New Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy
Earlier this week, Page Six ran a story about Axl Rose bartering entrance to the Stereo nightclub after closing (at 5:30 AM) so he could continue his 44th birthday bash. His offer? A listening party for the COMPLETED Chinese Democracy which he'd been working on for the last nine years.
Difficult to get excited about that, since Axl once claimed the album would be out in 1998 (and every year since then) but tracks are leaking. So this is the real deal. All we needed was just a little patience [cue whistling].
After trying a handful of producers over the last decade (including Roy Thomas Baker, Bob Ezrin, Sean Beavan, and our favorite village vegan Moby) ultimately the album will be Axl-produced.
As far as we understand, this is the current band:
Buckethead was of course the most interesting thing to happen to Project Democracy in years, but he quit in early '04. [Sidenote: a man with a KFC bucket on his head will be the most interesting thing to happen to most projects; try it at the office sometime.]
Here's Stereogum's brief timeline of the Chinese Democracy saga and MP3s of some of the new tracks.
11/7/99 Two days before the release of End Of Days' soundtrack (featuring new GN'R tune "Oh My God"), Axl's manager tells LA Times a new album called Chinese Democracy will be released in 2000.You get the idea. GN'R 2006: new face, new logo, new tunes.1/10/00
Rolling Stone's David Wild hears Chinese Democracy and describes it as "Physical Graffiti remixed by Beck and Trent Reznor."
NEW SONGS PLAYED: "Catcher In The Rye," "Oklahoma [AKA "Riyadh And The Bedouins"]," "I.R.S.," "T.W.A.T. (There Was A Time)"1/1/01
Guns N' Roses 2.0 play first live show at the House Of Blues in Las Vegas. At 4 AM.
NEW SONGS PLAYED: "Chinese Democracy," "The Blues," "Silkworms," "Madagascar"8/29/02
Axl unveilves crazy new look in not-really-a-surprise performance at MTV's Video Music Awards.
NEW SONGS PLAYED: "Madagascar"11/8/02
GN'R kick off a national tour (a day late) at Tacoma Dome in Washington. The previous day's last-minute Vancouver cancellation resulted in a riot.
NEW SONGS PLAYED: "Chinese Democracy," "Madagascar," "The Blues"12/5/02
GN'R play Madison Square Garden in NYC. The band's last gig before the tour is cancelled.
NEW SONGS PLAYED: "Chinese Democracy," "Madagascar," "The Blues"8/29/03
Mike Piazza, of all people, premieres new GN'R tune on Q104.3's late-night rock show. Mets catcher says he received it in the mail weeks earlier.
NEW SONGS PLAYED: "I.R.S."1/17/06
Axl appears at a Korn party, lets people take his photo, promises 13-track Chinese Democracy this year.
Questions for the group:
1. Is anyone (including indie snobs) anticipating this album?
2. What do you think of these leaked tracks?
Guns N' Roses - "I.R.S." (MP3 Link Expired)
Guns N' Roses - "The Blues" (MP3 Link Expired)
Check the comments for updated links.
Posted at 2:30 PM in MP3
Tags: Guns N' Roses
Hmm, well they do sound a bit more like "classic" GnR than I'd expected...they just aren't very good.
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what a mess.
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For all this latter-day chronology stuff, the logo and hairstyle sure do look pretty '98.
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Other leaked songs include "T.W.A.T." and a clip of "Better". I don't think "The Blues" is actually a new leak.
The songs sound a lot better than I expected, especially since Chinese Democracy has basically been a joke for years. I actually am sort of looking forward to the album and will be buying it. Still mad about it being under the GnR name, though. They really should be called Axl Rose Band.
Here's a link to "T.W.A.T." --
http://s6.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=01VMNN1764E7O0WEUSONMWXZ8S
Enjoy!
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Not bad. Not good either.
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Nevermind, apparently "The Blues" is new.
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What's with the acronyms all over the track names? I'm enjoying 'I.R.S.' quite a lot but I'm struggling to see how this is nine years' worth of work. Good, though!
