2006.01.16 - Rolling Stone - Axl Rose Breaks His Silence on 'Chinese Democracy'

Axl Rose Breaks His Silence on 'Chinese Democracy'

G n' R mastermind talks awaited album at L.A. party

By Steve Baltin

"People will hear music this year," says Axl Rose, puffing on a cigar in the early hours of Saturday morning at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

The notoriously reclusive rocker is of course referring to Guns n' Roses' decade-in-the-making Chinese Democracy, arguably the most anticipated album in rock & roll history. "It's a very complex record," says Rose, a surprise guest at Korn's tour announcement bash. (Others in the house: Jessica Alba, cast members of The OC, and members of Linkin Park, Good Charlotte and the Used.) "I'm trying to do something different. Some of the arrangements are kind of like Queen. Some people are going to say, 'It doesn't sound like Axl Rose, it doesn't sound like Guns n' Roses.' " He then smiles and adds, "But you'll like at least a few songs on there."

Dressed in a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey, cross hanging around his neck, cornrows still intact and sporting a blonde goatee, Rose strolled into the party around 1 a.m., just as the D.J. was coincidentally rocking some vintage G n' R. Approached by a steady stream of women and hard-rock disciples — including Puddle of Mudd's Wes Scantlin and Papa Roach's Dave Buckner — Rose is cordial and chatty as he poses for photo after photo. He seems more like an average guy out for a night with friends than the most mythical rock star on the planet in 2006.

And he maintains that that's exactly what he is. "The only time people ever write about me is when I go out to a strip club, because I don't chase the paparazzi down," he says. And, when he's out of the spotlight, Rose says you'll find him doing average-guy stuff: reading books and watching movies. His favorite book is Philip K. Dick's A Scanner Darkly. "I was a little scared when I saw they were making it into a movie starring Keanu [Reeves]," he says. "But I guess if he can handle The Matrix, he can do this."

While Rose and his revolving cast of G n' R bandmates have been working on Chinese Democracy, Papa Roach have achieved platinum status in their own right. But tonight, their drummer reverts to his teenage fan days, asking Rose for a picture and to guest on Papa Roach's next album. Rose strikes a pose and then graciously refers the fellow rocker to his management.

After all, before he lends his talents to others' projects, Rose has one of his own to finish, and he says it's getting there. "We're working on thirty-two songs, and twenty-six are nearly done," he says. Of those, thirteen are slated for the final album. Among Rose's favorites are "Better," "There Was a Time" and "The Blues."

As for a reunion with his former G n' R mates, that seems unlikely. "I haven't spoken to Slash in ten years," Rose says. "I love the guy, I always wanted everyone to know how great he was, but.... I was just talking to Izzy the other day though."

However, he hints that you could see the current incarnation of G n' R back out on the road soon. "Every time there's a big festival announced, we get rumored to be on there," he says. "But we'll see what happens."

One thing's for sure: Everyone will be watching.

So Axl claims they had 26 songs nearly done in early 2006 and were working on 32 songs. I suppose with "nearly done" he means that the instrumentals are done and not that they necessarily have vocals. Anyway, I am going to try to see if I can figure them out.

Thirteen of them were included on Chinese Democracy, that leaves another 13, or basically CD2.

Here are the 27 additional songs from the locker leaks that were not included on CD:

State of Grace, Perhaps, Atlas Shrugged, Hard School, Quick Song, Silkworms, Zodiac 13, Devious Bastard, Billionaire, Dummy, Dub Suplex, Inside Out, Oklahoma, Prom Violence, The Rebel, Me & My Elvis, Circus Maximus, D Tune, Curly Shuffle, Nothing, As It Began, Thyme, Real Doll.com, Tonto, Mustache, Eye on You, P.R.L.

Together with the 13 CD songs, this makes 40 songs. That's 8 more than what they were working on in 2006. I suppose some songs were too experimental (like Eye on You) or didn't fit in. Anyway, if we remove 8 songs from that list of 27, we are left with 19 songs, and quite likely 13 of those were considered "nearly done" in 2006 and intended for CD2 (unless many new songs came since 2000, like The General).

If I were to guess, Atlas Shrugged, Hard School, Quick Song and The General were among the 13 slotted for CD2. I will have to compare with what Axl said in the 2008 chats.

In 2009, Axl would say he had been misquoted when Del James asked him if he hadn't said he loves Slash: