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#1171 Re: Guns N' Roses » Burton Cummings Axl/RRHOF Reference » 705 weeks ago
Axl formally left that band, taking with him the rights to name a band GNR, then formed a new band called GNR where he was in sole command and with the object of recording industrial tracks...then asked Slash and Duff to join as employees. Slash refused.
Um, the way it went down (AFAIK);
- Early 90s. Partnership contract revised; if Axl quits, he gets the name.
- Mid 90s. Axl quits, partnership disbands, Axl gets the name.
- 1996. Slash, Duff, Matt, Dizzy, Paul become contract players. Slash quits/is fired during his trial period in the new Guns organization.
No one quit from GNR until Axl fundamentally redefined what GNR was.
Izzy quit when the old partnership was still in effect, though since the amendment predates the UYI release (I think), you could say Axl had already restructured the distribution of power within the band.
#1172 Re: Guns N' Roses » Guns N' Roses Live in London (Airing on Vh1 Classic) » 705 weeks ago
Who took over Monkey's account and are posting all this negative crap lately!?
He's disappointed and he has every reason to be.
Whomever was behind that fuck-up, fucked up.
I know Axl's gang has the stock answer ("not our fault"), but it gives the fans little. It gets old.
Just like 'shut up and be grateful for the little you do get'.
#1173 Guns N' Roses » The AntiQuiet Mystery » 706 weeks ago
- apex-twin
- Replies: 9
"I don't know any more than you do," Slash says of Chinese Democracy. "There's only a couple of songs with vocals on it -- I know that for a fact. But it will come out one of these days."
-RS, 06/17/04
To be fair, I think the above is a bit unfair on Slash. The wording suggests he could've meant either
- knowing for a fact there are at least a few songs with vocals (the ones performed live in '02)
- knowing for a fact there are only a couple of songs with vocals, at all
Up until the 2005 IRS leak into public (as a lo-fi recording of radio show by one certain Eddie Trunk), this pretty much summed up the outlook on the sessions. IRS was, bitterly, piled up to the same stack, and it wasn't until the early 2006 leaks (2003 mixes of Better, TWAT, IRS & Catcher '99) before this argument was effectively put to bed.
Looking back, the 2006 leaks filled a void and everybody seemed to have confidence in the album again. Had it come out in November, it would've easily sold the 2008 numbers and then some. What really ruined the album for the rest of us were the AntiQuiet leaks by Kevin "Skwerl" Cogill.
But what if the AntiQuiet leaks were the ultimate faux pas, tying up to a powerplay conducted, among others, by GNR's then-manager Irving Azoff and some execs at Universal?
Not suggesting that it's so, obviously. All I can say is, when put underneath scrutiny, one does wonder how an ex-Universal employee got a slap on the wrist for leaking nine out of fourteen tracks out of a deep-in-the-red studio album five months before the ultimate release.
FBI agents raided Cogill’s home [on August 26th, 2008], and [at the time, he pleaded not] guilty to uploading nine pre-release songs to his Antiquiet site from the 14-track Chinese Democracy album [on June 18th]. ... The best advice he got was from his Los Angeles lawyer, Kaloyanides.
“He told me,” Cogill said, “‘to shut my fucking mouth and don’t say shit to the feds.’” But Kaloyanides was retained too late, after Cogill spilled the beans and handed over his laptop. ... He said he did not inform the authorities where he got [the songs], although he said they asked.
Laptops such as this represent vested interests to Universal. Not only does it give you access to the tracks, you can get web history, e-mail discussions, and overall damning evidence of the source, if you get lucky.
While working at Universal, I encountered an exec who had heard a bunch of the songs. When I asked him flat out if it was any good, he solemnly lowered his eyes and tone, and said, “Seriously? It’s some of the best fucking music I’ve ever heard in my life.”
- AntiQuiet, 06/06/08
[In November, Cogill] pleaded guilty to uploading nine pre-release songs to his Antiquiet site from the 14-track Chinese Democracy album. ...The charges were subsequently reduced to a one-year maximum, misdemeanor copyright-infringement charge, which did not require proof that Chinese Democracy was going to be released.
In April, the second biggest possible headline related to Chinese Democracy appeared on every music newswire in existence: The album has been finished and delivered by Axl to Geffen. So what’s the hold-up? Well, Axl is negotiating with the label on how to release it.
