Well, someone over at MyGNR apparently asked CD co-producer Caram Costanzo last month about whether he's involved with CD2. Caram denied this. He did live sound for the band in 2010-12, and MSL said he was still owed backend monies for CD at the time. If true, it's beginning to look like Pitman's taken over the studio monkey role. I'm sure he's technically up to snuff.

As for everybody else, remember the Radar Online rumors?

Everybody clinged onto the retirement rumor, and conveniently overlooked the fact that the Guns calendar was left wide open after Vegas. What might've happened there was Axl unceremoniously wrapping up the CD era. There's enough material in the vaults to compile new releases, which he only needs to dress up on his own time. Him and Pitman.

Everybody else is likely out there, waiting for the call to happen. Given Diz and Frank were involved in that recent (lame) Nightrain contest, they're both still 'involved', so to speak. Ditto Tommy. Fortus is a good sport to take Dizzy along over to Dead Daisies. Pitman and Frank have the Beatrazr thing going.

DJ and Ron both likely left just because. According to the 'confirmed source', "[Ron] quit [in March/April] in South America. He told Axl he was done and (Las) Vegas would be his last run with the band." On the first day of the Vegas residency, news broke out that all bets were off. Ron may have simply advised TB that he would use the layoff as his cue to leave the band. Alternatively, Ron smelled the coffee by the time Duff came in and wanted to leave - Axl laid off the entire touring band in response. Go figure.

I'm sure Axl wants the CD stuff out (with whomever playing on them) before anything else. Sitting on them is smart, in a way. I'd imagine the general atmosphere would be more favourable than in 2008. What he'd need to generate massive interest would be Slash on a few tracks.

DJ was always very supportive on the unpublished CD material, whereas Ron talked up a new album by the current lineup through the fans and the press. He certainly had a point, but when has Axl started doing requests? Ron was always saying it how it was with Guns, for better or for worse. It was more against Beta than Axl, specifically, and it's fairly easy to believe Guns management is more about catering Axl than being all-around professional. This has been their way since Alan Niven left.

Then again, remember One Man Mutiny in September, 2010?

It had been a rough ride up to that point. The Dublin show was fourth on the European leg, and third to feature stoppages. The first two were Leeds and Reading, during which Guns had some embarrassing curfew moments and a lame ass attempt at rebellion after being notoriously late. All this obviously pissed band members off, as they were the ones actually dodging bottles.

A few shows later, "Bumblefoot's birthday is celebrated with Axl introducing him with "to my far far, and I mean far right, Ron Bumblefoot Thal" [4]. Interesting for Axl to emphasize the 'far right'. Knowing Ron's outspoken nature, it's certain plausible he was involved in the mutiny, with Axl taking note.

It all turned petty and sour in the end. Tommy's approach, the lyrics to One Man Mutiny, is all about being disillusioned about 'what it is'. He should know, he's been with Axl since '98. It's a tough job, which you take for the excess and the payslip.

I won't rest until I'm free of your phony empathy
Look what it's done for you
You think you got the good life
But you ain't fooling me

That rang to me as a dig on the likes of DJ, Frank and Ron; people who came in after the songwriting to become 'very excited' touring members.

1. Tell Ron to tell the press he needs to shut up about Guns. NDA starts now.
2. Allow the trademark application to lapse. Plausible deniabilty for 'new album'.
3. Read the letter DJ sent. Did he leave?
4. Tell the press Ron needs to shut up already.
5. Read the news. There must be something to tweet.

Patrón,

The New GnR (as in, post-96) never worked properly for one reason, Axl Rose. He was simply too insecure with the combined stature of Guns and the working environment the old band treated him with. With his personality and work habits, not to mention the awkward personal clock, he struck out in the only sort of band in the world that would have him. Him, a manic-depressive loudmouth with nothing much to show for himself as a songwriter, aside the songs like Back Off Bitch he did in Indiana, with the one guy in Lafayette who happened to tolerate his BS.

So, take that sleazy rock n' roll machine that is Slash, with Duff and Adler and throw Izzy, the Hoosier comrade, into the mix. That's an insanely good band for what they are. Sure, all have issues, and they were only fucked up enough to stick with a fucked up frontman - this window of opportunity created the lightning in the bottle. Guns could've just as well been a latter-day Hanoi Rocks, stripped from greatness at the verge of a breakthrough.

Axl's fortunes include the fact that the band is autonomous. They just jam, write stuff and send it over. 'Pick stuff, do those notes, play us records you like, write lyrics, shut up and sing.' They're doing it with low-maintenance on the reclusive frontmans part, so he can settle to be himself, listening to a ton of music and work on questions of personal identity. Axl's a pretty self-absorbed guy, or rather, preoccupied with the rollercoaster of being Axl. It's easy to ridicule him for that, but imagine actually being him for a day. For instance, the day of Montreal '92, or Rock in Rio '11.

One day, his entire band was been altered into That One Guy from Indiana, along with That Additional Musician. Axl wants to make an album with them, but everybody else wants them  to sound like That Sleazy Rock N' Roll Machine. Axl uses guile - 'dive in and find the monkey'. I quote, the infinite monkey theorem states that a monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter keyboard for an infinite amount of time will almost surely type a given text, such as the complete works of William Shakespeare. Record long enough and you'll come up with Axl's Vision for the next album that will sound like the logical progression from UYI.

So, That Guy now had millions of dollars and all the time in the world for his troubles. It's funny to think how people complained about the wait, in a sense. You have a person who may or may not be in the city on the day of the show. He may not show up for the first three hours. He may not show up at all. You never knew until he did. A decade later, it was still all too real. He missed the opening show of his US comeback tour. He sat out another, likely fuming at ClearChannel and their 'ridiculous demands'.

That Guy is the boss of all and you wonder if it blows up?

But how I see it as Slash can come back to Guns and if they should record and release something, it would be the Axl idea of progression, which Slash would serve to execute in terms of songwriting. If it would be the way to releases, I'd go for it.

As for DJ...

I didn’t join Guns N’ Roses just to come in as ‘a guitar player’... This is the first real gig I took on outside of doing my own thing because I felt I really could bring something to the table not as a guitar player, but as a songwriter and producer. That’s what gets me excited about being in the band... that’s the number one priority for everybody at this point. - 2012

He contributed the equivalent of guitar riffs like Slash used to. Axl may use them, eventually. More likely, if DJ keeps in his good graces. That means writing credits and royalties. Elsewhere in the news, his other band is picking up. In Guns camp, this is Robin going out to tour with Trent all over again. There's certainly many enough people willing to step into his shoes.