Guns N' Roses History ( Continuing 2)

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Chinese Democracy (1994—Present) Axl Rose first began work on a new album of original material in 1994.[3] The album's producer was supposedly Mike Clink. Nothing came out of the rumors, and Guns N' Roses remained in hiatus. In 1998, Axl formally returned to the studio accompanied by guitarist Robin Finck (formerly of Nine Inch Nails), rhythm guitarist Paul Tobias (aka Paul Huge), bassist Tommy Stinson (formerly of The Replacements), drummer Josh Freese (of The Vandals), keyboardist Dizzy Reed and effects man Chris Pitman. In 1999, the band released one new song, "Oh My God", which was included on the soundtrack of End of Days. The track featured additional guitar work by Dave Navarro and Gary Sunshine, Axl's personal guitar teacher. The song's release was intended to be a prelude to their new album, now officially titled Chinese Democracy. Geffen also released Live Era: '87-'93, a collection of live performances from various concerts during the Appetite for Destruction and Use Your Illusion tours. Guns N' Roses logo, 2000–2005 Guns N' Roses logo, 2000–2005 In 1999, guitarist Robin Finck departed the band in order to rejoin his former band, Nine Inch Nails on tour. In 2000, avant-garde guitarist Buckethead joined Guns N' Roses at first as a replacement for the then departed Robin Finck, and drummer Josh Freese was replaced with Bryan Mantia (formerly of Primus). Robin Finck returned to Guns N' Roses in late 2000, complementing Buckethead on lead guitar, and the revised lineup debuted on stage in January 2001 with two well-received concerts, one in Las Vegas and one at the Rock in Rio Festival in Rio de Janeiro. The band played a mixture of old hits as well as new songs from their forthcoming album. During their Rock in Rio set, Rose made the following comment regarding former members of the band: "I know that many of you are disappointed that some of the people you came to know and love could not be with us here today. Regardless of what you have heard or read, people worked very hard (meaning my former friends) to do everything they could so that I could not be here today. I say F UCK that. I am as hurt and disappointed as you that unlike Oasis, we could not find a way to all get along."[5]Axl Rose during a 2002 concert Axl Rose during a 2002 concert The new lineup played another two shows in Las Vegas at the end of 2001. In 2002, rhythm guitarist Paul Tobias left the band because of his frustrations with life on the road. He was replaced by Richard Fortus, formerly of the bands The Psychedelic Furs and Love Spit Love. The band then played several shows in August of 2002, headlining festivals and concerts throughout Asia and Europe. They made their way to New York for a surprise appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards in September. The band's first North American tour since 1993 was organized in the autumn of 2002 to support Chinese Democracy called the Chinese Democracy World Tour. However, the opening show in Vancouver was canceled by the venue when Rose failed to show up in a timely manner and a riot ensued. This tour was met with mixed results. Some concerts in smaller markets did not sell well, while shows in larger markets such as New York sold out in minutes. Due to a second absence by Axl Rose in Philadelphia and the resulting riot by fans, promoter Clear Channel canceled the remainder of the tour. The band went into hiatus until they were scheduled to play at Rock in Rio 4 in May 2004. However, Buckethead left the band in March of that year, causing the band to cancel their appearance. Also in March 2004, Geffen released Guns N' Roses' Greatest Hits, since Rose had failed to deliver a new studio album in more than ten years. Rose expressed his displeasure with this album as its track listing was established without his consent and went as far as trying to block its release by suing Geffen Records. Guns N' Roses logo, 2006–present Guns N' Roses logo, 2006–present In February 2006, demos of the songs "Better", "Catcher In The Rye", "I.R.S.", and "There Was a Time" were leaked on the Internet through a Guns N' Roses fan site. The band's management requested that all links to the MP3 files and all lyrics to the songs be removed from forums and websites. Despite this, radio stations began adding "I.R.S." to playlists, and the song actually reached 49th on trade mag Radio & Records' Active Rock National Airplay chart for the final week of February 2006 - the first time an internet leak had done so. Chinese Democracy North American tour logo Chinese Democracy North American tour logo On May 5, 2006, Axl Rose appeared on the Friday Night Rocks with Eddie Trunk radio show (during an interview with Sebastian Bach) and revealed that the new Guns N' Roses album would be released in Fall 2006. Later that month, the band launched a European tour, headlining both the Download Festival and Rock In Rio-Lisboa. Four warm-up shows preceded the tour at Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, and became the band's first live concert dates since the aborted 2002 tour. The shows also marked the debut of virtuoso fusion guitarist and composer Ron Thal (a.k.a Bumblefoot) on lead guitar, replacing Buckethead. During the course of this tour, former bandmate Izzy Stradlin and ex-Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach made frequent guest appearances. Five warm-up shows before a Fall 2006 North American tour were held in September 2006, with two at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas two at Warfield Theatre in San Francisco and one show in Devore for KROQ's Inland Invasion 2006. The tour officially commenced on October 24, 2006 in Miami, FL. The beginning of the tour was notable in that it marked the promotion of drummer Frank Ferrer from touring understudy to an official member of the band while Bryan Mantia took a leave of absence to be with his wife and newborn child. The song "Better" was featured in an internet advertisement for Harley-Davidson beginning in October 2006.[6] That same month, Rolling Stone published an article revealing that Andy Wallace would be mixing the final album. In December 2006, Axl Rose released an open letter to fans announcing that manager Merck Mercuriadis had been fired as band manager. He also revealed that the last four dates of the North American tour would be cut so the band could work on postproduction for Chinese Democracy. He also set a tentative release date for the album for the first time since the album's announcement: March 6, 2007.[7]Chinese Democracy has been in production for almost ten years at a cost of over $15 million, making it the most expensive unreleased album ever recorded.[edit] Music style The music of Guns N' Roses is a fusion of metal and classic rock and roll, presented in a layered fashion. More recently, Guns N' Roses have showed industrial influences in songs, similar in style to bands such as Nine Inch Nails, recruiting former NIN member Robin Finck as guitarist in the group. In the 1990s, the band integrated keyed instruments (played by either Axl or Dizzy Reed, on tour accompanied by Teddy 'Zig Zag' Andreadis) into the band, and for roughly half of the Use Your Illusion tour, added a horn section to the stage. While Reed's keyboard and Rose's piano remain in some of the Chinese Democracy demos and in concert, the aborted 2002 tour and the 2006 tour (to date) have not included winded instruments, though the band has employed synthesized horns on some of their new songs. An acknowledged heavy influence in both image and sound is the short-lived original era of Finnish band Hanoi Rocks (singer Michael Monroe and Rose have collaborated on various occasions). Axl Rose has on record stated that the band were massively inspired by bands like the Rolling Stones, AC/DC and Pink Floyd and also that the sound of Appetite for Destruction was based on the influence of Aerosmith and AC/DC. Most of the lyrics in the Guns N' Roses catalog were written by Rose and Izzy Stradlin.[edit] Legacy Guns N' Roses are considered by some to be the last rock and roll band to achieve legendary status before the tastes of American youth culture shifted to alternative rock, electronica, and then hip hop throughout the course of the 1990s. They are also recognized as a band that changed rock and metal music in the late 1980s by bringing a more serious, emotional, and sometimes political edge to 80's metal, in stark contrast to the carefree themes of hair metal characterized by facial make-up and spandex pants. A central component of the Guns N' Roses legend lies in the sheer velocity and audacity with which they rose to fame. In an era where most rock and metal acts spent years building credibility and 'paying dues' in the form of club touring, failed signing attempts, and unsuccessful album releases, Guns N' Roses signed with a major label within nine months of their inception and topped national sales charts merely weeks after garnering late hours airplay on MTV. The record-breaking achievement of Appetite as one of the highest-selling debut albums of all time is often cited as evidence of the band's imprint on rock and roll history. Their peers in the music industry often spoke highly of the band: Ozzy Osbourne and Joe Perry called GN'R "the next Rolling Stones." In 2002, Q magazine named Guns N' Roses in their list of the "50 Bands To See Before You Die". Also, the television network VH1 ranked Guns N' Roses ninth in its "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock" special. Appetite appeared in Rolling Stone Magazine's special issue "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". The band has not been free of criticism by the media. The flagrant alcohol and drug abuse by some members of the group, particularly Slash and McKagan, and Axl's fondness of Charles Manson T-shirts, were used by the media to portray GN'R as a poor example and negative influence on their young fans. The long periods of time that the band took