Concerns of the album's release date from a music store employee

[JimMorrison4]

Other than Merck's sarcastic comment about the album dropping with no promotion, what evidence has there been that's pointed to a "surprise" release? So many people seem to be jumping on this. I don't get it. Why would a band drop an album and not give fans a day when they can go buy it?

[surforia]

Three quick points:

1.  I don't see how it would be impossible for a single to drop on the 14th with notice that the album is being released on the 21st.  Wouldn't that give record stores ample time to order the album?  I don't work at a record store, but it seems logical that inventory could be ordered quickly.   

2.  It makes sense they wouldn't give a release date.  Think about how many people that you've told chinese democracy is coming out on xx/xx/xx and then laughed in your face.  If they did give a release date, in advance, nobody would believe it anyway!   

3.  Whoever said Chinese Democracy isn't the most anticipated album in rock history clearly doesn't know rock history.   I challenge anyone to offer another album that has been anticipated as much (if you say Brian Wilson's Smile, you're wrong).  Think about it, whenever anything relating to chinese democracy comes up it's all overt mtv news and rollingstone, as well as every other online music reporting organization.   

[JuicySwoos]

Other than Merck's sarcastic comment about the album dropping with no promotion, what evidence has there been that's pointed to a "surprise" release? So many people seem to be jumping on this. I don't get it. Why would a band drop an album and not give fans a day when they can go buy it?

I didn't mean "surpise" in that the album would drop with no promotion, but rather more that the time the release date is announced and the time it is actually released does not have to be subtantial according to the record stores I spoke with, meaning that just because a release date is yet to be announced, doesn't necessarily mean the album can't come out in November.

[burden]

Quite honestly, Chinese Democracy is not even the most anticpated album in Guns N' Roses history.  Anyone that knows G N' R history and lived through it knows that the Illusions were much more anticipated.  There is evidence of that fact as well.  Almost every major record store was opened at 12:01 AM on the Tuesday of the release and more than 2 million copies were sold in one week. 

[surforia]

Quite honestly, Chinese Democracy is not even the most anticpated album in Guns N' Roses history.? Anyone that knows G N' R history and lived through it knows that the Illusions were much more anticipated.? There is evidence of that fact as well.? Almost every major record store was opened at 12:01 AM on the Tuesday of the release and more than 2 million copies were sold in one week.?

yeah, UYI were obviously huge, but the landscape of music was very different.  Rock ruled the day and old Guns were the kings of that scene.  Today, hip-hop consistently outsells rock records and many rock fans simply download...  Overall, though, to say that CD is less anticipated is false.  Whether or not it will sell as much is a totally different issue, but just the 13 year delay, alone, makes it more anticipated.  Just look at Rolling Stone, the apparant quintessential forum on music.  When describing CD, they use words like "mythical," etc...  When you talk to any casual rock fan, they may not know who plays lead guitar in gn'r today, but 99% of those casual rock fans have, at least, heard of chinese democracy.   This mini-debate we're having is obviously off-topic.

[Mikkamakka]

Yea but this isnt really G n R its just Axl and a bunch of hired GUNS so i think a little extra marketing would help alot. I know il buy it the second it comes out but im sure alot of people will be skeptical.

Actually Slash, Duff, Steven & Matt were hired GUNS.

Axl & Izzy founded the band.

Stop this nonsense Axlite bullshit.

Yes, Axl, Izzy and some other guys founded GN'R. They played together for like 3 months. Then Duff, Slash and Steven joined the band. GN'R haven't done jackshit before Slash & Co joined. These 5 guys made Guns N' Roses, not Tracii Guns or Robert Gardner. They wrote the albums we all love. (I guess you still like the classic records otherwise it's hard to call yourself a GN'R fan.) Axl, Slash, Duff, Izzy and Steven were members. The others (from Dizzy and Matt to Robin and Frank Ferrer) are employees. Hence the name 'Hired Guns'. Get real and stop posting insanity.

Facts are facts.

They were all hired Guns except for Axl & Izzy. If you Slashites really want to make this argument, we can play.

