MTV News: Kanye vs. GNR [AMAs]

[Madagascar88]

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1600146/20081124/guns_n_roses.jhtml

Kanye West Vs. Guns N' Roses: Akon, Jonas Brothers, Ne-Yo Weigh In On Chart Battle
'I want to pull for both of them,' Jordin Sparks says, before leaning toward GN'R.
By Chris Harris, with reporting by Jeff Cornell

Will it be Guns N' Roses or Kanye West?

That was the question on everybody's minds Sunday night outside Los Angeles' Nokia Theatre, just before the start of the 36th annual American Music Awards. With two of the year's biggest releases dropping within the past 48 hours ? GN'R's more-than-16-years-in-the-making Chinese Democracy and Mr. West's 808s & Heartbreak ? the battle for Billboard's coveted peak position is on.

Music-industry insiders are paying close attention, because no one knows for sure who will end up opening at #1 when sales figures are released December 3. Could Rose's long-awaited opus outsell the latest album from one of hip-hop's biggest MCs? We surveyed several of the performers, winners and presenters during Sunday's AMAs to find out who they're backing in next week's Billboard showdown. Not surprisingly, most of those who spoke with us said they think it will be a tight race but one that will eventually end with Kanye walking away the victor.


"Oh, I don't know," "American Idol" winner Jordin Sparks said when asked who she thought would sell more records. "Guns N' Roses have some pretty avid fans, but so does Kanye. I want to pull for both of them, but I'm going to say Guns N' Roses, maybe. Kanye will probably hate me now. Crap."

Last week, MTV News learned that Geffen Records, which issued Democracy on Sunday as a Best Buy exclusive, would be holding on to GN'R's first-day sales figures until November 30, the same day West's label will report his week-one sales to Nielsen SoundScan. Typically, albums are released in the U.S. on Tuesdays and SoundScan tracks weekly sales data from Monday through Sunday, meaning that most albums' debut spots on the Billboard chart are based on six sales days. At first, most assumed day-one sales of Chinese Democracy would be reported next week and released the morning of November 26. But instead, Geffen will report eight full days of sales, putting it up against West's seven.

"We've got an undeniable producer, an undeniable hip-hop artist, and we've got history," Ne-Yo said, while weighing the matchup Sunday. "Damn, man ? I don't know. It's going to be a hell of a fight. I mean, I guess Guns N' Roses needed time to get everything together, so as long as the album's good. ... If you wait that long, you need to come out with something fantastic. I can't even make a prediction on that one."

Fray frontman Isaac Slade thinks West has the best shot at opening on top but admitted that it could go Guns' way, because "16 years is a long time to wait for a record." The-Dream was very confident in his prediction: "Kanye West. I think he'll come out on top, by just a little bit."

One of Axl Rose's contemporaries, M?tley Cr?e's Vince Neil, was just as conflicted about it but thinks West will down Democracy. Of course, Neil and Rose have had their differences in the past.

"It will probably be close, but Kanye will probably take it," he said. "The thing about Guns N' Roses is, it's not really Guns N' Roses. If Slash and Duff were still in it, I'd be a little more excited. Hopefully, it's a good album. I hope it's worth it, because they spent a lot of money and a lot of time on it. I like to record in two weeks, so I never second-guess myself.

Colbie Caillat thinks both acts have a fair shot at #1 but tends to side with Kanye in next week's battle, because "people love him." Joe Jonas of the Jonas Brothers wouldn't pick one name over the other, instead wishing "great things for both of these legendary artists." He did, however, follow that up by saying, "We've been listening to Kanye's new record," and that they're all "excited to get it for ourselves."

Akon also had a hard time picking a favorite. "That's a tough one," he said. "I'll buy both. I'm sure I'm not the only person who thinks that way. Kanye's always definitely been a guy who goes outside the box. And Guns N' Roses are legends, of course. That's a tough one."

For actor Terrence Howard, it wasn't so much a question of who, but when. "It would have been Guns N' Roses 15 years ago, hands down, but the mood has changed," he said. "Kanye has a lot of people anticipating his record. I think Kanye will open bigger, but I think Guns N' Roses has a bigger fanbase, and they will catch up [to West's sales] within the next month."

[Dead N' Bloated]

Apparently, if 2 other former members were there it would "still" be Guns N' Roses. I'm getting sick of that fuckin line.


 

[faldor]

Apparently, if 2 other former members were there it would "still" be Guns N' Roses. I'm getting sick of that fuckin line.


 

Especially from bands that had members replaced, yet still kept the name.  I guess it was okay for THEM to do it, but not Axl.

