Big Drum Thump

Is Axl Rose really a crazy, ego-maniacal pain-in-the-rump? Not at all, at least according to drum-meister Josh Freese, who chats about his 2-year stint in Guns N’ Roses here.

Everyone always baits me to give them a crazy Axl story. I don’t really have any. I spent two years in a studio with him [and] I never saw any mood swings. He was never not cool to me. So, I am always quick to defend the guy, even though I know his reality is different than mine. Then again, everyone has a different reality.

…is streaming on MySpace music. And, miraculously, it doesn’t suck. Frank Ferrer is listed on the site as the band’s only drummer, which leaves Brain’s status something of a mystery.

Brain, are you reading? What’s going on? What you up to?

Holy fuckin’ damn. Chinese Democracy, the long-awaited Guns ‘N Roses Axl Rose album, apparently has an actual release date of November 23…November 23 of this year. Brain broke out of the underground, sensory-deprivation cell that all Axl employees are held in to give a few tantalizing bits of info about the disc, namely that over $300,000 was spent to redo Josh Freese’s drum tracks note for note. He also had his kit set up for over five years at Village Recorders studio in Los Angeles. Click the link for a vid interview with Brain.