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- monkeychow
- Rep: 661
Re: U2 Producer tells Axl story
I think it's mythology that things run better under Beta than some of the best music mangers in the world.
GNR launched a subscription website for it's fans. Delivered almost no content on it. Burns hardcore supporters.
Things like the paid meets and greets deliver the barest minimum possible to fans - and it obviously even upsets some of the band that it's not done well - yet management can't seem to structure it properly.
London Concert cinema release pulled AFTER tickets were sold. Terrible business practise.
Vegas Concert DVD obviously exists as we've seen the trailers, but they've been silent for more than 6 months and it's a coin toss as to if it will ever come out or go the way of the UYI doco, the Axl Rose doco we've seen trailers for, and the Better video.
On a band front, aside from blocking the 2008 reunion (which I guess in her defence may have been what Axl wants), the management structure showed appalling disrespect for bumblefoot's injury (my opinion), couldn't get any kind of sensible agreement in place with the fall of fame (more bad PR), under it's tenure has seen Axl fall into an (anxiety-provoked?) pattern of routene where the lives shows are identical aside from changes in the solo spots, and it's now 5 years on from the release of Chinese Democracy and despite the desperate pleas of people in the band even - there's no sign of anything on the horizon...other than the vague possibility that one day something happens with vault material.
Re: U2 Producer tells Axl story
Sometime after '99, Max Cavallera, of Sepultura fame, was interviewed and was asked about Igor Cavallera being asked to join GNR and what he thought of Axl.
His response was: "I hope he doesn't die before putting the album out". His point was that Axl would become an idol, being even more famous but for many wrong reasons (that stupid idolization of dead people).
I have the same feeling now for different reasons. I think the Lebeis are running the GN'R money machine now that they've convinced Axl (by strange means) to not work with conventional management and I have no doubt in my mind that once Axl is dead all the rights to GNR name and back catalogue (Axl's part at least) will be in the hands of the likes of Fernando and Vanessa. And it saddens me that it includes the vault.
- Intercourse
- Rep: 212
Re: U2 Producer tells Axl story
I think the saddest thing of all is that fucking AXL just watches this shit go down year in and year out yet, who gets their seats on the private jets and at the best eateries?
Fucking Team Brazil.
The fact of the matter is that Axl lavishes upon those that keep his every whim catered for, while he has taken a giant shit on those who called him out for his bad behaviour.
Wives, managers, bandmates, industry guys, childhood friends, photographers, roadcrew...the list of people who have quit on this guy (and are now his enemy) is MASSIVE.
Beta is not a manager, Axl MUST know that as he has been through enough good managers and lived at the highest end of the industry to at least know what good music industry staff behave like, work like and how they should interact with the public.
Fact is, the poor old bastard may just be living, working and looking like he is because he had to hand over the reigns of GNR to his "Mom" so he could keep the only "family" he has known from walking out.
Unless he is a total retard he must see that Team Brazil are crap, but they work at a level just barely capable enough to keep the money coming in to keep him and his "family" living in luxury.
Could it be that deep down he knows that relaunching GNR with these guys in charge is just too big an ask so he's decided to quit chasing that dream and take their human company rather than sack them, lose them and go back to being alone.
Re: U2 Producer tells Axl story
Instead of being sarcastic, please show me the "pretty good promotion" of ASSUMED the DVD release.
Proof me wrong with FACTS not with WISHFUL THINKING and I'll be the first to gladly see this band moving forward.
I was mainly talking about the videos, commercials. I was more snarky than I meant to be, but your rubber stamp posts are more like, "Yeah, I know, nothing will happen, it's over, its done", like everyone said up to the release of CD. And it's kind of meant, from my perspective, as: conversation over.
Things were worse before CD's release, we had a million Otto's saying the same thing you are now... And it was released.
monkey, there's no myth being perpetrated here about Beta from my end. She isn't doing any worse than those who came before her in the last ten years and actually seems to be working to get something done. No more, no less. Yes, it's still a clusterfuck 
But I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt.
- monkeychow
- Rep: 661
Re: U2 Producer tells Axl story
Yeah..the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
For example, I would bet team brazil even with the best of intentions, can not simply have the business acumen required to negotiate well against the sort of people who they will be up against. Think about it. Who will movie companies, record labels and so on bring to the discussion - pros with business backgrounds and the people who were cut throat enough to rise to the top. Doesn't mean they won't ever cut a deal - but I wonder how good that deal will be. For example when Alan Niven managed to renegotiate that contract back in the day with the label. That's a very hard thing to have achieved. I wonder if team brazil would have Niven's skill at executing a deal like that today?
