New Guns n Roses...UNBELIEVABLE.

He did what? Holy smokes, how can one be so stupid? Maybe he was on some drugs when he made that decision.

WOW!!

 

Brother he did this years ago. He made every member of the band sign over royalties to him. Axl cares only about himself and no one else at all. Axl used the bully tactics to get this done.

 

Way I heard it, this album (Chinese Democracy) was finished and ready to go 11 years ago, but for some reason got stuck somewhere...litigation, maybe? Don't know.

 

Wonder how he pulled it off? Can't blame him for asking, but why were the other members dumb enough to go along w/ it?

Maybe Luca Brazzi took part in the "negotiations"

 

Whoa, I misunderstood your initial post. I thought any rights from GnR went to the producer or something like that. I had no idea he is getting everything.

I take back calling him stupid, but he is def. a punk! And that's an understatement, and can't call it as it is because I respect the rules on this forum.

 

I won't buy another CD by Guns N Roses with Axl because of all the crap he pulled. This was on a feature of the Guns N Roses band I believe on VH1 a couple of years ago. I saw it, and I was like no way.

Guns N' Roses - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

As most likely the biggest Guns and Roses fan on the board let me tell you what happened, to all the original lineup members and what took Chinese Democracy so long to come out.

First Adler was kicked out of the band because he couldn't stay off drugs. The band was trying to record Use you Illusion and it took like 40 takes to get through Civil War so he was let go by the whole band.

Izzy left next because he was off drugs at the time (as was Axl) and the rest of the band was still getting rocked. Aside from all the drugs and drama, the touring thing for Izzy was getting old, so he decided to call it quits. Izzy has played a few shows with the new GNR.

Slash left next because recording a new Guns album was going very slow and he and Duff were working on other things (Slash's Snakepit etc.).

Matt Sorum was fired next after Axl got a friend (Paul Tobias) to record over Slash's part on the cover of Sympathy for the Devil and they got in a disagreement.

Duff was the last to in 1998 because Axl insisted that he work on the new Guns album to get it out and stop working on all his side projects (he had a ton).

All the old members signed over there royalties on anything new that Guns and Roses records, they still all get paid for the albums they worked on. Axl never forced them to do it, but he wanted to continue with GNR and not side projects. Although they all admit Axl is a total dick to work with, he did write most of the songs after AFD along with Izzy while the others were just getting rocked. I have a hard time blaming the whole thing on Axl considering everything. Even Slash and others have said that Axl is far from the sole source of all that went down, but he was certainly a catalyst with his crazy style.

Chinese Democracy took so long to come out for a number of reasons. One Axl is nutz and wanted everything perfect. Two so many people worked on this project, that each song was rerecorded a number of times. Just working out the money that everyone was going to get was tough. Three Axl was involved in a number of lawsuits over money. Four the record company had stopped footing the bill for the CD long ago, so they knew he had to release it so to recoup the costs.

 

Thanks for setting the record straight.

Rose did not make the other guys sign over their royalties over to him. Slash, Izzy, Duff, and Steven still get paid PLENTY of money for the songs they wrote and recorded together. In fact, Axl was generous when it came to the publishing splits for Appetite, which are 25% Axl, 20% Slash, 20% Izzy, 20% Duff, and 15% Steven Adler. Axl is a nut who, in my opinion, stole the GNR moniker, but he's not stealing money from the original lineup, that's for sure.

 

I beg to differ on the royalties, but I will leave at that. I searched VH1 Behind the Band with Guns N Roses as to where I heard that from. It is there, but you can't pull it up and watch the whole thing, nor do they have a date for it to be shown again. They just have a little piece of the show.

 

Slash, Duff Sue Axl Over GN'R Royalties - News Story | Music, Celebrity, Artist News | MTV News

It's been over a decade since the original members of Guns N' Roses went their separate ways, but their feud is still going strong.
Slash and Duff McKagan filed a federal lawsuit in Los Angeles on Wednesday against Axl Rose, accusing the GN'R frontman of changing the publisher of the group's copyrighted songs without their consent and pocketing the royalties.

 

A couple of points:

1. In the Slash autobiography, he states that the publishing splits for Appetite are the ones I quoted above. I don't know how they split up their royalties from Geffen for record sales or how they currently divide merchandise.

2. I have a copy of the lawsuit filed by Slash and Duff. I also have Axl's answer to the lawsuit. I know all about this matter. Basically, Axl is claiming that he has exclusive administration rights to license the tracks to third-parties. Slash and Duff disagree. Axl has nixed millions of dollars worth of licensing opportunities to exploit the band's music. He turned down "Death to Smoochy" and "Black Hawk Down" and Slash and Duff are pissed off because they get royalties for the exploitation of the GnR songs. If Axl vetos all licensing opportunities, then there's no $ for any of them. They sued Axl because they do get royalties. Axl's response is that he's the best person to decide if a licensing opportunity willl diminish the band's goodwill. To Axl, its not about making as much money as possible in the short term, its about looking out for the goodwill the group generated, and not denegrating the music by selling it to crappy movies. On a side note, Axl told some movie producer that he'd let them license "Welcome to the Jungle" only if the new GnR would re-record it, allowing Axl to get more $.

3. Axl basically forced the other dudes to let him keep the band name. But they all still get paid a whole bunch of money from Appetite.

 

All correct. The real end would have been a recorded Jungle song that would have appeared in many video's and games I am sure. Seriously if they could all the former members would hook up with Axl in a heartbeat if they knew he had changed his ways, but he hasn't. They will be up for the Rock and Roll HOF soon, that would be mighty interesting.

 

Good point. Bands are eligible 25 years after their first recording. We'll have to wait 5 years or so for this though.

 

Whatever they do, nothing stands up to Nightrain.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Gu3gDhESRY]YouTube - Guns N' Roses - Nightrain - Live At The Ritz 88[/ame]

 

Axl just posted a loooooong rant on a GNR message board under the name Dexter:

Axl Rose Chat #3 - mygnrforum - Dec. 14, 2008 - mygnrforum.com Guns N Roses Forum

 

I have the CD. I've listened to it twice. I cant do anymore. Its just not GnR.