Face the facts.

They were equal members, Axl, Slash, Duff, Izzy and Steven. The others are and were well paid employees. That's the huuuuge difference between members and hired guns. If you can't understand this, I can't help, live in your own world. 

[Locomotive98]

Yea but this isnt really G n R its just Axl and a bunch of hired GUNS so i think a little extra marketing would help alot. I know il buy it the second it comes out but im sure alot of people will be skeptical.

Actually Slash, Duff, Steven & Matt were hired GUNS.

Axl & Izzy founded the band.

Stop this nonsense Axlite bullshit.

Yes, Axl, Izzy and some other guys founded GN'R. They played together for like 3 months. Then Duff, Slash and Steven joined the band. GN'R haven't done jackshit before Slash & Co joined. These 5 guys made Guns N' Roses, not Tracii Guns or Robert Gardner. They wrote the albums we all love. (I guess you still like the classic records otherwise it's hard to call yourself a GN'R fan.) Axl, Slash, Duff, Izzy and Steven were members. The others (from Dizzy and Matt to Robin and Frank Ferrer) are employees. Hence the name 'Hired Guns'. Get real and stop posting insanity.

Facts are facts.

They were all hired Guns except for Axl & Izzy. If you Slashites really want to make this argument, we can play.

Face the facts.

They were equal members, Axl, Slash, Duff, Izzy and Steven. The others are and were well paid employees. That's the huuuuge difference between members and hired guns. If you can't understand this, I can't help, live in your own world.?

Agreed. The dude probably wont listen to the Beatles either because Pete Best isnt on the records.

[GNRfan2008]

They were all hired Guns except for Axl & Izzy. If you Slashites really want to make this argument, we can play.

Izzy said some years ago that Axl and SLASH earned more than him, that's one of the many reasons why he decided to leave.

So, the "employee" Slash earned more than "founder" Izzy... And an even stranger thing is that "employee" Slash earned as much as "mastermind/superboss/God" Axl... Very strange...

The truth is that until Slash came in, Guns N'Roses was nothing.

And until he joined GN'R, Slash himself was nothing! That argument is pretty weak in my opinion. The 3 were all very important to the band's success and if you really wanna argue that Slash was more important than Axl, then I've got some oceanfront property in Arizona to sell you.

[Duffio]

I think it would help if he actually had musicians playing with him that were better known. I mean the average G n R fan has no idea who some of these guys are like Robin Finch or whoever else he has playing for him. I mean come on Axl get some decent musicians with somewhat of a name and that will help out alot. I hope the album is decent and il check it out but to expect another UYI 1 and 2 would be far fetched.

What if this is the real Jake E Lee?? He could replace one of the gunners.....? Maybe he is asking for the gig?? In case you guys don't know, Jake E. Lee is a major badass.? Played with Ozzy after Rhoads and in a band called Badlands.

Unfortunately im not the real Jake but it would be great if Jake and ol Axl hooked up wouldnt it. Jake put out an album of cover tunes ealier in the year called Retraced and hes still got the chops.

There's a reason Jake got replaced by Zakk "GOD" Wylde.

  better musicians?? umm not sure..who you have in mind, this incarnation of gnr is SOOOOOOOO more technically adept that it's like..... all of them could play in circles around slash and izzy or gilbey (not that they are no good, just not as technical) and they all play with great feeling... so i dunno. btw, i know people in real life that can play like zakk or jake or even slash.. but none that can play like ron or richard, or buckethead

[The Legend]

They were all hired Guns except for Axl & Izzy. If you Slashites really want to make this argument, we can play.

Izzy said some years ago that Axl and SLASH earned more than him, that's one of the many reasons why he decided to leave.

So, the "employee" Slash earned more than "founder" Izzy... And an even stranger thing is that "employee" Slash earned as much as "mastermind/superboss/God" Axl... Very strange...

The truth is that until Slash came in, Guns N'Roses was nothing.

