DUFF MCKAGAN Says AXL ROSE Has Come Up With 'Some Magnificent Stuff' For New GUN

[sky dog]

The Chinese guys had multiple side projects too....no changes on any front in my opinion. Just another group of musicians with the same issues to deal with. 

[Executioner]

If any of the mega bands like Metallica,U2 or the Foo fighters say they are working on a new album you know they are gonna deliver with GnR they've been saying it for nearly a decade yet nothing has happened, I'll only believe it when Axl says it what Duff and Slash have said is very vague and doesn't indicate they are committed to a timeline or that they are in the process of doing it both are on the road and promoting their own music for much of this year so I won't hold my breath.

[Factory Girl]

Do we have the audio of his interview?

[D-GenerationX]

If any of the mega bands like Metallica,U2 or the Foo fighters say they are working on a new album you know they are gonna deliver with GnR they've been saying it for nearly a decade yet nothing has happened, I'll only believe it when Axl says it what Duff and Slash have said is very vague and doesn't indicate they are committed to a timeline or that they are in the process of doing it both are on the road and promoting their own music for much of this year so I won't hold my breath.

Yeah, hard to argue any of this.

Thing is, Slash and Duff will at least try to kick him in the ass.  Will it work?  Who knows?

The double edged sword being the sooner they both come to the conclusion, "yep, same old Axl", they will just go back to their other stuff.  They have too much history knowing change will not be right around the corner.

[COMAMOTIVE]

Not sure if anyone saw it but there was something floating around about Niven saying he talked to Slash who said something like Axl's digging up old CD tunes etc. to work on for new album. No idea if it was a BS story or not.
Either way - I think the point made above about these two knowing exactly what has happened in past - will indeed put the pressure on to collaborate.
So if there's "ideas" from CD that they can mold and transform into something new with Slash / Duff and this band..I'm all for it - because that is not much different than happens with a lot of other bands.

[D-GenerationX]

Agreed. 

I think the best case scenario is that Axl takes the handful of songs he feels the strongest about, presents them to Slash and Duff, and they go from there.

You could really argue that's what they did with 'Better'.  Took a CD era song and put their stamp on how it was presented.

[PermissionToLand]

Agreed. 

I think the best case scenario is that Axl takes the handful of songs he feels the strongest about, presents them to Slash and Duff, and they go from there.

You could really argue that's what they did with 'Better'.  Took a CD era song and put their stamp on how it was presented.

Even then, would Axl's best tracks amount to a full album? Probably not, so there would still be room for new material from Slash/Duff.

[pilferk]

Agreed. 

I think the best case scenario is that Axl takes the handful of songs he feels the strongest about, presents them to Slash and Duff, and they go from there.

You could really argue that's what they did with 'Better'.  Took a CD era song and put their stamp on how it was presented.

Even then, would Axl's best tracks amount to a full album? Probably not, so there would still be room for new material from Slash/Duff.

I mean, we saw this with Illusions, no? And they've all talked about it in interviews post break up.

They worked on some slash songs, some duff songs, some Izzy songs, and some Axl songs.  They all brought stuff to the table that the others then added their input and put their stamp on.

That's the way I would expect this to work, at least.  With AFD, it was different.  These guys were, by necessity (because they were broke), together almost 24x7. I don't think there can be any realistic expectation that THAT kind of organic collaboration is going to happen again, short of someone offering them 20 mill a piece for "Guns n Roses Big Brother".

[D-GenerationX]

Agreed. 

I think the best case scenario is that Axl takes the handful of songs he feels the strongest about, presents them to Slash and Duff, and they go from there.

You could really argue that's what they did with 'Better'.  Took a CD era song and put their stamp on how it was presented.

Even then, would Axl's best tracks amount to a full album? Probably not, so there would still be room for new material from Slash/Duff.

I think that's the right read.

And it might be the best of all worlds, really.  We all debate where Axl's head is with his Magical Mystery Vault.  But I think we can all agree he doesn't want to be told, "hey, fuck all that shit".

So the best course of action might well be a hybrid effort where some of the songs are CD holdovers, and some are brand new stuff by the actual current band.  Make everyone feel they were involved, creatively.

[D-GenerationX]

I mean, we saw this with Illusions, no? And they've all talked about it in interviews post break up.

They worked on some slash songs, some duff songs, some Izzy songs, and some Axl songs.  They all brought stuff to the table that the others then added their input and put their stamp on.

That's the way I would expect this to work, at least.  With AFD, it was different.  These guys were, by necessity (because they were broke), together almost 24x7. I don't think there can be any realistic expectation that THAT kind of organic collaboration is going to happen again, short of someone offering them 20 mill a piece for "Guns n Roses Big Brother".

Yep.

I think people tend to have this idealized version of things like Lennon & McCartney sitting at the piano hammering it out.

