“Well, the challenges were the band didn’t like what I was doing,” Wilson admitted (via Blabbermouth). “That came through the record company, and I did it all, and then the band basically vetoed it all. So the only thing that ever came out was my remix of ‘November Rain’, with a real orchestra added.”

It wasn’t a case of poor craftsmanship, but more of a philosophical clash over the sound itself.

“And that was a shame, ’cause that’s a lot of music on those records — I think I worked on about 40 songs, including outtakes, B-sides, and God knows what else. And then the band basically turned around and decided they didn’t like it. They didn’t like [Dolby] Atmos, they didn’t like the idea of their music being in spatial audio. So that project is kind of just sitting on my hard drive, unreleased and unheard. It’s such a shame. Amazing, amazing records. Amazing records. But yes, a shame in a way that it got sort of bogged down in band politics and God knows what else.”

For fans hoping for a sneak listen through back channels, don’t count on it. Wilson says his circle isn’t exactly clamoring for those remixes.

“Well, to be honest, no, because … we didn’t grow up with Guns N’ Roses,” he explained when asked if friends ever ask to hear the unreleased mixes. “Guns N’ Roses was kind of the next generation. I grew up in the ’80s, so the bands all my sort of generation were listening to were The Smiths, The Cure. If it were metal, it would’ve been Metallica. It wouldn’t have been Guns N’ Roses. It would’ve been [Metallica‘s] Master Of Puppets from ’85 rather than [Guns N’ Roses‘] Appetite For Destruction from ’89. So I just missed that generation, yeah. I just missed that generation.”

Still, the studio occasionally turns into a time machine when friends visit.

“But yeah, sometimes people, friends come over and I bring them into the studio and I’ll blast them with some… I say, ‘What music did you grow up with?’ And I’ve usually got something, I’ve usually got something I’ve worked on, which they’ll remember from their childhood, I can blow their mind [with].”

The only piece of his Guns N’ Roses work that made it to fans was a newly orchestrated version of “November Rain,” released in 2022 as part of the Use Your Illusion box set. The lush arrangement featured a 50-piece orchestra under the direction of composer Christopher Lennertz.

As Wilson explained in a Facebook post at the time, “The new 2022 version is the same performance as the original, and mixed faithfully to the established version, but with newly recorded orchestration replacing the sampled sounds used at the time.”

Though the rest of the project remains locked away, it’s clear that Wilson approached it with care and respect. Whether or not those remixes ever surface may depend less on technology and more on the ever-complicated dynamics of legacy and artistic control.
https://www.sonicperspectives.com/news/ … ard-drive/