Duff Mckagan Says Axl Rose Has “Magnificent” Material for the New Guns N’ Roses Album

Add bassist Duff McKagan to the list of Guns N’ Roses members who have confirmed that the band is working on a new album.

Earlier this month, guitarist Richard Fortus said the band would begin work on a new release in earnest once Slash is done touring behind his current solo album, Wrap It Up, Slash, There’s a Sad Man-Child Who’s Been Waiting for This for Literally 25 Years. Less than a week later, Slash confirmed that “there’s material and stuff going on already for a new record.”

Now Duff is out and about promoting the new solo album he made with Shooter Jennings, and Eddie Trunk asked him if the new GN’R record is real. To this, Duff replied “Oh, it’s real,” before sort-of-not-really elaborating that “there’s been some jams going around” and that said jams are the shit:

“I’ve heard some magnificent stuff that Axl has — really cool stuff he’d been working on. So I’m excited about the possibilities with that, of course. I don’t mean to get anybody rabid. [A new Guns N’ Roses album] will happen when it happens, that’s for sure.”

It will happen when it happens. Thanks, Yogi.

Hey, look, what is Duff supposed to say? “I’ve heard some of Axl’s demos and they’re total shit!”? Of course he’s gonna say that shit sounds tight.

The most interesting part of this quote, to me at least, is that it seems to confirm the rumors that Slash and Duff will ostensibly be re-recording parts for pre-existing Chinese Democracy leftovers. Which makes sense! Axl Rose worked on that album for well over a decade, and reportedly intended for it to be a multi-part-release.

But there’s something bleakly humorous about the fact that after years of arguing over the direction of their new material, to the point where it basically broke up the band, Slash and Duff are now just going along with Axl, anyway. So many good performing years lost for no reason at all. Sigh.

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