Comments on: IS AXL ROSE ACTUALLY MISSING?

By: guns n roses fan

guns n roses fan — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 01:06:57 +0000

i wana say that he is not missing but their is always a voice on the back of my head asking what if he is missing? and if he is missing where can he be? and what is he doing well i dont know for sure but i hope hes not missing.

By: Johnny Bongo

Johnny Bongo — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 08:38:39 +0000

Interesting comments all round. The $13 million reportedly spent on the record all went somewhere, wages, studio time etc and so what? That amount is a TINY drop in the ocean of wasted cash spent on recordings that never make it out of the studio. As a fan of the original G’n'R (and lucky enough to see the band live at Wembley!) I expected this record to be bland. Though I do not find the guitar playing to have the distinct personality that Slash brings, I really like it.

Axl has always done his own thing no matter what. He seems to care not what anyone thinks from the press to fans, and therein has created a mystique that everyone else can only comment on. Frankly, I am glad he’s back and if he wants to duck out while the record drops then good on him. As for the rumor mill saying there is a reunion in the works, I have always thought it stupid that great bands cannot get passed themselves and rock on while at least everyone is still alive to do it. If they do, and you never saw them live I recommend you do yourself a favor and get a ticket no matter what the cost.

By: Rob

Rob — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 20:26:47 +0000

Axl has been such a recluse for so long that he probably has no idea how the business operates right now. He more than likely still counted on G’N'R being one of the most recognizable “brands” in the business and no one around him was going to tell him otherwise. His label and Best Buy should have fucking known better and done a hell of a better job promoting this record. Epic, epic fail.

But also, I think the fact that this album is really, really underwhelming. At its best it’s pretty good, at its worst it’s fucking laughable. The song “Better”? Shitty late 90′s alt-metal riffs, weak vocals, poor execution? Yeah, I’m fucking psyched.

I’m not a guy who is hating for the sake of hate, I really wanted this album to be great. I was really excited when I heard it was coming out. But for 15 years of tweaking the record, I would have expected much, MUCH stronger riffs, vocals, melodies, etc. This shit just didn’t do it for me, and I imagine a lot of people feel the same way. Lack of promotion makes up for a lot, but don’t discount poor word of mouth affecting record sales.

By: Tim

Tim — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 18:56:41 +0000

@chris: It’s the idea that so much was wasted on something so insignificant… Does Axl really need more money? No. And I have checked the album out, I listened to it front to back… 15 years and production costs that reached $13 million. I know artists want the album to be how they envisioned it, but when there is so much other shit going on in the world, $13 million on a mediocre (in my opinion) album seems selfish, arrogant, and is like a big “FUCK YOU!” to poor people.

It’s what I think. I’m not whining… this is where people write comments, so I did.

By: chris

chris — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 12:28:21 +0000

Why are so many people saying “I’m not buying it cos’”
- it has been a long wait
- it has cost a lot of money
- Axl is dumb
WHO CARES? It’s not YOUR money they’ve spent, so the money one is NOT an excuse to trash CD. And as for the wait – we’ll how long is it since the last Kiss or Van Halen album? And if we said Axl had been on vacation or hiatus or had been knee deep in addiction, INSTEAD of working and working – you WOULDN’T be whining, you’d be applauding him. And who cares if he’s a jerk, that doesn’t affect whether the music is good or not.
I was a doubter, but I bought the cd and BOY does it rock – I’m REALLY surprised at how good it is, much better than I had hoped for. Do yourselves a favour and check it out instead of spending your time here whining

By: Tim

Tim — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 05:25:20 +0000

and the original lineup will never happen… if slash rejoins pigs will fly, hell will freeze over, etc….

By: Tim

Tim — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 05:22:35 +0000

i’m not buying it just because it took so long and axl spent, no… wasted so much money. how about this axl rose: instead of spending millions to make a mediocre album… spend millions on something useful like finding a cure for cancer or helping end the genocide in darfur.

I also boycott cause of axl’s fuckin dreadlocks. so un-metal dude…

By: Kev

Kev — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 02:00:45 +0000

Maybe he went completely nuts and we’ll never have to listen to his shitty attempt at writing music again! YAY!
It would be even better if I could some how never hear his voice again in my life.

By: attackmole

attackmole — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 22:17:39 +0000

I heard a rumour that he went AWOL to try and get the classic lineup back together. Which seems kinda unlikely. But the guy I heard it from says that he saw it in Billboard. So crazy things might happen.

By: Sammy

Sammy — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 21:52:24 +0000

And exactly which musicians are going to tour with Axl? Who exactly IS Guns ‘N’ Roses? It’s Axl Rose and any number of studio musicians who can stand to be around him (or who don’t get fired) for about 8 minutes. It’s not as if we’re talking about Dave Mustaine, who has always been the principal songwriting force behind his mostly solo-effort band.

