An Open Letter from Axl Rose
#1
DVD Talk Platinum Edition
Thread Starter
An Open Letter from Axl Rose
The Chinese Democracy thread was closed, so I started a new one. From GunsNRoses.com:
Thursday, December 14th 2006
An open letter to our fans:
Guns N’ Roses regrets to announce that the following concert tour dates have been cancelled:
January 10th Sacramento
January 11th Bakersfield
January 13th Reno
January 16th San Diego
Due to the schedule of these particular shows valuable time needed by the band and record company for the proper setup and release of the album Chinese Democracy would be lost. Rather than delay the album yet again all involved have decided to remove these shows from GNR’s schedule. We sincerely hope our fans understand and we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused anyone. Tickets may be refunded at local point of purchase.
To say the making of this album has been an unbearably long and incomprehensible journey would be an understatement. Overcoming the endless and seemingly insanity of the obstacles faced by all involved, not withstanding the emotional challenges endured by everyone: the fans, the band, our road crew and business team has at many times seemed for all like a bad dream where one wakes up only to find they are still in the nightmare and unfortunately this time it has been played out for over a decade in real life.
The true ongoing behind-the-scenes triumphs and casualties are much more complicated than any negative speculation that media or otherwise has managed to hit upon. For much of the time some form or another of legalities have been taking place that really the best way to deal with publicly was to keep our mouths shut in an attempt to ensure the best outcome and especially one that wouldn’t jeopardize the band or the album. One can easily point to how others have done things or how they themselves feel that they would were they in the same situations but without full knowledge of the various dynamics and circumstances involved, again these types of comments or commentary are uninformed, outside, generally useless and often hindering speculation.
When I agreed to do our recent North American tour I agreed with the understanding that I and my manager Merck Mercuriadis were in full agreement as to our strategy, touring plans and most importantly that any and all things needed to release the album at the latest by Dec. 26th were to be in place. Unfortunately this turned out not to be the case and not only do I regret to say that again the album will not be released by the end of the year but that though many things went extremely well and were very exciting there were in our opinion unnecessary and avoidable complications on our tour having to do with the tour routing, scheduling and album and video plans that played hell on all involved especially our crew. This was compounded by an overall sense of a lack of respect by management for the band and crew and each individual’s particular expertise that has resulted unfortunately in the end of both Guns and my relationship in having a management or sense of band involvement with Merck Mercuriadis.
In regard to a release date for the album itself certain minor and by that I do mean minor things and or additions as well as contract negotiations need to be completed and barring any unforeseen complications these things have now been adequately scheduled. Both the band and I along with our record company feel that this record deserves the proper setup and promotion not the “13 Tuesdays left” and “it may just appear in your record store” approach offered by management. We believe this strategy may have been used in order for management to sell this latest tour to the various promoters. We feel that if this was so, this was obviously unfair to them. The stress of dealing with this situation has been considerable for everyone as well as to the band themselves as a whole but that this was more importantly in our opinion something utterly insane to do to our fans. Our apologies and please know we have been laboring over this with management for the entire North American tour.
It takes approximately 8 weeks for an album to hit the shelves once it has been turned in to the record company. For whatever reasons it appears it may have been mistakenly inferred by management that this could be condensed to three. That being said this is not a promise, a lie or a guarantee but we do wish to announce a tentative release date of March 6th. This is the first time we have done this publicly for this album. Any and all other dates have been made up by others for their own reasons. We would like to assure the fans that though tentative everything in our power will be done to meet this date. Once it is finalized and official you will be notified. If we are delayed for unseen reasons you will also be notified as soon as possible in regard to a new date and the album will be released as shortly thereafter as is possible. We thank you for your patience.
In the end it’s just an album and one that I, the band, our record company and all involved believe and feel is a true Guns N’ Roses album. Ultimately the public will decide and regardless of the outcome our hearts, lives and our passion has been put into this project every step of the way. If for no other reason we feel those elements alone merit your consideration. We do hope you can hold on just a bit longer and if not we hope you would please feel free to take a break and we’ll be more than glad (if you so choose) to see you again later.
Once again, our sincere apologies and our deepest thanks, Guns N’ Roses would also like to thank all the fans who attended the 70 concerts in 21 different countries for their support in 2006. All the best to each and every one of you over this holiday season, thank-you and God bless.
