yea it does

i kinda disagree w/mrID when he says:

Jungle/Nov Rain/Patience/Paradise they're all huge hits, maybe even Don't Cry/YCBM at a stretch & most of AFD is Thriller-esque in how instantly recognisable & universally loved they are: people got nuts for My Michelle/Brownstone/Nightrain/RQ/Easy.

i think you would call them massive hits but not necessarily chart successes. i don't think the two terms are exclusive. you can be an all-time hit w/o being a chart smash. most chart smashes are ultimately forgotten.

Flying burrito bros. - hot burrito #1

One of my all time faves. Love grams vocal on this especially. #2 is fuckin brilliant also.

touring an album/promoting new material whatever you wanna call it, promoting yourself. if you're an artist, you shouldn't be satisfied being a nostalgia trip. that is the crux of the matter for me. & in that point is contained a lack of respect for everyone involved in the thing, including the fans.

i agree re: metallica. that's fair enough - acts don't necessarily need something new as an excuse to go & tour. but GnR's context is a little different - Metallica have shown interest in creating & releasing new music, even when they do stop-gap tours/shows like the euro festival circuit. GnR have been peddling the same 'new' material since '01. to Metallica, these shows with no new music to promote are not their usual trip & that's more excusable than what GnR have done the past 11 years. a lotta bands break & do that Don't Look Back thing of playing their classic albums & then go and make new music & tour again. Axl has stopped making new music & that's what's indefensible about their context.

& don't get me wrong - i fucking love it that people who have never got to see Axl live before get to see him, i know that feeling.
but at the same time, in the wider context, it's not a particularly healthy or indeed respectful situation.

i think the azoff thing was the last real clusterfuck of the CD-era, well at least for the time being.

i think now, just guessing obv, but the lack of new material is down to a few factors:
terrible relations w/the label.
inter-band relations & axl's faith in them as songwriters.
& prob axl's creativity.

point 1: this could possibly be resolved if there wasn't such animosity & so many lawyers from the get-go. if they were somehow able to wipe the slate clean that would be a major obstacle out of the way - but everyone is so greedy & wants to make as much money as possible they're kinda afraid to do anything that jeopardizes the chance of success, & they're incapable of finding another formula - cause bar a reunion, the label aren't gonna support whatever's next, & why would they?

point 2: can't blame axl for this. BBF's background in videogames/soundtracks doesn't exactly suggest an awesome tunesmith; DJ's  bit of a hack; Tommy's a decentish singer-songwriter but an anthemic rock band? & the rest of the guys? bleh.
& there is tension in the band. there is. they're not a band, or a gang, they're employee's, they're workers. they don't have a shared common cause, a synergy that bands need to write music that reflects their identity - they don't have an identity. they're meant to be GnR, but we know they're not (& like, Axl thinks he's GnR, but we know he's not).

point 3: in fairness, axl has acknowledged there are songs he's been working on. but still, if it really meant THAT much to him he'd find a way to get it out there. but he seemingly doesn't care enough.

i mean a lotta theories that go round are just bullshit. & i'm probably as guilty as anyone. but at the same time, there are things you can just see & tell by looking at the individuals in the organisation & you can figure where problems are & where things aren't right.
of course the sad truth is it's prob been that way forever, we just lucked out that the 5 AFD guys & then the 4 stuck it out long enough to make AFD/Lies & UYI.

i dunno...
huh? sums it up p well i think.