Monday, December 24, 2007

Merry Christmas From Bumblefoot


Bumblefoot has added a really cool Tour Blog to his website:

Heey!

Just wanted to wish y'all Happy Holidays and say *THANK YOU* for everything.

Last year during the US/Canada shows, I made a little tourblog. It's the Holidays, I'm in a sharing mood, here ya go...


http://www.bumblefoot.com/tour/tourblog/bumblefoot-tourblog-2006.htm

It may not be what ya wanted for Christmas (uh, ya think??) but it's still better than a dancing elf with your fucking face on it.

Happy Holidays - love ya's, will always be grateful for your support. Can't wait to see ya's again...

Ron


Link

The Situation As I See It


CHRISTMAS EVE, 2007

GN'R Fans Get Lump Of Coal

No Album Release In Sight

No Word From Axl For 12 Months +

Fans Still Holding Out For More Leaks

Nothing Scheduled For 2008

Music Industry Sales in Slump

Velvet Revolver's Latest CD Dissapointing

Bumblefoot, Dizzy Reed, Recording And Touring With Solo Projects

Bach's Angel Down Feat. Axl Rose Sells Less Than 7,000 Copies

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Yes, Jimmy, there is a Chinese Democracy




DEAR MACK: I am 18 years old.
Some of my friends say there is no Chinese Democracy.
Dad says, 'If Baz says so, then it is so.'
Please tell me the truth; does Uncle Axl have an album?

-JIMMY O'HANLON.
22 ACACIA AVENUE.

Jimmy, your little headbanger friends are wrong. They’ve been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They don’t believe in anything. They think nothing’s real if they don’t see it on YouTube.

Yes, Jimmy, there is a Chinese Democracy. It exists as certainly as Velvet Revolver, Izzy Stradlin and Sebastian Bach exist. Hot Damn! How dreary would the world be if there was no Chinese Democracy? It would be as dreary as if there were no Jimmys. There would be no faith then, no leaks, no End of Days Soundtrack to make our lives tolerable. The eternal light with which naïve hype fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Chinese Democracy! You might as well not believe in a GN’R reunion! You might get your Dad to hire men to watch all the record stores on Christmas Eve to catch Chinese Democracy, but even if they didn’t see Chinese Democracy for sale, what would that prove? Nobody (except Baz) has ever heard Chinese Democracy, but that’s no sign that there is no Chinese Democracy. Did you ever hear a dog whistle? Of course not, but that's no proof that dogs don’t whistle. Have you ever seen Buckethead’s face? Does that mean he doesn’t have one?

You may break apart your CDs to see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering Axl’s world which not the strongest wrestler, nor even the united strength of all the fans on all the message boards in the world, could tear apart. Only faith, stupidity, dumb luck, naiveté and drunkenness, can push aside that curtain and view the freaking prolific beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Jimmy, in all this world there is nothing else as real.

No Chinese Democracy! Thank God! It’s real, and it Starts Now. A thousand years from now, Jimmy, hell, ten thousand years from now, it will continue to Start Now, and to make happy (?) the hearts of fans everywhere.

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Wifebeater Rock




In honor of Ike Turner, I thought I'd blog a little more about domestic violence and Guns N' Roses.

Axl Rose: Allegedly abused both of his high-profile model girlfriends, Erin Everly and Stephanie Seymour. Both women sued him and won. Erin claims that Axl had her bound and gagged and tied to the bed while he forced himself on her anally "really hard," and then "he took it out and stuck it in my mouth."

Steven Adler: Spent 5 months in jail for attacking two women that he dated. Double-kick?

I was reading a book on domestic violence, and one of the warning signs that a man is abusive, is listening to Guns N' Roses. I guess some people object to the message in Used To Love Her.

The following is short, and in no way complete list of Guns N' Roses songs with misogynistic themes:

•Its So Easy (Turn around bitch, I got a use for you)

•Used To Love Her (But I had to kill her, She bitched so much, She drove me nuts)

•You Aint The First (You was just a temporary lover, Lots of others came before you woman, but you been the worst)

•Back Off Bitch (Down in the gutter dyin' in the ditch)

•14 Years (Your stupid girlfriends tell you that I'm to blame, They're all just used-up has-beens)

•Shotgun Blues (I'll stick it right in your face, And then I'll put you in your motherfuckin' place, And you can suck my ass)

•Pretty Tied Up (She ain't satisfied without some pain)

•You Could Be Mine (I'll rip your heart in two, And I'll leave you lyin' on the bed with your ass in the air)

•Silk Worms (Thrown down in the gutter, It's more than you deserve, Kneeling fucking virgin, You know that's what you are, Pussy full of maggots)

•It Tastes Good, Don't It? (If you fuck with me, I'll fuck your mother, Your sister too, And your best girlfriend, I'll line 'em up, and put 'em end to end, And then I'll put out, Stick it in, I'll pull it out, I'll grab your face and cum in your mouth)

•Cornshucker (She's a cornchucker, A real buttfucker, Gotta wash my dick, After she makes me buttfuck her, Now lick it, Swallow it bitch, I like the way that K-Y greases your lips)

SOURCE: Mack Arillo

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Chinese Democracy ... 2008?

Anthony Kuzminski writes a great music blog called "The Screen Door."

Today, he talks about Chinese Democracy, and you can read it here.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Geffen and Interscope Merge!




About 60 people lost their jobs at Interscope and Geffen Records on Thursday when both labels merged into one. According to sources, a budget of $18 million was spent in making and promoting the Will.I.Am, Nicole Scherzinger(Pussycat Doll) and Eve albums - all were bombs and two aren’t even out yet.

SOURCE: Kings of A & R

SEE ALSO: Is Geffen on its way out?

