Guest Felonies! Report post Posted December 5, 2006 The fact that the Greatest Hits album sold well means virtually nothing for the well-being of Chinese Democracy, in my opinion. It was GnR's first release in years and there was no suitable compilation of their hits released before Greatest Hits landed on the shelves. The only similarity between the albums is that they were both made by Guns 'n Roses and, ultimately, you can't even say that, since the current GnR lineup consists of Axl Fucking Rose, Shaquille O'Neal, and that scruffy dude off the cover of Aqualung. Correlation is not necessarily causation. Don't forget Brian May, Tommy Stinson, Buckethead, Bumblefoot, Brambletoes, Brindleribs, and Rick Rubin. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Man in Blak 0 Report post Posted December 5, 2006 No, dude, Buckethead left in '04. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
converge241 0 Report post Posted December 7, 2006 Math portion of TSM SAT's 1. Please list highest number to lowest: - The number of years waiting for Chinese Democracy - The number of band members who have been in Guns N Roses since the Illusion release(s) - The number of premature "Hey democracy is REALLY coming out this year..no seriously!" stories - Eventual Democracy sales figures divided by 100,000 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
UZI Suicide 0 Report post Posted December 15, 2006 Fuck, nothing is ever easy with GNR, but a "tentative" release date has been set and GnR's jackass manager Merck Mercuriadis seems to have been fired. Thursday, December 14th 2006 An open letter to our fans: Guns N’ Roses regrets to announce that the following concert tour dates have been cancelled: January 10th Sacramento January 11th Bakersfield January 13th Reno January 16th San Diego Due to the schedule of these particular shows valuable time needed by the band and record company for the proper setup and release of the album Chinese Democracy would be lost. Rather than delay the album yet again all involved have decided to remove these shows from GNR’s schedule. We sincerely hope our fans understand and we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused anyone. Tickets may be refunded at local point of purchase. To say the making of this album has been an unbearably long and incomprehensible journey would be an understatement. Overcoming the endless and seemingly insanity of the obstacles faced by all involved, not withstanding the emotional challenges endured by everyone: the fans, the band, our road crew and business team has at many times seemed for all like a bad dream where one wakes up only to find they are still in the nightmare and unfortunately this time it has been played out for over a decade in real life. The true ongoing behind-the-scenes triumphs and casualties are much more complicated than any negative speculation that media or otherwise has managed to hit upon. For much of the time some form or another of legalities have been taking place that really the best way to deal with publicly was to keep our mouths shut in an attempt to ensure the best outcome and especially one that wouldn’t jeopardize the band or the album. One can easily point to how others have done things or how they themselves feel that they would were they in the same situations but without full knowledge of the various dynamics and circumstances involved, again these types of comments or commentary are uninformed, outside, generally useless and often hindering speculation. When I agreed to do our recent North American tour I agreed with the understanding that I and my manager Merck Mercuriadis were in full agreement as to our strategy, touring plans and most importantly that any and all things needed to release the album at the latest by Dec. 26th were to be in place. Unfortunately this turned out not to be the case and not only do I regret to say that again the album will not be released by the end of the year but that though many things went extremely well and were very exciting there were in our opinion unnecessary and avoidable complications on our tour having to do with the tour routing, scheduling and album and video plans that played hell on all involved especially our crew. This was compounded by an overall sense of a lack of respect by management for the band and crew and each individual’s particular expertise that has resulted unfortunately in the end of both Guns and my relationship in having a management or sense of band involvement with Merck Mercuriadis. In regard to a release date for the album itself certain minor and by that I do mean minor things and or additions as well as contract negotiations need to be completed and barring any unforeseen complications these things have now been adequately scheduled. Both the band and I along with our record company feel that this record deserves the proper setup and promotion not the “13 Tuesdays left” and “it may just appear in your record store” approach offered by management. We believe this strategy may have been used in order for management to sell this latest tour to the various promoters. We feel that if this was so, this was obviously unfair to them. The stress of dealing with this situation has been considerable for everyone as well as to the band themselves as a whole but that this was more importantly in our opinion something utterly insane to do to our fans. Our apologies and please know we have been laboring over this with