Rolling Stone challenges Axl

[Fretzo]

When I read the Rolling stone review of VR Contraband I was thinking of 2 things.
The 1st thing that I realised is that David Fricke seemed to be challenging Axl to release Chinese Democracy.
Quotes like these are what made me say this:

Singer Scott Weiland, late of Stone Temple Pilots, and the ex-Guns n' Roses trio of guitarist Slash, bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Matt Sorum have, with second guitarist Dave Kushner, gotten more done in one year as Velvet Revolver than Axl Rose has achieved with his version of G n' R in the past decade.

Axl Rose now runs a G n' R that plays the old numbers like a repertory orchestra - and not enough of Democracy to prove that the album even exists

if I had my way, we'd be getting a real G n' R follow-up to the Use Your Illusion twins
We all know that Chinese Democracy could be the perfect follow-up to the illusion albums because over the years Axl, Slash, Izzy, and Duff have all been involved in writing it.

The 2nd thing that I was thinking when reading this review is "how do they come up with the ratings?"

AFD                      *****
Lies                      ****
UYI 1                    ****
UYI 2                    ****
TSI?                      ****
Contraband          ****
Kelly Osbourne     ***

The fact that even people in the Velvet Revolver section have mixed emotions about Contraband brings the 4 star rating into question (is it really as good as everything GNR has released since AFD?) And how did Kelly Osbourne even get a single star?

Give me your opinions on this odd review

[dave-gnfnr2k]

RS is stupid and their ratings and lists are trash.
Remember how they listed the top 100 guitar players of all time and slash was not on it.
Case and point right there.

[TyRod Tulip]

The fact that even people in the Velvet Revolver section have mixed emotions about Contraband brings the 4 star rating into question

I wouldn't take into account the reviews on this forum.  By nature, there are just too many built in prejudices here for some to give a fully honest review (me included).

You need to take into account the reviews that are made by established and reputable music magazines, websites and other outlets.  Take into account the reviews of other artists.  But don't take into account the reviews in the VR section of this forum.  They are skewed for sure.

My personal opinion is that Contraband deserves to be rated better than Lies, equal to the UYIs and worse than AFD.  But that is just my opinion.

-TyRod-

[younggunner]

equal to the UYIs

Dont quit your day job....comedy isnt your thing

[Doc Emmett Brown]

if I had my way, we'd be getting a real G n' R follow-up to the Use Your Illusion twins

^ I found the above to be interesting as well.  And while there were a lot of Axl mentions for a VR review,  unlike other Axl mentions which focus on calling him an "eyebrowless loony tune" etc - the RS ones seem to indicate that he wants to hear more from the red-headed 'full-time recluse, part-time musician'.

[Fretzo]

I agree, after Axl missed dates on his own comeback tour and sounded bad at the VMA's his comeback was treated as a joke and unwanted by the media.  This review was really the first somewhat positive thing written about Axl since the Madison Square Garden reviews.  I think that  this review won't drag Axl out of hiding but if more music journalists start writting about his potential he might just feel welcome enough to give us a real comeback.

[2NaFish]

if I had my way, we'd be getting a real G n' R follow-up to the Use Your Illusion twins

The only way we could've had a follow to the illusions with slash still in the band is if gn'r had actually made It's Five O'clock Somewhere; which would've been pathetic.

[Fretzo]

I would consider it a proper follow-up if songs written by: Slash, Izzy and Duff are included on Chinese Democracy even if they don't get to play on them.

[Dr H Lecter]

Give me your opinions on this odd review

I could give you my opinion on music journalism in general, but I'm afraid I'd get banned for speaking that out.

VR are on MTV, that's why they get at least one star. Another star is for the "Ex-GN'R" bonus, plus one more for an interview. The last one is for the actual album = 4 stars.

Kelly Osbourne is on MTV = one star. Ozzy's daughter = second star. Interview or whatever helps RS selling the mag = third star. The album sucks, so that's nothing here, and we got = 3 stars.

That's the only explanation I have for that.

Very well said, I agree wholeheartedly.

[D]

i think they rate albums based on other albums out at the time, its usuallycompared to the genre of music

in 2004 contraband compared to other modern rock acts gets 4 stars

in 1991 the album probably wouldve got 3 stars its all relative to the time

[outlawaxl]

does Axl even read RS magazine? i dont think he cares anymore...

[Eva GnRAxlRosette]

equal to the UYIs

Dont quit your day job....comedy isnt your thing

hahahahaha!!!
sorry... i didn't even read the rest of the thread...
I had to stop to laugh my ass off!
this is highly entertaining  

ok back to the thread
Rolling Stone (like the rest of the world) want new music from AXL ROSE.

Kelly 3 stars!?  hahaha!
RS is funny!

[DemocracyRose]

Nobody can challanges Axl...

He doesnt care....

[KillYourIdols]

if I had my way, we'd be getting a real G n' R follow-up to the Use Your Illusion twins
We all know that Chinese Democracy could be the perfect follow-up to the illusion albums because over the years Axl, Slash, Izzy, and Duff have all been involved in writing it.

I think he's just wishing that GNR never broke up. And you're delusional if you think that Duff, Izzy, or slash will appear on the new album in any form...from writing credits to actual playing.

~KYI

[blues_rock_axeman]

Chinese Democracy is a fable, an elusive figment of the imagination of a troubled genius, a concept taken no further than a blueprint stage.