Monday, December 17, 2007

Duff McKagan - Believe in Me



Fist of all, let me say, I Love This Album.

Duff McKagan - Believe in Me sounds more like Appetite for Destruction than Use You Illusion II does. This is hands-down, the best side/solo project from any of the Guns N' Roses alumni.

Check out the lineup here:

Duff McKagan - vocal, drums, bass, 12-string acoustic guitar, electric rhythm guitar, leslie guitar, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.

Slash - lead guitar
Matt Sorum - drums
West Arkeen - guitars
Ted Andreadis - organ
Jeff Beck - lead guitar
Dizzy Reed - piano
Lenny Kravitz - vocals
Gilby Clarke - guitar
Sebastian Bach - vocals

This album came out in 1992, during the gap between the Illusions albums and Spaghetti Incident? I can honestly say that I listen to Incident about one a year, and usually skip a few tracks , but Believe plays in my pickup truck constantly. Its sleazy, breezy, sneezy, and even a little bit cheesey. Here's my advice: Find this album used on eBay or amazon and then run your copies of Contraband, Libertad, and The Spaghetti Incident? through your paper shredder.

Track Listing:

Believe In Me
I Love You
Man in the Meadow
(Fucked Up) Beyond Belief
Could It Be U
Just Not There
Punk Rock Song
The Majority
10 Years
Swamp Song
Trouble
Fuck You
Lonely Tonite

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Deja Vu All Over Again




September 16th, 2002
Chinese Democracy To Be Released In December?


GUNS N' ROSES are rumored to have set December 10th (December 9th in Europe) as the release date of their long-awaited new album, Chinese Democracy, through Interscope/Geffen Records.
If the unconfirmed reports are to be believed, the album's first single, "Catcher In The Rye", is scheduled to surface on November 25th with an accompanying video to be filmed in the next four weeks prior to the start of the band's U.S. tour, which is said to have a late October kick-off date.

Chinese Democracy will reportedly contain 18 tracks, including three of the four new songs aired during the band's recent live performances — "Madagascar", "Chinese Democracy" and "The Blues". The latter cut is also said to have been tentatively tapped as the album's second single, to be released sometime in early 2003.

Among the tracks reportedly set for inclusion on Chinese Democracy are the following:

01. Catcher In The Rye
02. This I Love
03. I.R.S.
04. Oklahoma
05. There Was A Time
06. Prostitute
07. Madagascar
08. Chinese Democracy
09. The Blues

A full track listing for Chinese Democracy is reportedly not yet available. However, it is believed that the song "Rhiad And The Bedouins" — which was performed during some of the band's recent European dates — will not appear on the final CD.

As previously mentioned, plans exist for a 10-track bonus CD to be included with the main album. GUNS N' ROSES' follow-up release, which has already been fully recorded, is expected to surface in early-to-mid 2004.

SOURCE: Blabbermouth

Izzy Stradlin and the Ju Ju Hounds



Today, we're going to begin examining solo albums and side projects by the current and former members of Guns N' Roses. We'll begin at the beginning with Izzy Stradlin's debut album, "Izzy Stradlin and the Ju Ju Hounds."

In the Fall of 1991, shortly after the release of the Use Your Illusion albums, Izzy Stradlin quit Guns N' Roses. Remeber the Don't Cry video where Slash holds a hand written sign that reads: WHERE'S IZZY? Izzy leaving truly was the beginning of the end for this band. Guns were like a 5 headed hydra, that just had its country and western head sliced off. Why did Izzy leave? Well, there are many reasons/theories.

1. Izzy got busted on a commercial flight for peeing in the aisle. After that he had court-appointed drug tests and rehab. Once he was clean and sober - the rest of the band's antics were less than fun for him. He traveled separately while on tour and began to drift away.

2. Axl's increasing madness. Izzy left the band shortly after the roits in St. Louis. The first leg of the Use Your Illusions Tour was marked by now-typical behavior from Ax. Going on late, leaving in the middle of shows, and inciting riots. This would make anyone want to leave. In fact, at one gig with The Rolling Stones, Axl didn't show up at all - much to Izzy's emabarrassment.

3. The sacking of drummer Steven Adler. Adler was famously fired from GN'R for being too much of a drug addict. Izzy felt that the band was never the same with Matt Sorum on drums.

Anyway, after Izzy left, he went back to Indiana, and began writing songs for his first solo album. And what an album it is: an Alt-Country masterpiece. The best way I can describe it for you (can you really "describe" music?) is: The Rolling Stones crossed with The Jayhawks crossed with The Clash. Standout tracks include: Somebody Knockin, Shuffle It All, Cuttin the Rug, and of course the Ju Ju Hounds' cover of the Toots and the Maytals' classic: Pressure Drop (featuring Mikey Dread on vocals).



Released on October 13, 1992 by Geffen Records.

Somebody Knockin
Pressure Drop
Time Gone By
Shuffle it All
Bucket O'Trouble
Train Tracks
How Will It Go
Cuttin' the Rug
Take a Look at That Guy
Come on Now Inside
Morning Tea (hidden track)

Personnel:
Izzy Stradlin: Guitar, Vocals, Harmonica, Percussion
Jimmy Ashhurst: Bass, Backing Vocals
Charlie "Chalo" Quintana: Drums, Percussion, Backing Vocals
Rick Richards: Guitar, Percussion

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Is Geffen on the Way Out?




The Future of Geffen Records Is In Question: Sources are speculating about the future of Geffen Records who has housed artists including Guns N’ Roses, Nirvana, Sonic Youth, and Counting Crows. Although layoffs are imminent, one source within the organization pointed to a shutdown. Another source claims the Geffen imprint would continue to be associated with certain artists and releases, but the real action would be happening elsewhere.

