Chinese Democracy cannot come out with ZERO advance notice

[TAP]

For one thing, it will show up on amazon.com a few weeks before it is set to be released. Also, there are thosands of people that work for Best Buy, HMV...surely some of them would let the cat out of the bag.

Unless Axl is delivering them personally to cd stores and then working the checkout at every cd store in America......plus flying them to international markets.

Back in 2000, the Van Halen message boards were going crazy like this. Gary Cherone had been fired and the rumours were rampant that David Lee Roth was back in the band, and they were recording a new album and it was going to just "appear" in cd stores with no fanfare. Total crap of course, in the end Eddie posted a message that he had cancer and there was no album. Point being, albums don't just arrive with no promotion or fanfare.....that idea may appeal to the hardcore fan who has been waiting 10+ years, but makes no sense on any commercial level.

[Dr. Blutarsky]

also, i want to remind everyone that Axl isnt the one releasing CD, Universal is, and Universal is going to go with their tried and true route of making money, which is promoting an album.

While this is very true, there was a rumor a while back that Axl had been financially cut-off by the label and it was up to him to get the album finished and released. I think it is safe to assume that the absolute total lack of promotional push or advertisement thus far, as well as the rumored no release date release is the act of someone with no budget to work with.

For all we know the label could have very well told him they weren't going to pump a ton of money into promo or advertising because he pissed away the entire advance and a shitload of other money just making the album. It is entirely possible they could have just decided to eliminate their financial exposure to the project and have left it up to him and his management team. Which would explain why no money has been put into the promotion of the band.

Great point. I wouldn't doubt that.

[phreakofnature]

Everyone keeps saying it will hurt to have it released with no pub... just because it's released with no pub doesn't mean it WON'T get tons of publicity. ?It comes out, then a week later the record company will blast us with promo. ?

[ShotgunBlues1978]

You can't compare this to Limp Bizkit's album, becaue Limp Bizkit had already reached a point where fans were apathetic towards them.  Their prior album had been a failure even though it was promoted pretty heavily.  So when they released this album nobody, fans and media alike, cared.  Limp Bizkit was already irrelevant at that point.

If Guns N Roses did this, there would be a media frenzy and it would be all over the entertainment news.  So the results would be nothing alike

A media frenzy?? You actually think no promo will create buzz?!?! If that was the case all shows on the tour would be sold out.... Hate to say it but Limp Bizkit is alot more fresh in peoples minds than Axl and his hired guns... If it was a sure shot the leaks would be so much more wide spread than they are, they may be big on the forums... Outside of here nobody listens to them... because they dont know....

Chinese Democracy's one of the most anticipated albums in rock history, even the people hoping for a train wreck are anticipating it.  It'll be all over MTV, VH1, and all the entertainment media will be blowing it up.  Nobody gave a shit about Limp Bizkit's album.  I don't think you fully comprehend the way the media is going to shit a brick and give this album a bunch of free promotion.  I don't see the point in bringing up the tour because if the album were out, even without a ton of label promotion the tickets would still be selling better

It's not a standard album, people have been waiting for it for a long time.  If the album just shows up in stores without promotion this kills two birds with one stone.  One, the label saves money because this would get a shitload of free publicity from the media.  And they avoid issues of mass bootlegging.  This album will have a big first week even without a lot of promotion, simply because of the amount of free press it will generate

[Buddha_Master]

You're 100% right they're not in the same class.... so why try to experiment with an album as cheap as possible... When that album was way over $13 million to make??? Theres ALOT of embarrassment and it hasn't even been released!

Agreed. The "strategy" mentioned above is dumb. U2 released Zooropa this way and they regret it to an extent. they feel some of their best material went unnoticed due to lack of promotion. That's how they feel about an album that took about 4 months to write, record and release. No add 12.5 years to the anticipation as wella s the finincial investment and you can see why they are gonna promote the shit out of it. If they don't they're just flat out stupid. ?the diehards have already been exploited by having 2 tours featuring mostly old material with no CD release date. We're gonna buy the album no matter what. its' the rest of the peopel they need to target and that means promotion. Not no promotion.

So you know more then GNR managment now? Okay chief. Because you know what Merck said right? Just because you don't get it, doesn't mean it doesn't make sense.

[Lesty]

This is the 50th thread on this in the past 5 years.
Why in the hell would they want to release one of the most anticipated rock CD in the past 10 years WITHOUT any promotion?
That's like commerical suicide..What possible good could come from that, other than a few GnR fanatics wetting themselves and running to the store to buy the CD.

