Former Guns N’ Roses bassist Tommy Stinson revealed Axl Rose’s single regret about ‘Chinese Democracy’ during a recent appearance on the Life in the Stocks podcast.
The frontman was slow and meticulous during the recording process, which resulted in delays and pressure to finish the album. However, the pressure to complete it intensified when Geffen merged with Seagram’s Interscope Records, and Jimmy Iovine took charge in 1999. Discussing that period, the musician expressed his disappointment about the whole process, saying:
“That Jimmy Iovine pulled that record out of Axl’s hands at the f*cking 11.30th hour is the only disappointing part of that. I don’t know if it would have changed anything about the public’s view of it; the only thing it would have changed was Axl’s view of it.”
Still, Stinson is satisfied with the record, as he further explained:
“He was this close to being able to sign off on that f*cking thing, and they pulled it just before he was completely ready to be going, ‘I’m done with it,’ it was just a little too quick on that. That’s unfortunate. But all things considered, we made a great record.”
The bassist also gave credit to Rose for being able to manage this process:
“It was a lot of work getting that many people from different backgrounds to make something that ultimately Axl produced. He took all of us, sort of retarded kittens, and kinda corralled us in a way that made us write together and work together, and it’s to his credit that he was able to navigate that… It was a huge nod to his talent.”
Speaking to Billboard in 2018, Tommy disclosed one other thing about ‘Chinese Democracy.’ After former Geffen A&R man Tom Zutaut said that the album was originally intended to be part of a trilogy, the bassist confirmed him, saying:
“That record was not meant to be one disc.”
It is known that Guns N’ Roses have unreleased material from that period, which was estimated to be around 60 songs. As they confirmed before, the band has been working on new material for an upcoming album. In August, they released the single ‘Perhaps.’
You can listen to the entire chat below.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/68eG497R9R1jdx0LEu41Cl?go=1&sp_cid=ba9a4a50fdb80930148f4e7cafb370d4&utm_source=embed_player_p&utm_medium=desktop&nd=1