So, the question is: Good news for Chinese Democracy or bad?

SOURCE: The Kings of A&R

Reunions Are All the Rage


With Led Zeppelin taking the stage last night for their first full concert since 1980, and with all the comeback and reunions that have taken place this year by the likes of The Eagles and The Police and Rage Against the Machine and (sort of) the Smashing Pumpkins and a reformed Van Halen, it got The Ampersand to thinking about other reunions we'd like to see, or at the very least economics might someday require.

ABBA
They turned down an offer of $1-billion dollars to reform in 2000, but why not try again? People would pay insane amounts of money to dance along to Dancing Queen.

N.W.A.
There were rumours a few years back about Snoop Dogg taking over for the late Eazy-E, but that never came to pass.

Guns N' Roses
If he ever hopes to finish Chinese Democracy, what Axl Rose needs is a good old dose of Slash.

Stone Temple Pilots
I actually don't mind Velvet Revolver, but if Slash goes back to Axl, then what is Scott Weiland going to do? He's one guy you don't want to give any free time to. He's one of the best front men in all of rock, so why not bring back STP?


You can read the full article here.

Monday, December 10, 2007

Lycos Announces Most Popular Searches of '07



Today Lycos announced the most popular internet searches terms of the year. For 2 years straight, "Poker" comes in at number 1.

But wait, if you scroll down a bit, you'll see the listing for the top bands.

GN'FR is at number 5!?

Question: What does it mean when a band that hasn't released an album of original material in 17 years makes it to the top five? And beats nostalgia act The Rolling Stones?

Answer: It means a hell of a lot of people are looking for a way to download the leaked tracks from Chinese Democracy. Well, at least that's what I think it means.

Top 10 Bands of 2007:

1) Green Day
2) Pussycat Dolls
3) Fall Out Boy
4) Nickelback
5) Guns N Roses
6) Rolling Stones
7) Evanescence
8) Black Eyed Peas
9) All American Rejects
10) The Fray

POKER Trumps all Other Search Topics to Top Lycos Year-End List for 2nd Consecutive Year
SADDAM HUSSEIN EXECUTION, Most-Searched News Event of 2007;
DANCING WITH THE STARS, Top TV Show;
TRANSFORMERS, Top Film
BRITNEY SPEARS, Most-Searched Woman,
CLAY AIKEN Web's Most Wanted Man
TMZ, Most Popular Blog Site

You can read the full article here.

Axl: "Barney's a Pussy"




Didn't You Used To Be Axl Rose? - Q Magazine


For the past eight years, Axl Rose's life has been the subject of gossip,
speculation and "reported sightings". Rumour and fact, however, combine to sketch a life that's quiet, drug-free, very withdrawn, yet largely mundane - apart from the never-ending nocturnal studio sessions.


Rather charmmingly - not an adverb often associated with Rose - at the singer's '99 Halloween fancy dress party, Dave Quakenbush, vocalist with LA punk band The Vandals, encountered him "wearing a dinosaur outfit. When some kids approached him and asked if he was Barney The Dinosaur, he said Nah! Barney's a fag! Then he stopped himself and said, Oh, uh, I mean Barney's a pussy."

You can read the rest of the article here

SOURCE: Q4music.com

Cool New Bumblefoot Video

Bumblefoot has posted a cool new video on YouTube showing the recording of his forthcoming album.

Ron seems like a genuinely cool guy, and this video gives us a little behind the scenes look at the recording process.

Hey Ax! We'd love to see this kind of thing from you too. Get in the Ring, Mo**erFu**er!


SOURCE: Bumblefoot.com


Axl Quit GNR To Gain Control of Guns N' Roses


One of the big revelations in Slash's new autobiography is how the original Guns N' Roses split up and Axl Rose gained control of the group and name. Slash also delivers bad news for those that have been hoping that the original line-up would somehow regroup, it's not going to happen.

Slash writes of the possibility of a reunion: "It's funny, when fans ask me, as they do almost every day, whether Guns, in its original form, will ever reunite, it is hard to take them seriously. That question is so asinine to me; if they knew the real story, they'd already know the answer. But my response is always the same: 'Take a look at what everyone is doing now. Duff and Matt and I are part of a really successful band. Izzy's content doing his thing; Steven too. And Axl is touring with the "new Guns." No one is making phone calls to see when we can get the band together again.'"

Just how did that "new Guns" come about? It started when Axl and the band's manager had the other members of the band sign a contract that gave Axl control of the group name if they ever broke up. And that's exactly what Axl did, he broke the group up. Slash writes that the break up was caused by "Axl wanting control to the point that the rest of us were strangled." Then on August 31, 1995 Axl dropped a bomb on Duff and Slash, the only remaining members at the time, when sent them a letter "saying he was leaving the band and taking the name with him under the terms of the contract." Of course, Slash and Duff were invited to still be part of Axl's band, but you'll have to read to book to learn more about how that worked out.

SOURCE: antiMusic.com

Saturday, December 8, 2007

Slash - The Next Boba Fett?



Worrying what to buy for friends and family this Christmas? Maybe your Dad (or Son) would like a 6" Slash action figure. You can buy it for him (or me) here.

Merry Christmas my Metalhead Friends.

SOURCE: responsesource.com

Friday, December 7, 2007

Guns N' Roses N' Promises



There's something missing this holiday season, and it's not just the lack of inclement weather.

For the first time in years, nobody is spreading rumors about the imminent arrival of a new Guns N' Roses album. "Chinese Democracy," which has been on the verge of coming out for the better part of a decade, currently has no pre-release buzz, a fact that makes us want to start a rumor right now. Things are a little bit too quiet ...

