MTV News: Hinder Say CD Sounds 'Too Artsy'

[Madagascar88]

remember them being against touring with the New Guns.  I respect their appreciation for the Classic Lineup but I wonder what they'll think after hearing the final score?

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1599875/20081120/hinder.jhtml

Hinder Say Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy Sounds 'Too Artsy' And 'Overproduced'
The rockers who call GN'R one of their biggest influences think the new LP is 'missing something.'
By Chris Harris, with additional reporting by Daniel Montalto


What made the original Guns N' Roses so intriguing was how dangerous they truly were. At the height of their career, they were a force to be reckoned with ? an unruly gang of wild-eyed kids from the seedy streets of L.A., who churned out gritty rock and roll and always partied as if it were their last night on Earth. They lived for the moment, abused all manner of substances and had more than their fare share of the ladies.

Of course, Guns N' Roses existed during a completely different time, long before grunge got us depressed and emo made us nearly suicidal. Today, there's just aren't many bands who've even come close to matching the level of debauchery achieved by Axl, Izzy, Duff, Slash and Adler back in their heyday. But Hinder are trying their darnedest.


On Wednesday, less than a week before the November 23 release of GN'R's long-awaited Chinese Democracy, we reached out to the hardest-living rockers we know to gauge their thoughts on the new LP one of their biggest influences.

"The original Guns N' Roses inspired us ? not Axl Rose being an a--hole," drummer Cody Hanson clarified.

(Read Eagles of Death Metal frontman Jesse "The Devil" Hughes' take on Chinese Democracy here.)

"We've heard some of the earlier stuff that's leaked, and the single, and I was just kind of like, 'Eh,' " frontman Austin Winkler said. "Axl's voice sounds great, but that was never a problem. It was him going onstage and working with those other guys that was the problem. I think somewhere Axl's got all these other different guitar players he's tried to work with and he was just whipping them, going, 'More like Slash! More like Slash!' That's what I'm picturing in my mind."

After hearing the first leaks from the record, Hanson said he knew it wasn't going to live up to the hype.

"I heard the stuff that was leaked, and I know the mixes weren't there, but, being musicians, you can hear through that stuff ? you still hear the songs, and to be honest, the songs just aren't there," he said. "It almost sounds too artsy; there's something about it. It's not what it was. It's just missing something, and it sounds overproduced. ... I guess that's what happens whenever you've got 20 years to sit in the studio."

Hanson admitted he was surprised to discover a release date had finally been set for Democracy, but he was still excited for Axl's return.

"It is great to hear that voice on the radio again," he said. "Without the band, though, to me, it's not really Guns N' Roses. It was all about that energy that that group of guys had together, and without that, I don't know, man. It's kind of pointless and a wasted effort. Axl was never GN'R by himself. Look at the other guys ? they've moved on, and Slash is still one of the biggest icons in rock and roll. So, GN'R definitely wasn't just Axl."

According to Winkler, Hinder were approached to open for Guns on a recent tour, but they decided to turn down the offer. "We knew what would happen," he said. "Axl wouldn't go on stage if he didn't have his lamb or something. We didn't do it, and it turned out way better for us."

Looking back on Rose's numerous tour cancellations and hasty moves to boot bands from the bill, which , Hanson said they decided against the tour for the sake of their fans.

"Our fans are extremely important to us, and if we had to cancel a bunch of dates and leave them hanging, we would have been pretty pissed off," Hanson said. "So, we decided it was not in our best interest to do the tour."

[wells]

Hinder who?

v. ..

[Dr. Blutarsky]

Too artsy?   I bet they think Picasso is too artsy too 

[cineater]

Can that be the end of their 15 minutes?  

Oh wait, that was over 7 minutes ago.

[mrlee]

Axl cant think they are that bad then if he approached them to support.

[Pine Barrens]

Too artsy? I guess it would be for people who sing about fucking while stoned and stippers or whatever it is band's who wish it was still 1988 sing about...

Also, on one hand he says that Axl is trying to get his guitar players to sound like Slash, but on the other hand he is saying it's too artsy? So which is it, does it sound like Slash or "artsy? And another thing, he doesn't want to tour with GN'R becuase he doesn't want to leave his fans hanging should Axl cancel? Well, I am sure the two people who came just to see Hinder would be just fine. 

[chineseblues]

I can honestly said I have never heard of Hinder. Haven't heard a single thing by them, so why are they talking?

[michaelrose]

I've honestly never heard of them either. Maybe if they had toured w/ GNR more people would be familiar with them.

[Pine Barrens]

I've honestly never heard of them either. Maybe if they had toured w/ GNR more people would be familiar with them.

Good point. I've heard of them only because I live in the south where they play shit like Hinder all the time on the radio. If you sing about fucking while stoned and strippers like it was 1987 all over again, southern rock stations are all over it...And the singer from Hinder I mainly know of because he was busted not too far from my house on a DUI a while back. let's hope he wasn't on his way to a Hinder show. His fans would have been "left hanging".

[mrarkadin]

"Too artsy"--sounds like a good thing to me.

