Shackler's Revenge

by **Soulmonster** Mon Aug 16, 2010 10:02 am

SHACKLER'S REVENGE

Albums:

Chinese Democracy, track no. 2, November 2008.

Written by:
Axl Rose
Buckethead
Caram Costanzo
Bryan Mantia
Pete Scaturro.

Musicians:
Axl Rose – lead vocals, backing vocals, keyboards, piano, guitar
Robin Finck – lead guitars, keyboards
Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal – lead guitar
Buckethead – lead guitar
Paul Tobias – rhythm guitar, piano
Richard Fortus – rhythm guitar
Tommy Stinson – bass, backing vocals
Dizzy Reed – keyboards, piano, synthesizer, backing vocals
Chris Pitman – keyboards, programming, sub bass, backing vocals, bass, 12 string guitar, mellotron
Bryan "Brain" Mantia – drums, percussion
Frank Ferrer – drums, percussion

Live performances:
'Shackler's Revenge' was played live for the first time on December 11, 2009, in Taiwan. In total it has, as of {UPDATEDATE}, at least been played {SHACKLERSSONGS} times.

Notes:
On October 10, 2019, a vey early version of this song leaked, named "Shanklers Revenge", dating from September 2000. This early demo has a very different arrangement and no vocals. Another possible name for an early version of the song is "Chicken Dinner" [see below].

Shackler's Revenge
From the alternative Red Hand album artwork
Credit to troccoli

Shackler's Revenge
From the alternative Grenade album artwork
Credit to troccoli

Lyrics:

I got a funny feeling
There's something wrong today
I got a funny feeling
And it won't go away

I got an itchy finger
An they'll be hell to play
I'm gonna pull the trigger
An blow them all away

Don't ever
Try to tell me
How much you care for me
Don't ever
Try to tell me
How you are there for me

I don't believe there's a reason
I don't believe in
I don't believe there's a reason
I don't believe in

I got a wicked demon
His hunger never fades
I got an empty feelin'
I won't be home today

Don't ever
Try to tell me
How much you care for me
Don't ever
Try to tell me
How you are there for me

I don't believe there's a reason
I don't believe in
I don't believe there's a reason
I don't believe in

No one is stoppin' you
From a doin what you want to do
No one is stoppin' you now
Stoppin' you now

I don't believe there's a reason
I don't believe it
I don't believe there's a reason
I don't believe it
I don't believe there's a reason
I don't believe it
I don't believe there's a reason
I don't believe it

Quotes regarding the song

The song was brought in by Buckethead and Brain:

“Shackler’s” was a song that Bucket and I wrote a long time ago, just jamming. Axl asked if anybody had any songs or grooves, so we brought that in. It was a riff that we’d been jamming on since the Praxis days with Bill and Bootsy and Bernie. Axl loved it and put some lyrics to it, and it became “Shackler’s.” That one might have more of a swing because it came more from me.

Modern Drummer, May 2009

When the song leaked, the leaked track was called "Chicken Dinner". Bumblefoot would do an interview and be asked about the song and use the words "chicken dinner" when describing the song:

I like the energy and groove, the vocals really grab ya, I don't think it's what people expect, like tasting somethin' for the first time... it takes a second to take in the info and sort it, then ya gotta taste it again, and ya start getting to know what you're tasting, trying to define it, and figure out if ya like it or not. That's how you know it's something unique, not your standard... chicken dinner.

Rock Brigade, October 2008

This could mean Chicken Dinner was an early name of the song, or that Bumblefoot was referencing the leaked track.

After the release of Chinese Democracy, Axl would talk about the song:

Shackler's was inspired by the insanity of senseless school shootings and also the media trying desperately to make more out of one shooter's preference for the Guns song Brownstone to no avail. That said, listening for my own enjoyment or if we were to make a video or performing it I lean more to the entertainment of a horror flick or something like Dexter, something with an interesting menacing character as opposed to real life.

chinesedemocracy.com, December 13, 2008

And when asked who Shackler is and why he wants revenge:

He lives deep within each and every soul stirring only when the moon is right… or to the smell of KFC…. Or as Brain says “Once upon a time there was a Shackler…”

chinesedemocracy.com, December 14, 2008

And how the weird elephant noises in the beginning was created:

That’s Bucket’s guitar. Which knowing that, it’s how I hear them and I could understand others having a different impression.

chinesedemocracy.com, December 14, 2008

And on another note… I don’t really get the “industrial” rap it gets considering these are guitars with very minimal keys. Some of what may be mistaken for keys are Bucket’s different guitar bits and my underlying background vocals. Imo as it’s not clear to the average listener exactly what’s happening and it’s not something most are used to it tends to get lumped in to a category and by some it’s not so innocent as it’s being cute which again imo does a disservice to the song and the band kinda like how I felt when Sweet Child won a Moonman as heavy metal. I’ve never been fond of that type of labeling as it tends to try and pigeon hole the material and the band especially in the mainstream media. Though there are others who legitimately enjoy the track and see it that way for their own reasons as well so then maybe it’s not all that important. Also though Bumble is playing several parts the basis is Bucket and the main verse riff is his and his performance. Bumble’s correct in what he said publicly it’s just that there’s a lot more going on there as well.

chinesedemocracy.com, December 14, 2008

Bumblefoot would also comment on his contributions to the song:

If I remember right (barely remember anything more than 5 minutes ago, haha) it was one of the first songs we worked on. I played all the solos - the fretless solo followed by the fretted solo, the end tapping stuff and the bends over it - also the rhythms throughout the song with all the riffing in them.