By: Johnny Death

Johnny Death — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 21:17:22 +0000

Speaking of lack of promo for the album. Do you think Chinese Democracy will ever be the giveaway for any Metalsucks contests in the near future? I won’t keep my hopes up…

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 19:19:58 +0000

@Gary: Hell, take a look at Journey’s new album. It’s sold upwards of 500k. Look what you got with it; one disc of all new music, one disc of re-recorded classics, and a dvd….all for $11.99. I’m nowhere near being a big Journey fan but not even I could pass that up. If they didn’t wanna do promotion, they could have made this a triple disc effort. Or thrown in a dvd chronicling the making of Chinese Democracy, or a live dvd from the Download Festival, or absolutely anything other than a bare bones cd.

By: cornblood

cornblood — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:59:34 +0000

maybe Axl realized that he’e really not the big pop star now and that Chinese Democracy would be an album for the die-hard GnR fans only. that or Axl & Co. are rehearsing day and night for that worldwide trek.

By: Gary S.

Gary S. — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:01:21 +0000

@Matt – I completely agree that this was a botched rollout of an album that could have done better. Still Geffen (the label/distributor) deserves most of the blame for their lackluster dinosaur approach to marketing this one. Radio singles? A TV advert? Sure, that’ll perhaps snag a portion of the nostalgic fogies who were fans of Guns N’ Roses back when ‘Appetite’ came out. Where was the online promotion? Partnership with blogs? Freebies for email list subscribers? Special collector’s editions exclusively available from the website a la Metallica and Nine Inch Nails? Bueller? This is no-brainer shit nowadays and with retail sales universally in the crapper, being a Best Buy exclusive alone doesn’t cut the proverbial mustard.

Let’s just accept that one of the following scenarios applies to why Chinese Democracy had such a dismal first week:

A) Axl, the band (why couldn’t Buckethead or Bumblefoot or Robin Finck do interviews?), Geffen, and Best Buy assumed that the “buzz” for this “highly anticipated” album would shift units with minimal promotion.

B) Most if not all of the above parties accepted that it would be impossible to recoup the exorbitant costs of ‘Chinese Democracy’ and opted to cut their losses by pushing it out into the marketplace with minimal promotion.

By: Iron Mayden

Iron Mayden — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 17:41:32 +0000

Axl Rose dissapearing and acting erratic IS the promotion. It’s the same shit bag, me first attitude that he had when he was in the REAL GnR. It’s funny how somethings never change. Unfortunately for Axl, people don’t seem to care as much now.

By: palinaborted

palinaborted — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 17:18:56 +0000

OH BOY OH BOY OH BOY! I hope, with all of my heart and soul, that Axl Rose has indeed walked off into the sunset somewhere and subsequently fell off the face of this fine planet called Earth. That would be the best Christmas present I’ve ever had the pleasure of giving to anybody that will fucking listen.

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 17:09:53 +0000

I think the blame for the disappointing sales can be placed equally on both Axl and Best Buy. Look what Wal-Mart did with “Black Ice”. That’s on track to be the biggest selling rock album of the year.

Of course, AC/DC actually promoted their album. I really, really like Chinese Democracy, but can’t help but feel that Axl is his own worst enemy

By: Johnny Death

Johnny Death — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 17:06:34 +0000

When i went to best buy last week i was expecting to see some more promotion than there was. After looking through the cd’s I did spot a floor display in the back with maybe 10 or 15 cd’s left on it. Like AC/DC, i think the majority of gun and roses fans are now in there late 30′s and early 40′s and most likely nascar fans. Maybe when best buy does get to sell back the rest of these albums, they should go to every race track in the country and we can watch the numbers race for #1!

By: Fink

Fink — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 17:04:20 +0000

It’s a good thing I’ve never been to “Metasucks.com” – I fuckin’ hate Fox News.

By: Gary S.

Gary S. — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 17:00:41 +0000

Another two albums from the Chinese Democracy sessions? Since when did Axl Rose become the Tupac Shakur of rock and roll?! (Geffen as Death Row Records)

I think this rumor about him being missing is almost certainly untrue. I mean, save for the Guns N’ Roses tours of the last few years, Axl has essentially been a recluse, popping out of his hole only to aid Sebastian Bach or pet the occasional mammal. It should come as no surprise that he’d avoid any promotion for this record. If there is a music video for any track off this one, do not expect Axl to actually appear in it (unless, of course, they use previously recorded live footage from the aforementioned live appearances).

And anyway dreadlocked red-headed rockstars don’t go missing!