The artwork suffered a major inflation when CD took over as the ruling format. The videos defining the band image went downhill with MTV watering down and have only recently been given a sort of afterlife with YouTube. Now the liner notes are being given the same treatment when digital music is overtaking the scene. I've partially grown into the 'immaterial' form of music, where I can d/l the tracks / albums I like and learn about the lyrics et al through the net.

This doesn't change the fact that the visuals and the graphic design shaping the outlook of any given band have taken a major backseat from what they once were. The cynic in me would say these elements have always been somewhat superfluous, as good music will always speak for itself and you don't really need the additional outside elements weighted in to enjoy the experience.

Even so, any good band comes with personality and thus, it's good for them to establish an identity which arises from their thematic and musical influences. In order to properly conjure up an image of what an act and their music is about, one can work wonders with the proper visual content to demonstrate this. Say what you want about, say, Marilyn Manson, but his image in terms of videos and liner notes has always been carefully thought out aestethically  and in line with his general ideas and views of the world. It certainly helped him to forge a career even if the music lost most of its value in the later years.

The best of them were still made in around the 1970's, with Led Zep, Floyd, King Crimson and the likes using the sleeve design not as much to sell the product to appease record company marketing dpt, but to visualize the context of the music. To me, that made the graphic design an artwork by its own right, which, at best, was on par with the music as a supplementing piece.

At some point, they lost track of that.

Not mid-April, I can tell you.

Can't think of a very practical reason for the rush. If they'd rent European gear, you'd figure they'd be able to simply extend the contract. Then again, that assumption itself's a stretch, given they're a stateside act.

A scheduled gig / tour is the most sound reason, only there is none at the moment.

In '94, Axl wanted Grohl to drum on his solo album.

They likely met and patched up privately somewhere down the line.

He's an Indiana boy, which may count.

The Robin hate was always a two-edged sword for Axl. On one hand, he oriignally went for someone drastically different than Slash, because he was unable to find a blues-based guitarist ready to take on the challenge (as in '96, replacing Slash in his own game in GNR was considered a huge deal), and he was also trying to figure out his musical direction. Someone like Robin was exotic enough to pique his interest to distance the future GNR from Slash and the blues-based rock with a more eclectic sound.

Obviously, had the album come out at least in '99, they could've toured more actively behind it and Robin's situation would've been drastically different. The sound would've been more industrial-rock akin to OMG, a direction at which Robin feels good at, given his NIN associations for one. As the work dragged on, Axl had already grown fond of Robin's contributions and didn't want to see him replaced altogether, despite getting Brian May around following the audience response to OMG.

What happened was, the band slipped into a more classic rock mode with Roy Thomas Baker. Robin was re-hired and basically shouldered with a more textbook surrogate Slash role, which was something he was never very accustomed to, comfortable with, or capable of feigning. That's when we started getting the AFD tours with Robin taking the heat for playing Slash, even if he did try hard to distance himself from that pattern. This, obviously, pissed off some of the fans to no end.

In retrospect, it's easy to say Robin should've never returned to the fold after his take with NIN in '99. Aside the fun to be had on tours, he didn't get much out of it, aside being labeled a poor man's Slash playing Appetite from night in, night out. The fact that DJ seems to meld with the overall sound much better is not a coincidence, as I personally maintain the sound Robin was asked to deliver had been scrapped ten years earlier.

Would really want to hear the finished cuts of the Sean Beavan CD one day, even if I know that's a pipe-dream.