[demo23nz]

Apparently, if 2 other former members were there it would "still" be Guns N' Roses. I'm getting sick of that fuckin line.


 

Especially from bands that had members replaced, yet still kept the name.  I guess it was okay for THEM to do it, but not Axl.

Motley did one album with a different singer, and one with a different drummer... And obviously Vince was only involved with one of those.
So yeah, slightly different scenario than the Chi-Dem lineup IMO... And they DID catch a lot of shit from people for still calling the dramatically different sounding Corabi album 'Motley Crue' so its not like Axl/GnR are being singled out for criticism on this front.

[GREASER57]

He records everything in two weeks?....well at least we now know why his vocals suck so bad on everything he has done since 1997's Generation Swine...I think Motley (Sixx)  should bring back John Corabi

[demo23nz]

He records everything in two weeks?....well at least we now know why his vocals suck so bad on everything he has done since 1997's Generation Swine...I think Motley (Sixx)  should bring back John Corabi

Yeah, that comment raised eyebrows. I'm sure HE does only take two weeks cos he doesn't do a great deal of writing, just comes in and sings. I actually think his vocals were solid on the last album, but live is another matter entirely... 

[*Timothy*]

I don't even know who more then half those people are.

talk about feeling old and out of the loop.

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

It makes me sick to my stomach knowing that Kanye is going to beat us.

[D]

Rap stars are the new Gods though. Kanye will move close to 800k easy, they said CD was on pace to do 300 to 500k which would be way less than AC/DC and Metallica..... maybe they should've went with Walmart. Way more Walmarts in the US

Also, for as little promotion they've done, 500k would be really huge.

[*Timothy*]

read somewhere that Kanye was only on pace to do 450- 500k . so it could be a close race.

[AxlsMainMan]

Yeah, the lack of promotion is a bit disheartening, compared to 2006 when everyone and their dog was talking about the possible release of CD.

[D]

Could be smart strategy from Axl though.

Get a couple of big week sales just on the mystique and already generated buzz from the album, and once that dies down THEN start giving interviews etc to build that buzz back up.

[AxlsMainMan]

Yeah, who knows? Certainly not me, lol.

[Bodhi]

Apparently, if 2 other former members were there it would "still" be Guns N' Roses. I'm getting sick of that fuckin line.


 

yeah I'm sick of it too, but that line is not going anywhere..One of my friends was over the house listening to "Sorry" and he liked the song and then said "So I guess Slash will be playing this with Axl on stage in 2 years"?  There are alot of people who really think that it's only a matter of time before the orignal line-up gets back together..so they will continue with lines like that.....bullshit if you ask me...It has been over a decade since Slash or Duff were in the band....time to move on....having said that I feel that the whole "its not really GNR" line was not said anywhere near as much as I anticipated it being said in the past few weeks...

[*Timothy*]

Good God!!! Kanye's new album is crappy.

[The Catcher]

Apparently, if 2 other former members were there it would "still" be Guns N' Roses. I'm getting sick of that fuckin line.


 

yeah I'm sick of it too, but that line is not going anywhere..One of my friends was over the house listening to "Sorry" and he liked the song and then said "So I guess Slash will be playing this with Axl on stage in 2 years"?  There are alot of people who really think that it's only a matter of time before the orignal line-up gets back together..so they will continue with lines like that.....bullshit if you ask me...It has been over a decade since Slash or Duff were in the band....time to move on....having said that I feel that the whole "its not really GNR" line was not said anywhere near as much as I anticipated it being said in the past few weeks...

I could never be friendly with anyone who refuses to get over the fact that Slash is gone.

[WeHeldTogether]

kanye's new album is great, no matter who wins this "chart battle" i'm happy.  honestly i think it doesn't matter that much, a good album is a good album.

[Dr. Blutarsky]

 What's it been, like over 12 years now?

All you have to do is listen to the music. Does it suffer without having Slash there?? Hell no....

I won't lose any real sleep over the whole Kayne VS GNR. As long as CD does some respectable numbers saleswise it will give Axl a mandate to do what he wants on the next album, that is my only concern.

[mrlee]

Good God!!! Kanye's new album is crappy.

hes a modern day hip-hip/rap artist.

what do you expect.

[Skeletor]

Apparently, if 2 other former members were there it would "still" be Guns N' Roses. I'm getting sick of that fuckin line.

Same here. And above all, I don't get why Duff is always brought up instead of Izzy. As far as I'm concerned, Izzy's had a far bigger role in GNR than Duff.