New Guns N' Roses Album in the Works

Duff Mckagan, Axl Rose, and Slash 

After wrapping up their "Not in This Lifetime" tour in December, 2018, it looks like the touring Guns N' Roses lineup is going to record a new album. That means three-fifths of the original band will be at it again with vocalist Axl Rose, guitarist Slash, and Duff McKagan on bass. Additional members would include guitarist Richard Fortus and (hopefully) drummer Frank Ferrer.
Slash, McKagan, and Fortus have all said there is an intent to record a new GNR album, but in the Gunner's world, nothing comes quickly. "Oh, it’s real, but the fun part and the cool part about Guns N’ Roses is we don’t really talk about it, and what happens next just happens,” said McKagan, who has heard a few new songs written by Rose, on Trunk Nation. “It’s never been that band that there’s a direct schedule of how we do things. I’ve heard some magnificent stuff that Axl has, really cool stuff he’s been working on. So I’m excited about the possibilities with that, of course. I don’t mean to get anybody rabid. Our day will happen when it happens, that’s for sure.”
Slash echoed those sentiments in an interview in Japan where he noted: “Axl, Duff, myself and Richard have all talked about… there’s material and stuff going on already for a new record,” said Slash. “It’s just, with Guns N’ Roses, you don’t go, ‘Oh, there is a plan, and it’s gonna be like this,’ because that’s not how it works. So, basically, the only real answer to give is we’re hoping to put a new record out, and we’ll just see what happens when it happens.”
Slash currently has touring commitments with Myles Kennedy through August, so presumably the top-hatted one would be working with Rose and the rest of the band after that.
"Slash is on tour right now. Once he gets back from that, we’re gonna get some more recording done and hopefully get an album out soon. And then we’ll get back to touring," Fortus told the St. Louis Dispatch. He went on to say a new record could come around "faster than you think."

Chinese Democracy Took a Long Time to Record

The most recent Guns N' Roses album, Chinese Democracy, which was some 11 years in the works, features only Rose as an original band member. While it would be great for the Gunners to make a record with the original lineup, including drummer Steven Adler and guitarist Izzy Stradlin, chances are it won't happen.

And if the band is indeed working on a new album, knowing Rose's perfectionist OCD tendencies, it likely won't be released in 2019.
Given Rose wrote at least two albums worth of material during the Chinese Democracy period, one wonders how many of those tracks will see the light of day on a new record and get some input from Slash and McKagan.

Can Slash and Axl Rose Get Along?

Rose and Slash rocking it on the "Not in This Lifetime" Tour

Also too, it remains to be seen if Slash and Rose can work together in the studio. Remember those ugliest feuds. In his 2007 biography, Slash stated he left Guns N' Roses because of Rose's constant lateness to concerts, the alleged legal manipulation Rose used (since denied by Rose) to gain control of the band, and the departures of original drummer Steven Adler and guitarist Izzy Stradlin. For his part, Rose stoked the fire with some nasty words in a 2009 interview, saying "Personally I consider Slash a cancer and better removed, avoided — and the less anyone heard of him or his supporters, the better." No doubt Rose knew Slash had lost his mother to cancer and the comments didn't sit well with the guitarist. Rose also told Billboard in 2009 (when there was talk of a GNR reunion back then): "What's clear is that one of the two of us will die before a reunion and however sad, ugly or unfortunate anyone views it, it is how it is."
Well they got together for the reunion tour (money has that type of influence), so fans are hoping they can get through making another album together.

Appetite for Destruction: Making Guns N' Roses' Masterpiece

Guns N' Roses original lineup back in 1987.

When it comes to debut albums in the rock and roll world, it doesn't get much better than Guns N' Roses' Appetite for Destruction, an out-of-control train that became one of the best-selling albums of all time.

The record burst onto the scene at a time when hair metal was all the rage and spandex suppliers were making a killing. Guns N' Roses and Appetite ripped into the fabric of  L.A.s' hard rock scene and tore it apart with hard-edged tracks and lyrics paying homage to the rock and roll lifestyle and living on the edge.

