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GN'R Album to be Best Buy Exclusive
Best Buy will be the exclusive retailer for Guns N' Roses decade-plus-in-the-making new album "Chinese Democracy" before year's end, sources close to the situation tell Billboard. Some details of the deal are still being worked out, including the release date.
The news brings a semblance of closure to the bizarre history of "Democracy," which Guns N' Roses has been working on since the mid-1990s. Since then, every original member of the once mighty group has left besides vocalist Axl Rose, and millions of dollars have been spent working on the new material.
"Democracy" was most recently on the Interscope release schedule in March 2007. The endless delays encountered by the project reached comic levels this spring, when soft drink manufacturer Dr Pepper offered to send a free can of the beverage to "everyone in America" (excluding ex-GNR members Slash and Buckethead) if "Chinese Democracy" were to arrive anytime during the calendar year 2008.
In June, nine purported "mastered, finished" tracks from the album were leaked online, prompting an FBI investigation into their source. A sign "Chinese Democracy" was perhaps finally nearing release came in July, when the band agreed to debut new track "Shackler's Revenge" in the video game "Rock Band 2," which hit stores earlier this month.
Guns N' Roses is now managed by Irving Azoff's Front Line Management, and Azoff is a well-known proponent of issuing albums exclusively through retailers. He released the Eagles' "Long Road Out Of Eden" through Wal-Mart in 2007, much to the chagrin of other merchants, but the album was a runaway hit, having sold 3.1 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Best Buy will be the exclusive retailer for Guns N' Roses decade-plus-in-the-making new album "Chinese Democracy" befor... more -
Blogger Arrested Over GN'R Leaks
Federal authorities say they have arrested a blogger suspected of streaming songs from Guns N' Roses unreleased album, "Chinese Democracy," on his Web site.
FBI agents arrested 27-year-old Kevin Cogill this morning (Aug. 27) on suspicion of violating federal copyright laws. Federal authorities say Cogill posted nine unreleased Guns N' Roses songs on Antiquiet.com in June. The songs were later removed but spread quickly across the Internet.
According to an arrest affidavit, Cogill admitted to agents that he posted the songs on his Web site.
"Chinese Democracy" has been in the works for more than a decade, with frontman Axl Rose the only remaining original member of the once mighty group. Rumblings that the album may finally be out this fall, possibly as a Best Buy exclusive, have not been confirmed by Guns N' Roses or its management. Federal authorities say they have arrested a blogger suspected of streaming songs from Guns N' Roses unreleased album, "Chin... more -
FBI arrests man for posting unreleased Guns N' Roses songs
I guess if you'd spent over a decade and $14 million on an album, you'd be pretty pissed too. Oh, Axl...
How he got his hands on the goods, we don't yet know. But today, police visited the home of a Culver City man and arrested him on suspicion of violating federal copyright law by posting nine previously unreleased Guns N' Roses songs on a website, Scott Glover reports in this L.A. Times story.
In June, the nine songs, from the band's upcoming album "Chinese Democracy," ended up on the website Antiquiet, which drew the attention of the feds. The site received so much traffic that it crashed.
Kevin Cogill, 27, told the FBI that he had posted the songs, according to an arrest affidavit. (In other stories, Cogill has been quoted as Kevin Skwerl, who, according to Rolling Stone, operates Antiquiet and used to work in the distribution office of Universal Music. The Recording Industry Assn. of America says it's the same person.) "Leak or no leak, I said that the only way the album would be a net success would be if the music was good enough to move units for years to come," he wrote at the time on his blog.
For musicians, TV networks or movie studios, there is probably nothing worse than seeing their work available illegally online before it has even been released. The movie industry has put elaborate ...
... and largely effective security measures in place to make sure that doesn't happen.
And in recent years, pre-release pirates have faced the threat of prison time, not just fines, thanks to a new federal copyright law. People may not have worried about risking three years in prison for posting some songs that each retail for 99 cents, but they may want to start worrying now.
Cogill, who is appearing today in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, is the first to be charged under the new federal statute in the West, said Kathy Leodler, director of investigations for the RIAA's Western region office in L.A. There have been others nationally, including two fans of singer Ryan Adams.
