Not willing to face up to the fact that it was a complete dud, Axl Rose is suing his former manager Irving Azoff for allegedly sabotaging sales of comeback album Chinese Democracy .
Elvis Costello has decided to join a cultural boycott of Israel by pulling out of his concerts there next month. Would it not be more beneficial to the beleaguered Palestinians if Costello actually did play his gigs as planned and donated the proceeds to a worthy cause?
Metal heroes Isis are about to break metal hearts the world over by breaking up after their current tour.
Speaking of metal, which star would you most commonly associate with the genre of sci-fi concept metal? Why, Ryan Adams of course! The mercurial country singer has made his own sci-fi metal album (with help from Voivod, of all people) entitled Orion and you can purchase it on vinyl from his website here.
The Chemical Brothers share their music festival philosophy
And finally, you can watch Beach House cover Gucci Mane over at Prefix
May 19, 2010 at 3:16 pm, reality check said:
It would help if you actually made brief contact with reality once in a while. Chinese Democracy was Number 14 on the list of the Highest selling albums in the world in 2008 even though it was out for just 5 weeks that year.
It reached number 1 in Europe and went platinum in 16 countries. If thats a “dud, then most bands would pray fervently for a dud.
Irving Azoff is all about engineering cash-grab reunions. Axl Rose resisted and Azoff’s monopoly of an empire came down on Rose.
but maybe you support monopolies so cheer away.
May 19, 2010 at 5:14 pm, Colm McAuliffe said:
Interesting point. You appear to equate sales with merit.
To further use your analogy, Taylor Swift’s Fearless album marginally edged out Susan Boyle as highest selling albums of 2009. Does this ensure that both albums are of merit and not duds?
Also, you mention most bands would pray for such figures as obtained by Chinese Democracy. I disagree – not every band would view this as success. In fact, I would wager that many bands would shirk from the notion of huge worldwide success followed by rapid tail-off in sales.
However, I do still get a kick out of Appetite For Destruction (even though it’s no Hysteria…)
May 20, 2010 at 10:19 am, reality check said:
your ranking Hysteria above Appetite for Destruction will probably be enough to remove all of your credibility in many readers’ eyes. Sound right? I’d say not because taste is subjective. That’s the part you dont seem to get when pronouncing on the “merits” of Chinese Democracy. Just because you dont see them, doesnt mean they arent there.The abum got quite a few good reviews along with some mixed ones- no surprise for an album released after a long wait and facing impossible expectations.
I mentioned sales of Chinese Democracy because the sabotage issue relates to sales- also your label of “dud” for the album definitely suggested a reference to its sales. You said nothing specific about the music on it.
As for the “rapid tail-off” in sales, most albums dont stick around selling big long term. Touring is more profitable in certain ways. GNR’s 2010 tour has gone rather well in terms of reviews and both the Canada and South America tours made it to No. 3 and 2 on Billboard’s list of successful tours.That suggests that there ARE takers for the “Chinese Democracy World Tour”.
As for the musical worth of Chinese Democracy, I’m definitely impressed with the album. Certainly no “dud” to me, musically or commercially.