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Boring. Like Velvet Revolver is. I'm a firm believer of "when it's over, it's over" though.
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I like how you've put "2012" in the Year column of the ID3 tags on these tracks.
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cool, i'm not the only one who noticed the year! =P
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Glad you noticed ;)
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Chuck Klosterman is shitting in his trousers.
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I never liked G&R in the 80's, but I am anxious to see what the response to this album will be. Needless to say, I'm not a fan of any of the new stuff either.
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That was a big pile. It's like he was sitting on these crappy songs and hoping that they'd get less crappy over time and, instead, they got crappier.
I still think "Chinese Democracy" is one of the greatest album titles ever, though.
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i think IRS is a neat track.
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just listened to the blues, it's awesome and has an inspiring touch
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i think this album will be awesome. im glad for axl rose. has a bunch of sure hits; madagascar, chinese democracy, irs, the blues
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this all sounds like fucking Maroon 5 on a shit ton of blow. what the fuck?
she will be loved, i guess.
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That recording of "The Blues" is actually the soundboard recording from the Pittsburgh show back in '02. Sounds like it's been cleaned up with a lot of the live sounds filtered out. Nonetheless, a damn good song.
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I saw GNR in Vegas in 2001-2002 New Year's Eve show and they were awesome. The myth of this whole album gives it expectations no band could handle. I wish Axl was less like Howard Hughes and would just have put this out 10 years ago. There's no way you could go in and work everyday on an album for this long. I'm wondering how much work they put in a week on this. Hopefully it will see the light of day. Madagascar is great. Chinese Democracy is great. Not so sure about TWAT. Axl does look like hell. Guess 15 years in hiding will do that to ya.
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TWAT is one of the best songs I've heard in years. And the amazing thing about this is that regardless of the line up, the sound is pure Guns N Roses. That is a pretty big accomplishement considering that the original band was so unique within itself, and given the contributions of Slash and Izzy. I saw the House of Blues show in 2001 and is mindblowing, by far the most rewarding concert experience I have ever had. I think in the end, the quality of Chinese Democracy will be hard to deny, no matter what pre determined judgements people bring to the table because of Axl's behavior or personality.
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Are these people for real?
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I'm sure with a logo like that they'll be the next Linkin Park...
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TWAT sounds darn good, me thinks. Everybody else, go listen to fucking pussies like Sufjan.
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just out of curiousity: are people ironically excited about this, or is it legitimate? (yes, i'm clueless. i'll be the first to admit it.)
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I am actually excited about new GNR material. They're the band I cut my teeth on back in the day and, cheesy as it souns, still have a special place in my heart. I have to admit I'm not displeased with some of the new stuff.
Also, does anyone have a studio version of Madagascar?
It was performed at Rock in Rio a few years back and leaked (along with some of the songs which just came out):
http://s61.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3J8X944AH22BJ3IVMBBBKTWUGV
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[checks his indie cred at the door...]
Can't speak for others, but I'm someone who's legitimately excited about finally hearing the album. Was a huge metal fan back in the day whose tastes have shifted in the intervening 15 years, but I still have a weak spot in my heart for GNR. Indie snob or not, there's no denying that Appetite for Destruction is a great, great rock album. (Well, I'm sure someone might deny it, but they'd be wrong.)
Of the four songs I've heard leaks of, I'd rate them as follows:
(1) Better -- the 1.5 minute clip makes this song sound like the second coming of GNR. An awesome tune. Kicks ass. Hope the full song holds up.
(2) IRS -- cool tune, if a tad repetitive. I'm hoping this isn't the final version floating around though -- it needs a couple of guitar overdubs to fill it out. Axl sounds great on it though.
(3) The Blues -- sounds like it could have been on Illusions. That's good in one way, but bad in the sense that it just doesn't seem to add anything new. That said, it's not a bad tune at all.
(4) T.W.A.T. -- pretty boring. Hoping it grows on me.
Oh, and I saw them do Madagascar at MSG a couple years ago, and I remember liking it a lot.
If I could figure out how to show an emoticon for devil's horns, I'd put it here. G'n'F'n'R!
