Questioninggeller
6th January 2007, 08:26 PM
The greatest disaster album... EVER
By Mick Wall (http://www.mickwall.com/) 29th December 2006
Ten years, £7 million, svengali astrologers, chicken-obsessed musicians… of all rock’s decadent tales, nothing comes close to the extraordinary story of Guns N’ Roses (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guns_N'_Roses) star Axl Rose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axl_Rose) and his tortured attempts to finish the most expensive album of all time...
Tom Zutaut knew what to expect as his car crowned a steep hill and drew up before the vast Malibu mansion. The huge iron gates were permanently adorned with a small crowd loitering for the merest glimpse of the rock god within.
...
In his solitary confinement, Rose had surrounded himself with huge tanks of snakes and spiders, a collection of Latin-American religious paraphernalia, and a large armoury of semi-automatic weaponry, including a huge array of Uzi submachine guns.
Although no longer the regular drug user he was in the Eighties, Rose still slept all day and then spent up to four hours every evening working out, alone, in his huge gym.
Then he would turn to his computer and surf the internet at night for any mentions of his own name, occasionally posting cryptic messages himself.
He communicated almost entirely by email and rarely spoke to anybody except his 50-year-old housekeeper, and his spiritual guru, Sharon Maynard.
...
In the studio, Rose’s latest recruit, guitarist Buckethead (so-called because he wore an upturned Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket on his head on stage) had demanded a chicken coop be built. An area cordoned off by planks of wood and chicken wire had duly been constructed for the musician, an eccentric whose official biography claims he was raised in a coop, by chickens.
...
By the time Zutaut arrived on the scene in 2001, Rose was back ‘working’ on Chinese Democracy. But getting involved in the project was no mean feat. Naturally enough, anyone working for Rose, from band members to cooks, had to sign confidentiality agreements containing stiff financial penalties for those who dared to divulge details of Rose’s bizarre private life.
All employees also had to submit a photograph of themselves, which Rose would then offer to guru Sharon Maynard for her ‘psychic inspection’ in order to reveal their true motives. Maynard even demanded pictures of potential employees’ children in order to read their spiritual auras more accurately.
...
Outside the studio, his behaviour – on the rare occasions he was seen – was increasingly bizarre. In February 1998, he was arrested at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix after getting into a fight with security staff. ‘I’ll punch your lights out right here and right now,’ he screamed at a guard who was doing a routine search of his baggage. ‘You are all little people on a power trip. Just put me in jail!’
They fulfilled his wish. Friends claim the incident happened because Rose was carrying gifts that he was taking for ‘review’ by Sharon Maynard – including a glass sphere – and he was worried the security personnel might break them. Maynard’s ability to ‘channel’ spirits has led Rose to believe he has lived many past lives.
At least one date on the last GN’R tour was cancelled after she expressed concerns about ‘energy fields’ in Minneapolis.
Rose apparently had ‘trouble’ in areas of the country that had a strong magnetic field. The tour was called off two weeks into its run after a series of no-shows by Rose provoked riots from fans. Following his visits to Maynard, Rose also underwent counselling from a past-life regression (http://skepdic.com/pastlife.html) therapist named Suzzy London. She is said to have helped Rose ‘recover’ memories of childhood sexual abuse by his biological father William Rose, whom he didn’t know about until he was a teenager.
...
Full article:
"The greatest disaster album... EVER" The Mail 29th December 2006 (http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/pages/live/articles/live/live.html?in_article_id=425436&in_page_id=1889)
Disappointed fans were cancelled on because a psychic. The psychic failed to predict his 1998 arrest when bringing her gifts. Past life regression bringing up unverified molestation stories. It seems Rose's belief in woo is part of the problem.
By Mick Wall (http://www.mickwall.com/) 29th December 2006
Ten years, £7 million, svengali astrologers, chicken-obsessed musicians… of all rock’s decadent tales, nothing comes close to the extraordinary story of Guns N’ Roses (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guns_N'_Roses) star Axl Rose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axl_Rose) and his tortured attempts to finish the most expensive album of all time...
Tom Zutaut knew what to expect as his car crowned a steep hill and drew up before the vast Malibu mansion. The huge iron gates were permanently adorned with a small crowd loitering for the merest glimpse of the rock god within.
...
In his solitary confinement, Rose had surrounded himself with huge tanks of snakes and spiders, a collection of Latin-American religious paraphernalia, and a large armoury of semi-automatic weaponry, including a huge array of Uzi submachine guns.
Although no longer the regular drug user he was in the Eighties, Rose still slept all day and then spent up to four hours every evening working out, alone, in his huge gym.
Then he would turn to his computer and surf the internet at night for any mentions of his own name, occasionally posting cryptic messages himself.
He communicated almost entirely by email and rarely spoke to anybody except his 50-year-old housekeeper, and his spiritual guru, Sharon Maynard.
...
In the studio, Rose’s latest recruit, guitarist Buckethead (so-called because he wore an upturned Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket on his head on stage) had demanded a chicken coop be built. An area cordoned off by planks of wood and chicken wire had duly been constructed for the musician, an eccentric whose official biography claims he was raised in a coop, by chickens.
...
By the time Zutaut arrived on the scene in 2001, Rose was back ‘working’ on Chinese Democracy. But getting involved in the project was no mean feat. Naturally enough, anyone working for Rose, from band members to cooks, had to sign confidentiality agreements containing stiff financial penalties for those who dared to divulge details of Rose’s bizarre private life.
All employees also had to submit a photograph of themselves, which Rose would then offer to guru Sharon Maynard for her ‘psychic inspection’ in order to reveal their true motives. Maynard even demanded pictures of potential employees’ children in order to read their spiritual auras more accurately.
...
Outside the studio, his behaviour – on the rare occasions he was seen – was increasingly bizarre. In February 1998, he was arrested at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix after getting into a fight with security staff. ‘I’ll punch your lights out right here and right now,’ he screamed at a guard who was doing a routine search of his baggage. ‘You are all little people on a power trip. Just put me in jail!’
They fulfilled his wish. Friends claim the incident happened because Rose was carrying gifts that he was taking for ‘review’ by Sharon Maynard – including a glass sphere – and he was worried the security personnel might break them. Maynard’s ability to ‘channel’ spirits has led Rose to believe he has lived many past lives.
At least one date on the last GN’R tour was cancelled after she expressed concerns about ‘energy fields’ in Minneapolis.
Rose apparently had ‘trouble’ in areas of the country that had a strong magnetic field. The tour was called off two weeks into its run after a series of no-shows by Rose provoked riots from fans. Following his visits to Maynard, Rose also underwent counselling from a past-life regression (http://skepdic.com/pastlife.html) therapist named Suzzy London. She is said to have helped Rose ‘recover’ memories of childhood sexual abuse by his biological father William Rose, whom he didn’t know about until he was a teenager.
...
Full article:
"The greatest disaster album... EVER" The Mail 29th December 2006 (http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/pages/live/articles/live/live.html?in_article_id=425436&in_page_id=1889)
Disappointed fans were cancelled on because a psychic. The psychic failed to predict his 1998 arrest when bringing her gifts. Past life regression bringing up unverified molestation stories. It seems Rose's belief in woo is part of the problem.