Here Today... Gone To Hell!

I wrote this a few years ago when we thought CD was going to come out, so I have updated it, so lets hope this is the year.




Axl Rose, the man, the myth, the legend. Is 2006 finally his year?





Like him or not, Axl Rose is one interesting person and most often he is misunderstood. Some people like to think of Axl as an A hole, but that is just because Axl likes to keep to himself and likes his privacy. Axl does not crave attention or look to make headlines, he gets that with out even trying and sometimes I think that embarrasses him. Just him going out for a steak dinner makes headlines, not many other people in music get that, but Axl does.

A lot of Gn?r fans get upset at Axl because still not given us a release date, but he has said a few times (mtv vmas being the most recent) that Chinese Democracy will be released this year some time in the fall.  November looks to be the target date since Richard Fortus has told fans the album will be release after the US tour has started (which officially starts mid October.  That is something Gn?r did with the Illusions. This album will make or break his career since it is his first album with out the old band.   Axl needs to release the best ?in your face rocker? on the album as the first single.  If the first single is huge then the album will have no problem selling and being huge.

A lot of old Gn?r fans like to think the new songs we have heard so far are not as good as the old bands songs, but that is not the important question. The important question is, are the new songs as good or better than the current mainstream songs on the radio today? Judging from what is currently on the radio and judging from what was on the Mtv VMA?s the answer to that is YES. I think Madagascar, IRS, the Blues and Chinese Democracy, There Was A Time, Catcher in the Rye and Better are just as good if not better than a lot of the music on the radio right now, and those songs are not even the ?big guns? that Axl has in store for us.  Better is a style we have never heard before by gn?r and could be a huge hit once we get the studio version.

The four demos we have heard are very different and very good. Better mixes pop with metal, while IRS is a mix of old gnr and industrial music.   There Was A Time is very November Rainish and Catcher in the Rye (which features Brian May on lead guitar) is a lot like something from the UYI?s and has a Beatles feel to it.   IRS actually charted for radio spins, which is a first for a leaked demo.  It also got the most votes for one stations cage match in the history of that station.  What is so great about the demos is most people have a different favorite which just shows how diverse this album is going to be and is going to appeal to a wide verity of people. This album will have something for everyone, from the old school fans, to new fans.

For those who think Axl cannot sing any more just needs to listen to these demos, he has never sounded better. If anyone has heard him live from the Hammerstein shows, RIR or the Euro tour know that his vintage raspy voice is also back. His voice has been getting better and better with each show.

He has a set of amazing and underrated players backing him up and they have all worked very hard on this album. The few people that have heard the album have all said how great or amazing the songs are, so if CD is promoted the way it should be it could be the best album of 2006. Axl and his new Gn?r could be on top of the music world again.  Just looks at the VMAs this past year. The killers headlined, if gn?r played this year they easily would have been the closing act.

Chinese Democracy is going to be like nothing we have heard before from Guns n? Roses.  Tommy calls the new songs ?earth shattering? and Dizzy has said the songs will exceed our expectations.  Those statements make me wonder how amazing this album could very well be.  Brian May and Tommy have both talked about how outrageous/amazing Axl's voice is on the album.   Tommy also alluded that the rockers on CD will be like old gnr, while Zakk Wylde said the songs he heard from CD sounded like AFD on steroids.  Axl?s lyrics are said to have deeper meaning than on past albums, we have gotten a taste of that with some of the demo leaks.

Chinese Democracy is going to showcase the new bands diversity and could still be talked about years from now much like AFD is still proclaimed as being just as fresh today as it was 15 years ago.  CD is said to be a melting pot album by Axl and I think we will be able to tell what each members input was to each song.  I think each song will have each member?s trademark, something they can all be proud of.  I am not saying this album will be the best album ever, but I believe it?s going to something that will inspire discussion for years to come.  and not only will it serve to cement Axl's legendary status as the ultimate rock star, it will preserve the dignity of the guns n roses name in the annals of rock history


Axl has had a few false starts over the past 6 years, but it is now time for Axl to take his throne back as the best front man in rock, others have tried but none have even come close to having Axl stage presence or aura. Axl holds his destiny and legacy in his hands. He can either be the huge star he used to be or he can just disappear again. Either way Axl Rose will always be one of music great mysteries. He had it all in the late 80s and early 90s and he can have it all again if he wants it, he just has to release the album and everything will fall into place. Rock has been missing something for quite some time and that something is Axl Rose.

