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Re: U2 Producer tells Axl story
Producer Steve Lillywhite On Axl Rose’s Voice: ‘Like Fingers On A Chalkboard’
Producer Steve Lillywhite has one of the best resumes in rock and roll: he has worked on records by Morrissey, Peter Gabriel, the Dave Matthews Band, Phish, The Rolling Stones and, most famously, U2. One band that isn’t on that list: Guns N’ Roses. He came rather close, though, to getting the Axl Rose experience, but as he told KROQ‘s Kevin & Bean Show, he pulled the plug on that.
Apparently, Lillywhite was one of many producers considered for GNR’s loooooong-delayed Chinese Democracy album (finally released in 2008), and he actually took a meeting with Axl Rose to discuss it.
“I was summoned to Los Angeles to meet with Axl Rose, we went for sushi, and then we went to the studio to listen to some tracks and he played me some instrumentals,” Lillywhite said. “I thought, ‘I can understand why he’d want me to work on this.’ And then I said, ‘Do you have anything with vocals on it?’ He said, ‘Yeah, I’ve got one song.’”
It was at that point that Lillywhite remembered why working with GNR would be unpleasant (besides Axl’s famously volatile personality).
“I was listening to it and I thought ‘Oh my God, I’d forgotten how much I hate his voice.’ I’m sorry! To some people, Axl Rose is royalty. To me, it’s like fingers on a chalkboard. Now, He was a very nice guy. We finished the evening – he paid – the next morning, the manager called and said, ‘Steve, you’re in. He thinks your fantastic. ‘ I said “I’m sorry, I don’t think I’m the right man for this job.” And that was it and I left it at that.”
It’s likely that Rose was upset by this, and the next development in the story reads like a bit of payback. “I wouldn’t be telling this story,” Lillywhite says, “except, the next issue of Rolling Stone came out and it said ‘Axl Rose Turns Down Steve Lillywhite!’ I would have said nothing if he said nothing!”
Lillywhite most recently produced Thirty Seconds To Mars‘ new album, Love Lust Faith + Dreams, which was released earlier this week (May 21).
The curious bit is, this story is fairly recent, while Lillywhite has been mentioned by RS in joint of GNR way back in '98.
"Four producers are being considered for the project - which Goldstein describes as an 'updated nineties-rock sound with a little more technology thrown in' - including Scott Litt (R.E.M.), Steve Lillywhite (U2), Mark Bell (Bjork) and Youth (The Verve)." (Doug Goldstein, Rolling Stone, 02/20/98)
Here's Lillywhite telling the story two years prior, only back then he was to produce Appetite for Destruction.
Imagine that. 
Re: U2 Producer tells Axl story
Despite his silence online and with his fans Axl must have got quite a name for himself amongst all those producers and engineers during the CD era. I'm sure Lillywhite wasn't the only person to turn Axl down.
What I found odd about this story is if Lillywhite did hate his voice so much why did he even meet in the first place? He could have hardly forgotten what Axl sounded like!
If there is a next record to be produced I wander who they might ask to help out. and who would be willing to take on Axl and all his antics.
Re: U2 Producer tells Axl story
What I found odd about this story is if Lillywhite did hate his voice so much why did he even meet in the first place? He could have hardly forgotten what Axl sounded like!
To Quote mr. Lillywhite:
He was a very nice guy. We finished the evening – he paid
It's a profit deal. Go there, have your sushi paid by AFD royalties, have a nice evening, get a story to tell and a paycheck for your hours.
Re: U2 Producer tells Axl story
I've always wondered if Rick Rubin was approached by Axl at some point. To me he was the guy to save the clusterfuck and he kinda works the same way Axl seems to: write TONS of material, select the few very best, scrap the rest, start over until you've got 10-15 songs.
The only difference is that Rubin knows his shit, hence the number of hit albums across a variety of styles (another Axl thing that would fit) in the last couple of decades.
- metallex78
- Rep: 194
Re: U2 Producer tells Axl story
Rubin would've told Axl to reunite with the old band I reckon
- Me_Wise_Magic
- Rep: 70
Re: U2 Producer tells Axl story
Wouldn't surprise me! Rick would of been an interesting choice to produce if the current band ever got together in the studio with Axl to commit to a full album or at least an EP of fresh material/CD session leftovers.
- metallex78
- Rep: 194
Re: U2 Producer tells Axl story
Didn't VR do a stint with Rick for the Libertad sessions before going with Brendan Obrien? I think they did. I think they sighted getting bored with all the writing sessions Rick kept telling them to do. I think he was right, Libertad fell short in that regard.
I think Rick is great at getting the artists to get to the essence of what they are, as with Metallica and Death Magnetic. But his production team is shit, and they mix everything brickwalled
CD gets shit on because there are so many layers of things going on, but I think it's mixed great
- Me_Wise_Magic
- Rep: 70
Re: U2 Producer tells Axl story
Didn't VR do a stint with Rick for the Libertad sessions before going with Brendan Obrien? I think they did. I think they sighted getting bored with all the writing sessions Rick kept telling them to do. I think he was right, Libertad fell short in that regard.
I think Rick is great at getting the artists to get to the essence of what they are, as with Metallica and Death Magnetic. But his production team is shit, and they mix everything brickwalled
CD gets shit on because there are so many layers of things going on, but I think it's mixed great
Same here!
- metallex78
- Rep: 194
Re: U2 Producer tells Axl story
Didn't Rubin say no to VR cuz he was already committed to Metallica?
From my understanding, he was going back and forth between VR and Metallica, and kept telling VR to keep writing, and VR didn't like that process with him