However, at the same time, I do think there's a lot of con-men and assholes in the business too. So if 50% of people are crooks, and 90% of people would push Axl into a reunion even if they say they won't. That is only going to give him a fraction of people to work with who he can trust. So I can see some advantage to sticking with his adopted family.
On the plus side of the family, they seem to stick by him no matter what happens, which is valuable in life. On the downside - I wonder to what extent they have (even if accidently) contributed to the many miscomunications in axl's life. For example duff tells that story about how they told him Axl was in the shower...then he went in anyway and he wasn't. They seem to think keeping Axl behind a curtain helps keep Axl calm - and it may in terms of him getting upset - but i'm not sure it's helping his business relationships and his art and getting things done with the band.
ID I want to focus on the words you used: "She isn't doing any worse than those who came before her in the last ten years" and that's just it....she was there then too managing access to axl and his personal life.....the question is - how does it stack up compared to how stuff got done before she was around?
It might not be her. It might be that Axl is CEO. But one of the great things about artist management is the ability to challenge the artist on some matters. The artists are great men creatively. But often they just are not great men on the business side. A truely great manager helps the artist overcome that business weakness to get the best from themselves.
If the stories and tales are true. Axl was just as likely to get upset or violent or whatever people say back in the 80s and early 90s - but that was harnessed into AFD, LIES and UYI. He was just as dysfunctional if not more so in terms of public rants and stuff - but the genius talent he has was able to shine past it. But does that happen today? Axl is becomming more well known for his quirks than his gifts. And his gifts are many. It's such a shame.
I respect Beta that she's helped Axl stay alive. But I think a really good manager would have helped him write more songs, would have enabled things to get done. When axl got an idea like "I'm too famous to leave my house for 10 years" - someone should have helped him see that's anxiety and challenged him on it. However beta seems to do whatever makes Axl least upset - which on one hand is admirable on a human level - but on the other hand I think giving in to stuff like anxiety actually strengthens the depth of the illness or whatever.
As for CD2 - I agree with ID in the sense that people said CD1 would never happen - then it eventually did - and I see no reason why CD2 might not do the same thing - we wait around another few years then out of no where they release vault songs from 2000 with more recent overdubs. So i think people saying it will NEVER happen are probably wrong. At the same time I also think the timeframe may be just as bad as last time - we could still be a decade out if it is - and I also think stuff like the videos can really go either way. Where is that Axl doco from 2006 it looked great.
Re: U2 Producer tells Axl story
otto wrote:Instead of being sarcastic, please show me the "pretty good promotion" of ASSUMED the DVD release.
Proof me wrong with FACTS not with WISHFUL THINKING and I'll be the first to gladly see this band moving forward.
I was mainly talking about the videos, commercials. I was more snarky than I meant to be, but your rubber stamp posts are more like, "Yeah, I know, nothing will happen, it's over, its done", like everyone said up to the release of CD. And it's kind of meant, from my perspective, as: conversation over.
Things were worse before CD's release, we had a million Otto's saying the same thing you are now... And it was released.
monkey, there's no myth being perpetrated here about Beta from my end. She isn't doing any worse than those who came before her in the last ten years and actually seems to be working to get something done. No more, no less. Yes, it's still a clusterfuck
But I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt.
I was not trying to "argument-over" nothing.
Before CD was released we had intention and evidences of recording sessions, leaks, people listening to auditions of songs in night clubs...
Nowadays we have nothing and what we have as fact is that the band hasn't recorded together or in pieces for GUNS N' ROSES since 2007 and that two concert dvds were put together but thrown in the vault. The london one at least leaked.
I wish you were right tho, it would be very very nice to be proven wrong.
- monkeychow
- Rep: 661
Re: U2 Producer tells Axl story
We don't know that DJ hasn't recorded in pieces.
He's talked of sending Axl song ideas and stuff.
And i gather he has a home studio where he does his guitar parts for Sixx Am and stuff.
In theory DJ could be recording bits to go with the unreleased songs bumble recorded in 2007.
- monkeychow
- Rep: 661