And until he joined GN'R, Slash himself was nothing! That argument is pretty weak in my opinion. The 3 were all very important to the band's success and if you really wanna argue that Slash was more important than Axl, then I've got some oceanfront property in Arizona to sell you.

Exactly.

They were all hired Guns except for Axl & Izzy. If you Slashites really want to make this argument, we can play.

Izzy said some years ago that Axl and SLASH earned more than him, that's one of the many reasons why he decided to leave.

So, the "employee" Slash earned more than "founder" Izzy... And an even stranger thing is that "employee" Slash earned as much as "mastermind/superboss/God" Axl... Very strange...

The truth is that until Slash came in, Guns N'Roses was nothing.

Slash was on the rocket when it took off.

I think it would help if he actually had musicians playing with him that were better known. I mean the average G n R fan has no idea who some of these guys are like Robin Finch or whoever else he has playing for him. I mean come on Axl get some decent musicians with somewhat of a name and that will help out alot. I hope the album is decent and il check it out but to expect another UYI 1 and 2 would be far fetched.

What if this is the real Jake E Lee?  He could replace one of the gunners.....  Maybe he is asking for the gig?  In case you guys don't know, Jake E. Lee is a major badass.  Played with Ozzy after Rhoads and in a band called Badlands.

Unfortunately im not the real Jake but it would be great if Jake and ol Axl hooked up wouldnt it. Jake put out an album of cover tunes ealier in the year called Retraced and hes still got the chops.

There's a reason Jake got replaced by Zakk "GOD" Wylde.

better musicians?? umm not sure..who you have in mind, this incarnation of gnr is SOOOOOOOO more technically adept that it's like..... all of them could play in circles around slash and izzy or gilbey (not that they are no good, just not as technical) and they all play with great feeling... so i dunno. btw, i know people in real life that can play like zakk or jake or even slash.. but none that can play like ron or richard, or buckethead

Mmm, okay. Thanks for contributing... 

[Perfect Criminal]

This is getting exciting finally.

If we were to have a single on Monday the 13th of November, how soon would it need to be in the hands of the radio stations?  Do singles get trasnmitted to radio station now electronically (mp3) or are they still shipped out on a cd?

I assume its electronic now, but have no idea.

[Ignatius]

We are not doing this again!

If you want to talk about the current Vs. the former member, their ability and contribuition to GNR, there's a nice little section we call "Dead Horse".

[Journeyman]

This is getting exciting finally.

If we were to have a single on Monday the 13th of November, how soon would it need to be in the hands of the radio stations?? Do singles get trasnmitted to radio station now electronically (mp3) or are they still shipped out on a cd?

I assume its electronic now, but have no idea.

thats a good point. I think maybe they can do it electronic now. But that would mean no promo singles? I want promo singles 

[nesquik]

earlier this week, I asked (again) about the album to a guy working at Virgin Megastor on Champs-Elys?es in Paris and he told me there is still nothing yet about it. Then I went to FNAC (for the 10th time at least within the last 2 years, lol) and they told me the same thing (still nothing, they don't know when it's comming out). The guy ( working in the Rock section) smilled and told me "Maybe next time!". lol.
I don't know where you live, but nothing has changed in Paris?

[russtcb]

I emailed one of my contacts at Universal late last week and got this reply back last night for what it's worth:



"Hey Russ,

 

How?s it going?  Yep, pretty crazy that I?ll be dealing with the G N? R record now that I am over at Universal.  So far, I haven?t heard anything that says the record will be out this year.  It might pop on to the schedule at the last minute, but I would think that they would want to make sure they have this record properly set up.  ******* and I will definitely let you know whenever we get a release date.

 

Enjoy the show!  I?ll be out of town for the holiday weekend.

 

Hope all is well!

 

**

[25]

I'll give you all another quick example. I'm a big fan of Tom Waits. His album is coming out November 21st in the US (rumored release date for CD).

We've had it listed for preorder with full details, cover art and technical credits for the past two months or so in our system. It leaked onto the Internet a week ago, has been listed on Amazon.com for months and there are full details on it there, also. Waits already released full previews for the album AND three tracks were officially released last month as samples.