Sincerely,
Axl Rose
An open letter to our fans:
Guns N’ Roses regrets to announce that the following concert tour dates have been cancelled:
January 10th Sacramento
January 11th Bakersfield
January 13th Reno
January 16th San Diego
Due to the schedule of these particular shows valuable time needed by the band and record company for the proper setup and release of the album Chinese Democracy would be lost. Rather than delay the album yet again all involved have decided to remove these shows from GNR’s schedule. We sincerely hope our fans understand and we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused anyone. Tickets may be refunded at local point of purchase.
To say the making of this album has been an unbearably long and incomprehensible journey would be an understatement. Overcoming the endless and seemingly insanity of the obstacles faced by all involved, not withstanding the emotional challenges endured by everyone: the fans, the band, our road crew and business team has at many times seemed for all like a bad dream where one wakes up only to find they are still in the nightmare and unfortunately this time it has been played out for over a decade in real life.
The true ongoing behind-the-scenes triumphs and casualties are much more complicated than any negative speculation that media or otherwise has managed to hit upon. For much of the time some form or another of legalities have been taking place that really the best way to deal with publicly was to keep our mouths shut in an attempt to ensure the best outcome and especially one that wouldn’t jeopardize the band or the album. One can easily point to how others have done things or how they themselves feel that they would were they in the same situations but without full knowledge of the various dynamics and circumstances involved, again these types of comments or commentary are uninformed, outside, generally useless and often hindering speculation.
When I agreed to do our recent North American tour I agreed with the understanding that I and my manager Merck Mercuriadis were in full agreement as to our strategy, touring plans and most importantly that any and all things needed to release the album at the latest by Dec. 26th were to be in place. Unfortunately this turned out not to be the case and not only do I regret to say that again the album will not be released by the end of the year but that though many things went extremely well and were very exciting there were in our opinion unnecessary and avoidable complications on our tour having to do with the tour routing, scheduling and album and video plans that played hell on all involved especially our crew. This was compounded by an overall sense of a lack of respect by management for the band and crew and each individual’s particular expertise that has resulted unfortunately in the end of both Guns and my relationship in having a management or sense of band involvement with Merck Mercuriadis.
In regard to a release date for the album itself certain minor and by that I do mean minor things and or additions as well as contract negotiations need to be completed and barring any unforeseen complications these things have now been adequately scheduled. Both the band and I along with our record company feel that this record deserves the proper setup and promotion not the “13 Tuesdays left” and “it may just appear in your record store” approach offered by management. We believe this strategy may have been used in order for management to sell this latest tour to the various promoters. We feel that if this was so, this was obviously unfair to them. The stress of dealing with this situation has been considerable for everyone as well as to the band themselves as a whole but that this was more importantly in our opinion something utterly insane to do to our fans. Our apologies and please know we have been laboring over this with management for the entire North American tour.
It takes approximately 8 weeks for an album to hit the shelves once it has been turned in to the record company. For whatever reasons it appears it may have been mistakenly inferred by management that this could be condensed to three. That being said this is not a promise, a lie or a guarantee but we do wish to announce a tentative release date of March 6th. This is the first time we have done this publicly for this album. Any and all other dates have been made up by others for their own reasons. We would like to assure the fans that though tentative everything in our power will be done to meet this date. Once it is finalized and official you will be notified. If we are delayed for unseen reasons you will also be notified as soon as possible in regard to a new date and the album will be released as shortly thereafter as is possible. We thank you for your patience.
In the end it’s just an album and one that I, the band, our record company and all involved believe and feel is a true Guns N’ Roses album. Ultimately the public will decide and regardless of the outcome our hearts, lives and our passion has been put into this project every step of the way. If for no other reason we feel those elements alone merit your consideration. We do hope you can hold on just a bit longer and if not we hope you would please feel free to take a break and we’ll be more than glad (if you so choose) to see you again later.
Once again, our sincere apologies and our deepest thanks, Guns N’ Roses would also like to thank all the fans who attended the 70 concerts in 21 different countries for their support in 2006. All the best to each and every one of you over this holiday season, thank-you and God bless.
Sincerely,
Axl Rose
#4
DVD Talk Legend
I'm not even a huge GNR fan, but I always try to read any updates on this just because it's so bizarre. I guess one positive thing was that I was able to get a joke somebody made on another forum along the lines of "playing Duke Nukem Forever on the Phantom, Chinese Democracy as the soundtrack".
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I think this guy has absolutely the worst voice I have ever heard.
The popularity of this 'band' has always mystified me, from the beginning...I don't get it.
The popularity of this 'band' has always mystified me, from the beginning...I don't get it.
