Bumblefoot: Don't Hold Your Breath for New GN'R Album

via Blabbermouth
Guns N' Roses fans shouldn't expect a new studio album from the band anytime soon, according to the band's guitarist, Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal.

Even though GN'R axeman Dj Ashba said in an interview at last week's launch party for the Call Of Duty: Black Ops video game that the band is "throwing around a bunch of ideas" for its next CD, Bumblefoot doesn't believe that a new GN'R album will surface in the foreseeable future. He writes on his Facebook page, "We've yet to get in a room and write as a band." He adds, "I know Dj mentioned something about a new album, but don't want y'all expecting anything soon. Other than old unreleased Chinese Democracy songs, songs need to be written, jammed, recorded, tweaked, re-worked, re-recorded, mixed, re-mixed, mastered, re-mastered, art, new art, label approval, a game plan from the label that Axl approves ... not as simple when it's on such a big scale ... Just don't want ya getting frustrated if a GN'R album doesn't happen quick ..."

Rose himself hinted in an interview back in 2002 that he had compiled enough songs to release follow-ups to Chinese Democracy in rapid succession, saying, "The plan is to drop the record. Have a bunch of extra tracks . about a year or so down the road, drop another record, and drop a third record. This is a three stage thing; we'll be touring for a real long time."

In addition to Ashba, Thal and sole original member Rose, the current lineup of GN'R includes guitarist Richard Fortus, bassist Tommy Stinson, keyboardists Dizzy Reed and Chris Pitman and drummer Frank Ferrer.

Guns N Roses' latest album, Chinese Democracy, was released in November 2008 as a Best Buy exclusive, 17 years after the last all-original Guns sets, Use Your Illusion I and II. The album was a commercial disappointment, selling less than one million copies in the US (according to Nielsen SoundScan) despite the long wait.

Bumblefoot joined GN'R in early 2006 as the replacement for Buckethead. He made his live debut with the band at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on May 12, 2006.

Ashba joined GN'R in March 2009 following the departure of Robin Finck.