat claim someone in the know said the album was turned in? Now splat is claming Fortus said Axl is still tinkering with vocals? No one knows what the real story is, and unless Axl says something, dont believe anything.

Youngunner, I do NOT want CD to fail. You think I've been waiting 12 years for a failure? I'll admit that some of my posts have a negative vibe, but I'm just being realistic. Actually, I've looked through alot of the posts, articles,etc. from the past few years. I dont see anything positive in any of it. In fact, reading the old stuff just confirms what I've been saying all along. And dont say shit about me wanting Axl to fail!! I have stood behind the guy since I was 12 years old. I have even gotten into fistfights defending the honor of this guy! I have a variety of shirts with his face plastered across them. And I will stand behind him until the day I die. So take that 'I want Axl to fail' shit and shove it!

I didnt say anything positive would come out of that stuff. I said look at it, read it, and then you will understand this process a lot better. That deosnt mean it will be posiitve. It just mean you will have a better undertsanding of whats going on.

up ur ass or down ur throat...?

 :rofl: :rofl: BURNT :rofl: :rofl:

I said it before and will say it again....if you read all the band's comments going back to early 2003 and review their shows played and solo tours, you will CLEARLY see that they have not been in the studio together since Feb/March of 2003. Tommy said they were mixing the album in July 2003. Now, I realize that people such as Brain and Dizzy have sporadically been in the studio doing things, but the majority of the band has not recorded or been anywhere near the project in over two years. Thus, as I have said a million times, the band completed their work over two years ago, get off their back and place ALL blame on Axl. They can't do his vocals for him. Now, I'm not angry with this news because I've accepted all along that Axl can do what he wants with this record/records. I am also holding out hope that maybe he is just putting vocals on a second record or extra songs. However, anyone who is still under the "Illusion" that Axl doesn't have some form of issue(s) going on is nuts. This truly is an unbelievable story. :o

There's a precident for overlapping and contradictory statements about this album, with different band members placing CD at different stages of development. I don't see why Fortus' statement is such a big deal. It's perfectly reasonable to assume that some tracks have been mastered while others aren't yet complete. Additionally, they are bound to create "final mixes" of a number of tracks which don't even make it onto the album. Axl could be recording backing vocals for finished track #53, or the primary vocals for track #1, we have no way of knowing. ? But, given the tidbits of information we've over the last year ?from various people affiliated with the band we can extrapolate that at least some tracks are finished while others are still in progress.

Now, with manufacturing and distribution being pretty speedy processes these days, in the best case scenario all we're waiting for is Axl to hand over a selection of tracks to the label. Clearly, few people here have faith that we're in a "best case" scenario right now. So, what is the worst case scenario at this point? In my opinion, based on the information we have, with the instrumental tracks finished a while ago the only problems that could be holding the album back are those related to Axl's satisfaction with the end product. I propose that the worst case scenario is that Axl is either unhappy with his voice, unhappy with the mixing, or both, combined with trying to mix for dual-disc format. ? I'll go point-to-point on this:

1) I think it's quite likely that Axl would want to opt for dual-disc, it seems to fit his M.O. - I believe that Axl would want his "comeback" release to be as up-to-date and cutting-edge as his tastes dictate. Obviously, that would mean a hell of a lot more time in the mixing booth.

2) The album has been a veritable "revolving door" as regards producers, engineers, and the like. ?I think this is because Axl has decided that he is the final arbiter as to whether a track is "finished" and "sounds good", and all of these other people who have been involved over the years were brought in to allow ?Axl to achieve specific goals. It's been an ecclectic mix of people, which suggests that they were each employed to accomplish different things, rather than a series of replacements. With that in mind, I think it's likely that the mixing/mastering process could be quite drawn-out if the tracks aren't sounding like Axl wants them to. I can imagine that, without Axl being around to offer his input at all times, "mistakes" will be made in deviating from from his ideals - leading to much re-doing.

3) Axl's voice. I think he sounds great these days, especially on the leaked IRS demo - it's powerful and rangey. However, Axl's view of it is all about confidence. How often has he stormed off-stage in the past because of little mistakes? His own mistakes, the band's, the sound engineer's? How many live recordings have instances of Axl getting annoyed about the sound monitors because he can't hear himself properly? How many times have GNR (all line-ups) taken to the stage late, alledgedly because Axl had to spend large amounts of time getting psyched up for his performance? Now, Axl's voice is his instrument and his means of expression, I accept his right to protect and nurture it in any way he chooses, but from a practical p.o.v. his exacting need for "perfection" (taken to mean; his need for circumstances and results to be consistant with, and conductive to, feeding Axl's confidence in his own performance ) could clearly become very time consuming in the studio, moreso than a live performance where positive feedback is instantaneous.


In conclusion, I think the situation is somewhere between the two extremes, an "acceptable case scenario," if you like. I can see that the three factors mentioned above could contribute to a lengthy wait for CD going forward, but as the vocal recording and track mastering processes have been underway for over a year according to ?various members of the band I believe that the finishing line is genuinely in sight now. Whether that means we'll have CD by the end of the year is arguable, but I don't see any evidence of that being impossible. Regardless, Axl could continue to record and tweak and mix and master until October or November and still have the album on the shelves by Christmas, so until we get word on the progress of the album from a reputable source (are there any of those left?) any predictions about release dates are pure speculation. ?

or it could be he is sitting on his ass playing Nintendo! :rofl: Good post HK. : ok:

where in gods name is Mysteron ????

Well, yeah, there's always that  too :P

why does it matter nothing is going to change if he says something.. You always have the lady from that other forum to contact merck : ok:

No disrespect to Richard Fortus, but I don't think that he should be taken as a definitive authority on the status of the album.  Beyond the recording of their parts and how those parts turn out in the final instrumental mixes of the songs, I don't think the band is involved very much.  In other words, I don't think they have any input beyond the recording and mixing of their parts.  So, I don't think they'd know what exactly the album's status is at this point.

Ali

My thoughts exactly!!! In fact I don't think they would know if there was a new guitarist until they walked into the practice room and Axl says here is so-and-so our new guitarist. I've been laying down tracks with him since......

Robin might know something, maybe splat can get a few words with him. Or, hell, go right to Axl himself and get a few answers. Of course it's probably not possible.

get the infomfrom axl,, that's funny.. I was watching ocean's twelve and there was some guy in amsterdam that they wanted to steal from and he was a ten year recluse that never leaves the house and had all high tech security shit and had valubales in his house.. I was like who is that axl rose.. :hihi:

There has got to be someone who can get in touch with him.  seriously, do you really think he just sits at home all day for the last 3 years?

.

excellent post

i agree, and I cant stress enough how I think the mixing stage of this is going to be very lengthy
last minute vocals etc.. can be added at this stage, but when you're wading through hundreds if not thousands of tracks recorded over this very long period, it is going to be very time consuming

we know from the New York Times article earlier this year that there is a library of archives to go through, so piecing this baby together (mixing and to a lesser extent, mastering) is going to take an age and could well be the main factor in it being held up. Throw an obsessive, perfectionist into the mix and thats obviously not going to speed the process up any either