But as you correctly point out, once you hit the big time, you spend a lot more time apart.  Most of your stuff is going to be stuff you all bring to the others, and go from there.  Not a song put together in one night on the back of a pizza box.  Those days are kind of over.

[COMAMOTIVE]

Either way, it will be a fascinating listen.
& add in that they are quite aware of the expectations and interest in a new album with them together again.

[pilferk]

Yep.

I think people tend to have this idealized version of things like Lennon & McCartney sitting at the piano hammering it out.

But as you correctly point out, once you hit the big time, you spend a lot more time apart.  Most of your stuff is going to be stuff you all bring to the others, and go from there.  Not a song put together in one night on the back of a pizza box.  Those days are kind of over.

Exactly.

First, and foremost, 'cause they're not all sharing the same pizza because it's all they can afford.

Second, because technology doesn't necessitate it anymore.  Back in the 80's, the only way to hear Slash play his part of the song was to sit down with Slash and listen to him play it.  Nobody was going to invest in an expensive recording session to get something of quality just to throw ideas back and forth. I mean demos, sure.  But those are for mostly realized concepts...not for fiddling and diddling with melodys, solos, and the like.  Now you can have the functions of a full recording studio for a couple hundred dollars that will get you album quality output (at least).....and I'm sure they all have even better than that.

They can throw ideas back and forth over the internet and EASILY collaborate that way, while being hundreds or thousands of miles apart.  They could create a private soundcloud and use that to to collaborate.  Hell, they could have their own private discord server which would let them collaborate AND post funny memes AND laugh at this very post on HTGTH.  There's so many different ways to exchange music back and forth....and talk about whats in that music....they don't NEED to be in the same room.

You can decry the loss of that organic "Have to be in the room" mechanism.  But thats the way most ESTABLISHED bands work, now (oh, and the label manufactured ones), it seems.  The days of Lennon and McCartney jamming on a piano to work out the kinks of a song are over, for good or ill, as you rightly point out.  It is now the day where Lennon is playing his piece on a synth hooked up to his laptop, while Yoko yodels along doing impressionist dances to inspire him (all over skype, of course). Paul is working on lyrics with his Ipad, while watching a Lakers game on his phone, and playing "Words with Friends" with Linda (who doesn't love beating an Ex at word games?).

[Dr. Blutarsky]

This is the way music is created now but  something is lost when it is created in that way. It sounds too 'perfect'

You can tell when something is recorded with all the members in the studio.  I very much miss that.

[pilferk]

This is the way music is created now but  something is lost when it is created in that way. It sounds too 'perfect'

You can tell when something is recorded with all the members in the studio.  I very much miss that.

I mean, sure.

And I miss the warm sound of vinyl.

But....I've gotten to the point where (and I'm with you on this) it feels like I'm the old man, standing on my lawn, shaking my fist at the sun and yelling at it that it's too bright.

It is what it is.  Does the music sound different? Yes.  But it's not BAD necessarily.  Just different.

I prefer the "old" way, too.  But I suspect there is a bit of "familiarity preference" built into that.  I like the music that sounds like the music I grew up with.  My parents (and likely their parents) feel/felt the same way.

My dad, when he was alive, used to listen to old Arlo Guthrie albums that sounded like they were recorded underwater while simultaneously being sandblasted.  He used to say the same thing about "my" music that you just said: It sounded too perfect.

We all become our parents, I guess, when it comes to musical tastes.

[Executioner]

As far as I can remember Axl didn't want to release CD he sat on it for over a decade, with Geffen putting so many millions into it he had no choice as it was taken  out of his hands ,the lack of promotion by the band was telling no press ,TV interviews or videos and a quick follow up while promised by the band never happened ,even the Greatest hits they tried to block ,I just
 don't get it they have a huge fan base why not give em what they want.

[PermissionToLand]

Agreed. 

I think the best case scenario is that Axl takes the handful of songs he feels the strongest about, presents them to Slash and Duff, and they go from there.

You could really argue that's what they did with 'Better'.  Took a CD era song and put their stamp on how it was presented.

Even then, would Axl's best tracks amount to a full album? Probably not, so there would still be room for new material from Slash/Duff.

I mean, we saw this with Illusions, no? And they've all talked about it in interviews post break up.

They worked on some slash songs, some duff songs, some Izzy songs, and some Axl songs.  They all brought stuff to the table that the others then added their input and put their stamp on.

That's the way I would expect this to work, at least.  With AFD, it was different.  These guys were, by necessity (because they were broke), together almost 24x7. I don't think there can be any realistic expectation that THAT kind of organic collaboration is going to happen again, short of someone offering them 20 mill a piece for "Guns n Roses Big Brother".

