OT Why Guns N' Roses fans may be willing to part with $1,000 for the 'holy grail' of an anniversary edi

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2018/05/24/why-guns-n-roses-fans-may-be-willing-to-part-with-1000.html



Hard rock fans, get ready to empty your wallets.

On June 29, Guns N' Roses will commemorate the 30th anniversary edition of the group's landmark album, "Appetite for Destruction" – and it will cost a whopping $999.

In 1988, the original album topped the Billboard charts, buoyed by hit singles like "Sweet Child O' Mine" and "Paradise City." In 2017, Billboard magazine said "Appetite for Destruction" had sold a staggering 30 million copies worldwide, leading some to think the album deserved a reissue.

In fact, it's getting a few different ones. There's a no-frills re-release of the original album and a two-disc edition with bonus tracks. More serious fans may opt for the "Super Deluxe Edition," with four audio discs, a Blu-ray Disc, a hardcover book and lots of memorabilia.

But for some, that's still not enough. Enter the "Locked N' Loaded" $999 edition, a box set that comes in a faux leather and wood cabinet. It contains everything in the "Super Deluxe Edition" and lots more: The package will include numerous mementos such as logo patches, guitar picks, never-before-seen band photos and posters.

Some fans have balked at the album's huge price tag, but considering the wealth of goodies contained therein, there's an argument to be made for that price point, some music industry experts told CNBC recently. Time will tell if there's enough demand for its 10,000-unit production run, but several observers think "Locked N' Loaded" will have no problem finding 10,000 different places to call home.

"Guns N' Roses has gobs of fans across the globe who were teens or of college age during the band's heyday," said Rafe Gomez, co-owner of VC Inc. Marketing.

"Many of these Guns N' Roses devotees, who are now adults, have the disposable cash to invest in the band's new release," he added.

Armen Shaomian, a professor of entertainment at the University of South Carolina, pointed out that fans used to paying scalpers for last minute concert tickets may not even bat an eye at the set's price.

"Fans pay well over $1,000 on either secondary premium tickets or for those V.I.P. experiences that many bands offer," he said.

The price is also justified because anyone interested in this set is thinking about more than just the music, according to Denny Somach, a Grammy-award music producer, author and rock historian.

"It's no doubt a high-priced item, but this is more of an experience being purchased as opposed to just another collector's box set," Somach said. Consumers should get used to seeing more such high-end collector's sets. "These kinds of products will become more commonplace as acts look to market their legacy," he said.

For an extreme case of legacy marketing, legendary Kiss bassist Gene Simmons released a 10-disc set in 2017. The so-called vault had an option to be hand-delivered to the purchaser's home by the Kiss bassist himself for $50,000.

Guns N' Roses' album "needs to be viewed as a one-time experience as opposed to a deluxe edition package," Somach added.

Anyone worried that the Geffen Records warehouse will end up a home to thousands of copies of the "Locked N' Loaded" set can take comfort in the fact that the band's "Not In This Lifetime" tour last year reaped over $300 million, according to Billboard data.

The band's enduring popularity suggests there's fertile ground for uber-fans – such as New York resident Steven Jacobson — eager to get their hands on the ultimate commemorative album, regardless of the price.

Jacobson, president of Hopkinson Real Estate, has seen the band over 200 times, met its members and owns copious amounts of rare memorabilia. He's already preordered his "Locked N' Loaded" copy, which he told CNBC was an opportunity that couldn't be passed up.

"This isn't about money," he said. "This is an experience. The holy grail for the Guns N' Roses fan."

 

Incubus would at least get real leather for theirs.

Maybe Incubus wrote that line for GNR fans.....

If you let them fuck you
There will be no foreplay
But rest-assured
They'll screw you complete
Til your ass is blue and gray

 

Also reminds me of Bill Burr about hitting women....NEVER? REALLY?

I'm not saying I'd hit my wife for buying that but there would be plenty of verbal abuse.

 

That band is one of if not the best one left. If only they'd bang some Kardashians they'd be more famous.

 

Ward is Guns N' Roses had to take off the song One In A Million due to racial slurs.

 

Still happened. Always wondered what the point of that song was.

 

In a 1989 Rolling Stone interview, Rose explained the lyrics "I used words like police and niggers because you're not allowed to use the word "nigger". Why can black people go up to each other and say, "Nigger," but when a white guy does it all of a sudden it's a big put-down. I don't like boundaries of any kind. I don't like being told what I can and what I can't say. I used the word "nigger" because it's a word to describe somebody that is basically a pain in your life, a problem. The word "nigger" doesn't necessarily mean black. Doesn't John Lennon have a song "Woman Is the Nigger of the World"? There's a rap group, N.W.A. - Niggers With Attitude. I mean, they're proud of that word. More power to them. Guns N' Roses ain't bad. . . . N.W.A. is bad! Mr. Bob Goldthwait said the only reason we put these lyrics on the record was because it would cause controversy and we'd sell a million albums. Fuck him! Why'd he put us in his skit? We don't just do something to get the controversy, the press."[2]

The cover of the GN'R Lies EP, which was designed as a mock-tabloid newspaper front page, actually contained an advance apology for the song, suggesting controversy was anticipated. A small "article" entitled "One in a Million", credited to Rose, ended: "This song is very simple and extremely generic or generalized, my apologies to those who may take offense."[3][4]

In response to the following accusations of homophobia, Rose initially stated that he was "pro-heterosexual" and "I'm not against them doing what they want to do as long as it's not hurting anybody else and they're not forcing it upon me", and spoke of negative experiences in his past, such as a seemingly friendly man who let him crash on his hotel room floor and then tried to rape him.[2] He later softened this stance, and insisted that he was not homophobic, pointing out that some of his icons, such as Freddie Mercury and Elton John, as well as David Geffen, the head of his record label, were bisexual or gay.

Axl Rose was also accused of being biased against police due to the negative lyrics in the song which mention them. Rose responded by claiming when he was a teenager he was once mistaken for a girl by two police officers, who then proceeded to make sexual comments towards him, infuriating him so much he attacked the officers, resulting in his arrest.[5]

Others, including some of his peers in the music industry, accused him of racism for the use of the word 'niggers' in the song.[6] When Guns N' Roses and Living Colour supported The Rolling Stones for a concert in Los Angeles in 1989, Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid publicly commented on "One in a Million" during his band's set. After hearing this, Rose in turn suggested they play the song for their opening act "just to piss them off."

Several times Rose defended his use of the word 'nigger'. In one 1989 interview, he stated that he had used the word in reference to the John Lennon song "Woman Is the Nigger of the World". Rose also claimed that he had used the word because it was considered taboo.[7]

By 1992, however, Rose seemed to have gained new perspective on the song and its lyrics. In one interview, he added, "I was pissed off about some black people that were trying to rob me. I wanted to insult those particular black people."[7]

In his final public comments about "One in a Million" in 1992, Rose stated, "It was a way for me to express my anger at how vulnerable I felt in certain situations that had gone down in my life."[4]

The song was not included on a 2018 box-set reissue of Appetite for Destruction, which otherwise included the remaining songs recorded for G N' R Lies on a bonus disc.[8]

 

I wonder if there is a band named 'Nuns and Hoses'