Well put Dave, cheers to you! 

Good post dave, I agree 100%.

I don't believe nothing until the cd release date is announced, single dropped, video dropped, and cd in my hands. 

ya nice post, BUT you put it out a couple of yrs ago when you thought CD was gonna come out...it didn't.

you put it up again when you think CD is gonna come out...see the trend?

Damn it Dave you jinxed it!!

let the music do the talking, unless ur happy with Axl just presenting the killers.

way to put the scud on it again dude.

Very nice. gr8 read.

haha?. . .  :(

good post except..
Not only do most of the new songs blow away whats out there today but the majoirty of the new songs fit right in with the old material. Meaning some are just as good as the classics and regular songs.


Im not willing to say that the only reason these songs are good is because of the mediocrity thats out there. These songs, most of them, fit right in with the rest of the gnr material.

Very good. Now THAT is an article that should be printed in a Rolling Stone or SPIN magazine. :beer:

When I used to come here and just read long before I posted, I'm pretty sure I read that post. I can't agree more. Now there we're getting the album by the end of the year, I hope Axl does exactly as you say!

haha geez man, do you always have to stir up this controversy and then claim that you are just an innocent bystander??  You know that is exactly what is going to happen. 

Dave I remember when you posted this (I believe you did it multiple times, but I could be wrong).  If it happens great, but if it doesn't I surely won't be surprised. 

how am I stirring things up? All I said was that I personally think its unfair to say that these songs are good only because the music out there sux. Imo I think some of these songs stand with the old gnr material. And Im pretty sure most here would agree.

I agree with this statement 100%.  There is no need to compare the old songs with the new.  The important thing is for Axl to take back his throne in the world of Rock N' Roll.  The songs we have heard so far can do that. 

I didnt say that young gunner. ?My point was its pointless to debate if the new gnr songs are better than the old stuff, (everyone knows I think they are just as good and some better). My point is instead of thinking about if they hold up to the old stuff look at how they hold up to stuff that is currently out there. that is what it has to compete with

I defintely agree with younggunner. I think these songs stand up to the older material too.
They also blow anything out of the water with todays music.

a fun read but, id have loved to have had just one more album made by the main gnr line up. obviously duff n slash and izzy, i love gilby but apparently he wasnt too good at song writing.

I agree its pointless to debate old bs new gnr. All that matters to me is that teh material stands up with the GNR name. And to me it does. To me by just saying that we should avoid any comparisons to old GNR simply because it blows away whats out there today is selling this material shirt. The material imo, deserves to be up there with some of the old stuff along with it blowing current music out of the water. But I know you agree with that so.

Anybody that expects Chi Dem to be as good or better than AFD is going to end up disappointed I think.  At least if they expect it to be better than AFD.  I think Chi Dem will be different.  I do not expect it to be better than the old stuff.  As long as it is better than most of the new music that is coming out these days I'll be happy.  AFD was a magical album and I don't think Axl, Slash, Duff, Izzy have it in them to recreate something like that.  That is an album of a lifetime.  But I think Axl has a lot more good music left in him and hopefully we'll get to hear it.   : ok:

Spot on (to quote an old English friend of mine)

And it is all in Axl's hands now......

Well, I have always thought that the new music would be just as good as the old music, and after listening to the demos, I have not been disappointed yet. I can only imagine they will sound better on Chinese Democracy with the proper mixing and mastering.

We'll really see how innovative Axl is after the album comes out. I think we wont be dissapointed.

The obvious question is, if the new material is better than the old, why the Europe 2006 set list was heavy on the old material and light on the new material.

The obvious answer is because the album hasnt been released yet and he doesnt want all the new songs to be heard live before people have heard the cd.  ::)

Right on - you hit the nail right on the top of it!

Can I get an amen?

absolutely  :beer: