It's all about the brand - GNR is a household name. You tell me it's not about the money, then what's his reason for holding on so tight?
Yeah, that's a bit contradictory on my part, isn't it? I'll just chalk it up to the man himself being a bit of a contradiction (emphasis on the third syllable). The name is important to hang onto, 'cause it means income he gets for free, without ever having to lift a finger, every time some junior high schooler discovers
Appetite for the first time, or every time some football team plays "Jungle" on the stadium's PA system. Someone's gotta have the rights to the name--might as well be him. Plus, he knows that he ain't **** without it. It's his meal ticket. He doesn't have the talent or the freedom to go out and do anything outside of his twenty-five-year-old Guns N' Roses comfort zone, the way the other guys did.
But the whole "greed" discussion was based on a slightly different subject, which was the release of other stuff since the original band (as we knew them) broke up. And, on that aspect, I still don't think he's all that greedy--at least as compared to a lot of other artists out there. There hasn't really been a whole lot of stuff released over the years for fans to go out and buy, and I think most of the stuff that has been released has been more of a record company thing than an Axl Rose thing. Look at artists like Tupac, or Nirvana, or Jimi Hendrix, where the people who own the rights to their stuff are milking it for every cent they can get.
Releasing the album on November 21st has to be business-suicide. It is impossible to make back the $13 million spent making the long-awaited album, but it can't possibly have any commercial success without a single, video, or almost no promotional advertising.
What better time of year is there to release an album? November 21st is the last Tuesday before Black Friday--it's probably the best Tuesday in the whole year to release something, if you want maximized visibility and sales (and who doesn't?) from the Christmas shoppers. And sure, singles and videos and such, they help, but the lack of them doesn't necessarily mean "business-suicide." Pearl Jam released a couple of albums in the mid-nineties without any promotional support at all, and they were some of the biggest-selling weekly record debuts of all time.
An album like this doesn't need any promotional singles or videos to help it out. It'll sell hundreds of thousands of copies, right out of the gate, to people who will be curious to hear what the "new GN'R" sounds like, and if the decade-long wait was worth it. And if it's any good, and gets good reviews and word of mouth, I wouldn't be surprised to see it at a million-and-a-half or two million in sales a couple months later.
Wikipedia also has updated the GNR page, by adding the Rolling Stone info as well as reporting that the band has confirmed the November 21st date.
Wiki is just going off the RS info, which is, quote, "a friend of ours with a retail source," which honestly means nothing. All this latest talk is based off of one person in retail. That's it. There's still not a page up for it at Amazon, and
Pause & Play (a great site for upcoming CD news) is still listing it as "TBA." Hell, not even the
official GN'R website has anything up about it--just a place to sign up for a mailing list and buy some t-shirts.
I'll ask the resident expert: Matt, has any other year seemed so promising for the release of the album? First, the 'leak' of the tracks in February, then the successful European tour, followed by a US tour, and now with independent reports of the confirmed release date?
"Resident expert," my ass. Just a cynical, bemused, longtime fan who really enjoys the circus that the album has become. The longer it takes, the more entertaining it all gets. And the hype is gonna far exceed the quality of the album, whenever it does come out. It's gonna be such a letdown. People are gonna be like "this piece of **** took
ten years to release?" And it'll be hilarious.
Anyway, yeah, you're right--for now, it seems like there's somewhat of a chance for the album to really come out. The tours, the leaks, the rumored release dates, and so on. "Maybe this year," right? But I gotta remind you that we've been through this all before, most recently in 2002. There were leaked tracks out before then (I had 'em), and there was some overseas touring, and there was an MTV Music Video Awards appearance, and there was a U.S. tour, and everybody's thinking "yep, this is finally the buildup to the release of the album" (I remind you this was
four years ago). And then the U.S. tour goes to **** and 2002 passes with no Chinese Democracy. Then 2003. Then 2004. Then 2005. And now here we are, with two-and-a-half months left to go in 2006, and the album's still up in the air.
So you'll have to forgive me for being a tad skeptical about getting the album this year. Maybe we will, and maybe we won't. It's all up to Axl, but he's a bit--
how you say--****** in the head, so who knows? Someone could look at him wrong and he'd throw a fit and disappear for the next five years.
And I've been slacking on this, so here's an update:
Thirteen Twelve Eleven Ten Nine Tuesdays left. . .
