To mark the tenth anniversary of the album's release, Billboard last month took at a look at the record's legacy and spoke with some insiders about "Chinese Democracy", which sold just under 550,000 copies during the first 12 weeks in stores.
Geffen-Interscope A&R executive Tom Zutaut believes that the album would had done better had it not been released under the Guns N' Roses banner. He said, "If he had released it as an Axl Rose solo record, it probably would have sold millions. But when we sat in the studio and talked about Chinese Democracy, [Axl] just wasn't ready to go there yet."
Later in the feature Zutaut reveals that the album was intended to be more than one disc, "Axl's goal was to make a more modern record, to make GN'R a more modern band. But Guns N' Roses fans wouldn't accept that. Had it been a 'W. Axl Rose' record, who knows...but not a lot people know this: Chinese Democracy was going to be trilogy."
Former member Tommy Stinson confirmed that the album was not intended to only contain the material that was eventually released. He said, "All I can is...that record was not meant to be one disc."
The article estimates that there were at least 60 tracks that were partially complete at the time that the album was released. Another unnamed source claimed that "All of the material that hadn't been released was coming out in 2016, then, the reunion happened."
Christie's auctioneers will host the June 20 event, which will focus on a selection of Gilmour's preferred Fender Broadcasters, Esquires, Telecasters and Stratocasters.
Not only the largest and most comprehensive sale of guitars ever offered at auction, the collection details the musical history of one of the world's most influential guitarists and the iconic Fender Stratocaster the rocker played on classic 1970 Pink Floyd albums "The Dark Side Of The Moon", "Wish You Were Here", "Animals" and "The Wall."
All proceeds from the Christie's auction will benefit charitable causes. "These guitars have been very good to me and many of them have given me pieces of music over the years," Gilmour explains. "They have paid for themselves many times over, but it's now time that they moved on. Guitars were made to be played and it is my wish that wherever they end up, they continue to give their owners the gift of music.
"By auctioning these guitars, I hope that I can give some help where it is really needed and through my charitable foundation do some good in this world. It will be a wrench to see them go and perhaps one day I'll have to track one or two of them down and buy them back!" Watch the video
here.
Titled "Crunch Time", the ad sees Mr. Peanut on his way to a "nut-mergency" behind the wheel of the Planters Nutmobile. The brand's first Super Bowl ad since 2008 will be broadcast during the second quarter of the February 3 game between the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA.
Planters will give prizes away via the @MrPeanut Twitter handle on Sunday including signed Rodriguez memorabilia, a solid gold peanut, and the chance to have Mr. Peanut as a personal chauffeur in the Nutmobile for a week.
A few weeks ago, Motley Crue posted a cryptic message that appears to tease a commercial for the band during the Super Bowl 53 broadcast; it is anticipated that will promote the March 22 premiere of the group's Netflix biopic, "The Dirt", based on their 2001 memoir of the same name. Watch the commerical
here.
The band is launching the trek to promote their latest album "Family Tree" and will also be making appearances at some of the leading music festivals including Rocklahoma, Thunder Mountain Music Park, and the Tail Winds Music Festival.
The band had this to say, "We are beyond excited to hit the road in a big way in 2019 with our rock n roll brothers, Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown! This is definitely a tour for the southern, blues, jam rock n roll hearts out there and we can't wait to bring a different live experience every single night!
"We're also excited to have our long time friends The Josephines, Thomas Wynn and the Believers, and Kyle Daniel all on select dates! Bring your dancin shoes and we'll see ya soon!" See the dates
here.
Footage from the city's Verizon Arena sees the backstage pre-show band meeting and walk to the stage as the group kicks into the opening track and lead single from 2016's "Hardwired...To Self-Destruct."
The band's tenth album debuted at No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 on its way to sales of more than a million copies in the US. Metallica are also streaming another "Hardwired..." track, "Moth Into Flame", from the Little Rock concert, which marked the band's second full live date of the year following a month-long break over the Christmas holidays.
The group will wrap up the winter North American trek in March before enjoying a break and launching a full summer series of European shows in Lisbon, Portugal on May 1.
here.
Captured live in Glasgow, Scotland in March of 1984 on the tour in support of the project, the tune is part of a complete concert recording of the show that is featured on disc 5 of the Ultimate Special Edition package, which also presents the US and UK mixes of the album, as well as unreleased studio recordings, monitor mixes and brand new anniversary remixes.
Due March 8, a 2019 remaster of the "Slide It In" will be available in all versions, including a 2CD Deluxe Edition, a single CD (US Mix), and a 2LP vinyl edition.
Whitesnake's sixth album delivered their fourth UK Top 10 set and their commercial breakthrough in the US thanks to singles like "Slow an' Easy", "Love Ain't No Stranger", and the title track.
Whitesnake will perform classic tracks from "Slide It In" when they launch a spring US tour in Newkirk, OK on April 12 ahead of the May release of their 13th album, "Flesh & Blood." Check out the song stream
here.
They are hitting the road to promote their forthcoming album "Father of the Bride" and the band announced that every online ticket purchased by U.S. residents will be accompanied by a physical CD copy of the record.
The tour will begin with an appearance at this year's Hangout Music Festival in Gulf Shores, AL on May 17th and will conclude on October 8th at the famed Red Rocks Amphitheatre in CO. See the dates
here.
