ClaudeF wrote:

James, you said, "We found out from Dizzy that during the 2002-06 period, the band was never in the same room together."

That blows me away. I honestly thought all was well behind the scenes. When did he say that?

In an interview before the Hammerstein shows. It might be buried in CD Whispers.

I  think a pandemic release doesn't make sense for them though

Funny how there's never a good time for a release....and their fans come up with more creative and elaborate excuses than the band does.

More people than at any point in history are sitting at home....glued to the internet.

A new song/album could've ignited a huge buzz during downtime and carried them through the rest of the pandemic... like other major acts have done.

Or how about a small live set? Even the Stones did something during the pandemic.

No money in it though.

I don’t think they can do the stadium tour every year without SOMETHING. But i think they’ll wait for the data for that

It won't happen every year.

The Stones take breaks too.

I’d have a lot more respect for them if they  were more transparent. I don’t think the media gives enough of a shit about them to discredit, print mistruths or build unrealistic expectations. If they were honest enough to say ‘we tried writing, it’s not working’ but we want to be able to play live I’d be cool with that. Too old to care now.

In hindsight I believe he should've pulled a Billy Joel and told everyone he was done creatively and he would just tour the hits.

He became a nostalgia act anyways and it would've removed the pressure and the tension with his fan base.

Yeah the media isn't jumping aboard again. They didn't bother talking about CD II(no reason to) and they won't do it this time either.

The media caught on to what it was really about before the fans did.

If a song/album comes out... they'll cover it.

Nothing until then.

They don't give the media a reason to care anyways. The band and the vibe surrounding them is completely sterile.

A fine tuned unit goes onstage, busts out the hits, leaves the stage. No promos, no substantial interviews, no news, nothing.

Repeat until retirement.

Even if they do more anniversary/vault releases, it won't be accompanied by a promotional jaunt.

They could've made that AFD release really special but they didn't. It wasn't worth their time.

Speaking of being too old, I believe that the aging fan base helps fuel the direction this went and will continue.

They no longer have a rabid, hardcore base. Their fan forums combined have a grand total of a few hundred active users. They have ditched the forums and have a presence on social media....which clearly caters to a very casual audience.

Last year when the biggest leak in the band's history occurred showing the progress of the Chinese saga warts and all, it only increased forum activity by a couple hundred users temporarily and was never mentioned by the band or media.

That fact in itself tells you what the band's priorities are. It also reveals that most people interested in GNR don't care.

The Zoot leak was the best/worst thing to happen to in terms of Guns

It should've happened 10-15 years earlier than it did. It had the potential to be a game changer. A leak of that magnitude could've forced some sort of release.

Imagine that leaking in 2004-5.

You're right though....it peeled back the event horizon surrounding the project and showed that for a brief period of time, those early CD lineups were cooking up something special.

What could've been....

It was always Hell Freezes Over 2.

While I initially had hope that it might go in the direction of the Soundgarden reunion, it didn't take long to reveal it's true purpose.

The name was the clue. He knew it when he said it. The fate of the "Not in this Lifetime" line was the 21st century's Hell Freezes Over.

Once the various solo careers of the Eagles was dealt a blow from the law of diminishing returns, they didn't waste any time getting the gang back together.

At least Eagles fans got a killer live album with two new songs right out the gate and a new album later on.

FlashFlood wrote:

So Matt Sorum, a non-original member, got to speak at this thing? On television? Yeesh.

It was a cluster fuck. I haven't watched it since it happened but I'm pretty sure Adler was standing right next to him when he said it.

It was uncalled for and he had no right to say it. Everybody knows why Sorum got the job. I think they laughed it off but that's beside the point.

Slash should've interrupted him and told him to shut up.

While Slash never understood the leverage he had, Sorum never seemed to understand his place...the bottom of the totem pole.

It's a money grab. Just like the money grab tour, money grab fashion event, and money grab merch factory.

I wanted CDII. I never wanted a reunion because I knew it'd be what it is.