Get real.

[Eazy E]

Everyone keeps saying it will hurt to have it released with no pub... just because it's released with no pub doesn't mean it WON'T get tons of publicity. ?It comes out, then a week later the record company will blast us with promo. ?

THANK YOU..... Merck didn't say ANYTHING to Rolling Stone about not promoting the album... They just announced a North American tour specifically to promote the fucking thing! ?All he said was they may not announce a RELEASE DATE. ?The CD can (and will) be promoted after it has been released.

[Bono]

You're 100% right they're not in the same class.... so why try to experiment with an album as cheap as possible... When that album was way over $13 million to make??? Theres ALOT of embarrassment and it hasn't even been released!

Agreed. The "strategy" mentioned above is dumb. U2 released Zooropa this way and they regret it to an extent. they feel some of their best material went unnoticed due to lack of promotion. That's how they feel about an album that took about 4 months to write, record and release. No add 12.5 years to the anticipation as wella s the finincial investment and you can see why they are gonna promote the shit out of it. If they don't they're just flat out stupid. ?the diehards have already been exploited by having 2 tours featuring mostly old material with no CD release date. We're gonna buy the album no matter what. its' the rest of the peopel they need to target and that means promotion. Not no promotion.

So you know more then GNR managment now? Okay chief. Because you know what Merck said right? Just because you don't get it, doesn't mean it doesn't make sense.

I do actually so keep it shut. I know everything and what is say is absolute fact. comprehend an opinion when you see one.  I dont' see you offering up anything intelligent. Anyone with any sense can see that what I posted has some merit to it.

[Loaded NightraiN]

You can't compare this to Limp Bizkit's album, becaue Limp Bizkit had already reached a point where fans were apathetic towards them.? Their prior album had been a failure even though it was promoted pretty heavily.? So when they released this album nobody, fans and media alike, cared.? Limp Bizkit was already irrelevant at that point.

If Guns N Roses did this, there would be a media frenzy and it would be all over the entertainment news.? So the results would be nothing alike

A media frenzy?? You actually think no promo will create buzz?!?! If that was the case all shows on the tour would be sold out.... Hate to say it but Limp Bizkit is alot more fresh in peoples minds than Axl and his hired guns... If it was a sure shot the leaks would be so much more wide spread than they are, they may be big on the forums... Outside of here nobody listens to them... because they dont know....

? I don't think you fully comprehend the way the media is going to shit a brick and give this album a bunch of free promotion.? I don't see the point in bringing up the tour because if the album were out, even without a ton of label promotion the tickets would still be selling better

I dont think you comprehend that if they were gonna shit a brick, it woulda been 'Axl Returned'... They didnt, it went by basically unoticed.... I'm not saying the album wont be huge for what it is..... It just needs to be known!

Plus alot of Axl haters in the media would just say: "Well the album sucks casue slash isint on it... 10 years down the drain..."  Does that sound like it would fuel album sales??? No!! Let people hear it for themselves, rather than hear garbage from shitbags in the media!!

[spacebrain5000]

do you think......
maybe because in this day and age, well artists make most of their money off touring anyway, as long as the word is out..
and there's the issue that albums do not sell as well as they used to because of downloading ripping etc, so it's sort of like.... what's the point on spending a shitload on promotion when they've already blown millions on the production, albums don't sell well anymore anyway blah blah blah....
and word of mouth will definitely help things along. they don't even need to do anything, seriously. just drop this baby like a nuclear bomb and people won't know what hit 'em.
obviously traditional marketing music methods are irrelevant in this day and age.

[ShotgunBlues1978]

You can't compare this to Limp Bizkit's album, becaue Limp Bizkit had already reached a point where fans were apathetic towards them.  Their prior album had been a failure even though it was promoted pretty heavily.  So when they released this album nobody, fans and media alike, cared.  Limp Bizkit was already irrelevant at that point.

If Guns N Roses did this, there would be a media frenzy and it would be all over the entertainment news.  So the results would be nothing alike

A media frenzy?? You actually think no promo will create buzz?!?! If that was the case all shows on the tour would be sold out.... Hate to say it but Limp Bizkit is alot more fresh in peoples minds than Axl and his hired guns... If it was a sure shot the leaks would be so much more wide spread than they are, they may be big on the forums... Outside of here nobody listens to them... because they dont know....