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Being somoene who has never heard a full GnR song before, I thought those were okay. I did read about the whole thing with Chinese Democracy in a local paper recently, and I was, like the writers, skeptical about it coming out this year. IDK, I'm probably not going to buy the CD, but I'm certainly going to Napster some of it.
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I just forwarded these mp3s to Hu Jintao and he says "Thanks Axl, but we are going to stick with communism. Thank you for trying."
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I'll tell you one thing: there are a lot of musicians and engineers around L.A. who have made a fortune off this thing. They were paying the Pro Tools guy like twenty five G's a month. The guys in the band got six-figure salaries for years on end and mostly just hung out playing PlayStation and shooting hoops. They rented a piece of gear for two years and barely used it, and the rental ended up costing over $100,000.
The production costs for the record overall are around $15 million.
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How very sort of anticlimactic. Even though I really don't care for Guns 'N Roses (There Was A Time-- I guess he hasn't lost the touch) I am slightly curious to see what happens with the album. After all, it is the most famous still-unreleased album in rock and roll I would say. It'll probably go gold and probably do about as well as Velvet Revolver did- have a couple big singles and then sort of drift off and Axl can start picking fights with Vince Neil on VH1. Now THAT I would pay to see
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i was at the last official g'nr show at msg. pretty amazing, yeah it was a coverband, basically. but it blew the crowd away. if they ever come back, i suggest seeing them.
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When 'Chinese Democracy' is no longer a joke it will indeed be a sad day for rock and roll.
I listened to 'The Blues' and I was surprised that it did sound like classic G'n'R (I don't know if this is a good thing). I think if the record does come out, it is going to have one killer ballad, one cool rock song with killer riff and that will be about it - not good for a double record or has that changed now?
The world has turned, Axl ...
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it does sound like axl looks. not bad if you like nickelback. really, really bad if, however, you like GOOD music.
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axl is still axl, amazing rock tenor if you like his rasp... and agreed, he's pulled a total "brian wilson." But can you really blame the guy? He had to come out from under his own shadow... a tall order for anybody. He could have taken a lesson from madonna or the stones... yeah, put out a somewhat mediocre album, but then move on, reinvent yourself... the next one will be better.
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i like the tracks. but i like axl's voice and always have... appetite is classic and i only like around 1/3 of 'use your illusion', and these songs are better than that, especially 't.w.a.t.'
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I certainly hope David Wild still works at Rolling Stone magazine because I dont read it and find it laughable that he compares this to NIN,Beck, and Led Zeppelin. Who says the government isnt using the media to brain wash people?
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I'm disappointed, but it's not all bad. Personally, I think I will stick to communism.
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Having been a huge Guns n Roses fan back in the day, I find myself rooting a bit for Axl. The dude's his own worst enemy, though.
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Is it just me, or his voice actually more annoying than before?
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what i find strange though is this recordings show the same quality voice gnr had back in the days. and i remember seeing the mtv vmas 02, where they showed up and played some songs, and axl's voice seemed exhausted, plus, he couldn't make the same running around, now he got tired and had difficulty singing, because of his overweight.
on the other hand. try, just, try to be in his position. he had the best f°ing band in the world circa 1987-1994. the guy ended up alone. he could've quit music, and live a comfortable life, but no, this comes to show how much he loves music, the guy reconstructed a band which actually captures the old sound of the band, single-handed. yes, he's gotten fat and has awful dreadlocks, but hey, it's the music that concerns us (though he could go to the gym).
i admire this guy for reviving from the ashes. he might be an obnoxious as a person you could say. but not everyone has the courage to revive a band and actually coming up with good material. cheers, axl.
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this album will be a pile. the songs sound like pro tool demos of some local bands i know. his voice is lacking and the guitar is shit. stop lookin at g'n r like they are rock gods...mabye one yes but that is over. i love them too and that is why i hate this album. if thats can be understood.
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He ended up alone because he's an asshole. He should've done an Ian Brwon and just let the group dissolve and put records out under his own name. He would have had much less pressure. Carrying on with GNR name means he has to live up to a certain standard, and I don't think he can do it. The new songs are okay, but none of them is as good as old GNR.
