Difference of perception in time ...

[DoubleTalkingJive]

DTJ, you're absolutely correct. No band should have to contend with the term 'masterpiece'. But Axl is used to it by now. Dont you remember 89-91, when the Illusions records' "Big Guns" were described as "massive epics"? It built alot of suspense for the records, and made the wait almost unbearable. As for CD, it isn't the media that throws these terms around like in the Illusions days. Its Axl's band members. They throw around terms like 'mind blowing' and 'earth shattering', and Axl's reference to certain songs being 'Big Guns'. If Axl wants to blame someone for the high expectations, he needs to only look in the mirror and in the direction of his bandmates.

Yes I do remember 89-91 and yes the media was massively hyping those albums more than the band before they actually came out, also, it had never been done before that so much material was released at once and had"massive epics" on them.  No doubt that back then, they delivered what was described by the media.    Themselves when they talked about the material for Illusions I can see how you are right cause I have interviews on dvd now of the band back then and they didn't use terms such, big guns, earth shattering, mind blowing..your right...  I also believe the duration of time does add to the high expectations of this album because in combination with the comments and the years..people are going to put this under a microscope and totally expect something greater than great.  I can't agree with you more that only they are to blame for that.

[jameslofton29]

DTJ, the hyping of this album is a key issue. It makes you wonder what Axl's mindset really is, and its one of the major issues that sometimes makes me question the album's existence. As you mentioned, the 'old' GNR never had to hype. The music was allowed to speak for itself. Any hyping of GNR was left strictly in the hands of the media. With the 'new' GNR, the exact opposite is true. The media practically ignores them, and the band has done nothing but hype the record. What are they trying to accomplish by doing this? Doesn't Axl know that by not hyping CD, there would have been an aura of mystery to it and people would still be interested? Instead, he wound up digging himself into a very deep hole, and he may realize that he cant get himself out of it. When the final chapter in the story of CD is finally over, I think people are going to see that things had started to go terribly wrong when Axl/the band started to hype it to unrealistic expectations.

[Scabbie]

DTJ, the hyping of this album is a key issue. It makes you wonder what Axl's mindset really is, and its one of the major issues that sometimes makes me question the album's existence. As you mentioned, the 'old' GNR never had to hype. The music was allowed to speak for itself. Any hyping of GNR was left strictly in the hands of the media. With the 'new' GNR, the exact opposite is true. The media practically ignores them, and the band has done nothing but hype the record. What are they trying to accomplish by doing this? Doesn't Axl know that by not hyping CD, there would have been an aura of mystery to it and people would still be interested? Instead, he wound up digging himself into a very deep hole, and he may realize that he cant get himself out of it. When the final chapter in the story of CD is finally over, I think people are going to see that things had started to go terribly wrong when Axl/the band started to hype it to unrealistic expectations.

I don't think it has been hyped that much (its not as if the band are huge celebtiries)..if anything he has been ridiculed by the press and now feels he has to prove a point...which is why his expectations might be so high.

[jameslofton29]

Hasn't been hyped that much?? Where have you been? Axl's bandmates might not be big celebrities, but its well documented that they have been hyping CD for years. And Axl has done his part in hyping CD, and considering the fact that he rarely speaks, Axl's hype stands out even more. I dont agree with your 'Axl being ridiculed by media' statement. There never was a media conspiracy against Axl. But CD has definitely become a pop culture joke. But that's Axl's fault, not the media's.

[DoubleTalkingJive]

I think Axl been more ridiculed by his peers.. Over the 2 years anyway, people like Dee Snider, Jacob Dylan, Zakk Wylde and others have taken shots here and there at Axl, some more insulting than others in interviews I have read or on televised shows.  It's true the media tend to leave Axl alone for the most part neither hyping or ridiculing CD.  The NYT time article was the only article on Axl from the media I have seen so far about the CD situaton in an unfavorable and ridiculing manor in the past 3 years, other than that, at least I have seen anything else from the media dealing with the situation.  The articles before Axl made his comeback in 2001-02 really mentioned CD as a wait and see never ridiculed.  I don't believe a media conspiracy either because I don't think the media cares all that much.  When CD is here then I think the media will start caring a bit more.

[August 18th]

Axl seems to have missed? out alot in his life. He's in his mid 40's already, no girlfriend or wife and kids. If I choose to get married and have kids real later in my life , the oldest is going to be in my late 30's.

axl has done more in 43 years than 99.99% of us will do in a lifetime. if having a girlfriend is your highest goal in life then that's on you. axl obviously focuses on other things which are more important to him, and he's had enough women to go around for 2 lifetimes. what do you know about him missing out? he shapes his life the way he wants it to be, and for you to speak on his behalf saying that he's missing out is pure ignorance.

[Scabbie]

Well, I retract the 'ridiculed by the media' statement, but there hasn't been much positive press about him or the album.

As for the band hyping...well Robin keeps his trap firmly shut, Chris Pittman is illusive, and despite the Sp1at interview Brain seems to be sincere when asked about it. I mean maybe 'earth shattering' is a little ott, but what else should they say? 'Oh yeah, well its borderline average, has its moments'. Fuck no, I'd rather hear them be excited and enthusiastic about it otherwise we may as well give up all hope now.

What gets me is the '2005 will be the year for GNR' comments by Merck. I hope he's being genuine about this.

[August 18th]

Well, I retract the 'ridiculed by the media' statement, but there hasn't been much positive press about him or the album.

