Former Guns N’ Roses manager Alan Niven recently shared his thoughts on the band’s controversial album “Chinese Democracy.” He suggested it should never have been released under the GN’R name, as reported by Ultimate Guitar.
Niven’s comments came in response to a question regarding his opinion on “Chinese Democracy” and whether he could have predicted the chaos behind its creation.
“I’d listen to it and I’d go, ‘Well, I hope it gets a little better,’” Niven said.
“Because ‘Use Your Illusion’ is basically, for me, where ‘Chinese Democracy’ starts. And again, if I’m being a cynic, I’m trying to be a clever wise ass, I sometimes describe Axl as ‘Elton Rose.’ Prog rock Elton Rose.”
The former manager elaborated on his view of Axl Rose’s musical direction. He noted his preference for extended compositions.
“I mean, think of ‘Coma,’ ‘Estranged’, ‘Locomotive,’” he continued.
“He does like long-form, keyboard-based material that I don’t think necessarily connects with a large number of GN’R fans. So with ‘Chinese,’ I was surprised that it actually got finished.”
Niven then revealed his alternative strategy for handling the album’s release.
“And my personal take on ‘Chinese’ was, I thought, firstly, don’t ever release it,” he explained.
“The minute you release it, the mystery and the mythology has gone. My recommendation would have been – choose two or three of the best songs and play them occasionally, and still not release the record, and just have it as this mythological item that people want.”
The manager’s most pointed criticism focused on the decision to release the album under the Guns N’ Roses name rather than as a solo project.
“My second take on it was, you’re going to do yourself a disservice if you release a solo album under the name GN’R,” Niven said. “That’s not going to fly. And I think his record would have been better received had he just put ‘Axl Rose’ on the cover, because GN’R in most people’s minds, has to have Slash, has to have Duff [McKagan]. But most especially, has to have Izzy [Stradlin].”