At this point, though, it might be better if the album didn't come out. A release of "Chinese Democracy" would be like O.J. Simpson suddenly finding the real killer. Aging metal-heads' hearts would give out. Stock markets would crash. MTV newsman Kurt Loder would probably have to stop working, and so would Larry King. (At this point, does anyone doubt that they're the same person?)

When Peanuts creator Charles Schulz announced his retirement in the late 1990s, there was much talk about his final strip. One popular prediction was that Charlie Brown would finally get to kick the football - advice that Schulz very wisely didn't take. If Charlie Brown kicked the football, it would undo 50 years of good comics with one bad one.

That's exactly how I feel about "Chinese Democracy." We, the remaining Guns N' Roses fan base, are Charlie Brown. The album is the football. And Axl Rose is Lucy, repeatedly setting deadlines he knows he'll never make, because the public is gullible enough to believe him. (I think Slash is Schroeder in this analogy, and Stephanie Seymour is the Little Red-Haired Girl, although I haven't totally thought that part out.)

The last time Rose announced a "tentative" release date of March 2007, no less than three dozen different news agencies reported it, including the Chicago Tribune, Hollywood Reporter and Agence France-Presse. March 2007 has come and gone, and here we are, still clutching worn-out copies of "Lose Your Illusion II" to our chests, waiting anxiously for the next rumor. There's something that's so sweet and human about the whole charade.

Below is a brief timeline, culled from a three-hour-long LexisNexis search, which contains just a fraction of the "Chinese Democracy" fake-outs that fans have endured. A new GNR album has been rumored to be in the works since 1994, but purists consider the "Chinese Democracy" AD mark to be late 1999, when the name of the new album was announced.

Nov. 7, 1999: Guns N' Roses manager Doug Goldstein says "Chinese Democracy" is nearly complete, and should be out in early 2000. "It's not entirely indicative of what the album's going to be," he says of "Oh My God," a Guns track that appears on the soundtrack to "End of Days," a 1999 action picture starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. "It's a song that seemed to fit the movie."

January 2000: Rolling Stone magazine interviews Rose and reports that the new album is penciled in for a summer 2000 release. "I'd like to take some of the old Guns fans along with me into the 21st Century," Rose tells the magazine.

May 11, 2001: The New York Daily News quotes an "insider," who says the album is basically done. "The album has been finished to everybody else's satisfaction for over a year now," the source says. "But Axl keeps going back to remix it and add vocals."

November 2002: Guns N' Roses keyboard player Dizzy Reed tells the Cleveland Plain Dealer that the album should be out by summer 2003. "There are just a few odds and ends left to do - a couple of finishing touches, a couple of vocals - and we need to mix it," Reed says.

Aug. 21, 2003: Guns N' Roses bass player Tommy Stinson tells the Albany Times-Union that work on the album has "been going great." "It's closer to the end of the record being completed than the beginning," he says. "... I'm not drinking the company Kool-Aid on all that. That's all straight info. I guarantee that the album's coming out. Hopefully it'll be out sometime before the end of the year."

April 5, 2004: After new Guns N' Roses guitarist Buckethead quits, Rose says in a release, "We hope to announce a release date within the next few months."

January 2006: On a Philadelphia radio show, former Guns guitarist Slash says of "Chinese Democracy," "It's coming out in March ... I've been told a lot of things over the years, but it definitely sounds like it's coming out in March."

January 2006: Rose tells Rolling Stone that the band is working on 32 songs, with 13 expected to make the final cut. "People will hear the music this year," he says.

November 2006: Several publications report that the album will be released by the end of the year, with the band's Web site strongly suggesting it will be released on a Tuesday in November or December.

Dec. 15, 2006: Rose puts a statement on the official Guns N' Roses Web site, announcing a tentative March 6, 2007, release date. "To say the making of this album has been an unbearably long and incomprehensible journey would be an understatement," Rose says.

March 2007 passed, and we haven't heard another definitive word about the album, which reportedly has accumulated more than $10 million in recording costs. Meanwhile, the band continued on a short world tour in June and July.

Whatever minor inconvenience Guns N' Roses fans are enduring, I feel much more sympathy for W. Axl Rose, whose life at this point must be like Bill Murray in "Groundhog Day." (Axl's Journal: Clock radio wakes me up at noon. That f- Velvet Revolver song is on again ... Come to the slow realization that for the 3,126th day, "Chinese Democracy" isn't done ... Have breakfast with Andie MacDowell and Chris Elliot ...)

The delay of the album, which was frustrating at first, has become a more entertaining spectacle than anything that could possibly be on the album. Every generation has its crazy musicians, and for the children of the 1980s, Axl Rose is definitely our heaviest hitter. Although the unreleased GNR album hasn't yet approached the madness surrounding Brian Wilson's 37-years-in-the-making "Smile," I'm definitely rooting for it to break the record. If "Chinese Democracy" comes out a year before 2031, it will be too soon.

It's also hard to feel like I'm missing out on new Guns N' Roses, because I've already heard most of the content. Between the songs that have already commercial airplay, the tracks I've heard in concert (Axl has been playing "Chinese Democracy" content since a 2001 Guns tour) and a mysterious Internet download that arrived on my desk in CD form last year, I feel like I've listened to the entire album three or four times. I've certainly listened to more of the new album than "The Spaghetti Incident," the last GNR album, which came out in 1993.

The "Chinese Democracy" tracks that have surfaced offer no clues as to why the album has been delayed so long. The songs are actually not that bad. And other than a slight industrial edge (and an exodus of nearly every band member other than Rose), it barely differs from the last two original Guns N' Roses albums. "Chinese Democracy" could be "Use Your Illusion III."

