Does anyone else wish CD had been more experimental?

[CherryGarcia]

Oh My God, Rhiad, Shackler's and to a lesser extent Better are my favorite post '96 GN'R tracks. Silkworms I feel gets so much undeserved hate, it's a really rocking tune. The direction Axl was taking the band in the late 90s/early 00s was really cool, very punky yet very industrial as well but done in a unique "Axl" kind of style. Does anyone wish we'd gotten either a more experimental CD - more songs like these and veering away from the "GN'R sound", and more aggressive songs along these lines? Axl's is at his best musically, at least for me, when he's angry.

[Spirit]

Is this an "either or" question? Because I would gladly have wanted to hear more industrial type songs in addition to what ended up on Chinese Democracy.

[CherryGarcia]

Is this an "either or" question? Because I would gladly have wanted to hear more industrial type songs in addition to what ended up on Chinese Democracy.

In an ideal world, CD would've been released as a double album, CD I being traditional GN'R sounding songs, and the second half being utterly wild and totally experimental stuff. 30 songs like the UYIs, no covers. I would've loved to have heard the instrumental ambient stuff Axl's said he's done like "Daddy, can the Devil do Mommy and Me?"

[COMAMOTIVE]

Nope. Was fine with the amount of experimental sounding stuff on it.
One of the things I've always liked about this album was that it contained some different ideas and sounds while, for the most part, remained reminiscent
of stuff off of the Illusion records.

[CherryGarcia]

Nope. Was fine with the amount of experimental sounding stuff on it.
One of the things I've always liked about this album was that it contained some different ideas and sounds while, for the most part, remained reminiscent
of stuff off of the Illusion records.

I disagree. I wanted to see what the guys Axl brought on board could really do when let run wild with tech. By their backgrounds alone, I really doubt Robin, Buckethead or Josh Freese, if left to just come up with material without any rubric, would have come up with anything resembling traditional UYI sounding stuff. Buckethead's solo work is awesome, the Reed/Tobias team came up with some awesome stuff - I would have loved to have seen that core lineup (Tobias/Reed/Finck/Bucket) really go wild. Part of the big thing in the Axl/Slash breakup was Axl's desire to forward the sound. Oh My God and Silkworms are representations of that. The rest of the album sans the tracks I mentioned is rather conservative.

[Wooody]

Was silkworms really a song ?

I don't like whatever it is.

Rhiad I adore. Loved the live song I have, and I love how it ended up on the album.

[norway]

Expected it to not lean so much to classic rock that it did and some of the rewrites/remakes of songs (compared to live/leaks) was underwhelming, but ok.

[ice cream sand pig]

maybe well see a more expiremental territory in cd 2. in a way i thought that may have been kind of the plan, to depart further and further away from the old style as axls vision progressed.

Was silkworms really a song ?

I don't like whatever it is.

Rhiad I adore. Loved the live song I have, and I love how it ended up on the album.

rhiad is awesome. definitely one of my favorites. the chorus is just unreal.

oh my god was amazing. some of the best lyrics in a guns song.

[D-GenerationX]

Not really, no.

I didn't find what we got all that experimental, to be honest.  Didn't sound much like classic Guns N' Roses, but it wasn't like I was blown away about how off the beaten path it was.

[Wooody]

I think I read either an interview of Axl, or maybe just something someone said? but anyway, it was said that the band would work on a lot of songs take them to the label and the label many times said that the songs were not that good, to keep working on it and make more.. is there any truth to this ? it was a long time ago..

The reason I ask its because I think it was around the time they were making those ''experimental songs'' and everything was supposed to be ''industrial''

at the time it suprised me because I didnt think Axl would even ask for anyone elses advice?

I always thought making music while waiting for someone else's approval was  counterproductive.

[norway]

I think I read either an interview of Axl, or maybe just something someone said? but anyway, it was said that the band would work on a lot of songs take them to the label and the label many times said that the songs were not that good, to keep working on it and make more.. is there any truth to this ? it was a long time ago..

yeah, the album was done but returned.

[D-GenerationX]

There were a few stories like that.

The album was returned at least once.

One of the producers they brought in (think it was Roy Thomas Baker, but not 100% sure) said he only had 3 good songs out of however many were done at the time.

[EmilyGNR]

There were a few stories like that.

The album was returned at least once.

One of the producers they brought in (think it was Roy Thomas Baker, but not 100% sure) said he only had 3 good songs out of however many were done at the time.

Nope wrong again
It was Bob Ezrin that told him he only had 3 good songs.

http://www.gnrevolution.com/viewtopic.php?pid=55601#p55601

[D-GenerationX]

There were a few stories like that.

The album was returned at least once.

One of the producers they brought in (think it was Roy Thomas Baker, but not 100% sure) said he only had 3 good songs out of however many were done at the time.

