All four of the major Washington bands have lost a lead singer, even Pearl Jam when you consider that Andrew Wood's death ended Mother Love Bone but gave birth to Temple of the Dog and PJ. AIC persists but it's not the same. I live within driving distance of Seattle, and the local rumors about Layne's last days, and the condition in which he was found, just crushed me.

I was lucky enough to see Soundgarden's first arena show, back at the Bumbershoot music festival in 1990. It was like watching a new king take the throne. The band had one t-shirt for sale that night, the one with Kim's grinning, happy face on the front and "TOTAL FUCKING GODHEAD" on the back. Now the memory just makes me sad.

That Kurt's death killed the local scene is absolutely true. Yes, successful new bands and hit songs have come out of this area since then, but when he died the glue that bound it all together seemed to disappear. What had been a community felt more like a bunch of independent entities without a unifying force.

That story takes me right back. Around 1999 - 2000 you could find GNR bootleg CDs on eBay for really low prices, because the band was considered pretty much dead. I filled in some gaps in my collection (like the Perkins Palace gig) and focused on the old days, not even aware of the Chinese Democracy sessions let alone the VMA performance, which I'd never even heard about until afterward. I attended the Tacoma 2002 gig, briefly hoped for it to be a sign of much more to come, but when the tour got cancelled I figured Axl was back to being a hermit. 

Then, around 2005 somebody on a Nirvana forum posted a comment about "IRS" leaking but I didn't find it for another year. Eventually I tracked down the first batch of leaked demos ("TWAT" long and short versions, "Better," "Catcher," and "IRS" plus the associated instrumental versions).

You're entirely right: Hearing that early version of "Better," with the "I know you know you know better" bridge, was life-changing. I listed to it over and over again for a good hour straight that first night I found it. The MSL and Skwerl leaks that followed were icing on the cake, additional clues to Axl's imagination and creative process. What a ride it's been.

Not really. It's funny, in recent years I've gotten the impression that GNR's management and/or label thought the song would be much more popular. If they wanted it to be a bigger hit, they should have produced a video - MTV still played them in those days. They also should have issued it as a single. Instead, it seemed to get buried - unfairly, but still buried.

"Madagascar" was one of the first Chinese Democracy songs I heard performed in concert, at the Tacoma gig back in 2002. Axl introduced it as "Mad at NASCAR." He was in a terrific mood that night!

If we do get a new crop of demos, outtakes, and alternate versions to mark the 10th anniversary of Chinese Democracy, it'll be a wonderful year!