I don't think we can even say if the different approaches really produce a different result. I mean, how is your contribution to an idea going to be different whether you hear the idea in person or over the web? And the idea has to come from one person initially. It's not like for AFD they were able to mind-meld and come up with ideas as a single entity. Slash wrote the riff for Rocket Queen when he was in a previous band with Steven and Duff. Road Crew, was it? And Anything Goes was from Hollywood Rose. By the standards of the people complaining about using old material, even AFD was an album of "re-heated leftovers".

Take Sweet Child. Slash had the intro riff and Izzy put some chords behind it. Would Izzy have written different chords if he heard that riff through an mp3 file? Of course not.

And then let's take Estranged, from the album where they allegedly did not really collaborate. Well, Axl said himself that Slash's leads really added a meaningful amount to it. Even though the bulk of it was written by Axl, Slash's contributions radically shaped it. If that is what we can expect from "re-heated CD leftovers", bring it the fuck on!

This is the way music is created now but  something is lost when it is created in that way. It sounds too 'perfect'

You can tell when something is recorded with all the members in the studio.  I very much miss that.

You can tell? Tell me more about this magical power that is certainly not confirmation bias!

[COMAMOTIVE]

Believe it's called having a musical ear

[PermissionToLand]

Believe it's called having a musical ear

I'm a musician who learned everything I know by ear. You cannot determine how a song was written by just by listening to it, that is utterly asinine, and it shouldn't take any knowledge of music to figure that out...

[pilferk]

Agreed. 

I think the best case scenario is that Axl takes the handful of songs he feels the strongest about, presents them to Slash and Duff, and they go from there.

You could really argue that's what they did with 'Better'.  Took a CD era song and put their stamp on how it was presented.

Even then, would Axl's best tracks amount to a full album? Probably not, so there would still be room for new material from Slash/Duff.

I mean, we saw this with Illusions, no? And they've all talked about it in interviews post break up.

They worked on some slash songs, some duff songs, some Izzy songs, and some Axl songs.  They all brought stuff to the table that the others then added their input and put their stamp on.

That's the way I would expect this to work, at least.  With AFD, it was different.  These guys were, by necessity (because they were broke), together almost 24x7. I don't think there can be any realistic expectation that THAT kind of organic collaboration is going to happen again, short of someone offering them 20 mill a piece for "Guns n Roses Big Brother".

I don't think we can even say if the different approaches really produce a different result. I mean, how is your contribution to an idea going to be different whether you hear the idea in person or over the web? And the idea has to come from one person initially. It's not like for AFD they were able to mind-meld and come up with ideas as a single entity. Slash wrote the riff for Rocket Queen when he was in a previous band with Steven and Duff. Road Crew, was it? And Anything Goes was from Hollywood Rose. By the standards of the people complaining about using old material, even AFD was an album of "re-heated leftovers".

Take Sweet Child. Slash had the intro riff and Izzy put some chords behind it. Would Izzy have written different chords if he heard that riff through an mp3 file? Of course not.

And then let's take Estranged, from the album where they allegedly did not really collaborate. Well, Axl said himself that Slash's leads really added a meaningful amount to it. Even though the bulk of it was written by Axl, Slash's contributions radically shaped it. If that is what we can expect from "re-heated CD leftovers", bring it the fuck on!

This is the way music is created now but  something is lost when it is created in that way. It sounds too 'perfect'

You can tell when something is recorded with all the members in the studio.  I very much miss that.

You can tell? Tell me more about this magical power that is certainly not confirmation bias!

I will 100% acknowledge, for me, it could be confirmation bias.

But my evidence that i prefer the old method is.....theres not much in todays music I love. Sure, there are occasional earwigs, but in terms of bands? It all sounds so commercial and  mechanical and just....idk...souless?

A big part of that, i am sure, is the industry and the way its evolved into prefab label bands, many of whom dont write their own stuff at all.

But i think part of it is...getting a group of people in the same room, at the same time, and creating together is sort of magical. There is something to be said for that immediate feedback, and riffing off one another, that yields different results. Other peoples work influences yours, and expands your creative space. It pushes you to be better, imho, but it also can push you outside your comfort zone and to try things you might not. There is something about the immediacy and spontenaity of that creative moment that can yield inspiration, and special results.....provided they are all actually collaborating toward the same goal.

So I do mourn the loss of that creative avenue.

Can I hear the difference, for sure, every time? Probably not.  Because I'm not sure how you hear "what would this song have sounded like if it had been written differently that it was".

To be clear: I am not saying your points are wrong, or bad..they are good ones. Estranged is a great example: you can certainly wrote good songs "remotely". And i expect any new gnr material to be good, and most of it to be written "remotely". Because thats the way things work now.

I'm just doing a little more standing on my lawn and shaking my fist at the sun.

[COMAMOTIVE]

Believe it's called having a musical ear

I'm a musician who learned everything I know by ear. You cannot determine how a song was written by just by listening to it, that is utterly asinine, and it shouldn't take any knowledge of music to figure that out...

It seemed he was referring to sound of the recording and the mix - perhaps that was not the case