Here Today... Gone To Hell!

In some ways I'm just as excited to hear the final album as to hear everything the various incanations of the band has done since even 1995/6. I want to know about how Axl has battled with changing technologies, how he learnt to produce his own stuff and use computers and how the change to digital media changed the direction of the record. I wanna hear the old analogue versions of songs and compare them to newer digital versions. I wanna hear his old vocals and compare to new ones.

Imagine if The Blues was a single (which it wont be according to Axl at The Docklands 2002), and the b-sides were versions of the song in 1996, 1999 and 2002. And then the second CD could have a live version and a new unreleased track or an instrumental or accapella.

Personally I'd love to have some acapellas of Axl's vocals. I've heard a lot of acapella vocals that people have managed to rip from artists' DVD's, and it's awesome to be able to hear like 70% more detail in their singing than you can when it's covered in other sounds. Listening to Michael Jackson singing 'They Don't Care About Us' with no accompaniment is frickin amazing, like a completely different singer to the carefree guy before the 1993 allegations, so full of anger, piss and vinegar and you can hear all of the snarling and spitting and gravelliness like he's shouting right next to you.

But a bunch of b-sides would never do it all justice because we're talking 10 year's worth of work, or songs like 'This I Love' which go back to as early as 1992. For the album tracks, let alone singles, I would jizz my pants just to have multiple versions, instrumentals, acoustics, acapellas etc of all the songs and finally find out what the fuck they've been doing for sooo long. Not just have two or three 70-minute polished albums and wonder how they got there.

Imagine if at the end of each album's promo campaign, they put out a box set called 'The Making Of....' and had a massive booklet with pictures of them in the studio, maybe a DVD if they filmed anything and detailed explanations of the genesis and evolution of each song, and all of that juicy material spread across abunch of discs.

It does my head in that bands and record companies are so bothered about over saturation that they almost never do comprehensive vault-trawls. The Rolling Stones only recently put out their first unreleased tracks album, representing about 2% of what they actually could put out. It's not gonna hurt anyone if they put out a special box for the fans. Or make use of the internet and do something like U2 did with their Itunes set of unreleased material.

The ecord company and Axl could make back a tonne of money by putting up all the vault material of interest through e.g. the itunes music store and casual fans wouldn't even bother looking at most of it but the people who care could e.g. download demos of their favourite tracks for $1 each or whatever and he crazy ones could buy everything discounted.

If only music fans ran record labels instead of businessmen.

We know that there is a ton of music recorded.  What we don't know is how much of the music has Axls vocals on them.

To me, this would be fantastic and fascinating. I really don't care how unfinished it is- half baked instrumentals would be great. I wouldn't expect to see any of it for 20 years though, if ever, unfortunately.

cool thought, but kinda unlikely

ok, I'd steal it, but I'd need 2 000 000 $$ and 4 volonteers

We we know from Big Gob Moby that Axl didn't start recording vocals until late 1998 at the earliest, but more likely sometime in 1999. But I don't believe for a second that with digital technology Axl doesn't have hours and hours of vocals recorded: different lyrics, different verses, different tempos, different takes, different styles, different years, different decades. I mean, fuck, Bob Dylan collectors jizz over alternate takes of songs from the early 60's claiming they're better for different reasons. I can understand that. I've clocked up over 100 listens of the first TWAT leak and I'd be fascinated to hear a different vocal from maybe 5 years apart I might like even more.

Sadly, I think mlewis is right, we probably wont hear hardly any of this for decades, if ever.

Just imagine an internet mixing desk where you could 'produce' and 'mix' the album for yourself! Ha ha. You could choose which solos you want and which vocal.

i am just trying to imagine the different percentages of a commision for all the musicians who played and sang on the different versions over the years "shudders"

They could release Chinese Democracy, and a few months later release a No Direction Home style DVD and CD set with the booklets of pictures and unreleased demos etc It could be like a Michael Jackson Visionary affair, so when you collect all the cds you can put them together and it will form a giant picture of Axl's...er....face.

Thats half the reason why Chinese Democracy is going to be so interesting - to see where the band ends up, to see what makes the final cut and how old songs like the Blues and Madagascar evolved in the studio or what the standard of the new songs are. This is an album that already has so much history behind it, and really we need to know that history to understand the album.

A making of .. Chinese Democracy is a must. A documental film, that's what i want. It would be really stupid no to release such thing. Sadly, it might be unlikely to expect a release short time after the release of CD since we know that the other next 2 discs would have to be spoiled if such thing happens.

I'm beginning to wonder if there is a Chinese Democracy.  ;D

I think Axl is having fun teasing the shit out of us all.  ;D

By the time he releases the album, Axl and I will be in our 60's and toothless.  ;D

I honestly suspect this is the big hold up with the album. I think Axl has so much stuff written + recorded, its just deciding what is going to be on CD that is taking so long. And then of course polishing that stuff to perfection.

Something tells me this album will be lik a 12 song album lol. I am in the mindset of like a use your illusion type deal, but since we have only heard a few songs, I dont think it will be.

forget the chinese democracy box set...i suggest you get the 5 discs worth of appetite and illusion demos and unreleased tracks..its better

You have no idea how much I agree with this.

What would be cool is a DVD to go along with it as well...it would probably be 4 discs!

This is seriously the greatest idea besides releasing the actual album.

I wonder if Axl would ever release something like this - hes such a perfectionist in the studio apparently. I think hed be mortified if people heard him at what he doesnt consider his best  ???

Is there an actual set someone has made up of everything that is out there? Cause I've got stuff in low quality mp3's from sites all over the place. Would be awesome if there was somebody who could torrent a lossless set of all that stuff with info.

How would that someone even get his hands to those demos when they are buried somewhere in Axl's vault (if it even exist) or Geffen's archives..

That would be amazing! I think there really is a ton of unreleased stuff, even from the two versions of I.R.S and There Was A Time that we've heard it seems like there's been a bit of a change even is just that. So it would be great to hear all the songs' evolution.

As for the a cappella stuff? I've never heard much before but I'll check it out. : ok:

Dude there are quite a few GNR fan sites hosting old guns demos and whatnot. There's a lot of stuff out there.

I am sure it will see the light of day sometime with or without Axls permission...Look at the GNR LIES demo that surface  earlier this year...Look at all the Appetite demo sessions that surfaced a few years ago and all the Illusion/Appetite unreleased tracks (jumpin jack flash, crash diet, aint goin down, etc etc)  Somehow someway the chinese democracy stuff will get out there

6 dics?  I got enough problems with just one...


 (sorry, had to)

I really want to hear different versions of Madagascar, to know how that song came to be. Or to even hear an explanation from Axl himself about the quotes...

And I want to know why they chose the new songs that they play live. Out of all of the stuff they must have written over the years, why did the band pick Madagascar or IRS to be new live songs? Are these the best songs they have written? The best to play live? The most meaningful?
Or to hear what gets left off the album.

I can't wait to read the first interview with Axl about the process, why it took so long, what he's been doing - apart from buying cars - where he's going next etc.

I personally would love this if GNR released the regular Chinese Democracy and then 5 discs of rare songs/songs that were cut from CD, UYI, AFD and other CDs. I'd love to hear the different versions of each song and stuff, as I'm sure many songs have gone through many changes throughout GNR's history.

This would be a great addition to anybody's music collection, if it ever came out.