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- FlashFlood
- Rep: 55
Re: Happy 10th anniversary, Chinese Democracy!
Here’s a fun article from Rolling Stone a day ago - 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Chinese Democracy. Spoiler - you probably know them!
- dalethirsty
- Rep: 20
Re: Happy 10th anniversary, Chinese Democracy!
after 10 years, chinese democracy is still more fun to talk about than listen to.
i have the record on vinyl and rarely play the whole thing through. every now and then, i throw on one of the old demos or instrumentals and jam the fuck out to them.
it used to be my favorite album by guns, but after coming full circle with the not in this lifetime tour, it really sticks out like a sore thumb in their catalog.
by that, i mean it's really just not a very fun listen. it's somehow even more depressing than use your illusion ii.
that said, you can put together a pretty bad ass compilation of the album with some leaks, live tracks and instrumentals.
something like this:
chinese democracy (apollo '17)
irs (2002 demo)
shackler's revenge (chicken dinner demo)
scraped (instrumental)
riad & the bedouins (instrumental)
oh my god
the blues (boston '02)
better (original leak)
if the world (instrumental)
catcher in the rye (brian may demo)
madagascar (boston '02)
sorry (album version)
there was a time ('06 long solo version)
prostitute (new song #2)
this i love (instrumental)
Re: Happy 10th anniversary, Chinese Democracy!
new article from Billboard....Chinese Whispers needs a reference? 
Re: Happy 10th anniversary, Chinese Democracy!
There's an audio clip Billboard reviewed; it's allegedly from June 2014 and includes Axl Rose from behind his grand piano telling a story to a group of friends.
That would've been at the tail-end of the second Vegas residency, the twilight of the Asbha band.
"Listen, listen, you gotta' understand," he says. "When you see the real artwork from my album, not what you see (inaudible), there's a reason I didn't promote it, because the real artwork is what I will promote."
The bike art had gone wrong, despite showcased by Axl on stage during the Oriental 2002 shows. The Red Hand cover was prototyped but apparently, it never went to pressing. BestBuy had placeholders for the other two covers, so it's likely people simply cut costs.
I mean, you have a hail-mary deal getting everyone out of debt and liability, and the suffering genius is still going on about his shtick? Azoff and Uni likely rolled their eyes behind his back, as he would've been on a whole different plane.
It's been an ugly battle that hasn't made any sense to anyone and whether anyone cares about such things, the booklet or artwork has always been something I've been passionate about. To release the album with unapproved and unseen final artwork with a 1st work only error-filled draft (when others more recent were readily available) still has not been explained, but is finally getting cleared up. My fave is the How Are You Grenade cover... and the Sorry automatic rifle artwork on shirts etc.
They were redeeming his adventure with a BestBuy coupon. One disc, one artwork, and the lock, stock and barrel sent over to warehouses, never to be sold again. I wager that was their reality and he gnawed the hand that feeds to the bone.
The way he chooses his words, willingly promoting the real art work, suggests he'd like to see it used in either a CD re-release or as the cover for CD2. This was Stay of Execution time, so the Red Hand mayhap been poised to reappear.
Axl then begins to play a medley of Elton John. The grand piano from the recording is described to have custom artwork on the lid that most uninitiated fans have never seen.
The Red Hand or the HAY hand grenade? Good for Evil Label stories by the piano, as his court can lean in and "see the real artwork". 
Gotta admit, it's amusing to think Ax might re-release the album, with new (old) players, new (old) songs and the new (old) cover art.
I hope he does, actually.
- dalethirsty
- Rep: 20
Re: Happy 10th anniversary, Chinese Democracy!
Gotta admit, it's amusing to think Ax might re-release the album, with new (old) players, new (old) songs and the new (old) cover art.
I hope he does, actually.
it's disappointing that the 10th anniversary of chinese democracy came and went without a peep from the band.
afd got a whole marketing campaign and $1000 box set with eye patches n' shit.
gnr lies got a bunch of pretty cool but overpriced shirts.
chinese democracy got nothing. not even a tweet.
Re: Happy 10th anniversary, Chinese Democracy!
Actually the 30th anniversary of AFD came and went....the boxset and fanfare came a year later.
Apex, Axl also said in those chats that names of songs and songs themselves can be considered "works in progress". It isn't done until it is mastered and sent out to the world for public consumption. 
Axl is still a crazy motherfucker as evidenced by that Looney Tunes video...wtf!!!! Anything is possible, or not possible, with all that material and artwork. 
Re: Happy 10th anniversary, Chinese Democracy!
Actually the 30th anniversary of AFD came and went....the boxset and fanfare came a year later.
some people told me I'm wrong if I see it this way - they said that the boxset still came out within the 30th anniversary timeframe, shortly before the 31st anniversary hit the clock. I still don't get the argument (the anniversary is the same day or somewhat around it, right? not with a margin of almost a year more or less)
Re: Happy 10th anniversary, Chinese Democracy!
Actually the 30th anniversary of AFD came and went....the boxset and fanfare came a year later.
Apex, Axl also said in those chats that names of songs and songs themselves can be considered "works in progress". It isn't done until it is mastered and sent out to the world for public consumption.
Axl is still a crazy motherfucker as evidenced by that Looney Tunes video...wtf!!!! Anything is possible, or not possible, with all that material and artwork.
Yeah, anniversaries mean little to someone with as nebulous sense of time. They toured the AFD 20th in 2007 without ever mentioning the fact.
Money means equally little, as he's used to it coming and going. Remember that flat in Manhattan he rented for about six months to a year, while sleeping in hotels? Axl likes money as much as the next person, just that money is not an object to him that much. He likes to buy things, for himself and people around him, and he makes sure employees are paid. But money only dictates his moves if it's absolutely vital for the survival of himself or the band.
And no art of his is obviously set in stone until it's tagged and bagged. Things come down the wire in a flux. Stardust may get renamed Street of Dreams or The Blues, depending on the weather. The guitar solo may need Ron on the first part, and transition into Bucket. The feeling's better that way. Ax really likes his options when making music. A song can go this way or that.
CD may yet prove that even official releases can be transitory. Red Hand CD would be rad in sheer audacity - just like OMG was just a demo, the BestBuy album was the most expensive trial run / teaser in the history of music. Imagine that 