- AntiQuiet, 06/06/08
The album’s slow production is significant insofar as copyright infringement law is concerned. ... With the album in production for a decade and a half, ... that would have required prosecutors to prove that [Cogill] had distributed pre-release, commercial material over the internet.
Hey, their defense is stonking, Axl and Geffen would spent an infinite amount of time on how to release and market the material. Are the Feds really eating this all up?
(Los Angeles federal prosecutor Craig) Missakian said “internal discussions,” which he declined to disclose, paved the way for the government to agree to reducing the charges on the plea agreement. ... Other likely factors for the reduced charge, Kaloyanides said, was that some of the tracks had leaked in England 15 months before and it “might have been an intentional leak from somebody on the inside.”
Anyone remember was the Portugese Cabal involved in them?
... “That was one of our positions that there was never any indication [Chinese Democracy] was coming out anytime soon,” said Cogill’s attorney, David Kaloyanides, in a Wednesday telephone interview.
On the grounds that CD would not be released any time soon, Cogill made a plea deal on the uploads to reduce his sentece - just 11 days before the commercial release date. Another fine moment in the history of civil courts.
Leading up to the entire incident, Cogill had already blogged up a rather suspectible entry, particularly in how it well it correlates with CD's actual release:
Go nuts on the packaging if you want Axl, but please don’t subject us to some drawn-out hype ramp-up to a release date months down the line. You already have our attention and we’ve been waiting long enough. Geffen, do yourself a favor, don’t waste another day or another million bucks on promotion this album just doesn’t need. When this album drops, everyone will hear about it. And the more you dick around with the details, the more likely the album is to leak on the internet, spoiling whatever big plans you’re cooking up anyway.
- AntiQuiet, 06/06/08
And if you look at the above sideways, it could just as well have been said by a disgruntled Universal exec, perhaps the one who was praising the material to Cogill back in the day.
I always said that the more that Axl and Geffen jerked around trying to figure out how to release this finally finished album that we’ve all been waiting over 13 years for, the greater the chances would be that it would slip out of a pressing plant or office somewhere and wind up in the hands of some asshole with a blog.
- Kevin Cogill, 06/18/08
Cogill got no time after agreeing to do an RIAA public service announcement that would scare future file sharers straight. ... "Due to various elements of this case (not to mention unnecessarily high production costs), we chose not to produce one," [an RIAA response] e-mail said.
And the Skwerl case was still in session after CD had been released. Yet no-one could be arsed to prosecute him on a sure-fire case to prematurely leak material meant for a commercial release.
But let's roll back.
Cogill made a plea towards Axl and Geffen in early June, leaked the tracks in mid-June and got the Feds on his door in late August. What else happened then?
Exclusive Leaks
The leaks, as well as the well-publicized arrest, coincided with an apparently critical period in the album release negotiations. Apparently, Azoff had requested a competing offer from Wal-Mart, a retail chain with which he'd made a 1-year exclusive distribution deal for The Eagles' comeback album Long Road out of Eden in 2007.
"According to sources, negotiations are underway for "Chinese Democracy" to come out as an exclusive at one of the big boxes - either Wal-Mart or Best Buy. Negotiations are also ongoing to have conventional record company distribution, another source says." (Billboard, 08/15/08)
"The current intended release date for Chinese Democracy is November 25, 2008. It is Azoff's strong preference that the release be done through Best Buy and not Wal-Mart. [...] I was also told that the story was leaked by Azoff to put pressure on Best Buy to up their offer and close the deal. (Mister Saint-Laurent, 08/19/08)
"A source tells Rolling Stone that a November release date has been selected in case the [GNR] decides to put [the album] out." (Rolling Stone, 08/28/08)
"A little birdie told me the deal with Best Buy is done. All that's left to do is sign the contract." (Bob Lefsetz, 08/31/08)
"I hear that the deal with Best Buy is 99% done. The plan is for Best Buy to have an exclusive on Chinese Democracy, which will be released the Tuesday before Thanksgiving [namely, 11/25/08]." (Mack Arillo, 09/01/08)
All this a few days following the arrest of Kevin Skewrl.
#1174 Re: The Sunset Strip » Most Recent Movie You've Seen » 706 weeks ago
To me [Bruce Willis'] finest is Moonlight selected episodes, Die Hard, Pulp Fiction, 12 Monkeys, 6th Sense, Unbreakable and now Looper.
