creative deconstruction

Axl Rose and the Importance of Humility and Flexibility

Posted on 24. May, 2010 by refe in ARTISTS, STRATEGY

Axl Rose of Guns 'N' Roses.

Change is difficult.

Artists often have the hardest time with change because they can be so driven by principle. The rockstar-poet is the clearest example of this. You know the type – one or even a couple of great albums that receive major critical acclaim (whether under or above ground) and then the world moves on and they just can’t seem to understand why their message doesn’t seem to be getting through anymore.

“My songs haven’t changed, so the people must have. The world is clearly going to hell.”

Or worse, the would-be rockstar-poet. That’s the guy (or girl) who’s message is so personal, obscure or ‘deep’ that no one gets it in the first place.

“I’m so misunderstood… The world isn’t worthy of my Rock.”

Axl Rose and ‘Chinese Democracy’

Speaking of the former, however, there was an entertaining bit in a recent Lefsetz letter that I wanted to share. Lefsetz shared an email that he received in response to something he had written about the latest Guns N’ Roses album ‘Chinese Democracy.’

If you’re unfamiliar with the album, here’s what Lefsetz wrote on it originally:

What album’s got a title YEARS before release? Isn’t the title usually the last thing?

Axl would have been better off saying he shelved that record, making it an unreleased legend like “Smile”, and then cutting another (or releasing the same damn work under a different name). Because by time it was finally released, people expected something in the neighborhood of “Appetite”, and that was impossible.

But it was impossible for any new work to have the momentum and impact of “Appetite”. It was twenty years later. MTV, the centralizing force, was dead. Radio was calcified. And the audience…was in its forties and had jobs and kids and couldn’t stay at home all afternoon getting high to new music.

Times changed, but W. Axl Rose did not change with them.

That pretty much sums it up. Here was one reader’s response:

When a track from Chinese Democracy (“Better”) leaked in 2006 – the radio stations that were playing it received Cease and Desist orders from Axl’s attorneys.

When Axl tried releasing the same song as a single 2 years later – the radio stations ignored it.

You reap what you sow.

This is a great example of somebody who just doesn’t seem to get it anymore.

Back in the day.

First of all, why was ‘Chinese Democracy’ allowed to sit around for 2 years after that track leaked? The full album should have been sent out that afternoon, as far as I’m concerned. You can do that now thanks to a little device called the ‘internet.’

Instead, Axl held the album close for 2 more years. Perhaps he (or more likely someone working for him) eventually realized that if ‘Better’ had gotten airplay without the record company even trying, it should probably be the re-released as the album’s first single.

Too little, too late.

The damage had already been done and the world had yet again moved on. What’s more, the radio stations had been snubbed. They were eager to promote the track when they first got wind of it, but Axl told them to stop. Two years later that eagerness had long since faded. Maybe they were holding a grudge, or maybe the world had just had enough time to realize that the album wasn’t all that great anyway.

Humility and Flexibility

The lesson here? The world doesn’t owe you anything. The record industry, the broadcasting and the television industries don’t owe you anything. Most importantly, the listeners don’t owe you anything.

If your music, or your business, or your way of doing things don’t lead to the kind of success you want to achieve…. you may not be as good as you think you are. And when you do find your groove and the successes start rolling in, remember – the world spins very quickly these days.

The key is to stay humble, and to stay flexible. Humility allows us to make an honest assessment of what we have, or don’t have to offer. Flexibility allows us to change in mid-course if need be to adapt to the changing marketplace, or the changing creative landscape.

And now, for your viewing pleasure, here is Mr. Axl Rose, Slash and an entire Wal-Mart’s worth of hairspray. Please enjoy – at least until Axl’s attorneys make me take it down.

Tags: album, axl rose, change, chinese democracy, guns n roses, new music business