Even if it's another "Appetite for Destruction," it can't possibly eclipse the fun journalists have had writing about the album. My search revealed at least a dozen different writers who used the same punch line, speculating whether there will be a democracy in China before we see "Chinese Democracy."

Axl Rose may get wrinkly and gray before his next album drops, but that joke will never, ever grow old.



SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle

Fender unveils new Duff McKagan Bass


Duff McKagan P Bass®

Designed for the man who has earned his place in rock history by holding down the low end for bands such as Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver, our Duff McKagan Signature Bass is rock and roll.

Based on the instrument he has used ever since the first GNR album, the Duff McKagan Signature model is a distinctive, sleek and full-sounding reissue of the '80s-era Jazz Bass® Special, which combined a Precision Bass® body with a Jazz Bass neck and a set of Precision and Jazz Bass pickups. That's all here, with a Pearl White finish, gloss-black neck and headstock, TBX circuit (treble/bass cut), black hardware and custom skull-engraved neck plate. There is no other Fender bass in the line right now with this look, feel or sound.

SOURCE: Fender.com

Izzy Stradlin "Fire....The Acoustic Album" available now


Izzy's latest solo album entitled "Fire....The Acoustic Album" is now available (only) in the iTunes Music Store.

Track listing:

1. I Don't Mind
2. Infrastruk
3. Listen
4. Airbus
5. Fire
6. Seems to Me
7. Long Night
8. Box
9. Milo
10. Harp Song

Check out the album here

Want Piano Lessons From Dizzy Reed?


If you live in L.A. and want to learn how to play Rock N' Roll piano come check Dizzy out on Dec. 15th. Ticket prices are $75 and can be purchased through the phone number listed below.

Guitar Merchant
7503 Topanga Cyn. Blvd.
Canoga Park, CA 91303
818-884-5905

4:00PM-5:30PM on December 15th

SOURCE: Here Today...Gone to Hell

Slash: "Never Say Never" to Guns N' Roses Reunion


60 SECONDS:What was the high point of your time in Guns N’ Roses?

SLASH:The whole thing was a high point. It was the best thing I could have got involved with. I always judged how successful we were by the response from the fans. Towards the end it was overwhelming. The biggest concerts we did were two Rock In Rio festivals, where we played to more than 190,000 people. Playing in front of that many people is a lot to take in so I hid behind the guitar, the hat, the hair, the cigarette – but you can definitely still feel them out there.

60 SECONDS:Will you ever work with Axl Rose again?

SLASH:I always say ‘never say never’ but it’s not going to happen in the foreseeable future.

SOURCE: 60 SECONDS

Slash: "I could have matched Amy's drinking"





Former Guns ‘N Roses guitarist Slash believes he could have matched R&B singer Amy Winehouse drink for drink — a few years ago.


The 42-year-old Slash believes he could have been Winehouse’s drinking friend and he would have presented tough competition, Mirror.co.uk reported.

He said, “Amy talks a lot about how much she can drink and I put a lot of booze away in my day. If I was still drinking I’m sure we'd be hanging out.” Slash is now with the reformed band Velvet Revolver consisting of former members of Stone Temple Pilots and Guns ’N Roses.

SOURCE: Times of India

Bach: "Guns N' Roses to release trilogy by 2012"


A friend of Guns N' Roses' front man Axl Rose claims the wayward singer plans to release a trilogy of albums by 2012.

Metal Edge: Well, Ive heard the six tracks that were leaked, and they're amazing

Bach: But those arent the final versions. he laughed about those. those arent the record. those are some other version of whatever. One of my favorite songs - I asked axl if I could mention the song titles and he said "fine"--and one of my favorite songs is this song called "the general" which is so, its by far the heaviest metal tune I think ive ever heard axl do, this slow grinding riff with these high peircing vocals, screaming vocals. I was like , when is this coming out? and he said "2012" I was like dude, your killin me! He goes, "well this comes out on the third record. it relates to this song, its a trilogy, this goes with this lyrically." hes got it all figured out, hes just different than other people. he does thingso n his own time, in his own way, but you know...the worlds not prepared for what ive heard from this guy. its got the grandness and the epic-ness of november rain but with the snarl, the attitude of appetite. because the album that ive heard, alot of the drumming is by brain, who plays so heavy and mean. its a really...grand is the word for it, but its still got that attitude. Theres some great music comin' your way. My album meanwhile is 100 percent comin out on november 20. thats 100 percentile. its done, its mastered, ive got it on my fucking ipod and its ready to go.

Metal Edge: Do you ever get him on the phone and say "will you just put your fuckin record out already?"

Bach:
I said that to him once, and it was one of the only times he bristled at me. He goes "Oh, everybody, sebastians got a great fucking idea. Hey! I should put out a record! Thanks, man what would I do without you dude...thats awesome." I was like Ok, I get it. Ill never say that again. see, the thing that nobody gets, that I get, is that he has like four albums Done. Ive heard it. So get ready! All you people who dont think hes gonna put out a record are sadly mistaken. He just takes his time. its his album. axl does what he wants to do, thats the way it is. And just cause you havent heard it doesnt mean its not done.

SOURCE: Metal Edge Magazine

The Fifty Best Songs Over Seven Minutes Long


Estranged - Guns n Roses

Editors' and readers' picks — in alphabetical order — from the Allman Brothers to Frank Zappa

SOURCE:RollingStone.com

Hose N' Rose


Axl Rose 'Fought To Save His Home' From Wildfire


KCAL-TV (Channel 9), an independent station in Los Angeles, California owned by CBS Corporation, is reporting that GUNS N' ROSES frontman Axl Rose has plenty to be thankful for this Thanksgiving weekend, but it was a close call. The wildfire in Southern California that left six firefighters hurt and destroyed dozens burnt his roof and all around his expansive property. Rose's assistant Beta Lebeis, who lives on the property, says the rock legend fought to save his home. "He helped a lot," she said. "He did a lot. He was with the hose everywhere. Then the firetruck came in and locked us. So then they told us, 'Just close the garage doors and just go back in. There's nothing you can do,' because it was like an inferno outside."A KCAL-TV report on the Malibu wildfire — which includes shots of Axl's home and a short interview with Rose's assistant — can be viewed here.