Recorded from Jan. 18-March 31, 1987 at four L.A. area studios, including The Record Plant, with Mike Clink producing, Appetite for Destruction has sold more than 30 million copies and stands among the finest works in modern rock.

Prior to working with Clink, the Gunners' record label (Geffen) considered hiring uber-producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange, but decided spending the kind of money Lange commandeered wasn't worth it (imagine if Lange had produced the album??!!). So Clink was chosen to oversee the album and got to know the band by recording a test track called "Shadow of Your Love" which was subsequently released as a B-Side for "It's So Easy/Mr. Brownstone" and again in 2018 on the Appetite boxed set.

Finding that they clicked with Clink, the band began work on the album in January 1987 with recording the basic tracks, which took two weeks. Interestingly, Clink was a workaholic who spliced together the best takes with a razor blade and then worked 18 hour days with Slash and Axl Rose on guitars and vocals. 

Slash was having trouble finding a sound he liked, but settled on a copy Gibson Les Paul through a Marshall amp. Drummer Steven Adler says his drum parts took six days, but much of the $370,000 recording budget was used up by Rose, who insisted on recording his vocals one line at time, which took forever and forced the rest of the band out of the studio and into the local watering holes.

Geffen A&R man Tom Zutaut, who took a chance on the band, recalled to Loudwire.com: "There are some bands that just can't be stopped and you can sense it. No amount of alcohol or drugs will slow them down. Guns N' Roses were able to consume those things, yet deliver at a live show and deliver in the studio."

The Songs Make Appetite a Success

Original artwork for the Appetite Cover

What really stands out are the songs on Appetite for Destruction. From the rawness of the tracks to the lyrics, everyone is a testament to what the band was living through at the time: sex, drugs, and rock and roll. They didn't apologize for a song about heroin addiction (Mr. Brownstone), were unrepentant about how wasted they would get ("Nighttrain"), and women who would give them anything they wanted ("It's So Easy"). 

A prime example of the desire to be as authentic as possible came when Rose was set to lay down vocals for "Rocket Queen". He wanted to incorporate the live sounds of having sex on the album, so he asked Adler's girlfriend if she wanted to do it and she said "yes". They had sex in the studio and put the sounds on tape. It's the epitome of what Guns N' Roses is all about.

Appetite Fizzles on Release

When Appetite for Destruction was released on July 21, 1987, it received little fanfare. After six months, it had sold only 250,000 and MTV wasn't playing the "Welcome to the Jungle" video. Finally, after much persuading from Geffen, MTV relented (playing the video at 5 a.m. on a Sunday morning) and gave the song some air time, as did Much Music in Canada. Soon the song was getting tons of requests and the band found a larger audience. But it was "Sweet Child O' Mine" that really took them into the stratosphere when it was released as a single in August, 1988.

Zutaut predicted to David Geffen that Appetite would sell 10 million copies. Turns out even he was wrong.

Check out why Izzy Stradlin was such an integral part of the original Guns N' Roses lineup.

How the Red Hot Chili Peppers Matured as Songwriters

A sure sign of a great band is its ability to evolve and still maintain its core essence.

Over the years (we're talking 34 years now since their first album), the Red Hot Chili Peppers have constantly shifted their sound but album after album, they continue to mature as songwriters.

For a band that started out as a funk-rock-punk outfit, the current incarnation of vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea, drummer Chad Smith and guitarist John Frusciante have successfully transitioned into a solid rock outfit that's not afraid to stretch the sound by adding synthesizers or disco beats.

Back in the early 1980s as a band starting out, the Peppers wrote songs that broke the mold, becoming one of the first bands to merge metal, rap, and funk. "True Men Don't Kill Coyotes" from their self-titled 1984 debut is a prime example of the band's early songwriting.

Their next two albums contained similar songwriting styles and on "Fight Like A Brave" from The Uplift Mofo Party Plan, the band strengthened their craft with more meaningful lyrics as Kiedis detailed one of his many battles with heroin, a drug that claimed the life of original guitarist Hillel Slovak in 1988.