management for the entire North American tour. It takes approximately 8 weeks for an album to hit the shelves once it has been turned in to the record company. For whatever reasons it appears it may have been mistakenly inferred by management that this could be condensed to three. That being said this is not a promise, a lie or a guarantee but we do wish to announce a tentative release date of March 6th. This is the first time we have done this publicly for this album. Any and all other dates have been made up by others for their own reasons. We would like to assure the fans that though tentative everything in our power will be done to meet this date. Once it is finalized and official you will be notified. If we are delayed for unseen reasons you will also be notified as soon as possible in regard to a new date and the album will be released as shortly thereafter as is possible. We thank you for your patience. In the end it’s just an album and one that I, the band, our record company and all involved believe and feel is a true Guns N’ Roses album. Ultimately the public will decide and regardless of the outcome our hearts, lives and our passion has been put into this project every step of the way. If for no other reason we feel those elements alone merit your consideration. We do hope you can hold on just a bit longer and if not we hope you would please feel free to take a break and we’ll be more than glad (if you so choose) to see you again later. Once again, our sincere apologies and our deepest thanks, Guns N’ Roses would also like to thank all the fans who attended the 70 concerts in 21 different countries for their support in 2006. All the best to each and every one of you over this holiday season, thank-you and God bless. Sincerely, Axl Rose Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BUTT 0 Report post Posted March 30, 2007 The studio version of "Madagascar" has leaked. And it's kind of odd. http://chinesedemocracy.com/index.php/topic,25575.0.html I'll just link to that thread since I suspect the Megaupload link will be gone soon enough. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BUTT 0 Report post Posted March 30, 2007 Actually, it's beyond odd. It has always been a fairly straightforward song in concert and now there are like 10 different vocal tracks. That kind of vocal overproduction didn't help the Use Your Illusions and it isn't helping now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Black Lushus 0 Report post Posted March 30, 2007 ehhhhhhh I really don't think I like it, man! Color me disappointed. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Youth N Asia 0 Report post Posted March 30, 2007 I think "overproduced" is an understatement... Yeah, didn't love it myself. Wouldn't be shocked to see this released in 2009-2010 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
UZI Suicide 0 Report post Posted March 30, 2007 It's eh. Pretty much what I thought it would be. I was expecting Madagascar to be overproduced out the ass. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Giuseppe Zangara 0 Report post Posted March 30, 2007 Does Sensei John Kreese still think this album will turn a profit? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BUTT 0 Report post Posted March 30, 2007 If Axl does some serious Moby-style licensing out to commercials, movies, video games and the like, it could. If he doesn't, I doubt it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Giuseppe Zangara 0 Report post Posted March 30, 2007 Assuming ad companies would care enough to use his music for ads to begin with. They won't. I believe I've said this before, but if Axl had any sense in his head (which, obviously, he doesn't), he'd release Chinese Democracy as is and quickly record a follow-up without any of the bullshit or expectations of the previous album. Get CD out of the way and show them that you can still bring it. Unfortunately, I believe Axl has long since passed any capacity to "bring it," so he'll keep delaying the release of Chinese Democracy long past relevance—which he's presently stretched thin outside of the diehard—or until his death, which, let's be honest, is more likely to happen rather than a proper album release. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Annabelle 0 Report post Posted March 30, 2007 If Axl does some serious Moby-style licensing out to commercials, movies, video games and the like, it could. If he doesn't, I doubt it. nope. not even then. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BUTT 0 Report post Posted March 30, 2007 Well, not that this really means anything, but Axl has always said that the Chinese Democracy sessions will yield two albums (well, he used to say three, but now he says two) so that the follow-up will be released a relatively short time after CD. P.S. It appears that the link is gone so y'all can't hear the song. I'm sure if you look hard enough you can find it though. I feel that eventually, despite initial reservations, I will come to love this track not in spite of but because of its overproduced nature. There's countless vocal tracks, drum loops, synth horns and strings, superfluous guitar harmonies....oh man this rules. Oh who the fuck am I kidding. I am geeking out over a studio demo of a song that I first heard six fuckin' years ago. I am such a tard. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
