AFD 25th Anniversary topic and possible re-release?

[Chuzeville]

I wish they would release a super deluxe of Chinese Democracy. The way it was meant to sound (on vinyl) and all the proper approved artwork with bonus stuff.


/jarmo

I'm all for it. Like a Phew!-Four-Years-Already edition.

[Bobarcord]

I wish they would release a super deluxe of Chinese Democracy. The way it was meant to sound (on vinyl) and all the proper approved artwork with bonus stuff.





/jarmo

like those Pink Floyd Immersion Box Sets that would be killer!

[sofine11]

I wish they would release a super deluxe of Chinese Democracy. The way it was meant to sound (on vinyl) and all the proper approved artwork with bonus stuff.





/jarmo

I've always said they should re-release Chinese as a double album, complete with the correct artwork, plus the remaining CD era tracks.  Nice way to kill two birds with one stone.  Too bad it probably won't happen. 

[AxlsMainMan]

I wish they would release a super deluxe of Chinese Democracy. The way it was meant to sound (on vinyl) and all the proper approved artwork with bonus stuff.





/jarmo

Was it meant to sound different?

I think what Jarmo is getting at is that most copies of Chinese Democracy on vinyl were massacred by fingerprints with some looking like someone took a fork to the vinyl, thus negatively affecting the sound/overall quality of the album.

[C0ma]

I wish they would release a super deluxe of Chinese Democracy. The way it was meant to sound (on vinyl) and all the proper approved artwork with bonus stuff.





/jarmo

Including a re-recorded version of AFD. Why you ask? Well for one they can lend the songs out and the money will be invested in the band and their future projects and not given to former members that chose to quit. Didn't Axl want to supply a re-recorded Jungle for blackhawk Down?

Totally agree with Jarmo, but not sure what you are getting at Volcano?
I could be wrong in my recollection of this, but the reason the rerecorded version of the song wasn't included in Black Hawk Down is because the 'others' blocked its use. They still have some control over the catalog for which they have writing credits. So if they chose they could block a rerecorded version of the entire album from being released (again my interpretation which could be wrong).
But if they did choose to agree to it, they would collect the royalties from it. Part of the publishing rights.

[jarmo]

I wish they would release a super deluxe of Chinese Democracy. The way it was meant to sound (on vinyl) and all the proper approved artwork with bonus stuff.





/jarmo

Was it meant to sound different?

I think what Jarmo is getting at is that most copies of Chinese Democracy on vinyl were massacred by fingerprints with some looking like someone took a fork to the vinyl, thus negatively affecting the sound/overall quality of the album.

Inner groove distortion....


/jarmo

[Walapino]

Please no re-recorded albums!!! A remastered version would be nice and the ritz 88 as a bonus but hence wont happen.

As far as Chinese goes, it would be nice to get a new re-issue like jarmo says with a couple of unreleased tracks and maybe release a video for Better?

[JustWckd]

a re-master would be cool but other than that its not needed.  album was perfect the first time

and to piggy back what jarmo said, lets focus on getting new material instead of releasing old.

[Drew]

The idea of an re-recorded AFD release by the new band or ex-New GN'R members sounds very interesting and something I'd really enjoy being able to listen to.

[volcano62]

I wish they would release a super deluxe of Chinese Democracy. The way it was meant to sound (on vinyl) and all the proper approved artwork with bonus stuff.





/jarmo

Including a re-recorded version of AFD. Why you ask? Well for one they can lend the songs out and the money will be invested in the band and their future projects and not given to former members that chose to quit. Didn't Axl want to supply a re-recorded Jungle for blackhawk Down?

Totally agree with Jarmo, but not sure what you are getting at Volcano?
I could be wrong in my recollection of this, but the reason the rerecorded version of the song wasn't included in Black Hawk Down is because the 'others' blocked its use. They still have some control over the catalog for which they have writing credits. So if they chose they could block a rerecorded version of the entire album from being released (again my interpretation which could be wrong).
But if they did choose to agree to it, they would collect the royalties from it. Part of the publishing rights.

I could be wrong also. Doesn't Black Frog (Axl's company) own all publishing rights now? And legally can't "the others" only collect on material they actually performed on? also didn't Axl block the original Jungle from being used in the movie? anyone have more insight on this situation?