The band really began to mature in 1988, after Slovak's death, on their Mother's Milk album. Songs like "Knock Me Down", "Johnny, Kick a Hole in the Sky", and the brilliant instrumental "Pretty Little Ditty" (the first song ever written together by Flea and John Frusciante) showcase a band that's coming into its own, with profound lyrics, a better sound, and deeper musical grooves.

Following up on the commercial success of Mother's Milk, the Chilis hired uber-producer Rick Rubin and released Blood Sugar Sex Magik in 1991. Again, the band continued to evolve, with "Under the Bridge" reaching No. 2 - a song brought to the band by Kiedis, who didn't think it was good for the band's modus operandi, but Rubin convinced him it was a worthy track. It's another example of the group digging deeper and not being afraid to stick with one style of music.

Fast forward to 2002 and the album By the Way. RHCP by this time had mellowed out in a big way. It's their least funky record but a song like "Can't Stop" hearkens back to the Blood Sugar Sex Magik days. And a song like "On Mercury" showcases a serious ska/reggae influence. Then there's the title track, with the phenomenal vocal harmonies of Kiedis and Frusciante. At this time, the guitarist had cleaned up in rehab, was happy, and became instrumental in the songwriting, leaning on influences from the Beach Boys and The Beatles. "By the Way" is a roadmarker in how the Chilis had evolved to that point, as was the whole album.

The L.A. band's amazing The Getaway (with Josh Klinghoffer on guitar) really is among their best work. A real California rock record that shows them at their peak in terms of melody, feel, and groove. "Dark Necessities", "Go Robot", and "Sick Love" (featuring Elton John - who would have thought that in 1984? are among the finer tracks RCHP has ever laid down. Take "Sick Love", which boasts the base chord structure of John's "Bennie and the Jets". It's a song that encompasses four decades of musical influences, shining strong in one song.

For longtime fans who has been fans since the 1980s, the Red Hot Chili Peppers have proven themselves to be an ever-changing, evolving fountain of youth in terms of their songwriting. For music fans, that's about as good as it gets.

How Gojira Found a Much Larger Audience

No doubt many metal fans — especially those over 40 years of age — had never heard of Gojira or listened to them until they opened up for Metallica in North America in the summer of 2017.

For a speed-metal band like Gojira to slot onto Metallica’s WorldWired Tour was a huge coup for the French outfit consisting of drummer Mario Duplantier, singer/guitarist Joe Duplantier, guitarist Christian Andreu and bassist Jean-Michel Labadie. Those shows opened up a massive new audience for the band at a time when their latest album, Magma (2016), was a bit slower and less all-out-aggression than their previous efforts. Magma is arguably the best metal album from 2016.

When Gojira, which formed in 1996, were announced as part of Metallica’s tour, along with Avenged Sevenfold, Joe Duplantier knew it was a golden opportunity for his band to showcase itself to a whole new audience.

“I hope they will see something they've never seen before; it could be subtle. And the energy and our sound, I hope they will take away something cool and original and refreshing, ‘cause I know Metallica draws a huge crowd,” said Duplantier, who along with brother Mario, write most of the band’s songs. “They have the old-school metalheads, they have the new fans, and then there’s almost like random people that don't know anything about metal … I hope these people will experience something original.”

Certainly for those who’d never seen or heard the mighty Gojira before, it was amazing to hear them for the first time. It was heavy with a lot of melody, and for this writer anyways, picking up the Magma album after seeing them live was a must and what great record it is!

With slower tracks like “The Shooting Star” and “Stranded”, Magma is the perfect album to showcase for new fans. And there is still plenty of high-tempo speed on the record as well with songs like “Silvera” and “The Cell”. As Duplantier said, it was just time for the band to naturally slow down from and change it up previous albums, a move partly brought on by the death of the Duplantier brothers' mother. Her passing led to more introspective and emotional lyrics, which no doubt led to slower songs.

“We never sat down around a table and decided, ‘Okay, it’s time to do new stuff or to change or to calm down on the music.’ It was just like a completely natural, organic thing. And we still argue a lot in the band; we bring up ideas and sometimes the rest of the band doesn't like them,” said Duplantier. “So, there’s always this common ground that we have to find between all of us, and Magma is the common ground between the four of us at that particular time. So that’s what it is — it’s like being spontaneous and being natural and trying to find the common ground in the band. And we’re lucky enough to have that same desire — to be more mellow, I guess, and more melodic too, and more emotional.”

