New York, NY (Top40 Charts) For the majority of 2019, there were two things that Guns n Roses fans were waiting on tenterhooks for - the announcement of a new tour, and the announcement of a new album. Toward the end of the year, tour dates started to appear, but despite several heavy hints being dropped by Slash and Duff McKagan, there was no sign of the long-promised album. Fans of the band are used to long waits for albums, as anyone who still owns their copy of 'Chinese Democracy' can attest to, but on this occasion there appeared to be a reason to hold out hope that it might appear soon. Now that hope may have gone the way of the dodo.
Starting with the positive news first, the band have now announced every single date that they'll be playing during 2020, and it looks like there should be something in there for almost everybody. They're hitting a series of stadiums in North America for what could be the last ever time, and the full lineup of Axl Rose, Duff McKagan, Slash, Melissa Reese, Frank Ferrer, Richard Fortus, and Dizzy Reed are along for the ride. The whole tour starts next month on March 14th, although American fans who don't want to travel too far to see them will have to wait until they arrive back on the US mainland in July before they get their chance to see the legends in action.
One of the highlights of the tour looks set to be their date in Los Angeles, in which they'll become the first band ever to play the brand new SoFi Stadium. It's an honor for the band, but it's arguably an even bigger honor for the stadium. When it comes to getting musicians to christen a new facility, they don't come much bigger than the most notorious rock and roll band who ever lived. The date of that gig is August 8th, sandwiched between an appearance at San Francisco's Oracle Park on August 5th, and Atlanta's Bobby Dodd Stadium on August 12th. By that time they'll have played in Mexico, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Portugal, Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Poland, Chechia, the Netherlands, and Ireland. It's a world tour in the truest sense of the word, and may yet be expanded to take in the Far East and possibly even Australia.
While the news about the tour has been greeted enthusiastically, the news about the band's next album isn't quite so rosy. While several tracks have already been recorded, lead guitarist Slash is unsure whether they will ever be released - and he blames the current state of the recording industry for the band's apathy towards publishing new recordings. Slash was recorded speaking at a music convention in late January, in which he said that 'stuff is happening' in relation to the possibility of a new album, but that he didn't have any specifics, and the nature of the modern industry was to blame for the fact that the album hadn't already been released.
While it's understandable that the band would be frustrated with an external issue affecting the progress of an album launch, it's surprising to hear one of its members criticize modern music industry methods. Guns n Roses have always been a band on the cutting edge of delivering their music to audiences in new ways. As an example, they were one of the very first bands to approve their music for use in an official online slots game that bears their likeness. If you head to an online slots website now, you'll find several bands have their own games, including Motorhead, Megadeth, and even Dolly Parton. Not only do Guns n Roses have their own online slots, but they were also major partners of the once-popular 'Guitar Hero' games, and even have their own official beer and cheese. Their image may be anti-corporate, but the years have proven them to be master marketers.
Returning to the content of Slash's interview, he spoke of frustration with different people wanting them to have different sounds. It appears that their record company initially told them to make a recording that sounded old-school, and then they were subsequently told to come up with something more modern. Some people have even expressed the opinion that nobody buys albums anymore, and the band should just release single tracks as and when they feel like it. Slash says that Guns n Roses have material and have recordings, but not even they know what's happening with it at the moment.
His comments seem to put him at odds with bandmate Richard Fortus, who claimed at the start of the year that a new album would definitely be appearing during 2020. Not only did Fortus say that the tracks are all already recorded, he suggested that the band have been focusing on them in rehearsals and trying to work out where they should be positioned in the touring set. Either Fortus has spoken out of turn, or something changed in the week between him giving his interview, and Slash appearing at the convention.
It's to be hoped that whatever the current difficulties are can be overcome, and we do get a new Guns n Roses album in the not too distant future, if only because there are some grounds for saying that 'Chinese Democracy' wasn't really a Guns n Roses album at all. At the time of its release, Axl Rose was the only original member of the band still in the lineup. For Slash and McKagan to rejoin the band but never contribute to another album would be a wasted opportunity, and doubly so if the material is already safely recorded and is sat with a record company, waiting for an executive to decide it's the right time to release it. The last time Slash's work was heard on a Guns n Roses record was 1993. That's 27 years ago, and 27 years is far too long.
Whether or not we'll ultimately be hearing Guns n Roses on record during the next twelve months or not, we can at least guarantee that we'll be hearing them live - so if you've always wanted to check out one of the most celebrated bands of all time in the flesh, how is your chance!