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better then that yeah yeah yeah's song. but still silly.
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Sorry but this all sounds so dated. Its like the production is a terrible combination of 1998 and 1988. There will def. be two big hits on this album. Seeing as the major didnt have one 5 million copy selling album last year (the benchmark), LOOK for the machine to push this album up there.
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Hey - I guess you could call me an 'indie-snob' though I don't give two shits about that Animal Collective and Antony and the Johnsons crap. Or CoCo Rosie. Or Unicorns. Or Sufjan. I *am* however looking forward to hearing 'Chinese Democracy.' I don't really have high expectations though I am curious. I will def. purchase it the day of. Thanks for the info.
Do any of you have MP3s of:
_ - "Catcher In The Rye"
_ - "Oklahoma" [AKA "Riyadh And The Bedouins"]
_ - "Chinese Democracy"
_ - "The Blues"
_ - "Silkworms"
let me know - glen
GlenSColen@gmail.com
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Overall, disappointing. I saw GNR in Cleveland in 02 and they put on an excellent show, I think they played "the Blues" from what I remember. It's really disappointing to know that Axl's eccentricities have ruined a really good band. It was looking really promising with Buckethead in the lineup, but Axl blew that, too. "Use your Illusion" showed what a talented songwriter Axl was, I am afraid "Chinese Democracy" will just make him look stupid.
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Strangely enough I thought the RS guy's comment was fairly apt. I never really thought about it but Axl does kind of sound like Robert Plant if he had a really bad cold. The music sounds like bad Led Zeppelin with bad computerized production as played by second-rate Guns 'N Roses.
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well, these are certainly the shittiest songs i've heard in a while. so sad.
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Axl can't be "king"-it's a *Democracy!*
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To whomever said this will go gold...Guns N Roses are still insanely huge; how many units did that Greatest Hits album push? And that was a compilation of what, three albums and a couple of b-sides? If the album is bad, it will still push a few million, probably a good chunk of that will be in the first week. If it's good, it'll probably sell a helluva lot more. But to say it will just go gold is insane. Weezer's Green Album went platinum and they weren't a fraction as popular as GNR even during the Blue Album days; not to mention they had only been gone for 3 or 4 years. Axl's been gone for almost a decade and a half. This thing will be pretty massive, how massive however, is up for debate.
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"I.R.S." is pretty good. "The Blues", eh, not so much, sounds like a demo with a lot of double-tracked vocals. And, to answer the first question, yeah, I'm anticipating the album. How could you not be? I mean, I'm the farthest thing from an indie snob, I like lots of different music, but even if you are an indie snob, you've got to have just the tiniest bit of morbid curiosity to know what lies at the end of this decade-long saga. I just hope that the anticipation gets sated before 2012 (which is the year each MP3 file says when I played them on my iTunes...ha!)
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I have to say, while not exactly mindblowing, it still sounds better then most of the filler off of the Illusions.
It is good to hear him back in action, and he's not quite embarrassing himself. Changing the band name would have taken alot of the pressure and anticipation off of this album.
Hey...it took Geoge Lucas 3 tries to get the Star Wars feel back...maybe in a few years Axl will put more stuff out (hopefully w/ original members) and get the GnR feel back.
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\m/
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Just listened to those MP3... What a pantload.
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Wow, he managed to unintentionally out-cheese the Darkness and it only took, like, 8 years. He's some kind of genius.
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am i the only one whose mp3 feed has quit working?
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umm... i... liked... the blues...
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You got to give it to Axl. He's actually going to live up to the hype. It's going to rock.
I do hope he goes back with the old ensemble and form "Velvet Guns" or something. But he's too proud.
And doesn anybody even THINK it's the old band that's doing this? Might be the same name but I don't picture old GNR when I picture these guys.
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axl4ever. that's all. i hate the term "indie cred" and shit. fuckin pussies. go cry to death cab. phhhhhhhht
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If these sound dated, its because they are.