SOURCE: Blabbermouth.net

Scott Weiland Arrested



Velvet Revolver frontman Scott Weiland has been arrested for DUI.

Failing sobriety tests after crashing his car on Nov. 11 in Southern California's San Fernando Valley, Weiland, 40, was arrested for DUI, according to a California Highway Patrol news release. The accident was a "non-injury traffic collision," said authorities.

The musician was booked at the Van Nuys jail and refused to take a blood or urine test, according to the CHP. He posted $40,000 bail and is due in court on Dec. 13.

The singer has yet to be formally charged by the Los Angeles City Attorney's office.

The former Stone Temple Pilots singer has run afoul of the law numerous times over the years. He was jailed for drug offenses in the 1990s and was arrested on domestic-violence charges in 2001.

Earlier this year, Weiland's wife Mary was arrested and booked for investigation of felony arson vandalism after allegedly setting fire to some of husband's clothes.

In July, Weiland claimed he was past his troubles, saying, "There's definitely a Cleaver sense about our household."

Source:People.com

Axl was serious about putting Chinese Democracy out before Christmas


Sebastian Bach, the unofficial spokesperson for Guns N' Roses was recently interviewed by RockMyMonkey.com. He talked about touring and performing with Guns N' Roses around the world.

Rock My Monkey: Do you have any idea when fans will get to hear you sing on the Chinese Democracy song, “Sorry”?

Sebastian Bach: "I think it will be sooner rather than later. I really do, because I’ve heard it. I know Axl was very serious about putting something out before Christmas. He was talking to me about it. He was talking about finishing liner notes. I don’t know what happened. I don’t know why the fuck it didn’t happen. I know it wasn’t him. People like to say ‘Why doesn’t Axl put out his record?’ I think there’s a lot of business shit that goes on with him. It’s just not as easy. It’s a little more complicated than people think."

Read the rest of the interview here.

Source: RockMyMonkey.com

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Duff - A Serious Case of That Beautiful Disease


Metal Edge
June, 1999
by Mike G

MG: Congratulations on your Beautiful Disease. It's punky, brash, heavy, and has more than a few surprises! Great guitar! Your vocals are another pleasant surprise. I loved it.

DM: Thanks. I want you to know, before we start, that this is my first interview for this solo project. I wanted Metal Edge to be first… Anyway, I really took a step back. I had a bunch of songs. I went in to record. I wasn't gonna sing. Nope. I wasn't sure what I would do, but when I went to lay down the tracks in my home studio… Oh wait, let me tell ya' about this great home-recording studio I have! It's the real deal. It's one of the things I did when I bought the house. I said, "Hey, if nothing else, I'm gonna make it into a studio and I can always record, if not for the public, definitely for myself!" So, I wasn't gonna sing at first, ya' know? But I started singing anyway, and was pushed by a few people I had up to the house for maybe them to sing. They heard the songs I sang and they just went, "Man, this has possibility."

MG: Many of these songs are so personal, like "Who's To Blame," about the break-up of Guns N' Roses. Who else is gonna sing lines like, "Some people think I went and threw it away," or, "I don't care anymore, so tired of thinking it through"? Only you!

DM: Still, I had some really soulful guys singing that stuff. I had Stevie Ray Vaughan's singer, the guy from Arc Angels, and he said, "Dude, you should sing your own songs." And he was amazing! That gave me confidence.

MG: Let's get the Guns N' Roses stuff out of the way. You were offered large sums of money to return to the band that Axl Rose is currently putting back together, were you not?

DM: Yeah, I was. But it's nothin' but big business these days. That's where it all went, and I was wrapped up right in the middle of it. I had folks yelling in my ear, "Hey man, you can't walk away from this million and that million, blah, blah, blah." I had been doing it more for other people then myself. The manager, the label, the band, a bunch of other people. I finally woke up one day, I swear to god, it was just like, "Well, I never started doing this for the money in the first place. So…" Hey, when I moved down to Hollywood, I never thought money when it came to music. There was no way I was ever in music for money. Fame, yeah. Girls, yeah. To be up there on stage, shit yeah. But money? And it didn't really hit me until I had already got the house, the car, then two houses, then two cars, and I realized, whoa, I was doing it for the money. It wasn't fun anymore. So when they asked me back, I asked myself, "If I went back now, it would only be for the money, so why should I start doing it for the money now?" No way. It was ridiculous. It was an absolutely ridiculous thought and that's when I just went, "Screw this, screw the lawyers and the accountants and everything else that's supposed to be so damn important. I want out. I wanna do my music." So that's what I did.

MG: When Guns first came out, rock 'n' roll was stagnant, and you guys hit like a shot of dynamite. I'll never forget seeing you at the Beacon Theater in New York, thinking, "Wow, these guys are gonna save rock 'n' roll!" There was such an aura of total unpredictability to your live show, like no band since The Doors. Appetite For Destruction is still one of the greatest rock albums ever, your videos were all over TV, then it all unraveled fast. What the hell happened?

DM: Don't you think I've asked myself that same question over and over? I don't know, man. Because if there was one thing about the band, we were such a family. We really did do it totally on our own. We didn't have a manager at the beginning, we did everything - we got a lawyer and we got our deal. We didn't trust anybody, and rightfully so. This secret society was created, it was us against everybody else. Nobody could really get in and we thought to ourselves, "Nothing could ever tear us apart!"

