Why is GNR so ashamed of (most) of their past?

Wilco

I’m not saying they’re actually ashamed but,

Axl and co sit on tons and tons and tons of shit. Maybe most of it would only be of interest to die hards like ourselves, but it still would be of interest.

Like:

Pre GNR demos, 1983-1984

GNR prototype demos 1985

Early sessions and such, 1985

Live footage 1985-1986

Pro shot footage 88-89

Interviews 86-89

Pre UYI and UYI recording and rehearsals Chicago 89, Mates 89, early 90

Jams with Adam Maples, Martin Chambers etc early 1990

Gilby’s auditions, 1991

The “Perfect Crime” footage 1991-1993

Pro shots of every concept 1991-1993

Sketches / demos / rehearsals 1992-2008

Curios like Zakk Wylde sessions January 1995, Izzy/Duff April 1995

Maybe all of what I’ve listed either doesn’t exist anymore, or the band isn’t aware of it if it does. But let’s say that even half of what I’ve listed does indeed exist. This band loves money -

They could easily put up a “UYI Show A Month”, release every surviving pro shot show, every single month or every six months or every year and charge for it, and they’d make money. Say they released one show a year - that’s fuckin 100 years worth of shows to make money off of! And we, the fans, would benefit. And their legacy would benefit

They could put out a series of box sets with the stuff I’ve outlined here, the minor shit and curiosities - and honestly, just spend the rest of their lives spitting out box sets of deep deep cut type shit -

And make money

After a while “laziness” doesn’t really cut it as an excuse for the band not doing Jack shit with the mountains of audio and footage they have on hand; it could easily be monetized.

So, if it’s not laziness, what is it?

Why don’t GNR seem to really give a shit about their past outside of Appetite for Destruction and skull iconography?

Randall Flagg

Maybe because they don't want to dilute their discography with demos that anyone but diehard fans would have any interest in. No one is asking Stephen King to share his first draft of Carrie with the world. A shitty, muffled recording from 1984 may make us giddy, but outside of that, probably very little interest. The $1000 AFD boxset that is now going for $250 is a perfect example of this phenomenon. How many forum members bought the set versus downloaded mp3s of the material they wanted? I'm going to be its substantial, and enough justification why the business would be less inclined to release even more esoteric material.

misterID

For the record, I didn’t buy the $1,000 box set

Randall Flagg

Nor did I, I was content with the $150 vinyl collection and the extras that came with it. And I bet I'm in the minority of who even spent that much.

elevendayempire

Randall Flagg wrote:

Maybe because they don't want to dilute their discography with demos that anyone but diehard fans would have any interest in. No one is asking Stephen King to share his first draft of Carrie with the world. A shitty, muffled recording from 1984 may make us giddy, but outside of that, probably very little interest. The $1000 AFD boxset that is now going for $250 is a perfect example of this phenomenon. How many forum members bought the set versus downloaded mp3s of the material they wanted? I'm going to be its substantial, and enough justification why the business would be less inclined to release even more esoteric material.

But… we're not talking about the demos here. We're talking about the hundreds of hours of footage they shot on tours dating back to the 80s. Why the hell isn't it being released as DVDs or on YouTube instead of mouldering away in a vault?

Randall Flagg

elevendayempire wrote:

Randall Flagg wrote:
Maybe because they don't want to dilute their discography with demos that anyone but diehard fans would have any interest in. No one is asking Stephen King to share his first draft of Carrie with the world. A shitty, muffled recording from 1984 may make us giddy, but outside of that, probably very little interest. The $1000 AFD boxset that is now going for $250 is a perfect example of this phenomenon. How many forum members bought the set versus downloaded mp3s of the material they wanted? I'm going to be its substantial, and enough justification why the business would be less inclined to release even more esoteric material.
But… we're not talking about the demos here. We're talking about the hundreds of hours of footage they shot on tours dating back to the 80s. Why the hell isn't it being released as DVDs or on YouTube instead of mouldering away in a vault?

OP starts off with demos and early recordings - not just concert footage. If it was the latter, I'd agree. Put shit on youtube or make it available for a small fee like Metallica does.

misterID

That seemed to be a priority for Slash, and he said Axl had all of it, so we shall see.

Wondering if they wait til ‘23 and add all the TSI? stuff. I mean, it all was supposed to be part of a box set anyway. There’s the Hanoi Rocks song and supposedly Wanna Be Your Dog that have never been heard.

polluxlm

There are only 3 things the fans really want in terms of unheard material:

The UYI documentary Perfect Crime
Chinese Democracy sessions.
Soundboards of unheard shows.

Everything else is old news or limited value. I guess it would be cool if they released individual track recordings of all the instruments on the albums. Don't know if that is ever really done.

misterID

I want the Skin N’ Bones shows with Izzy.

Neemo

My understanding was that up till illusions they had released everything that was suitable for release, I mean there is rumors of half baked shit like nightcrawler, but i think that UYI burnt them out musically and physically for a while

Live footage is another story...but I'm not sure there is much market for the 100th live version of KOHD or whatever

CD era, its pretty clear that Axl has embellished exactly how many "SONGS" that were ready...26 songs yadda yadda yadda

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