I see England, I see France, I see Maddie's Netherworld is probably the best of the bunch. 
#1175 Re: Guns N' Roses » Axl Rose - USA Today interviews » 706 weeks ago
Anway back on topic, good interview, all these little things make such a difference, Axl could have built up such a better rep for himself amongst the public and even his own fans if he'd done a few more of these over the years.
Yes, yes.
I do sense the overall atmosphere becoming all giddy waiting on the Halloween show. It's like having a conversation and casually noting that two rapscallions are tossing the furniture around. He should've done this more, counting from... eh? Most of his career, maybe.
Axl's grace is the fact that the entertainment industry is a forgiving one. He finally comes to Vegas for residency, all beaten-up hero, and gives the people the one thing they ask of him: fun. That goes a long way to pull him back up, but we'll see.
#1176 Re: Guns N' Roses » Axl Rose - USA Today interviews » 706 weeks ago
So when Josh Freese was writing stuff for GNR in the 90's and Axl gave the green light for him to bring it with him to A Perfect Circle giving Axl a mention in the credits, he was actually writing for A Perfect Circle?
Apparently, though you'd have to ask Ali. (S)he's the legal expert.
But the Ali he/she thing is bullshit, man.
I'm pretty confident Ali is a girl. I'm not the only one.
Off Topic, here we come... 
#1177 Re: The Sunset Strip » Disney Buys Lucasfilm (Lucas giving $4bil to charity) » 706 weeks ago
Even so, gaming was getting to be a big industry (mid 95) by the time Star Wars already had a firm footing within the market. This helped to expand the fan base to a new generation, that would discover the original films through the games, and vice versa.
They did fumble in the mid-80's, when the animated series format didn't pick up at all. But there was already a relatively a fair amount of games attached to the license.
My point simply being, the brand found one comfortable medium after the other and finally routed back to the big screen. Star Wars has always been profitable, because it's been milked wherever the money has happened to be. On the bright side, as games fit Lucas' marketing strategy on a grand scale, LucasArts Games was a very good company for gamers.
#1178 Re: Guns N' Roses » 10/31/2012 - The Joint - Las Vegas, NV » 706 weeks ago
Vegas has always been good to the CD era band.
Eversince 01/01/01.
#1179 Re: Dust N' Bones & Cyborg Slunks » New Interview - Brain Mantia talks Guns N' Roses » 706 weeks ago
"We did the first show at Rock in Rio.
"You look to your left and there was the Foo Fighters, Oasis and Sting! We were headlining that day and everybody was anxious to see what we were going to do because Axl had put this motley group of people together"
Looking back at the situation, Axl did a pretty ballsy move to take his band to RIR3 and still put up a mostly solid show. His voice is a bit uneven and he's clearly working his way over it, but he generally delivers.
Still, you have Robin back in the lineup, while the drummer is different and there's a new guy with a bucket in his head. And you leave it to them to work out how to sound tight for those two months prior to your big gig.
We rehearsed for probably two or three months without Axl. Our first show’s Rock in Rio and I thought, ‘Wait, what’s it going to sound like with Axl? Where is Axl? Oh here’s his helicopter coming in.’ The first time I ever played a real show with him was in front of 250,000 people! I was thinking, ‘How’s this song supposed to start again?’ Because some he was supposed to cue but we never had a verbal conversation on whether he would or I!
When we did our first show in Vegas, Robin and Buckethead didn't know each other at all. You've got two lead guitar players trying to kill each other with their abilities. [...] I think they can be cordial to each other, that whole kind of thing, but when they're actually playing, it gets that kind of alpha male thing going, like 'Who's the real lead guitar player?'" (Axl, WRIF, 11/21/02)
On hindsight, it was ballsy in one way, sheepish on another. Axl practically threw it all up in the air to see if it comes down. Axl told Tom Zutaut that he shut down, album-wise, in the fall, when the album was designated to be "worked up" more, by recommendation of Bob Ezrin.
And he wasn't rehearsing with the band for the big show, so that explanation won't hold water. Had RIR3 went down like the more recent appearance, things could've gone very different.
#1180 Re: Guns N' Roses » Ron, Richard and DJ on More Access Vegas, 6:30pm PST tonight » 706 weeks ago
Ron, Fortus and Ashba performed Better acoustically.