[Smokey]

A release of the re-recorded Appetite would be wrong. As good as it might be it should never see the light of day. Who wants to see Paul McCartney re-release the White Album with other artists?

A collectors boxset would be nice but may be unlikely 'cause it would invovle contact between Axl and Slash.

A gig on the strip to mark the anniversary would be good with Steven, Slash and Duff playing and Izzy if he wants, with an open invite to Axl (even though he wouldnt go) and maybe Duff and Izzy joining the new Guns on stage.

[FanSince87]

Please no re-recorded albums!!! A remastered version would be nice and the ritz 88 as a bonus but hence wont happen.

Exactly.  Why waste time on re-recording old albums, especially a masterpiece like AFD??!? I mean c'mon.  Axl has released one album in like 15 years or something.  Do we really want the next album to be songs we've all heard?  If he ever really wants to truly move forward and stop having ppl talking about the classic lineup, he needs to release new music from the current lineup.  If the new lineup re-records music originally made by Slash, Duff, Izzy, etc, then of course people will constantly be comparing the two recordings.  Is that what he really wants?  That makes no sense at all.

As for CD, again - he's released one album in 15+ years.  And now we want him to re-release that same album again??? At this point, it's all about hearing new music.  And we know it's out there somewhere in various unfinished states given all the quotes we've seen in interviews.

[spgunner]

I wish to see CD released with the proper cover art. I also wish to hear a remixes CD album. But if it's about AFD, would be cool to have a rerelease with the new AFD rerecorded! From my 3 wishes I can only see the first 2 ones happening (maybe) n' I guess we'll never hear the rerecorded AFD but for the little we heard at the end of Sweet Child.. I guess it rocks !

[Limulus]

as for AFD 25/30/40/50th anniversary i would like to have a video project by Marc Canter which he wanted to see us about 4 years ago already, just like his awesome book it could be a nice compilation of "The Way to Appetite" or "The Early Days" with video and audio clips from his master videos, soundboards etc.
unless there would be high quality new transfers from the original master AFD tracks and released as 24bit/96khz or so......i think AFD itself seriously doesnt need any re-mastering, its awesome as it is, just get the MFSL or the 1st japanese pressings and thats the best sound. add that re-masters are often not done properly qualitywise ("loudness war").
a really nice way would be to let the fans decide something like that, f.e. what shows, appearances, demos would be on a proper list to release - i think U2 did that with some older live show or so? but as it looks like Axl hardly will ever be up for dealing with the AFD/UYI line-ups again....its very unlikely to see something like this officially released from that era ever. those fans had to experience this the hard way and will have to suffer on. keep in mind they have recorded every UYI show as Proshot and soundboard. the vaults must be huge, just to see some list of it (exspec. the AFD days) would be awesome!!

[raindogs70]

I wish they would release a super deluxe of Chinese Democracy. The way it was meant to sound (on vinyl) and all the proper approved artwork with bonus stuff.





/jarmo

Including a re-recorded version of AFD. Why you ask? Well for one they can lend the songs out and the money will be invested in the band and their future projects and not given to former members that chose to quit. Didn't Axl want to supply a re-recorded Jungle for blackhawk Down?

Totally agree with Jarmo, but not sure what you are getting at Volcano?
I could be wrong in my recollection of this, but the reason the rerecorded version of the song wasn't included in Black Hawk Down is because the 'others' blocked its use. They still have some control over the catalog for which they have writing credits. So if they chose they could block a rerecorded version of the entire album from being released (again my interpretation which could be wrong).
But if they did choose to agree to it, they would collect the royalties from it. Part of the publishing rights.

Didn't that turn into the reason why Axl and Duff sued Axl? They knew that Axl licensing re-recorded versions of GNR songs meant he owned the masters and would be getting a huge chunk of the money. It was also because they weren't involved in making the decision as a collective on where the songs could be used.

Axl re-recorded most of AFD for this reason. I have no idea what happens in the case of cover songs, I think the band is powerless on that one. They just go to Universal and the songwriter to get the approval. If Universal feels like using Knocking on Heavens Door, Live and Let Die, or anything off of The Spaghetti Incident, GNR can't do anything about it.