Genius needs motivation and purpose. AFD had it. The UYI's had it. CD doesn't.

Challenges to Axl Rose will fall on deaf ears.

[Mutherfunker]

Chinese Democracy is a fable, an elusive figment of the imagination of a troubled genius, a concept taken no further than a blueprint stage.

Genius needs motivation and purpose. AFD had it. The UYI's had it. CD doesn't.

Challenges to Axl Rose will fall on deaf ears.

Wow, to be fair, you talked that pile of crap and almost made it sound credible

@#$%Muther

[GlynC]

whole hearted agree with that. he need something to motivate him

[Fretzo]

Rolling Stone's at it again. Here's part 2 of the challenging, it apperars on rollingstone.com today.

Revolver Shoot Down Usher

Hard rock supergroup takes Number One with debut
 

Velvet Revolver's debut album, Contraband, sold 256,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan, in its first week to debut Number One. The hard rock supergroup -- featuring former Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland fronting a trio of Guns n' Roses vets -- unseated Usher's Confessions, which fell to Number Two with sales of 171,000 (pushing it past 4 million to date).
Contraband's big debut suggests that Velvet Revolver could be a viable band rather than an amalgam of rock-star parts that fail to inspire a new set of fans. By comparison, Audioslave -- similarly pieced together from remnants of Soundgarden and Rage Against the Machine -- sold 162,000 copies of their self-titled debut, which debuted Number Seven in 1992. And if there is any lingering competition between Axl Rose and guitarist Slash, bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Matt Sorum, well, since the last set of new Guns studio material, Axl's former bandmates have now managed to sell exactly 256,000 more records of new songs than the entity known as Guns n' Roses. That said, the Gn'R brand still carries some weight, if only Rose would get around to making some new music. In addition to Revolver's tally, the three-month-old Gn'R compilation Greatest Hits remains in the Top Twenty, selling 38,000 copies last week.

It was a fairly hard-rocking week for new releases, even beyond Revolver's first shot. Punk rockers 311 broke in at Number Seven with Greatest Hits: '93-'03, which sold 63,000 copies, just 3,000 more than the 2004 Warped Tour compilation at Number Eight. PJ Harvey and Bad Religion also posted strong first-week sales with Uh Huh Her and Empire Strikes First, respectively. The former sold 34,000 copies at Number Twenty-nine, the latter 27,000 copies at Number Forty. Sonic Youth brought the noise rock selling 17,000 copies of Sonic Nurse at Number Seventy. Less rawkous albums like country girl group SheDaisy's Sweet Right Here (Number Sixteen, 42,000 copies sold) and the recently-wed Marc Anthony's Amar Sin Mentiras (Number Twenty-six, 35,000) also made solid showings in their first week.

Next week doesn't offer much in the way of mystery for a Number One bid. The Beastie Boys proved a chart titan with their previous album, Hello Nasty, which sold almost 700,000 copies in its first week. With a six-year lag between that record and the new, old-school To the Five Boroughs, it's safe to say enough fans will check it out to put the Beasties back at Number One.

This week's Top Ten: Velvet Revolver's Contraband; Usher's Confessions; Avril Lavigne's Under My Skin; Gretchen Wilson's Here for the Party; Prince's Musicology; Hoobastank's The Reason; 311's Greatest Hits: '93-'03; 2004 Warped Tour; D12's D12 World; and Slipknot's Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses.



ANDREW DANSBY
(Posted Jun 16, 2004)

[Fretzo]

This one is a RollingStone review from 2000.  The Axl reference is subtle but still there.  They seem to be becoming less subtle every year that goes by without Chinese Democracy.

Slash's Snakepit

Ain't Life Grand

Originally released: 2000
Koch Records
   
 
 As the poet once sang, it's hard to hold a candle in the cold November rain -- but Slash is still hanging in there, shining the light within his soul as a lucid path back to the days when guitars were guitars, hair was hair and shirts were for pussies. Like a sweet child from out o' the past, welcoming us to the jungle o' the future, the ex-Guns n' Roses axman rides again on the second album from Slash's Snakepit. There's nothing here as inspiring as the debut's Zen pinball meditation "Be the Ball," but the real problem is that great guitarists need great bands, and the Snakepit dudes are barely functional backup peons who don't even have cool names, except bassist Johnny Blackout. So concentrate on Slash, and feel the burn of his guitar reminding you that, once upon a time, he was the guy who co-wrote "Paradise City," "It's So Easy" and "Get in the Ring." One question, though: Where's Izzy? (RS 851)

ROB SHEFFIELD

 

[Will]

They're pissed off at Axl because he told them four years ago that he would give them out an essay explaining the whole GN'R situation between '94 and '00. (check your RS, issue of may '00). It never happened and instead of that essay they published four years ago a 6-8 page article bashing Axl.

That being said, I don't really take their reviews into account. I usually agree with Blender's reviews though (they gave Contraband 3 stars out of 5). Entertainment Weekly rated the album pretty bad (B-), it just depends on the guy who wrote the review. 3/5 is a good rating for Contraband IMHO. It's not even close to any GN'R album though, in my opinion. But that's just personal taste. I think Contraband is a good rock album, period, nothing revolutionary or extraordinaire.

Concerning RS challenging Axl, they've been challenging him for four years, because of that '00 story. I don't think Axl really cares anymore...who knows what he cares about though?