[CheapJon]

cocksuckers, their opinion of the CD i couldn't care less about, even their opinion of the current band i don't care about


but keep bullshitting about the lambthing, calling axl an asshole when they don't know him (axl might be an ass to some but they deserve it u know) getting publicity spreading shit is gay, thinking axl want guitarplayers to sound like slash, stupid, he coulda called slash anytime but motherfucker has integrity and the worst of all, making a song my ex likes called lips of an angel FUCK THEMMMMM!!

(kinda joking, kinda serious about the ex liking songthingie )

[mrlee]

While i dont agree with Hinder on this.


The comments above are just fucking annoying.

So basically, a band cannot sing about anything feelgood or positive. Because they think its 1987?

News for you, people still go to strip clubs, people still party, and most people (that are still young) have sex!!!

Whats a band supposed to do.

They sing about depressing stuff n they are emo.

They sing about mystic cheese, n they suck to be frank.

They sing about feelgood stuff they are living in the 80s apparently?

fucking bullshit.

[The Illusionist]

I think the worst part about this whole this is that "Hinder" publicly announced that GNR were an influence on them...

I'm pretty upset as a GNR fan as this can tarnish their reputation on who they influence in the future...

[Pine Barrens]

While i dont agree with Hinder on this.


The comments above are just fucking annoying.

So basically, a band cannot sing about anything feelgood or positive. Because they think its 1987?

News for you, people still go to strip clubs, people still party, and most people (that are still young) have sex!!!

Whats a band supposed to do.

They sing about depressing stuff n they are emo.

They sing about mystic cheese, n they suck to be frank.

They sing about feelgood stuff they are living in the 80s apparently?

fucking bullshit.

Funny, I could have sworn you just told someone in the VR section to take a chill pill... Ok, first, take a deep breath and read my post again. You kind of missed the whole point.

And oh, take a chill pill.

[mrlee]

Too artsy? I guess it would be for people who sing about fucking while stoned and stippers or whatever it is band's who wish it was still 1988 sing about...

Why should every artist have to sing about painful life experiences. I like a mix of both.

But i guess, bands didnt sing about stuff like that in the 60s or 70s?

Come on.

[Pine Barrens]

Too artsy? I guess it would be for people who sing about fucking while stoned and stippers or whatever it is band's who wish it was still 1988 sing about...

Why should every artist have to sing about painful life experiences. I like a mix of both.

But i guess, bands didnt sing about stuff like that in the 60s or 70s?

Come on.

I honestly have no idea what you are on about here...I truly don't.

You have a good one.

[mrlee]

Too artsy? I guess it would be for people who sing about fucking while stoned and stippers or whatever it is band's who wish it was still 1988 sing about...

Why should every artist have to sing about painful life experiences. I like a mix of both.

But i guess, bands didnt sing about stuff like that in the 60s or 70s?

Come on.

I honestly have no idea what you are on about here...I truly don't.

You have a good one.

Or maybe cause you failed.

[Silverchair]

YOu reserve the right to criticize when you have amassed an ounce of respect from the music community. WTF is Hinder?? Some modern-Wannabe Metal band. They look all tough... and write half-assed power chord music.

I can wipe my ass with this fucker's opinion.

[The Illusionist]

Also, Axl will be 47 years old in February.  These 20 something year olds are talking like Axl was incapable of aging.  
If you look around...when you get older...you change.  He's not going to be wearing kilts and jumping off stage anymore...he's a veteran.  
He's already made the name for himself...he doesn't need to continue to do what he used to.  He's established himself to the point where he is able to literally do what he wants when he wants...
If these 20 something year old one hit wonder bands are too jealous to understand this...that's their own problem.  It's easy to fix...make better music and make a name for yourself...and you'll get the same respect.
How many "dangerous" 47 year olds are out there in music today?  Bon Jovi and Brett Michaels went Country, James Hetfield went soft...then attempted to go hard again but it still sounds soft, Cobain is dead, Eddie Vedder has gone soft (thought still good), Chris Cornell has gone solo and soft making James Bond themes....literally anybody around the same age has changed.  You have to.  It's not 1987 anymore.  He's 47 years old...you live and you learn.  

Because he's a rockstar he's not human?  He's not able to change and mature like the rest of society??  He's still a damn good talented artist...and I'm getting older too..

While I do miss the old Rock n Roll style stories of tv's being chucked out of windows...and lead singers diving off stage attacking disrespectful idiots...and feuds going on and actual Rock N Roll happening.... I'm certainly not going to blame it on Axl Rose turning 47 soon.  These other pussy bands should look in the mirrors and instead of hope for a 47 year old Axl to come back and bring back all of these things....these kids in their 20's should take cue and do some shit themselves...

Hypocrites...nobody wants to take responsibility for their own shitty music and shitty era their a part of so they want to point the finger at somebody....and the "sexy" thing to do has been to point it at Axl...

[mrlee]

Hypocrites...nobody wants to take responsibility for their own shitty music and shitty era their a part of so they want to point the finger at somebody....and the "sexy" thing to do has been to point it at Axl...

Yeah i hate this generation, sadly im apart of it. New decade soon, hopefully things will change and improve.