You are not logged in. Please register or login.
- Topics: Active | Unanswered
Re: QUEEN Guitarist: 'People Think Of AXL ROSE As Difficult But He Was Alw
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbe … nt=Twitter
QUEEN Guitarist: 'People Think Of AXL ROSE As Difficult But He Was Always Very Attentive To Me' - Mar. 24, 2011
QUEEN guitarist Brian May recently answered a number of reader-submitted questions for the April 2011 issue of U.K.'s Uncut magazine. When asked how he got involved in the making of GUNS N' ROSES "Chinese Democracy" album (in 1999, May recorded a guitar solo for GN'R track "Catcher N' The Rye", which appears on "Chinese Democracy", but his efforts were subsequently removed from the final album version of the song), May replied, "I can't remember when I first met Axl [Rose, GN'R frontman], but we invited them to play the [1992] Freddie [Mercury] tribute. They did a fantastic job, and also donated a lot of money to the Mercury Phoenix Trust. Subsequent to that, my solo band supported GN'R on tour and we got on very well."
He continued, "People think of Axl as difficult, but he was always very attentive to me.
"When they were making that album, after God-knows-how-many years, he was talking to [QUEEN's old producer] Roy Thomas Baker, who was doing some production for them at the time, and they came up with the idea of contacting me to help them work out a direction. I flew out to meet him and he played me pretty much the whole album. We had a long night, talking, thinking, figuring out potential directions, and then I had a couple of days just trying things out. I think I played on two-and-a-half tracks, but they didn't end up using my parts. They used about 10 guitarists subsequent to that! I have rough mixes of these tracks somewhere in my archive, but I'm not going to let anyone listen to them, out of loyalty to Axl.
"It was fun, to throw something in there to help out a friend."
Rose explained the decision to keep Brian's track off the album by saying, "There's a few reasons, and none of them all that big and definitely not in spite or to slight anyone. First off, obviously I knew people liked the song, but the Brian appreciation really only showed up in force publicly after we had moved on in GUNS. In fact, not many seemed to care and most comments were aimed at why Slash, in their opinions, should be here. Brian's solo itself is a personal fave of mine and I really couldn't understand, as he's such a rock legend, why it wasn't openly appreciated more at the time. In actuality, all that feel and emotion referred to now had a lot to do with Sean [Beavan, one of the producers who worked on 'Chinese Democracy'] and I and the parts I chose out of Brian's different runs, versions, practice runs, etc., to make sure we had those elements in one version. It's entirely constructed from edits based around one specific note Brian hit in a throwaway take. And though Brian seems to have warmed a bit to it, at least publicly, he was unfortunately none too pleased at the time with our handiwork. I remember looking at Brian standing to my left and him staring at the big studio speakers a bit aghast saying, 'But that's not what I played.' Sean Beavan and I were not in any way trying to mess with Brian, we just did what we do and then try and do our best to stand up for our decisions."
Re: QUEEN Guitarist: 'People Think Of AXL ROSE As Difficult But He Was Alw
as a regular reader of Uncut can i just say it's incredibly strange to see them devote so much print to GnR/Axl - even tho it's really about Brian May.
Uncut is particularly snobbish when it comes to the pop/classic rock of GnR's ilk.
Mojo is far better btw, the best music publication.
Re: QUEEN Guitarist: 'People Think Of AXL ROSE As Difficult But He Was Alw
I don't know what the fuck Axl is talking about on the appreciation thing. Maybe he's talking internally between him and Brian.
But as far as the '99 demo is concerned, it was always universally loved, specifically Brian's stuff, by the new GN'R fans - which is who Axl should listening to, and not the Slashites.
I remixed Ron's Catcher awhile back, and although admirable... i'm sorry... but Brian's '99 demo fucking destroys it on EVERY level.
MASSIVE mistake on Axl's part with CD was altering that song for the lesser.
Re: QUEEN Guitarist: 'People Think Of AXL ROSE As Difficult But He Was Alw
never liked the CITR demo
don't really like the 'finished' version either, but ron added some nice bits especially the on outro/final quarter (if memory serves)
- mickronson
- Rep: 118
Re: QUEEN Guitarist: 'People Think Of AXL ROSE As Difficult But He Was Alw
The odd rare occassion I listen to CD these days I find that I play the demo of citr instead of the final. Just not the same 'feel' that I prefer.
Re: QUEEN Guitarist: 'People Think Of AXL ROSE As Difficult But He Was Alw
I dig the produced version more, maybe it has to do with the crappy quality of the demo. Love the piano outro. I really didn't care for it until recently. Now CITR and Sorry are 2 of my top picks on the album.
- monkeychow
- Rep: 661
Re: QUEEN Guitarist: 'People Think Of AXL ROSE As Difficult But He Was Alw
I don't know what the fuck Axl is talking about on the appreciation thing. Maybe he's talking internally between him and Brian.
I think he's just saying at the time the song leaked much of the forums was involved in the standard Axl vs Slash stuff - and then when it was remade with Ron and some people complained - that was kinda the first time Axl had seen of love for the solo in the demo.
I remember a lot of praise for the demo overall but I don't remember people specifically cheering for that solo until it was removed.
I like both versions. The panio part on the demo has a rawness to it that makes me want to song write - I think it's just cos there's less stuff going on on the track so like it feels like something you could do (even though I can't for shit lol). Meanwhile overall i love the final versions of all of CD a lot more than the demos.
What i've always found facinating is the description of the way Axl works here - constructing solos out of many many takes - and that it sounds like it wasn't very popular with May here.
Be interesting to know if the other 2 songs he played on are ones from the album we got or unreleased tracks too.
- jimmythegent
- Rep: 30
Re: QUEEN Guitarist: 'People Think Of AXL ROSE As Difficult But He Was Alw
yet another bizarre and frankly paranoid comment by Axl. I don't recall hearing anyone ever talk about Slash in relation to that solo. It was a leaked demo for crying out loud - there was a buzz that Brian May was on it for sure, but what was he expecting.
