This article is from The Independant, a newspaper over here in the UK.....
Guns N' Roses: Are they finally ready to release a new album?In the early 1990s, Guns N' Roses were the biggest band on the planet. Now, eight producers, 15 years and ?7m later, the new album is here
By Fiona Sturges
Published: 02 March 2007
In 1991, Guns N' Roses, the LA rock band led by the tattoo-clad, kilt-wearing, flame-haired singer W Axl Rose, had the world at their feet. Their swaggering 20 million-selling debut Appetite for Destruction was still in the top 10 album chart four years after its release. The twin albums Use Your Illusion I and II had just set a world record - it was the first time two records from the same group had entered the Billboard charts at numbers 1 and 2. The band had also embarked on their biggest world tour to date that would net $30m in ticket sales alone. They were, in short, the biggest band on the planet.
Fast-forward to 2007 and, despite having produced nothing of consequence for more than a decade and a half, Guns N' Roses are far from forgotten. For next month, after 15 years of rumour and expectancy, the band is to release their third proper LP, Chinese Democracy. Possibly.
A letter posted by Rose on the official Guns N' Roses website revealed that the album will hit the shops this Tuesday. But as long-standing GNR fans know, this isn't the first occasion that the release of Chinese Democracy, described by The New York Times as "the recording industry's most notorious white elephant", has been announced. Indeed, the story of Axl Rose, his monstrous ego and his attempts to finish the most expensive album of all time is the stuff of legend. At a cost of ?7m, many believe that democracy will come to China before Chinese Democracy sees the light of day. Over the years, Rose has hired and fired eight producers and at least 20 musicians, while roundly ignoring the pleas of executives at his record company Geffen to finish the job.
The album was originally due to appear in 1996 but was delayed, according to Rose, because of the departure of long-standing band-mates Duff McKagan and Slash. Rose claimed they had left of their own volition, though Slash and McKagan maintain that they were forced to leave after the singer, who has ownership of the band's name, began treating them like a backing band.
In 1998, Rose hired the San Fernando studio where he had recorded Appetite for Destruction and told Geffen, which had already invested heavily in the album, to expect the record at the end of the year. In the event, Rose's visits to the studio were rare and no music materialised. Later in the year, the singer invited Rolling Stone magazine to his house to preview a dozen new tracks, and a new release date was set for 2000, but, once again, nothing appeared.
On New Year's Day 2001, Rose seemed on the brink of delivery. At the House of Blues in Las Vegas, he unveiled his latest line-up and a clutch of new songs. The show was warmly reviewed and a newly energised Rose took his band on the road. Upon his return, Rose went back into the studio but appeared to have a crisis of confidence, firing his producer and ordering the songs to be recorded over again.
By 2004, Universal, Geffen's parent company ran out of patience and informed Rose's management by letter that "having exceeded all budgeted and approved recording costs by millions of dollars, it is now Mr Rose's obligation to fund and complete the album". Rose's studio tab was frozen and the album taken off the schedule. Over a legal challenge from Rose, they released a greatest hits package to help recoup their losses. Without any promotion from the band, it sold 1.8 million copies, proving there was still a market for Guns N' Roses.
Since then, more release dates for Chinese Democracy have come and gone. Early in 2006, Rose told Rolling Stone: "People will hear music this year... It's a complex record. I'm trying to do something different. Some people are going to say, 'It doesn't sound like Guns N' Roses'. But you'll like at least a few songs." Still nothing materialised.
We'll soon know whether there is any substance to Rose's latest announcement, though for once the signs look promising. Sources close to Rose say that Andy Wallace, who engineered Nirvana's Nevermind, has been putting the finishing touches on the album. A few days after Rose's statement, his former manager, Merck Mercuriadis, wrote an open letter to fans saying that the album only needed "two or three more days" before it was completed. He continued: "I promise you that Chinese Democracy is worth it and you should keep the faith ... Next year will see Axl recognised not only as a great singer and rock icon but as one of the greatest artists of all time."
It's more likely, however, that Rose will be remembered as the most egotistical, volatile, downright bonkers front man in the history of rock. This is a man who once kept The Rolling Stones waiting for three hours for the rehearsal of a Rose-Jagger duet.
Back in the mid-Eighties, Rose was already displaying the diva-like behaviour that would be the band's undoing. He frequently failed to show up for gigs and was abusive towards other members of the band. But for Guns N' Roses, the final nail in the coffin was the release of Nevermind in late 1991. At that moment, cock rock was out and introspective indie-rock was in. The band continued to tour until 1993 when they released The Spaghetti Incident?, an album of punk covers. Sales were negligible and for the rest of the decade Rose became a virtual recluse in his Malibu mansion.
Rose's big comeback came in 2002, when he performed at the MTV awards, but he looked out of breath and struggled to sing in tune. The following year, Guns N' Roses announced their first tour in a decade, though it was clear that Rose still hadn't mended his ways. He failed to show up to two shows and was arrested in a state of severe inebriation in Stockholm.
So will we really see a new Guns N' Roses album next week? And, if so, will it have been worth the wait? Only time will tell. Perhaps Rose put it best on his website in 2002. "If you're waiting... don't. Live your life. That's your responsibility, not mine... But if you're really into waiting, try holding your breath for Jesus. I hear the pay-off may be that much greater."
'Chinese Democracy' is released on Tuesday, allegedly
http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/music/f...icle2316893.ecehttp://www.mygnrforum.com/index.php?showtopic=91039
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