Drums Dominate Gojira Sound

One thing that’s been steady with Gojira all these years is how Mario Duplantier’s drums are front and centre in the music. While most drummers provide a backbeat with some fills to round out a song, Duplantier’s drumming is often the instrument that’s at the forefront of a Gojira track. Often, it’ll be the guitar, but there’s no doubt the drums take front and centre with many Gojira tracks. On Magma, for example, the title track and “Low Lands” are two shining examples of the drums being the dominant instrument.

Gojira, which means Godzilla in Japanese, were noted for creating some of the heaviest and fastest music. As one Reddit user noted about 2005’s From Mars to Sirius album that it featured some of the heaviest music ever written. Heavy yes, but all with an underlying melody that’s sometimes hard to find, but it’s there.

To show how far the band from Bayonne has come, they were nominated for two Grammy Awards in 2016: Best Rock Album and Best Metal Performance for “Silvera”. Gojira didn’t win in either category, however, as Ghost took Best Metal Performance with “Cirice” and Drones by Muse won for Best Rock Album.

If you’re a metal fan and haven’t heard of, or listened to Gojira, do yourself a favor and check this band out. You’ll be blown away.

Five of the Most Underrated Guns N' Roses Songs

As the mighty Guns N' Roses take a break between legs of their seemingly-never ending Not In This Lifetime World Tour, we decided to investigate some of the band's most underrated songs. And while fans wait for the end of the tour (later this year) to see what will happen with the band (Will they make a new record? Will they break up again?), check out these five amazing, underrated GN'R tracks.

14 Years

If Axl Rose brings the Mick Jagger swagger to Gun N' Roses, Izzy Stradlin brought the street-smart, rhythm guitar feel of Keith Richards. Make no mistake, "14 Years ", from Use Your Illusion II is largely an Izzy Stradlin tune. The former Gunner handles lead vocals for a song that's likely about Stradlin's friendship with Rose. Overall, this is a fantastic rock n' roll song that really has a Rolling Stones feel to it with the background piano hammering away. Sadly, Stradlin left the band on the Illusions Tour in 1991.

Coma

The longest Gun N' Roses track (at 10:13) from the Illusions records, "Coma" is one of those songs that grows on you more and more over a few listens. Written about his own overdose experience, Axl Rose had trouble penning the lyrics. He is quoted as saying: "I tried to write that song for a year, and couldn't. I went to write it at the studio and passed out. I woke up two hours later and sat down and wrote the whole end of the song, like, just off the top of my head. It was like, I don't even know what's coming out, man, but it's coming. I think one of the best things that I've ever written was maybe the end segment of the song "Coma".

Prostitute

If you enjoy the Chinese Democracy album, then you're probably on board with how good "Prostitute" is. From the quiet build up to the explosive ending, "Prostitute" is one of Axl Rose's shining moments as a songwriter and lyricist. While the subject of the track (former band mate or record company?) isn't clear, what's clear is the phenomenal lead guitar work of Buckethead on this track.

Human Being

The only song on this list not written by the band, "Human Being" is a cover of a 1974 New York Dolls track that appeared on GN'R's Spaghetti Incident album from 1993. While it was the last studio album to feature Slash and Duff McKagan, "Human Being" is a shining example of how they could make a song absolutely groove from start to finish. Much like Metallica, Guns N' Roses can take an old song and almost make it better than the original. Any way you slice, the GN'R version of "Human Being" is insanely good.

Pretty Tied Up

Ah the "Perils of Rock n' Roll Decadence". Written solely by Izzy Stradlin, "Pretty Tied Up" has an eastern flare from a coral sitar in the intro followed by a grooving verse riff with Stradlin's rhythm chops prominently featured. Stradlin has said in interviews that the subject of the song was a Hollywood dominatrix. Fans of this track really enjoy the line "Cool and stressing" which sounds like cool ranch dressing.

Check out our story on why Izzy Stradlin is a key cog missing from the current GN'R tour

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