"The arrest of Kevin Cogill is great for the recording industry related to our online investigations. We are very pleased with the FBI's interest and the U.S. attorney's office's aggressiveness in pursuing this investigation," Leodler said. "We think we'll see more and more of these pre-release cases."
"What's interesting is how was this pitched to the U.S. attorney as a prosecution priority," said Peter Jaszi, an American University law professor. "In Los Angeles, the music industry is, in fact, a significant local industry. But why pursue this person out of all the other alleged copyright violations out there?"
Corynne McSherry, a staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, agreed. She said that when lawmakers passed the tougher anti-piracy legislation, they probably didn't have this kind of situation in mind.
"They had in mind the commercial pirates selling 'Harry Potter, not this guy in Culver City posting some songs on his blog to make a point," she said. I guess if you'd spent over a decade and $14 million on an album, you'd be pretty pissed too. Oh, Axl... ... more -
'Chinese Democracy' May Be Released This September?
During the E3 video game convention, a member of the Guns N' Roses fan site NewGNR.com questioned a representative from Harmonix Games, the company releasing Rock Band 2, about the new track from Chinese Democracy that is going to be released with the game.
The rep. said that the track, titled "Sheckler's Revenge" sounds nothing like what you would expect from Guns N' Roses. He claimed that the song is in an industrial rock style similar to Nine Inch Nails, and that Buckethead was the guitarist recording the song. He also said that the track would be available right when the game is opened, and wouldn't have to be downloaded separately.
Then, after the Harmonix employee believed the camera to be turned off, he started discussing the possible release of the Chinese Democracy albums. He said that although nothing was confirmed, there may be four albums simultaneously released this September to coincide with the MTV Video Music Awards and the release of Rock Band 2.
In the past it has been rumored that there would be multiple albums, most notably by Sebastian Bach, the close friend of Axl Rose, who claimed that Chinese Democracy was the first of a trilogy of albums. Chinese Democracy has been in the works for upwards of fifteen years, and with the speculation of a release imminent, there’s just one thing to say. I want my Dr. Pepper. During the E3 video game convention, a member of the Guns N' Roses fan site NewGNR.com questioned a representative from Harmonix ... more -
GN'R To Release Song Through 'Rock Band'
A decade and a half after releasing its previous album, Guns N’ Roses plans to put out a new song in September — on the video game Rock Band 2. MTV expects to announce on Monday that the sequel to its popular Rock Band game will include "Shackler’s Revenge," a track from the Guns N’ Roses album that has been in the works for more than a decade, said people familiar with the deal who spoke on condition of anonymity because the arrangement has yet to be announced.
The inclusion of the song on a game suggests that the Guns N’ Roses album "Chinese Democracy" will come out this fall, after years of delays. Axl Rose, who has selected replacements for the other original members, has said that the album is finished, but a release date has not been announced.
Mtv and Universal Music Group, Guns N’ Roses’ label, declined to comment on the deal.
Guns N’ Roses’ plan to reintroduce its music to the public in a video game underscores how important to the music business games have become — especially Rock Band and Activision’s Guitar Hero series, which allow gamers to play along with songs on instrument-shaped plastic controllers. Rock Band 2 will also include songs from marquee acts like AC/DC and Rush; the game may also feature music by Elvis Costello and Bob Dylan, according to a track listing leaked online. Activision recently released a version of Guitar Hero dedicated to Aerosmith, and a game based on Metallica is due next year. A decade and a half after releasing its previous album, Guns N’ Roses plans to put out a new song in September — on the video game Roc... more -
New Guns N’ Roses album leaked
The long-awaited album from the rock band Guns N' Roses has been partially leaked by an American blogger.
Nine 'mastered, finished' tracks from Chinese Democracy, the album that Axl Rose has been working on for the past 14 years, were posted on a little-known rock website, www.Antiquiet.com.
The infamous album is reported to have cost in excess of $13million (£6.5million) to produce but its release is said to have been held up by discussions between Rose and the band’s record label Geffen Records, over rights.
A poster calling themselves Skwerl made the nine songs available on Wednesday, without revealing their source, but the tracks were removed hours later.
