what is the financial element?
i know gnr have had their contract re-negotiated with the UYI's & CD, is that part of the problem?
if the songs on the next album are coming from the CD-era sessions then there can't be much overhead costs & if the BB deal wiped the slate clean from the 13mil+ CD budget then the label should be happy enough??

was are the hold ups exactly?
as far as i can tell it's axl's (lack of) enthusiasm for the project..
part of his lack of trying is obv due to strained relations with the label - & axl has ALWAYS been prickly (or a prick) in that sense so i don't see how it'll be overcome suddenly & things start turning up roses.. will we get a new album next year? it is possible but really history tells us there's little real chance..

while a lot of that speculation does make sense in relation to axl, i seriously doubt he could find substantial enough peace of mind in mending his bridges with slash. to me it seems he has many more issues than just the sainted top-hat.

see i don't get this one. if anything i think axl has perhaps stuck too rigidly to the behaviour he exhibited in his youth. i watched a film called the Edukators last night & one of the striking moments was when the Edukators declared, "some people never change" & i think that's more axl's 'problem' than leaving behind his "youthful value systems" - in many ways he still behaves like that streetsmart kid who isn't gonna take shit from anyone & who will demand the world in return. he is still, for the most part, an unreasonable principled jerk.
i think if axl hadda gotten enough money any other way he still woulda probably turned to Yoda due to his insecurities.

i do agree reaching a detente with slash would be good & productive for him (& everyone), but it isn't the sole reason why we're not getting a new album.
let's not forget it took an unusually long time for the UYI sets to follow the bands debut LP.
my point is, his behaviour has always been in a along a similar pattern. it was probably Izzy leaving more than Slash which derailed GnR & the ability to get Axl to produce on a reasonable timetable as he was the only one who could communicate to the guy, as he knew how to talk to him when they were kids. Axl has been exhibiting the same principles & character defects all down the line & Slash isn't the solution.

to be fair to the guy, i think we know enough but not enough about him to understand what is really going on. there are well documented reasons for his insecurity & he doesn't seem to have ever been able to resolve them & control them despite the money he's spent on Yoda & psychologists & dietitians.

maybe it's as simple as he doesn't have the managerial/administration skills to run the b(r)and as a hugely successful enterprise (which is obv from the lack of merchandise as well as many other things - MLB/NFL owning the GnR website?!) & he can't trust people -  managers or bizness representatives so he's got his ex-wife's housemaid & her son as his defacto manager. but he's ambitious, egotistical & perhaps even greedy.
those factors are debilitating & have always been fundamental issues. & it's in there somewhere where the fault-line is. Slash & his myth is another cumbersome burden for Axl & GnR to have to carry.

but really, we have no real indication outside of the content of CD to know where Axl's head is at these days. does he harbour ambitions of bringing GnR back to the level of fame they were at? does he still have an interest in music, in releasing music?
we just don't know what the fuck is going on in his head. my best guess is he's an insecure procrastinator who has bitten off more than he can chew.
there is a lot of other dilemma's impacting his behaviour like his jesus-complex.. outside looking in he does seem like a complicated mess of a guy who refuses to deal on other peoples terms.

the hope i have for the band is that RiR will perhaps point to what the future plans are. if there are any.
dj keeps saying it won't be 15yrs til the next album is out, but i mean why should we believe that?

FTR, to clear my name of any charges of contrariness, i wanna say i fucking love with all my fucking balls those songs except for Yesterdays - & even in moments of weakness i can even rock out to it.

Civil War is poss my favourite GnR song, in the top 5 at the very least & seeing Slash play it in what was once my local students union was one of the greatest concert moments i've ever experienced. (& i think it's a bit shitty of Axl that he has dropped it from GnR setlists, it should be a staple alongside SCOM/YCBM/PC/Nightrain/Nov Rain.)

PC to this day still kills me. even if i know Paradise City doesn't really fucking exist - for those 6mins it does. it does get a little stick these days but i don't recall anyone shitting on it to the degree Axlin claims. (and let me be perfectly fucking honest here, there isn't one nikki sixx song fit to be played alongside PC)

Breakdown is also one of my fave GnR songs but this time we're talking top 20. there was a phase i went thru when it was up there around the #1 & #2 spot on my faves but i've gone thru it now & out the other side.

i would take them all to a desert island before My World (except Yesterdays)

i probably LOVE My World
haven't heard it in ages tho - i haven't really listened 2 GnR in awhile either tbf, & when i do it's usually with company & they don't wanna be listening to MW (tho i did revisit Slash this morning to try n clear the cobwebs away)
but i distinct remember the last few times i did listen to it & have it finally 'click' - there's a few cool ideas on MW & executed with a skill that is the equal or better than other 'industrial' rock before or long after.

i do agree GnR have some stinkers but i don't think MW is one. i prefer it to something like Back Off Bitch for example.
or even Yesterdays..

i'd defo prefer an album in the vein of MW than to go down the pop-rock road people were crying out for in the Sixx Am thread..