Rock Brigade, October 2008

[...] all the leads on that one are mine. I start off the main solo with the fretless guitar, hitting different harmonics and sliding them up the neck. People think that’s a whammy bar, but it’s all sliding harmonics, like something [British fretless bassist] Tony Franklin would do. Then for the second half of the solo I switch to a fretted-neck guitar and do some runs and noodly crap. I also alternate picked notes with thimble taps way up on the string, near the guitar’s bridge, for those super-high sounds [Thal wears a metal sewing thimble on the pinkie of his picking hand, sounding notes beyond the guitar’s standard range by tapping it against the string about the fretboard]. I’m actually having Vigier build me a double-neck with one fretless and one fretted neck, so that I’ll be able to do that solo seamlessly onstage.

Guitar World, February 2009

This was the first song I heard off GNR's 'Chinese Democracy' album in its final mixed and mastered form, summer of '08. I heard my guitar kick in on the verse, the fretless guitar solo ... hearing it that first time made me remember being in the studio a year before, recording the album -- a dozen hours a day, sitting on the edge of a swivel chair with a guitar in hand, in front of me a million dollar mixing board spanning the length of the room, an old Marshall head by my right foot, guitars all over the couch behind me, pictures of Hendrix on the walls, Thai food in a delivery bag on a table in the next room ... I drive past the studio sometimes, and it all comes back to me.

Noisecreep, July 2010

The song was already written when I joined, and Bucket had already left, so unfortunately we never got to make music 'together' Wink

Hopefully we can some day Smile

The final mix was Bucket's main rhythms & whammy parts in chorus, I did fretless riffs in verses, rhythms in the rest, and all the soloing throughout..... such an interesting song, love playing it live!! Smile

REDDIT AMA, December 2013

That one's my favorite. I do wish I was given a chance to know the music better and developed a relationship with the songs before laying the tracks down. I think it would have been something even better. It would have connected even better and it would have had more of my personality to it.

Ultimate Guitar, July 2014

And playing it live:

I like the Shackler's solo, playing the fretted and fretless, then the crazy tapping at the end while singing the chorus. Keeps me busy. If I don't stay busy I start making trouble.

Daily Better, July 2010

I would say Shackler’s Revenge [is my favorite to play live]. I get to do a lot of fretless switching to fretted, and there’s singing while playing lots of guitar parts, so it keeps my mind busy enough so I can stay out of trouble. So it’s definitely that one.

NY Hard Rock Music Examiner, November 2011

I like some of the heavier stuff; it’s fun to play those. They seem to go over really well like 'Shackler’s Revenge.' Sometimes it’s fun to do the heavier stuff.

Vindy.com, December 2011

On Chinese my favorite is Shackler's Revenge. It's high-energy, and I'm very involved in the song, switching from fretted to fretless, singing harmonies, I like it.

Teraz Rock Magazine, July 2012

Shackler's Revenge is the one I love most from the new shit because I keep real busy in it. It keeps me out of trouble: I am doing a lot of singing and switching between the two necks. There's tapping and a lot of technical things where I am multitasking - I like the brain challenge of it all.

Total Guitar, December 2012

From new GNR music, I like playing Shackler's Revenge, off Chinese Democracy. It's a high energy song, and I get to do more of what I actually do - I sing a bit, play fretted and fretless, and I play my own parts that I wrote and recorded for the song.

Komsomolskaya Pravda (Belarus), April 22, 2014

Looking back at the song:

[...] this was the first song from 'Chinese Democracy' to be released, as part of the 'Rock Band 2' video game in Sept. 2008. It was the first release of recorded GNR music that I was part of. On a personal level, it felt like going from engaged to married. Songs are like children to me - it felt like a first child being born and the start of a family.

MTV Music Blogs, February 18, 2010

[For] one that I was on, I would have to go with 'Shackler's Revenge', because I was doing a lot of backing vocals and a whole lot of switching between fretted and fretless. Definitely from the 'Chinese Democracy' stuff, 'Shackler's Revenge' was a great one to play live, and one where I felt like I contributed a lot more compared to some of the other songs. That one, I felt more of a personal — I don't know if connection is the right word, or just, I felt like I made a baby with it. With some of the other ones, I felt like I was kind of in the room, maybe, even though I did play on every song and I did write parts for every song and recorded them all, but that one, I contributed the most, and I felt good about that — that I was able to contribute a lot in that song.

Radioactive With Mike Z, October 23, 2017

by **Soulmonster** Tue Aug 03, 2021 5:31 pm

When the song leaked it was called "Chicken Dinner". Around the same time (?), Bumblefoot would do an interview and be asked about the song:

I like the energy and groove, the vocals really grab ya, I don't think it's what people expect, like tasting somethin' for the first time... it takes a second to take in the info and sort it, then ya gotta taste it again, and ya start getting to know what you're tasting, trying to define it, and figure out if ya like it or not. That's how you know it's something unique, not your standard... chicken dinner.

Rock Brigade, October 2008

In the quote above he mentions "chicken dinner". Was Chicken Dinner simply a name given to the song by the leaker, or actually a working title at the time? Chicken Dinner sounds properly Bucketheadish but an early version of the song, from the Village demos, was called Shankler's Revenge. Maybe Shankler's Revenge was the original name of the demo brought in by Buckethead and then it changed to Chicken Dinner before finally ending up as Shackler's Revenge? Or maybe it was simply called "track #" on the disc the leaker got and he named it Chicken Dinner because he figured it was by Buckethead?

Shackler's Revenge

Shackler's Revenge

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