The poster wrote: "I always said that the more that Axl and Geffen jerked around trying to figure out how to release this finally finished album that we’ve all been waiting over 13 years for, the greater the chances would be that it would slip out of a pressing plant or office somewhere and wind up in the hands of some asshole with a blog. So…"
Despite the hasty removal of the songs, reportedly after a call from the band’s lawyers, they soon spread throughout the internet, appearing on filesharing sites as well as YouTube.
Once released, the album will be the first original recording from Guns N' Roses since the 1991 releases of Use Your Illusion.
It is rumoured that a Guns N’ Roses reality TV show is set to be broadcast to coincide with the official release of the album.
In reference to the lengthy wait for the album, the California pop-punk band The Offspring announced in 2003 that their next album would be entitled Chinese Democrazy (You Snooze, You Lose). The long-awaited album from the rock band Guns N' Roses has been partially leaked by an American blogger. ... more -
Velvet Revolver, Scott Weiland split
Singer Scott Weiland won't have to worry about dividing his time between the reunited Stone Temple Pilots and supergroup Velvet Revolver, as the latter act has given the singer the boot—or Weiland has exited the group, depending on who's telling the story.
In a press release issued yesterday (4/1), Velvet Revolver co-founders Slash, Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum (all former members of Guns N' Roses), along with fellow co-founding VR guitarist Dave Kushner, announced that they were "parting ways with singer Scott Weiland." Singer Scott Weiland won't have to worry about dividing his time between the reunited Stone Temple Pilots and supergroup Velvet R... more -
Free Dr. Pepper for everyone! (Except Slash and Buckethead)
Dr. Pepper has announced they will give a free can of the soft drink to every American – except former guitarists Slash and Buckethead – if Guns N Roses release 'Chinese Democracy' this year.
The album has been in the pipeline since 1993, when the group released their covers album 'The Spaghetti Incident?', but its release date has continually been pushed back.
Dr Pepper's Marketing Director Jaxie Alt said: "It took a little patience to perfect Dr Pepper’s special mix of 23 ingredients, which our fans have come to know and love. So we completely understand and empathise with Axl's quest for perfection – for something more than the average album.
"We know once it's released, people will refer to it as 'Dr. Pepper for the ears' because it will be such a refreshing blend of rich, bold sounds - an instant classic."
Luckily for Dr. Pepper, it's highly doubtful the album will ever be released. Dr. Pepper has announced they will give a free can of the soft drink to every American – except former guitarists Slash and Buckethead... more -
Guns N' Roses legend Slash designs guitars
Now you can rock out just like Slash, or at least pretend to on one of his guitars.
Slash's guitars will a be limited edition run of 3 guitars featuring two Gibsons and one Epitaph. They are expected to sell out as soon as they are released. My guess is that they will cost lots of dolla dolla bills.
Mark your calendars, they will be available April 1! Now you can rock out just like Slash, or at least pretend to on one of his guitars. ... more -
Surreal Music Moments
How would you feel if all of the sudden you were surrounded by some of your rock idols and they all started playing Jane's Addiction songs? It happened to singer/songwriter Brett Dennen.
MySpace.com/BrettDennen & BrettDennen.net How would you feel if all of the sudden you were surrounded by some of your rock idols and they all started playing Jane's Addict... more -
Indian Sweet Child of Mine
Wow...the internet is awesome.
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Guns 'N' Roses Song Mistaken For Death Threat, Police Called
An American school teacher heard the words "You're in the jungle/Baby, you're gonna die" blaring out over her school tannoy, mistook them for an imminent death threat, and went into immediate lockdown, barricading herself in her classroom before heroically calling the police.
Except when the cops arrived, they found three sheepish teenagers doing their best Axl Rose karaoke renditions over the school's PA system. "These things happen. Lucky it was humorous," said one of the probably smirking policemen. An American school teacher heard the words "You're in the jungle/Baby, you're gonna die" blaring out over her scho... more -
Loudspeaker Karaoke Scares Connecticut Teacher
"Karaoke can be scary, but threatening? A school custodian's impromptu after-hours karaoke performance prompted a police response when a teacher thought she was being threatened over the loudspeaker.
State police say the teacher at Booth Free School barricaded herself inside a classroom Wednesday when she mistook someone singing a Guns N' Roses song over the public address system for a threat." "Karaoke can be scary, but threatening? A school custodian's impromptu after-hours karaoke performance prompted a police res... more
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