As for the band hyping...well Robin keeps his trap firmly shut, Chris Pittman is illusive, and despite the Sp1at interview Brain seems to be sincere when asked about it. I mean maybe 'earth shattering' is a little ott, but what else should they say? 'Oh yeah, well its borderline average, has its moments'. Fuck no, I'd rather hear them be excited and enthusiastic about it otherwise we may as well give up all hope now.

What gets me is the '2005 will be the year for GNR' comments by Merck. I hope he's being genuine about this.

who the fuck is merck? and people have been saying the same thing for years, only it's been "2002", "2003", "2004" and soforth. stop believing all this "insider" bullshit. when axl or his management announces something, that's when we can start getting excited. until then, calm down and realize that it's already july 2005, and a release date this year is highly unlikely. when it comes it will be extraordinary, but until then, all we fucking do is turn our own expectations too high, only to get them torn down again. my suggestion is keep busy and it won't bother you as much, the time will come soon enough to get excited.

[jameslofton29]

August, I agree with your statement about Axl not needing a girlfriend. If you are an artist, and trying to create your biggest masterpiece, the last thing you need is to be in a relationship. A relationship would only cloud your thoughts and distract you from your task at hand. I wonder if its possible that one of the reasons for the delay is the fact that Axl might have been in a long term relationship at some point?

[DoubleTalkingJive]

Well, I retract the 'ridiculed by the media' statement, but there hasn't been much positive press about him or the album.

As for the band hyping...well Robin keeps his trap firmly shut, Chris Pittman is illusive, and despite the Sp1at interview Brain seems to be sincere when asked about it. I mean maybe 'earth shattering' is a little ott, but what else should they say? 'Oh yeah, well its borderline average, has its moments'. Fuck no, I'd rather hear them be excited and enthusiastic about it otherwise we may as well give up all hope now.

What gets me is the '2005 will be the year for GNR' comments by Merck. I hope he's being genuine about this.

What I don't like about that statement by Merck is that is vague.  Cause some people are taking that one statement and automatically thinking that CD will be out this year.   I take that statement as if it's not out this year Merck will say, I never said the album was going to be released.  Like he threw us a bone this year with a statement like that to keep us excited or interested for this year but vague enough so that if GNR does nothing, Merck can say "well I never said that CD was coming out"

August - Merck is Axl's Manager.

[jameslofton29]

DTJ, Merck issuing that statement is going to go down as the biggest mistake he ever made. When 2006 comes and there is no CD, he will have lost all credibility he had. In January, if he says 2006 is the year of Guns N Roses, are you gonna believe him?

[DoubleTalkingJive]

DTJ, Merck issuing that statement is going to go down as the biggest mistake he ever made. When 2006 comes and there is no CD, he will have lost all credibility he had. In January, if he says 2006 is the year of Guns N Roses, are you gonna believe him?

I don't believe him now    I think it's just a bandaid for another year that we won't see it and something to pacifiy us until New Years Eve.

[August 18th]

merck is axl's manager?? when did that happen?? i thought good ol' doug goldstein still had that job? and here i was thinking that i manage to scoop up most up what happens in the gn'r world! what??

[jameslofton29]

DTJ, I wonder what the bandaid for 2006 is gonna be? LMAO! It will probably be another song leak, if it is a leak, most likely a studio version of a song we've already heard.

[N.I.B]

ok Wat-Ever, i get what your saying but still, 5 years is a long time, i dont see how 5 years to someone can be interprerted into a year or two to anyone.

[August 18th]

is doug goldstein still the manager of guns n' roses and this merck guy (is his name david? could be i've heard of him) is more like axl's personal manager? or what's the deal?

[DoubleTalkingJive]

is doug goldstein still the manager of guns n' roses and this merck guy (is his name david? could be i've heard of him) is more like axl's personal manager? or what's the deal?

Merck Mercuriadis, is GNR's manager and the CEO of Sanctuary Group.  Doug Goldstein hasn't been GNR's manager in a couple of years, I believe after the tour he they parted ways but I not exactly sure when Merck took over as manager.

[DoubleTalkingJive]

DTJ, I wonder what the bandaid for 2006 is gonna be? LMAO! It will probably be another song leak, if it is a leak, most likely a studio version of a song we've already heard.

  yeah, it'll be something for sure and we will be all over it like we were with IRS, some small crumb to keep us interested and excited for another year, it's sad really when you think about how starved we are, even a statement like that from Merck is enough to keep us going another year.   I'd really like to believe him, really but too many years have gone by to say for sure that this will be GNR's year and put total faith into what he says.  I hope he proves me wrong but somehow, I just dont think so.   Call me pessimistic but it's hard not to be.

[jameslofton29]

DTJ, I always thought it was funny how people never believed the IRS leak was an inside job. They say, oh the GNR camp wanted it pulled from the net. Yeah, they wanted it pulled AFTER their intended audience got a hold of it. Believe me, if a fan had the song, it would have surfaced on the net the day after it was played on that radio show. But look what day it leaked: APRIL FOOLS!! You didnt know if it was for real or just a joke. I knew it was real the day it leaked, but I couldnt stop laughing. CD was already turning into a satire and then that happened. It was hilarious. This site was down at the time, but at mygnr there was a shitload of people dissecting the song second by second, verse by verse. The same thing will happen again. And if 30 seconds of a "Big Gun" leaks, the earth might stop rotating. LMAO!!

[August 18th]

when and in what context did merck say that 2005 was gonna be the year of guns n' roses?