Whilst in London at the end of a European tour in support of Pinned, the band spent the day at Lovebuzz Studio in South London to lay down a Fuzz Club Session, due for release February 15th as a vinyl exclusive alongside a collection of videos which will be released online. Raw, punishing and unpredictable, the LP - recorded live in one take - perfectly captures the APTBS ethos through-and-through and sees the unwavering intensity of their live show committed to wax like never before.
"It's good to record at the very end of the tour," reflects Oliver Ackermann, the band's vocalist/guitarist and founding member: "You've been playing these songs all tour and there's a certain point when you kind of get tired of them so you have to reinvent what they mean and what happens in them. I feel like that always pushes things to the next level. It's exciting." Some songs on the session may date back a decade but, true to the APTBS way, they're totally reconfigured and pushed to their very limits. Spanning their lengthy back-catalogue, there are two tracks from Pinned ('Never Coming Back' and 'Punch Back'), one from 2015's Transfixiation ('We've Come So Far'), one from 2012's Onwards To The Wall ('Drill It Up'), another from their 2007 S/T album ('Ocean') and a previously unreleased track ('Chrome Shadow'). Check out the new track
here.
The new release has an underlying concept of love gone wrong. The album begins with two souls in a state of preexistence bonded by love, and continues after they are both assigned bodies on Earth. All attempts at a blissful reunion are complicated, as only one of them can recall their state together prior to birth... and yet their connection is undeniable. "One Day Closer to Yesterday" touches on the many real struggles, conflicts, and experiences that romantic relationships might go through... the good, bad, spiritual, and terrestrial.
The Shumaun sound is shaped by the soaring vocals and lead guitar work of Farhad Hossain, the pounding melodic bass lines of Jose Mora, the subtle guitar nuances of Tyler Kim, and the technical and groove-oriented drumming of Tanvir Tomal.
Says vocalist/guitarist Farhad Hossain, "Stylistically, this album is a bit more raw and heavier than our last one. Guitar wise, there are surprisingly a lot of riffs throughout the album. I use the term 'surprisingly' because I never really considered myself to be a riff writer, but somehow that's the natural direction that this album took a turn to. Much of the lyrics were comprised from improved vocal sessions that were further refined in order to capture something real and unfiltered. Many of the vocal melodies were spontaneous. I incorporated more vocal harmonies and vocal textures this time around as well. Tanvir Tomal is playing his heart out on this one. Some of the drum rhythms are simplistic in approach and yet somehow technical in nature. As always, Jose Mora's bass playing is tasteful, melodic, and technical all at once, And of course, you can hear Tyler Kim's guitar textures throughout the album." Watch the lyric video for the new song
here.
The group had this to say, "Sands Of Time is the opening track of our latest record A Light In The Dark. It's a song about the passing of time. You can build buildings and cities, become powerful and revered, but no one is immortal.
"In the end, what is left in our minds is the memories of it all. The knowledge and wisdom that we pass on from one generation to the next, is the closest we will come to immortality." Watch the video
here.
Runaway is an interesting song for me. It's not my latest single, but it is a song that a lot of people tell me they enjoy. It originally didn't sound like it does today. It had a completely different grove behind it when I originally wrote it and it took about 4 years to get to what it sounds like today.
Back in 2013 when I was at Berklee College of Music I was experimenting with different styles of songwriting. Besides blues I would do a lot of unplugged acoustic type writing in my bedroom where I could be alone since I had about 4 flatmates that I shared the apartment with. During this time I was also dealing with a lot of personal issues that I kept to myself. Music was my way of letting it out and I was okay with that being my only outlet. It was just another normal day in my life of sitting at the desk in front of the computer with my guitar, playing and writing. I had been messing around with this groove for a long time but I could never figure out what to do with it. For some reason on this particular day when I decided to play this groove again, the words just fell out of my mouth. I'm not sure if it was writer's block being pushed to the side, or my emotions helping me out, but it just happened. Within 15 minutes I had a full set of lyrics to this groove. I didn't write specifically about my own problems, but problems which I felt I could relate to, or that other people my age could relate to. Not being able to get ahead to where you want to be, not having enough money to pay your bills, not having the motivation to continue to work hard because you feel like you're getting nowhere. Wanting to Runaway from it all to a place or person that makes your life better. Towards the end of the song I imagined just saying to hell with it all and emptying out my bank account, getting so good looking clothes, and getting the band on stage and just rocking out till you can't feel those things anymore. At the time I wrote the lyrics that is one thing I did specifically feel. These are the ideas behind the lyrics.
Once I had the lyrics done i said FINALLY, I did something with this groove. At first I liked the original idea, but for some reason I never felt comfortable enough with it to record it properly or put it out on a CD. So it was set aside with a lot of others ideas i had. Fast forward to 2017 when I was preparing to record my first CD here in Berlin. I had all of my songs ready to go and was a couple days from going into the studio to record. I was listening to some of my old Ideas just to listen and the original idea for runaway started playing. I hadn't heard it in years. It just so happened that I had another groove that I wanted to put on the album but had no lyrics for. I thought about combining the original lyrics with this new groove I didn't have any for. The lyrics fit perfectly and I decided right then and there that THIS was what I wanted Runaway to sound like. I quickly made a rough mix of the song at home and then sent it to the band and that's how Runaway came to be what you hear today.
The second verse into the chorus goes like this:
Baby, I aint doing so great, My wallet's gettin' dry, and the rent is late,
My car broke down the other day.
I've got the bill collector on my phone, Threatening me and my home.
I can't do this one more day.
I want to runaway! X3
Into your arms
Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and learn more
right here!
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