Nope wrong again
It was Bob Ezrin that told him he only had 3 good songs.

http://www.gnrevolution.com/viewtopic.php?pid=55601#p55601

TOTAL GAME CHANGER

[EmilyGNR]

I think I read either an interview of Axl, or maybe just something someone said? but anyway, it was said that the band would work on a lot of songs take them to the label and the label many times said that the songs were not that good, to keep working on it and make more.. is there any truth to this ? it was a long time ago..

The reason I ask its because I think it was around the time they were making those ''experimental songs'' and everything was supposed to be ''industrial''

at the time it suprised me because I didnt think Axl would even ask for anyone elses advice?

I always thought making music while waiting for someone else's approval was  counterproductive.

according to GNR bassist Tommy Stinson, the bulk of the blame for the drawn-out process really falls on the band?s label for failing to understand what the musicians needed.

In a recent interview, Stinson claims singer and bandleader Axl Rose ?got zero f?ing help from anyone outside the band.? Yet Stinson adds that the record company ? Interscope Records, which controls the Geffen imprint that released ?Democracy? in 2008  ? did offer support: a revolving door of A&R representatives along with different producers, such as Roy Thomas Baker.


Stinson also said-

"At first we were in there a lot. We were working on the writing aspect of it, but it just kept going on. We had Jimmy Iovine intervening in a not-so-productive way, and we had other guys coming and going with nutty ideas. My summation of the whole thing is that Interscope, when they took over Geffen, really led Axl to believe that Jimmy Iovine would be involved, and would help get this record done and make it happen. But basically what he did was let it completely fall apart. Then he had this great idea to bring in [producer] Roy Thomas Baker to make it sound better. All he did was re-record everything three or four different times, trying to make it sound like something it didn't need to sound like, and spend $10 million in the process. My two cents on the whole thing is that I really think Jimmy Iovine f*cked the whole thing up."  "It was a bummer. Most of the songs that are on the record now were done 10 f*cking years ago. But all the talking heads in the mix were saying, Make 'em sound better! Make 'em sound better!' So we kept redoing this and that. And it ended up coming back down to the same f*cking songs that they were 10 years ago, except that now they were a super-dense mishmash of a bunch of instrumentation."

[Wooody]

that is so odd, who's to say the execs didnt return those songs because of the same ol' complaint that i"t doesnt sound like GUNS N ROSES?"

I can imagine Axl all exited with a bunch of songs like Oh my god, only to give an album worth of songs to people expecting You Could Be Mine?

I thought artists had more freedom than that, that they actually released whatever they wanted. In truth, the label is responsible for US not getting much music.
WHo's to say we wouldn't have liked those songs? only to be denier by a bunch of fatass execs wanting money.

And maybe its the same reason why CD at times sounds a bit schizophrenic, trying to be artistic enough to please your own ambitions while trying to sound like You could be mine to please the label.

I remember when RON came in to add licks, he said in an interview that he was asked to record those licks to make the songs sound more like Old Guns N Roses.

Its fucked up !

[EmilyGNR]

There were a few stories like that.

The album was returned at least once.

One of the producers they brought in (think it was Roy Thomas Baker, but not 100% sure) said he only had 3 good songs out of however many were done at the time.

Nope wrong again
It was Bob Ezrin that told him he only had 3 good songs.

http://www.gnrevolution.com/viewtopic.php?pid=55601#p55601

TOTAL GAME CHANGER

Using bold letters won't change the fact that you were wrong.

Also won't change the fact that Fernando said you were wrong with most things you post.

[Wooody]

There were a few stories like that.

The album was returned at least once.

One of the producers they brought in (think it was Roy Thomas Baker, but not 100% sure) said he only had 3 good songs out of however many were done at the time.

Nope wrong again
It was Bob Ezrin that told him he only had 3 good songs.

http://www.gnrevolution.com/viewtopic.php?pid=55601#p55601

TOTAL GAME CHANGER

Using bold letters won't change the fact that you were wrong.

Also won't change the fact that Fernando said you were wrong with most things you post.

It depends on your point of view of Wrong.

The things he said are actually a mix of Right things.
Plus, he admitted he was not 100% sure.

[DeN]

if I remember correctly Axl said he didn't want to loose the old fans with a too-much-modern-sounding-album but he had some other tracks way more experimental

[Wooody]

  "It was a bummer. Most of the songs that are on the record now were done 10 f*cking years ago. But all the talking heads in the mix were saying, Make 'em sound better! Make 'em sound better!' So we kept redoing this and that. And it ended up coming back down to the same f*cking songs that they were 10 years ago, except that now they were a super-dense mishmash of a bunch of instrumentation."

So, even they realize it.  
Its over then. We won't ever get an honest album from Axl is he is a prisoner of the label.