  I don't think you fully comprehend the way the media is going to shit a brick and give this album a bunch of free promotion.  I don't see the point in bringing up the tour because if the album were out, even without a ton of label promotion the tickets would still be selling better

I dont think you comprehend that if they were gonna shit a brick, it woulda been 'Axl Returned'... They didnt, it went by basically unoticed.... I'm not saying the album wont be huge for what it is..... It just needs to be known!

Returned to what?  It's hard to hype up a tour as much as an album.  Anyway tour tickets have been at or around the very top of the ticket sales charts since the tour was announced.  The media is going to pump a lot more hype into the album when it's released than they will into a tour. 

And as several others have pointed out releasing the album without a ton of promotion doesn't mean that they can't promote it.  I've believed for a while that they would try to sneak the album into stores to avoid bootlegging and to reap the benefits of the free press that such a move on such an album will garner.  There's nothing saying that they can't release a single and video and start promoting the album after it's in stores.  It's not how you start it's how you finish.  Appetite didn't sell well when it was first released and it's easily their highest selling album.  First weeks don't mean much when the album has legs.  The only time first week sales matter that much is if the album sucks and word of mouth is bad.  I think we all know that's not going to be the case here

[Loaded NightraiN]

You can't compare this to Limp Bizkit's album, becaue Limp Bizkit had already reached a point where fans were apathetic towards them.? Their prior album had been a failure even though it was promoted pretty heavily.? So when they released this album nobody, fans and media alike, cared.? Limp Bizkit was already irrelevant at that point.

If Guns N Roses did this, there would be a media frenzy and it would be all over the entertainment news.? So the results would be nothing alike

A media frenzy?? You actually think no promo will create buzz?!?! If that was the case all shows on the tour would be sold out.... Hate to say it but Limp Bizkit is alot more fresh in peoples minds than Axl and his hired guns... If it was a sure shot the leaks would be so much more wide spread than they are, they may be big on the forums... Outside of here nobody listens to them... because they dont know....

? I don't think you fully comprehend the way the media is going to shit a brick and give this album a bunch of free promotion.? I don't see the point in bringing up the tour because if the album were out, even without a ton of label promotion the tickets would still be selling better

I dont think you comprehend that if they were gonna shit a brick, it woulda been 'Axl Returned'... They didnt, it went by basically unoticed.... I'm not saying the album wont be huge for what it is..... It just needs to be known!

Returned to what?? It's hard to hype up a tour as much as an album.? Anyway tour tickets have been at or around the very top of the ticket sales charts since the tour was announced.? The media is going to pump a lot more hype into the album when it's released than they will into a tour.?

And as several others have pointed out releasing the album without a ton of promotion doesn't mean that they can't promote it.? I've believed for a while that they would try to sneak the album into stores to avoid bootlegging and to reap the benefits of the free press that such a move on such an album will garner.? There's nothing saying that they can't release a single and video and start promoting the album after it's in stores.? It's not how you start it's how you finish.? Appetite didn't sell well when it was first released and it's easily their highest selling album.? First weeks don't mean much when the album has legs.? The only time first week sales matter that much is if the album sucks and word of mouth is bad.? I think we all know that's not going to be the case here

Come on man... Appetite was such a different story... They had nothing to prove back then... Axl has alot of people to win over, remember many believe and hate him cause he broke up GNR... There are alot of haters out there... I'm afraid he wont have alot of time if CD does not sell well in the begining....

[ShotgunBlues1978]

You can't compare this to Limp Bizkit's album, becaue Limp Bizkit had already reached a point where fans were apathetic towards them.  Their prior album had been a failure even though it was promoted pretty heavily.  So when they released this album nobody, fans and media alike, cared.  Limp Bizkit was already irrelevant at that point.

If Guns N Roses did this, there would be a media frenzy and it would be all over the entertainment news.  So the results would be nothing alike

A media frenzy?? You actually think no promo will create buzz?!?! If that was the case all shows on the tour would be sold out.... Hate to say it but Limp Bizkit is alot more fresh in peoples minds than Axl and his hired guns... If it was a sure shot the leaks would be so much more wide spread than they are, they may be big on the forums... Outside of here nobody listens to them... because they dont know....

  I don't think you fully comprehend the way the media is going to shit a brick and give this album a bunch of free promotion.  I don't see the point in bringing up the tour because if the album were out, even without a ton of label promotion the tickets would still be selling better

I dont think you comprehend that if they were gonna shit a brick, it woulda been 'Axl Returned'... They didnt, it went by basically unoticed.... I'm not saying the album wont be huge for what it is..... It just needs to be known!