UZI Suicide 0 Report post Posted March 30, 2007 http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?acti...D38E21217D73C6F Getting companies to back the album won't be a problem, they already have/had a deal set up with Harley Davidson for a 30 second commercial using "Better". Still, considering how much was spent making the album, turning a profit would be a LONG shot. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Vitamin X Report post Posted March 30, 2007 Rose's voice sounds like shit, and it doesn't mix well with this horrible fucking Weather Channel Local Forecast music. Terrible. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BUTT 0 Report post Posted March 30, 2007 Weather channel? Come on, it's a French horn. I admit, it did sound kind if weird to me when I first heard it, which, as noted earlier, was almost six years ago, but it grew on me quick. But you are right about his voice sounding terrible, which is strange because when I saw him live last May he sounded great singing it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Giuseppe Zangara 0 Report post Posted March 30, 2007 The drum machine on the verses was a little cheesy and I hated the samples that started around the three minute mark. And I don't think Vitamin X has ever actually heard what kind of music is played during the Your Local Forecast breaks on the Weather Channel. As for Rose's voice, yeah. He's getting into Tom Waits-territory there, but Waits can actually sing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Giuseppe Zangara 0 Report post Posted March 30, 2007 Basically, I'm really fascinated with the Chinese Democracy saga and hope some high quality rock writer (what few that exist) eventually writes a book on the whole mess, or at least puts together an oral history regarding it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
snuffbox 0 Report post Posted March 30, 2007 Instead we'll get something from Rolling Stone published with a hardcover. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Giuseppe Zangara 0 Report post Posted March 31, 2007 Chuck Klosterman will be brought in to ruin everything in the way that only he can. Seriously, it should be an oral history. Get Legs McNeil to put it together. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BUTT 0 Report post Posted March 31, 2007 Well here is an article from the NY Times on it from two years ago. I remember there was a thread about it on here when it came out, so you may have already seen it: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/06/arts/mus...;pagewanted=all Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BUTT 0 Report post Posted March 31, 2007 By the way, not that this will really change many people's feelings on the song, but for those who want to hear a version of "Madagascar" that isn't ravaged by overproduction: http://youtube.com/watch?v=oJ-uwrmHx8o Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
UZI Suicide 0 Report post Posted March 31, 2007 Well here is an article from the NY Times on it from two years ago. I remember there was a thread about it on here when it came out, so you may have already seen it: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/06/arts/mus...;pagewanted=all That's a really good one. That and This (although it's pretty much totally a ripoff of the first one, it still has new info) are the two best articles out there about Chinese Democracy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Vitamin X Report post Posted March 31, 2007 The drum machine on the verses was a little cheesy and I hated the samples that started around the three minute mark. And I don't think Vitamin X has ever actually heard what kind of music is played during the Your Local Forecast breaks on the Weather Channel. As for Rose's voice, yeah. He's getting into Tom Waits-territory there, but Waits can actually sing. I know TWC usually plays some smooth jazz, (at least in my area it did), but that was what had come to mind at first. I should've just said that I didn't care for the french horn in the background. It was way too relaxed. The music sounds a little better in the live version, but Rose's voice sounds even worse there. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GreatWhiteNope 0 Report post Posted April 1, 2007 Remember that all the studio leaks so far are only demos. As of a few weeks ago, the album was still being mixed for release later this year. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Giuseppe Zangara 0 Report post Posted April 1, 2007 As of a few weeks ago, the album was still being mixed for release later this year. *snort* Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
snuffbox 0 Report post Posted April 1, 2007 He never said which 'this year'! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest jacksonesptama Report post Posted May 5, 2007 New versions of I.R.S., Chinese Democracy and The Blues were leaked today and they sound more like a finalized product than anything else out there right now. Chinese Democracy in particular sounds miles better than the original live versions of the song. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BUTT 0 Report post Posted May 5, 2007 Jesus Christ, someone likes to overproduce music! But I'm on such a huge Jim Steinman kick this week that I've become a huge mark for overproduction. Oooh, "Chinese Democracy" has a sweet keyboard line in the background that I've never heard in any live version! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