MG: Was it the drugs?

DM: Not so much. You know what it was? It was the fame. It was the press. It was the almost unlimited power. We got too fuckin' huge, too fast. It got so big, so fast, that in most countries, we couldn't even go out after the show when we were on tour. I remember we'd all be sittin' in the damn hotel room watching CNN just to see what was going on. It was that kind of isolation, that kind of fame… and of course, us trying so hard to be bad boys like The Rolling Stones. For me, personally, it was one of the darkest points of my life when we were that big. It was so unreal. Izzy left halfway through the Illusions tour. We still were holding on to that band family thing. And like a trooper, he came back out on the road with us - even though his heart wasn't in it - when Gilby broke his wrist. Later, he told me we were like zombies. Nobody on the stage was even talking to each other. It wasn't because we were hating each other, we were just kind of going through the motions. So scary. In Europe and South America, especially, it was fanatical, and we were just dazed. WE WERE FUCKING ZOMBIES! Izzy couldn't believe the change. I mean, we were hell-bent on doing whatever we had to do to continue. There were riots in the streets. We couldn't go from our cars to the gig. That shit scared the hell out of me. Yet, through it all, I still thought we were gonna pull it together after we got off that long tour. It started to happen again for a second for us. I got excited again… For about a minute. But no, it was just too big a business, and none of us had the training for that.

MG: At what point did you think it was gonna come back together?

DM: We started going to Slash's house. I'd gone out on the road promoting my first solo record [1993's Belive In Me]. I was touring Europe and Japan, then I got sick. That's when I started visiting Slash at his house. He has a little studio there and we had a batch of songs. But, ya' know what? Without Izzy, we just weren't writing the old way. We had a bunch of great songs, but the way we uses to write wasn't all sitting in a room and trying to force ourselves to be a family. We just were. But there was a point up there where it was looking good and we started cranking out songs, but it just started falling apart.

MG: Now Slash isn't even involved. Neither are you or Izzy. What's gonna run through your mind when you see and hear Axl up there fronting "Guns N' Roses" again?

DM: Aah. I don't know. I can't answer that until it happens. I mean, it really isn't part of my life anymore so I don't think about it that much. Of course, it was a huge part of my life. I gotta admit, it was a magical time. [speaking softly] We really were an amazing band. The electricity in the room when we rehearsed was incredible. You could feel it! You can't match what we had. I love a lot of different music, and the guys Axl's got playing now are great guys, I know them all, but it's not Guns. Commercially, I think that's where it's going, that's the reason. What a shame. You and I can talk and remember the Beacon gig, or the Ritz gig, and say it was good. It was amazing, but big business rules all. I have to look at it now with that sort of cold eye. That's what it is and that's the way it's going. I've got to move on and I'm happy the way I am. I am so glad I'm not there. Axl's a good guy, but we tried and it just didn't happen. The timing wasn't right.

MG: I guess we could call you a rock 'n' roll survivor, with your severe drug and alcohol problems. You've been sober five years now?

DM: Pretty close… I'm getting there. Studying martial arts has helped immensely. I'm studying with the real guys, guys that have what it takes to get a real black belt. Now, you pay two grand and you can buy a damn black belt these days. It means next to nothing anymore, it's like buying doughnuts. Especially in Los Angeles - there's a dojo in every strip mall. But back in the day of the real full-contact karate, these guys I train with would just tape up their knuckles with black duct tape or black electrical tape, tape up their toes, and go. That was it. They'd really blood each other out, really hurt each other, but that was the development of American contact fighting.

MG: It's more then just fighting. Isn't it a whole mindset? Didn't it help you in getting straight.

DM: Oh yeah. The physical part of it is only about 30-percent. My sensai trains a lot of kickboxing champions, and I'll get in the ring as just a sparring partner for somebody getting ready to fight. I'll get my ass kicked, but I'll get in the ring. That's how far you can go without any fear. And it has nothing to do with being a macho guy. It has more to do with being so at peace with yourself that you can do anything without fear. It gave me the self confidence to walk and talk without compromising. I got broken down to a point where I was below human, but through a lot of work, a lot of pain, and a lot of truth, I'm back. And I'm glad for every minute of it.

MG: So you're totally straight now. You don't have one drink.

DM: Nothing. The thing is, I don't crave it. I'm a recovering drug addict. "Recovering" means I'll be that was until I the day I die. That was a different life. Physically, I broke down my muscles to the point where big poisonous boils were actually coming out of my skin! This is when I was kicking drugs and trying to get back into shape. The condition was so hardcore, that stuff was just oozing out from deep within me. But, it's all out of my system now. I don't even crave a drink or anything. It's totally cool.

MG: Let's get to the songs on Beautiful Disease. Opener "Seattle Head" is really heavy. Funny, I know you're from there, always had a lot to do with underground punk bands in that area, but the song is about L.A.!

DM: Ya' know that chunka-chunka type guitar at the beginning? Well, I was in a band after Guns called Neurotic Outsiders [with Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones, Duran Duran's John Taylor, and Guns drummer Matt Sorum]. That's when I wrote this. I had brought my Marshall head down from Seattle and one of the engineers asked me how I got that chunka-chunka sound. I said, "Oh, it's my Seattle head." And it stuck. It's that simple.

MG: You seem to have this love-hate relationship with L.A.

DM: [laughing] Oh, you noticed! There are a lot of things I hate about L.A. I mean, I live here, I'm not complaining, it's just the truth. I discovered it when I first moved here. You think of Hollywood being this really glamorous place. It's a cesspool! The stark really hit me quick. Bam! I moved here to get out of that! I lived right in the middle of a lower class area of Hollywood and it was like, "Wow, this place is just drugs and crime." And I dove straight in, head-first. At one point we were the total kingpins of that scene. So I developed this relationship with the city. I'd fly into Los Angeles and tell friends, "Look at this fuckin' place. I've got this place by its balls!" But is that really where I want to be?