#7
DVD Talk Special Edition
Originally Posted by porieux
I think this guy has absolutely the worst voice I have ever heard.
The popularity of this 'band' has always mystified me, from the beginning...I don't get it.
The popularity of this 'band' has always mystified me, from the beginning...I don't get it.
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Originally Posted by Gdrlv
An Open Letter from Axl Rose Axl Rose's ghost writer
Last edited by Filmmaker; 12-15-06 at 06:31 PM.
#11
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i had hoped that when/if this ever gets released that Velvet Revolver would have an album waiting in the wings for the same release date. Not because I am a huge fan of either...I just would love to watch/hear all the hype that it would cause.
I think most people want to hear this record out of morbid curiosity, but not many are truly looking forward to a shining record...and even if its a good record, the hype/overkill leads me to believe that it can never be what people expected it to be.
I think most people want to hear this record out of morbid curiosity, but not many are truly looking forward to a shining record...and even if its a good record, the hype/overkill leads me to believe that it can never be what people expected it to be.
#13
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Originally Posted by milo bloom
I'm not even a huge GNR fan, but I always try to read any updates on this just because it's so bizarre. I guess one positive thing was that I was able to get a joke somebody made on another forum along the lines of "playing Duke Nukem Forever on the Phantom, Chinese Democracy as the soundtrack".
Is that other forum video game talk? I seem to remember that being in one of our threads.
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Originally Posted by Filmmaker
An Open Letter from Axl Rose Axl Rose's ghost writer
Fixed.
That's exactly what I was thinking. I think it would have taken him and Slash working together for about 3 weeks just to compose that first paragraph.
#15
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Originally Posted by Cusm
Is that other forum video game talk? I seem to remember that being in one of our threads.
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Anyone who doubts that Axl Rose himself wrote this letter need look no further than this sentence to prove that it wasn't professionally-written:
Any professional writer would have used parentheses for "and by that I do mean minor." It not only rules out a pro, it pretty much proves that it wasn't even proofread (though Axl was apparently smart enough to use spellcheck.) It's also a pretty blatant run-on sentence.
I also fail to see anything about the letter that makes it seem unlikely that an egomaniacal rock star who doesn't really have the "dumb" reputation (though he doesn't have the rocket-scientist reputation, either) couldn't or wouldn't write.
I personally find it completely believable that someone who would spend a decade working on a single album would be able to fire off a letter of this length.
In regard to a release date for the album itself certain minor and by that I do mean minor things and or additions as well as contract negotiations need to be completed and barring any unforeseen complications these things have now been adequately scheduled.
I also fail to see anything about the letter that makes it seem unlikely that an egomaniacal rock star who doesn't really have the "dumb" reputation (though he doesn't have the rocket-scientist reputation, either) couldn't or wouldn't write.
I personally find it completely believable that someone who would spend a decade working on a single album would be able to fire off a letter of this length.
#20
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
GNR Scraps New Album Release Date Again
The seemingly never-ending saga of Guns N' Roses' "Chinese Democracy" album rolls on, as the group has once again postponed the project's release. The band announced in December that "Chinese Democracy" was tentatively due March 6, but with that date fast approaching, the album is back off the schedule.
"There is no official release date, as the band is currently mixing, but after some delays and scheduling difficulties, things appear to be moving along," reads a post on GNR's Web site.
"The good news is that all of the recording for the album has been completed," the post continues. "Drummer Frank Ferrer and guitarist Ron 'Bumblefoot' Thal integrated themselves into the recordings seamlessly and will have their presence felt."
Yesterday, a high-quality version of planned album track "Better" made the rounds on the Internet but was quickly pulled from a number of blogs at the request of the band's management.
BILLBOARD.com
The seemingly never-ending saga of Guns N' Roses' "Chinese Democracy" album rolls on, as the group has once again postponed the project's release. The band announced in December that "Chinese Democracy" was tentatively due March 6, but with that date fast approaching, the album is back off the schedule.
"There is no official release date, as the band is currently mixing, but after some delays and scheduling difficulties, things appear to be moving along," reads a post on GNR's Web site.
"The good news is that all of the recording for the album has been completed," the post continues. "Drummer Frank Ferrer and guitarist Ron 'Bumblefoot' Thal integrated themselves into the recordings seamlessly and will have their presence felt."
Yesterday, a high-quality version of planned album track "Better" made the rounds on the Internet but was quickly pulled from a number of blogs at the request of the band's management.
BILLBOARD.com