In an interview with Greg Prato for Ultimate-Guitar.com, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal shared some of the details behind his involvement with Guns N’ Roses, particularly the making of the Chinese Democracy album. Read below.
With some rock fans regarding it as Axl Rose’s solo release, Chinese Democracy is one of the most controversial records in the genre. Not in terms of its music being subpar – which it certainly isn’t – but just the fact it took almost an entire decade to record. Released in 2008, it featured a revolving lineup of musicians, with songs technically featuring a variety of different names. Apart from Bumblefoot, the personnel on this record also included Buckethead, Richard Fortus, Robin Finck, and Dizzy Reed, just to name a few.
We recently caught up with Bumblefoot as he’s promoting his new solo record, Bumblefoot…Returns!, which came out on January 4. The guitar maestro took some time to share a few details behind the creation of this Guns N’ Roses album.
Ultimate-Guitar.com: What was it like to work with Axl Rose on the Chinese Democracy album?
Bumblefoot: “That was something! We would do like a three-month leg of touring, and then in the time in between, in 2006, 2007, we would go into either Electric Lady in Manhattan or places in the LA area, and I would be with Caram [Costanzo], who was hands-on producing. And I’d bring a bunch of guitars, and we’d have amps and just experiment. I would lay, God, like 100 layers of possibilities for songs that were very close to finished. And you want to come up with something that has value to the song, but doesn’t step on what’s already there.
“So, we would just try all different things for each song, like 14 hours a day one song, maybe we’ll get to a second one. Where I’d try something bluesy, try something little more nasty and attitudey, something more technical, something with wah, something just clean, something strummy, something single note, something melody.
“And then with Axl, they would decide what works, what doesn’t, what should be there, what should be prominent, what should be background. And they did what producers do. They did what they thought was best for the songs. And they would splice things.”
Read more at Ultimate-Guitar.com.
The post BUMBLEFOOT Reveals What It Was Really Like Working With AXL ROSE On GUNS N’ ROSES’ Chinese Democracy, Shares Honest Opinion On The Album appeared first on BraveWords - Where Music Lives.
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With some rock fans regarding it as Axl Rose’s solo release, Chinese Democracy is one of the most controversial records in the genre. Not in terms of its music being subpar – which it certainly isn’t – but just the fact it took almost an entire decade to record. Released in 2008, it featured a revolving lineup of musicians, with songs technically featuring a variety of different names. Apart from Bumblefoot, the personnel on this record also included Buckethead, Richard Fortus, Robin Finck, and Dizzy Reed, just to name a few.
We recently caught up with Bumblefoot as he’s promoting his new solo record, Bumblefoot…Returns!, which came out on January 4. The guitar maestro took some time to share a few details behind the creation of this Guns N’ Roses album.
Ultimate-Guitar.com: What was it like to work with Axl Rose on the Chinese Democracy album?
Bumblefoot: “That was something! We would do like a three-month leg of touring, and then in the time in between, in 2006, 2007, we would go into either Electric Lady in Manhattan or places in the LA area, and I would be with Caram [Costanzo], who was hands-on producing. And I’d bring a bunch of guitars, and we’d have amps and just experiment. I would lay, God, like 100 layers of possibilities for songs that were very close to finished. And you want to come up with something that has value to the song, but doesn’t step on what’s already there.
“So, we would just try all different things for each song, like 14 hours a day one song, maybe we’ll get to a second one. Where I’d try something bluesy, try something little more nasty and attitudey, something more technical, something with wah, something just clean, something strummy, something single note, something melody.
“And then with Axl, they would decide what works, what doesn’t, what should be there, what should be prominent, what should be background. And they did what producers do. They did what they thought was best for the songs. And they would splice things.”
Read more at Ultimate-Guitar.com.
The post BUMBLEFOOT Reveals What It Was Really Like Working With AXL ROSE On GUNS N’ ROSES’ Chinese Democracy, Shares Honest Opinion On The Album appeared first on BraveWords - Where Music Lives.
Continue reading...
