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- elevendayempire
- Rep: 96
Re: LEAKS THREAD
dalethirsty wrote:it's crazy to think that axl had a stack of madagascar demos with labels like "madagascar version #53 (w/ extended outro feedback)."
I know
People have compared it to the Library of Congress, but I've been told the vault in reality is in a storage facility; a single room, with a computer, and stacked with discs.
Jesus, I hope they have backups. Physical media is very vulnerable to fire, flood etc...
Re: LEAKS THREAD
I hear what you're saying, tho. I would've encouraged Axl to do a few covers on Elton John or whatnot, when suitable opportunities come around. He could've tried out the new production techniques and would've gained new audiences. Some people would've reconsidered his artistic ability. Greatest Hits? Jump in, the label will put it out, anyway. One rocker, like Better. Consolidate your studio success.
That way, the album would have better traction when it would land. You need your pre-season.
Indeed, that would've been a good idea.
The label seemed to have similar thoughts with the Welcome to the Jungle: The Very Best of Guns N' Roses compilation by introducing the New GN'R branding ahead of the release of Chinese Democracy and a new tour.
I think the release in 2008 was a disaster on multiple levels but rebranding (with an awful design) was one of them.
One rocker, like Better. Consolidate your studio success.
I don't disagree with the idea but the perfect time to drop "Better" would've been right after Hammerstein.
The 2006 tour got some good pub but the buzz, New York street cred, and so forth after Hammerstein had to be at it's Apex. Puns.
Axl was doing traditional press and the underground buzz was strong, all he needed to do was enter the digital market of the 21st century.
Instead...
"I heard Better".
"Yeah, cool."
And down the drain we go.
They will come out eventually. The NITL era will quite likely see an Axl/DC album, which should be great. It would solidify Axl's frontman legacy and spur him onwards and upwards. The guy's 55, and suddenly he's fronting two big rock bands.
I've said previously that if we didn't hear about new music by the end of 2017, we wouldn't get it, and I still think that's the case.
The pessimist argument is that history is repeating itself. Axl is again holding all the cards which is historically bad for productivity and it enables him to delay until the stars align only for him to miss several great opportunities staring him in the face. If he has two records in the can, they should've released one in 2017. It would've reestablished them as a creative entity and allowed Axl to low-key feel smug once they got good reviews. "The reaction CD should've gotten". You're aren't going to find more critic friendly times than during your feel-good reunion tour. They're sexy again but in 2+ years they'll just be grandpas experiencing entropy on the nostalgia circuit.
The European dates are exactly what you don't want to see if you're hoping for new music and they could very well finish up 2018 in Asia and Oceania. Even if Axl/DC is a modest Rock or Bust sized tour we're looking at mid-2020 before Guns N' Roses resumes, if it does at all. If Slash and Duff re-record their parts they won't be doing so unless it's under the tutelage of the great Axl-san. And assuming they write and record new music, the odds and timeline are even longer and the expectations even higher.
If I'm arguing against the point, a new album would enable another round of touring, of course, but so would a true farewell tour. We'd be looking at a 58 year old Axl who has just completed two long and grueling tours to potentially release material that is going on 20 years old. It's possible that his voice, health, and drive all hold up but those are long odds. And then what? One final CD in 2020? The second in 2022? Would he be content to mix in original Slash/Duff/Fortus material?
I want to believe but outside of an eventual box set, it looks pretty grim.
Re: LEAKS THREAD
nothing is ever getting out, deal with it finally. the few leaks we get now and then since ChiDem release are everything that can ever get out. guessing "album next year, second one in 2 years, third one in 3 years" is a pattern that comes back every single year, since like 2002. and zero. fuck hopes, because in reality there are no hopes.
- Voodoochild
- Rep: 3
Re: LEAKS THREAD
Voodoochild wrote:Also, there is the quality of the rips: I never understood why IRS, TWAT, Catcher and Checkmate all sounded like it was ripped from an analog cassete player.
Good point and Occam's razor says they were. For instance, Axl went to Vegas in 2003 and some songs got ripped because he obliged his disc to the venue PA. They could've recorded the songs on tape as they were playing. It's a smooth way to do it, just keep a game face with Axl.
By 1999, that was already an ancient technology. The 2003 demos Axl played at the club got leaked in 2006 with at least mp3 quality (low res 128 kb). The 1999 leaks came from a different source. My bet is on someone at Interscope when the near finished album was presented to execs. It was obviously lacking a proper mixing and mastering, but it was enough for them to see what they had.
dalethirsty wrote:for a perfectionist, he sure seemed to ignore his own work a majority of the time.
It has a lot to do with feeling. Axl felt the '99 vocals were untouchable. Recording them was likely a task for him. There'd been a long pause in writing lyrics and singing altogether. The last original song he'd developed had been TIL in '93.
There is a left over vocal in Scraped that sounds like a hiccup. And Bumblefoot's ending solo in Catcher has a dry cut. Feels like even Axl got tired of working endlessly on it and overlooked a lot of fuckups. So yeah, not really a perfectionist.
But I do think he thought the vocals were not the problem and just left almost untouched in all those 1999 tracks.
yup, the Boston promo seemed to have absolutely great mixing.
Indeed. And it translates more or less how it should sound judging by the live performances in comparison.
I wonder how that Boston promo was put together. Maybe Axl/Interscope send just the snippets to the marketing guys to work on. Its interesting tho how it had The Blues ending solo (presumably by Fortus), because that was clearly added between the European leg and the NA Tour. I also like how Robin's guitar riff in CD sounds in studio - although I still like the final version more.
Re: LEAKS THREAD
well, I must say the best sounding version of ChiDem (the song) is the leak from 2007. yeah, it suffers heavily from loudness war, but still it's the most in-your-face-punch of them all. it almost seems like they had tight mastering back in the day, and every year they just made it muddier and looser. strange.
Re: LEAKS THREAD
Catcher was ripped from a DAT tape.
HRS said it best: it turns out they don't put instructions how to manage a band on the back of the laundry detergent box.
It turns out paying and trusting your mixer is a good idea too. Andy Wallace mixes were good. RTB has more experience in this little finger than Caram will get in his lifetime. Maybe trust them with the production.
Re: LEAKS THREAD
This version makes me yearn for more of the 2000 intentions "demos".
I might be in the minority, but the Beavin mixes really do it for me. There's a raw and gritty sound that disappears once RTB takes the helm. All the little synths and subtle nuances that got burried later on, really added an atmosphere to each track that makes the album seem like a more cohesive body of work.
Bring on more of these 2000 Intentions demos. 