Post-"Wrestler", a lot more GNR songs have shown up in movies.

You say Chinese Democracy reissue on vinyl, I say vinyl and Blu Ray, but that sucker in HD and surround and a "making of" documentary, and a 1 hour concert of all the songs played live back to back. It's more for collectors but could be something sold just at the shows as a "tour edition" and later on, exclusively through the website. Then you would see prices on Amazon going for it really high, because those are copies people bought and reselling.

The only reason to remaster is because the band doesn't like how some of it sounds. When CDs first came out, a lot of master tapes were lost or misplaced. Over time, they've found them and it's just a small handful of bands where it made any real difference. I think the mono reissues for some bands were way long overdue though.

Most "remasters" have been gimmicks to get fans to buy it over again...before the internet, they could get away with it. Now, people will wait to see if it's worth buying.   

They might have the "if it ain't broke" attitude about it. It wasn't like Exile on Main St, where there was a deadline and the producer was as stoned as Keith Richards, and Jagger had to handle putting it together. He did little to the reissue, but anyone who had the Virgin reissue from '94, he improved 3 or 4 songs, and there's still some better sounding songs on the 94 version.

Blu Ray has slowly been creeping into the audiophile world, to me, it would make sense to do a remaster that'll wind up on that format, and there's plenty of room for videos, live performances, documentaries, digital copies, etc.

Viacom owns the Ritz footage. You can request VH1 Classic to reair it, or Palladia. It would have to be a company like Rhino or Eagle Rock that has deals with the big companies to release it on DVD. The unedited copy that made the bootleg rounds, would love to know how that got out there, but as it was shot on videotape, it's just like the master tapes, if they weren't protected properly, who knows what condition they're in. Any footage shot on film prob. looks great, and I'm sure there's people sitting on videotapes at home that haven't gotten around to transferring it to You Tube.

[Jester]

I wish they would release a super deluxe of Chinese Democracy. The way it was meant to sound (on vinyl) and all the proper approved artwork with bonus stuff.





/jarmo

Coming into a thread titled "AFD 25th Anniversary topic and possible re-release?",  then not even referencing the old album, but instead promoting your own agenda and attempting to divert the discussion into one about Chi Dem, and/or vinyl quality. Nothing to do with anything mentioned in the OP.   Is this not the sort of behavior you condemn when applied vice versa?, what makes this so special, your off topic rambling valid here?, apart from your status as judge and jury, when you tolerate nil of it in reverse.  And I wondered why people said the things they do about you Jarmo!  Great example of a double standard at work,  do as I say, not as I do! 

On topic, a re-release with promo packaging etc would be very cool, though they could never match the extravagance of U2's output, and although no re-recording could ever be a good thing,  remastering, and releasing it with the intended artwork would at least be a good first step, maybe then some of the fans that have jumped on board for and since ChiDem, would gain a bit more understanding of where this band came from to begin with...

[jarmo]

The AFD 25th anniversary could be celebrated with re-releasing Chinese Democracy properly.
Because it never was!


And after that, if there's interest, go back and look at the older catalog.


Happy now?



/jarmo

[raindogs70]

The AFD 25th anniversary could be celebrated with re-releasing Chinese Democracy properly.
Because it never was!


And after that, if there's interest, go back and look at the older catalog.


Happy now?



/jarmo

The demand for a Chinese Democracy reissue or Deluxe edition would have to be in countries where the album sold well and where they pack arenas (you prob. have a good idea which countries), and the only way to get it in the US would be through the GNR website.

[One.In.A.Million]

I would love the Nu GN'Rs' version of Appetite For Destruction to be released as a special 25th year anniversary presentation. I think it would be a worlds first, and would definitely be all over the news worldwide.

It won't take nothing away from the original, but would add to it I feel. And how cool would it to be to hear songs such as WTTJ, SCOM, PC, RQ all reworked and totally re-recorded by the Nu GN'R of 2001.

I think it would be brilliant. 

[Siamese Democracy]

I don't trust the record label wants to give Chinese Democracy the issue it deserves.  There probably is more likliehood of an AFD release.  Recall the Greatest Hits fiasco where Axl didn't want it released yet the out it out anyway and the lineup of songs was not ideal.