MG: So the first three songs - "Seattle Head," "Who's To Blame" and "Superman" - are hard 'n' fast, then comes "Song For Beverly," a stunning and somber pop meditation. Who is Beverly?

DM: A supermodel friend of my girlfriend Susan. Susan told me a story one night of the first black model on the cover of Vogue. Really cool. She just did it on own terms but she started getting into drugs and she had a little baby girl and she just totally disappeared. So weird, man. She just vanished. Took her girl and gone. Did she mix with the wrong crowd? It's a mystery. [She finally turned up, by the way, complete with baby, to make the rounds of the television talk-shows.]

MG: "Shinin' Down" - Are your talking about the concept of a higher power here, like what they teach you when you're rehabbing from drugs?

DM: No. I didn't go to rehab, I went to the hospital. My rehab was a lot different from the norm. Effective as hell, though. Ya' see, my pancreas blew up so bad, I was admitted into a regular hospital. I saw an image of my doctor's face turning white. I was going to die. Another surgeon came in, and I had to sign something. Meanwhile, I'm out of it on morphine, but sensing I'm to die, I let them cut out my pancreas to put me on dialysis. And then my mom - she's got Parkinson's Disease - she's crying. I even saw myself above the bed, like I was floating up by the ceiling. I question everything, ya' know? I've had two really close calls now where I saw some things. You can read these books like Into The Light, but I'm telling you, I saw something and I was enveloped by something. It was great. If they could make a pill of this and give it to everybody in the world, we'd never have a war again. Whatever it was, some people say it's just nerves firing off massive amounts of endorphins. I can't put it to that. I don't know what it was but it was something. It was bright and it was warm and I was very, very fine with going to where it was taking me. It was amazing and I'm not scared of death because of it. So whatever it is, I think "Shinin' Down" has a lot to do with it.

MG: "Missing You," about the loss of a friend to heroin, is incredible because of its sheer use of dynamics, plus its inherent lyrical anger. It's so true. At some point, you have to realize that junkies are the most selfish people in the world. So to hell with them! And that's what you're saying in the song.

DM: [excited] You get it! You get the song! I'm so glad to hear that. I wasn't sure if people would get it. I lost so many best friends to heroin. This song's about [songwriter] Wes Arkeen in particular. Wes trained with me. He lasted a year. I got him out of the hospital with gangrene on both of his arms. Open abscesses. They were going to remove both arms! So he came from that to my dojo and turned into another person. I thought, "Aah, he's finally made it." But I told him again - I said, "Wes, if you ever go back to heroin, I can't go through the pain of you dying, so I swear to god, I'm gonna just detach myself from you 'cause you are gonna die." Sure enough, after a few years, he fell back in. When a friend of his died in his bathroom, I thought that would make him up. It didn't. So I stopped returning his calls. He would call so stoned. I'd hang up. Until someone else called me to tell me he was dead. He was my best friend! But there was only so much you could do, and my first reaction was, I WAS PISSED!

MG: The song is rockin' yet it's wise. It's got some truly cool chord changes and thar wonderfully strange intro. Then there's "Hope" and "Rain," two songs I thought I'd never hear from Duff McKagan.

DM: That's me, really! "Hope" is about how we think the world's gonna end. Sure, we have the capability of ending it all with nuclear missiles, and the worth of human life seems like nothing what with drive-by shootings and Bosnia. But, ya' know what? Fuck that. There have been atrocities in the world for centuries. We're just another crux of ugliness… Hey, that's a good name for a band, Crux Of Ugliness. A hardcore band… I've seen a lot of stuff. Everybody has. I believe every human being has some really great qualities on the inside. I don't care who it is. That's what the song's about. Start laughing instead of crying, because the end is nowhere near. Take a step back and look at the whole situation. Worry about yourself and your loved ones first. If everybody does that, everything should lighten up and be OK.

MG: "Beautiful Disease" is life itself, isn't it? It's seeing the world through brand new eyes. Like a baby. Or someone reborn. Or like through the eyes of a former junkie who's now straight. Loving every minute of life itself.

DM: [softly] Wow man, you really got it again. That's perfect. Ya' know, I hope you're a good indicator of how other people will take it. Life was new to me. Just focusing and being able to read books… I could see the words, man! It began with simple things like that. You know what I mean? Have you been through it yourself?

MG: I've always been a believer in the old adage, "All things in moderation."

DM: You're fortunate. You created your own luck because you've never been dumb enough to take it that far.

MG: But you did, and now you're experiencing life to the fullest.

DM: Yeah. It's this new thing that I found - Life itself! And I certainly don't take it for granted anymore. I've got a baby girl. Everything about her is so amazing. The guys I've got in my band. Everything is just so cool. I could go on. I drive down and just look at houses. Study the architecture. Simple things that I never stopped to fathom. Stuff I hadn't thought about since I was 14.

MG: Talked to Steven Adler [original Guns drummer] lately? I know you're trying out new drummers, why not Adler?

DM: I'd use him in a second, but he's another one of those guys that you know the phone call is gonna come… I mean, I hate to say that, because I love the guy, but I think he's back in jail now. Drugs… I saw him about two years ago - Izzy, Wes and I went to his house. We tried to talk to him - "Hey man, you're gonna die," we said. It didn't work. He was a mess. If I let him drum in my band, he'd fool himself into thinking he was OK because I was using him. I'd be what's called an "enabler." And I wont do that.

SOURCE: Metal Edge