I have never been dishonest with anyone in the fan community with the exception of suspected hoarders.. just to clarify. I am also VERY careful in the words I use - I said I have not SEEN any empirical evidence... note the key word.

It is impossible for me to claim with certainty that anything I've HEARD (without having access to the original file(s) either over a phone or Discord or whatever is legitimate .. ESPECIALLY given how easy it is to manipulate those things now-a-days.

Have I claimed to hear things that I suspect to be real? - Abso-damn-lutely. Have I ever proclaimed they are with 100% assurance - nope.. and wouldn't until I got the source material myself to check out.

I'm not here to cause static or be a problem.. I'm just a dorky fan like everyone else at the end of the day.

#Peace

I can say definitively in the case of IRS that this isn't accurate. There was a panicfest of epic proportions when it occurred and radio stations across the country (that were literally operated by robots overnight during that Trunk show broadcast) had people getting called in / woken up to go to the stations and ENSURE tapes were erased, etc. This was especially a 'thing' when it came to stations under the clear channel corporate umbrella. The satellite upfeed for Trunk's show was basically edited in real time for the repeat to ensure that not only was the song gone but any damn mention of it / reactions to it were as well - there was some serious chaos that occurred at more than a few radio stations when all that happened.

Now, do I believe Piazza's story about a random CD in his mail? Not necessarily - but I don't think for a moment that leak was intentional (as in, done by the band or the label) - you have to go by the immediate reactions that occurred at the time. Some people deserve Oscars if it was all an act.

You want an indication of how hardcore the reaction was? There were a lot of people in this country at the time who taped / traded radio shows.. (Trunk's show.. Dr. Demento.. Coast to Coast.. etc etc) - this is in the earlyish days of them evolving to doing that sharing over the Internet.. (I'm talking people with garages FULL of DAT tapes labeled like 'Coast To Coast 11-15-98 - Host: Art Bell' and everything else.)

Try talking to those people and finding a copy of that Trunk show.. good f'n luck - because OMG did I go through the effort at the time.. let's just say, due to my experiences at the time - I'm more than 80% convinced at least some people were paid to ensure those tapes don't exist.

Still boggles my mind how f'n QUICK they reponded to what happened, too - Minutes.. not hours.. Just another chapter in the less than normal that is this band.. lolz.

That's the Hammerstein Axl and holy hell did he sound great at that time - he also seemed like he WANTED to be on stage, big time. Not saying he doesn't now.. but its.. different.

The more important thing is we don't know if those new 'overdubs' were taken, simply, from alternate takes during the original recording sessions. That's why I PERSONALLY don't think we've heard any post, let's say 2002 or so vox on ANY of the CD material or leaks we've had our hands on thereafter. Obviously I don't have much to draw that conclusion from except for the perceptible change in how he sounds on "Angel Down" and, later, "Rock the Rock"..

I could very well be wrong, like I said, its just my opinion - the problem is we don't have enough of a data set to form a more conclusive one, at this point in time.. who knows, though