We have it scheduled to be shelved under the Waits section in our store and to have numerous copies filed on the New Releases display.

The difference being that Tom had an unexpectedly successful album last year, and with his new album looking like a big 3-discs-and-a-souvenier-booklet closet-cleaning exercise (retirement? another decade-long hiatus?) ANTI needs this to be a huge money-maker. And it's hardly as if such an expensive package from a cult artist is going to turn a profit on word-of-mouth alone. ANTI does pretty much all it can to pulblicize their new releases, with all kinds of updates, samples, etc, usually more than a month in advance, for obvious reasons.  Comparing Tom Waits to GNR or  ANTI to Universal/Geffen/Interscope is mind-bogglingly spurious.

What amazes me is that we've heard absolutely nothing from GNR's label confirming or denying that the album is due this year. You'd think that they'd be the one party with nothing to gain from keeping quiet on the issue.

[The Legend]

I emailed one of my contacts at Universal late last week and got this reply back last night for what it's worth:



"Hey Russ,

 

How?s it going?? Yep, pretty crazy that I?ll be dealing with the G N? R record now that I am over at Universal.? So far, I haven?t heard anything that says the record will be out this year.? It might pop on to the schedule at the last minute, but I would think that they would want to make sure they have this record properly set up.? ******* and I will definitely let you know whenever we get a release date.

 

Enjoy the show!? I?ll be out of town for the holiday weekend.

 

Hope all is well!

 

**

Regardless of whether he's a 'contact' or 'insider'-type, I highly doubt someone that could e-mail you that easily with info, is going to know anything about the album's release.

jmho...

[jake.e.lee]

I think it would help if he actually had musicians playing with him that were better known. I mean the average G n R fan has no idea who some of these guys are like Robin Finch or whoever else he has playing for him. I mean come on Axl get some decent musicians with somewhat of a name and that will help out alot. I hope the album is decent and il check it out but to expect another UYI 1 and 2 would be far fetched.

What if this is the real Jake E Lee?? He could replace one of the gunners.....? Maybe he is asking for the gig?? In case you guys don't know, Jake E. Lee is a major badass.? Played with Ozzy after Rhoads and in a band called Badlands.

Unfortunately im not the real Jake but it would be great if Jake and ol Axl hooked up wouldnt it. Jake put out an album of cover tunes ealier in the year called Retraced and hes still got the chops.

There's a reason Jake got replaced by Zakk "GOD" Wylde.

? better musicians?? umm not sure..who you have in mind, this incarnation of gnr is SOOOOOOOO more technically adept that it's like..... all of them could play in circles around slash and izzy or gilbey (not that they are no good, just not as technical) and they all play with great feeling... so i dunno. btw, i know people in real life that can play like zakk or jake or even slash.. but none that can play like ron or richard, or buckethead

I know Jake isnt the best ever but hes one of my favorites  :love:And i would love to say how good the current G N R axemen are but ive never heard them play anything so i have nothing to base my opinion on. And if they are so great then what is taking so damn long to get this Album out ? Is there anyway i can here this ron or richard guy or whoever play some songs ?

[michaelvincent]

I love the running misconception around here that somehow Axl Rose and Guns N Roses are above the record industry. Like somehow wasting 13 million dollars of record company money is the key to the castle of never having to do anything according the rules. The label is a big business and big business doesn't sink tens of millions into a recording without putting the proper promotion and advertising and planning in place to recoup that money.

[flicknn]

I love the running misconception around here that somehow Axl Rose and Guns N Roses are above the record industry. Like somehow wasting 13 million dollars of record company money is the key to the castle of never having to do anything according the rules. The label is a big business and big business doesn't sink tens of millions into a recording without putting the proper promotion and advertising and planning in place to recoup that money.

so you are saying is correct ......13 million and the record company adds more money to that in promotion?If i was record I would tell axl ...yeah you can put it out , but we are not promoting it.Let's face it , with all the assumned insider information that everybody claims to have and not one lick of truth or tiblit to any album coming out this year.