Returned to what?  It's hard to hype up a tour as much as an album.  Anyway tour tickets have been at or around the very top of the ticket sales charts since the tour was announced.  The media is going to pump a lot more hype into the album when it's released than they will into a tour. 

And as several others have pointed out releasing the album without a ton of promotion doesn't mean that they can't promote it.  I've believed for a while that they would try to sneak the album into stores to avoid bootlegging and to reap the benefits of the free press that such a move on such an album will garner.  There's nothing saying that they can't release a single and video and start promoting the album after it's in stores.  It's not how you start it's how you finish.  Appetite didn't sell well when it was first released and it's easily their highest selling album.  First weeks don't mean much when the album has legs.  The only time first week sales matter that much is if the album sucks and word of mouth is bad.  I think we all know that's not going to be the case here

Come on man... Appetite was such a different story... They had nothing to prove back then... Axl has alot of people to win over, remember many believe and hate him cause he broke up GNR... There are alot of haters out there... I'm afraid he wont have alot of time if CD does not sell well in the begining....

The people who hate him are going to hate him regardless of whether the album had a multi million dollar promotion blitz and debuted at #1 or if it had no promotion at all and debuted at #10.  The people on the fence will let the music do the talking.  To anyone questioning the ability of GnR to sell in this day and age need only look at their Greatest Hits album which had next to no promotion and is still on the charts over two years later.  There are a lot of younger fans of GnR who will buy the album that weren't exposed to all the anti-Axl stuff of the 90s. 

Also releasing singles isn't necessary in this day and age of iTunes anyway.  The whole album will most likely be on iTunes and they can just send the radio stations full copies of the albums, the stations can play whatever songs they want off albums.  Music videos don't mean what they used to either.  The whole industry's changed and more and more it's been shown that traditional methods of advertising and promotion doesn't work the way it used to

[Axl&Baz07]

the more you think about it, the more brilliant the idea actually is... as someone said, 'dropping the album like a nuclear bomb.' 

i think it's coming out on this Tuesday, October 24th.  i don't know if it will be download on Gunsnroses.com or iTunes only at first, or if it will be in stores, but i think it will be out either 10/24 or 10/31.   

[shoup]

Why isn't this a poll? I'm all in favor of no promotion as long as its in my hands.

[Bono]

the more you think about it, the more brilliant the idea actually is... as someone said, 'dropping the album like a nuclear bomb.'?

i think it's coming out on this Tuesday, October 24th.? i don't know if it will be download on Gunsnroses.com or iTunes only at first, or if it will be in stores, but i think it will be out either 10/24 or 10/31.? ?

there's no way. how could this go down next week when a major music chain like HMV has nothing in their system regarding a CD release date?

[Bodhi]

giving no notice for Chinese Democracy is a horrible idea...that is why I am betting thats exactly what is going to happen...

[ShotgunBlues1978]

how could this go down next week when a major music chain like HMV has nothing in their system regarding a CD release date?

Um because if they were actually going to do something like this it would be done in such a fashion that it would be a surprise.  If HMV had it in their computers then word would get out and the whole stunt would be pointless.  Otherwise they would just announce a release date

[Eazy E]

there's no way. how could this go down next week when a major music chain like HMV has nothing in their system regarding a CD release date?

"nothing in their system"? ?I'm sure that could be changed in under 5 minutes, it's not like they're running DOS... and I don't think they would turn away the new Guns N' Roses CD.

They're may not be enough time to ship all the CDs (unless the wheels are already in motion), but "in the system" means nothing to the CD coming out really. ?Obviously the disc is ready if Axl is playing it at parties, so who knows what's going on behind the scenes regarding the release.

[Bono]

there's no way. how could this go down next week when a major music chain like HMV has nothing in their system regarding a CD release date?

"nothing in their system"? ?I'm sure that could be changed in under 5 minutes, it's not like they're running DOS... and I don't think they would turn away the new Guns N' Roses CD.

They're may not be enough time to ship all the CDs (unless the wheels are already in motion), but "in the system" means nothing to the CD coming out really. ?Obviously the disc is ready if Axl is playing it at parties, so who knows what's going on behind the scenes regarding the release.

I suppose. All I kow now is that In my opinion, that's MY opinion not yours or anybody else's, Guns N' Roses are the worst run band in all of music in terms of managment. The whole thing with everything is terrible.  2006 has been a million  times better than any year since the early 90's as far as Guns is concerned but more and more it seems they have no clue what they're doing really. It's like they're just flying by the seat of their pants.