"The Blues" is nothing more than two soundboard quality live tracks from the 2002 tour dubbed over top of each other. Completely fan made, and only a so-so job at that. So don't be fooled...you get the gist of the song, but the "album" version will be stellar.
"IRS" is a rough demo or very early studio mix. Again, you get the gist of the song...and its pretty decent. But you can certainly expect the $15M worth of studio time these tracks have seen to really shine on the album.
"Better", whether you've heard it or not, is the highlight of all the leaks. Listen to it! This will give you a feel for what the new GNR are going to be.
"There Was A Time" is growing on me. But I'm holding out more/less to see what the studio album is going to do to this song. I feel like a lot of important qualities about this song are lost in this early mix.
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"The Blues" sounds like track 11 or 12 off of any Tuff or Bullet Boys album with left over vocal effects from Cher's "Believe".
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thanks for the leak... i will be listening and then attempt to contact AXL for a exclusive interview!
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i have an mp3 of chinese democracy from a soundboard
aim-phishguts101
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um, nothing right now is better than "that yeah yeah yeah song".
seriously
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most of you hear just have narrow dogmatic minds and can't accept the fact that axl is trying to be as successful as he can. and he was not the only one who had problems back in the old days, i know for a fact the rest of the band members were fucking assholes as well. i mean, you have to respect the guy, he is doing what he wants to do and he is not letting the dumbass press or dumbass people on the internet (all of you) bring him down. he knew he would get critisim but he still went along with his plans (for the most part). so fuck you guys, die, and rot in hell.
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^^ in your opinion
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^^at least they have one
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Fags.
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For better or worse, GnR return will be one of the things to look forward.
Judging though from what has leaked already, i imagine we couldn't have hoped for something better. Axl is a burnt out, a blast from our past, so he does just what he can.
Come on, Axl is a guy who left 50.000 people in a stadium in Athens, Greece waiting for him for about 3 hours, because he was playing mini golf back in his hotel!
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As went Izzy, so went Guns n' Roses. He was the actual talent in the band. That's why everything since "Appetite" sucked - he wrote all the good stuff. No Izzy = no GnR.
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this sounds amazing to me. can someone post the link to the song "better" though? thanks
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Poor Tommy Stinson....I hope G N'R folds so he can do a Replacements reunion with Paul.
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You ask, and you receive.. A link to a minute-ish clip of Better. Best of the songs I've heard so far.
http://www.illitpress.com/indiemusic/Guns%20N%27%20Roses%20-%20Better%20(Demo).mp3
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ummm...slow week for indie news, eh?
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ummm...slow week for indie news, eh?
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agreed...
bob stinson is rolling in his grave....
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Could you put Axls vocals lower in the mix? He couldn't sing in the 80's, and can't now.
Bah.
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Dude, I was at work, can you make the link work? I heard like 3 beats before the boss shut me down...hook me up man! Please.
An old school guns and f*ckin Roses fan.
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washed up has been... what a lame talentless pos. mabye axeman and all his gayness thought somehow in some retrospective dimension that eveyone would forget that they suck so hard. fing hardcore hippies.
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TWAT just proves that Slash and Izzy WERE GNR. Appetite is maybe the best album ever recorded. (That, or End on End or Lonesome Crowded West). Anyway, this new shit fucking blows. Fuck you, Axl. You megalomaniacal twat.
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Heavy Metal Hippies suck. Axel, I want you so hard. Peace, Love, & Deathmetal.
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if anything, i just want Smashing Pumpkins to fucking announce their tour dates cause thats the only reunion tour ive been waiting for in 2006.
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Let Aqueduct bring it into indie perspective with their song "Growing Up With G 'N R".
http://www.aqueductisgoodmusic.com/Growing%20Up%20With%20G%27N%27R.mp3
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I wasn't aware that no one is allowed to like Sufjan Stevens and Guns'n Roses, go fuck yourself. Still this isn't Guns and Roses, its just Roses, Slash and Izzy were the guns. Someone needs to shave Axl's head, why is he doing that to himself? and that seriously can't be the album cover. Most importantly these songs aren't bad at all, and are not entirely meaningless.
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