y'know duff has been doing a lot of PR for this loaded album, & generally he always gets asked the same questions. but i have to say, out of all the gnr members past & present i think he comes across the best. axl could've learned a lot from duffs manner, especially in how he admits & explains his being evasive on certain subjects, whereas axl avoids the media to avoid that kind of confrontation & whereas before BBF would avoid GnR subject matter like he lived at the children's table at dinner time & Dj & Slash always seem more interested in selling you stuff or posing for the camera..
but then again not many people probably cared too much what duff had to say back in '87-'91 when axl was talking to the press..

nah u don't always have to go big on the ballads. patience is proof of that in the gnr catalogue - so are the wrecked potential of streets of dreams & CitR two songs that work better with less production.

i agree. tho he might argue the case he's already done that starkness on Lies. but that shouldn't mean that it's territory not worth revisiting. he's such a great vocalist it's a shame he hasn't produced the volume of material it deserves - the great tragedy of the band is, of course, the unfulfilled potential. so it's apt to the story writ large that he hasn't delivered songs more heavily reliant on his greatest attribute.

an itunes live ep of those 'acoustic' songs, such as the paris one (those gigs are the only time i've liked CitR),would have been a reasonable request for any other band.. for GnR it'd have extra significance.. which is partly why it'd never happen (i.e. axl's insecure also in releasing live documents - or releasing anything, of course
- & the dreaded 'red tape' that's constantly noosed around his neck).

agreed. probably is.
& i believe, if memory serves, it was reflected in the myspace plays the album got.
it's a problem that is somewhat rectified in the original/alt tracklist (the one without CitR), where Riad is #2 & SR is #3. i think that helps the flow much better. it makes that abrasive intro more understandable/acceptable somehow.

yea if axl hadn't co-opted GITR & kept it as Why Do You Look At Me When You Hate Me & kept the journalist rant shite out of it it woulda made a great b-side. it still woulda made a great b-side as GITR. they just did not need to put everything out on the albums.
again, quality control issues... AFD was the only time they got it right & that's cause they made more compromises with management & advisors. after SCOM blew up there were no more compromises & that in turn resulted in a lack of help (& common sense) being proffered.