At 5am GMT tomorrow morning Guns N' Roses will announce something. And as the internet ties itself up in knots trying to predict what the Big News will be, a picture of what's most likely is beginning to emerge. Here's what we know so far.
- It's unlikely to be a reunion. Yesterday, former GN'R drummer Steven Adler told Australia's Heavy Mag, "If it is a tour of the Appetite Of Destruction line-up to be touring together and playing together again, which I have been praying for over twenty-five years, then nobody has said anything to me." On the other hand, that's exactly what he'd say if there was going to be a tour.
- Those billboards (which have appeared everywhere from London to Berlin, Chicago to Groningen) do feature Adler, but if it's an Appetite-related product, you'd expect that.
- There's a video (below), which appeared on YouTube early this morning before vanishing. Is it real? Was the leak deliberate? Who knows? Either way, the clip suggests we should expect Locked And Loaded, an Appetite For Destruction box set. The only surprise about this is that a) it took so long, and b) it didn't come out last year, when the album celebrated its 30th anniversary.
- If the video is accurate, this is quite some package. The album has been remastered and made available as a double LP set: Three sides of music and and the fourth featuring a hologram. The band's debut EP Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide is included, as are the band's Appetite-era b-sides. Then there are 49 previously unreleased recordings, including 25 songs from the band's infamous Sound City demos. Recorded in the summer of 1986, these sessions produced early versions of many of the Appetite songs, as well as a cover of The Rolling Stones' Jumpin' Jack Flash and unreleased tracks like Cornshucker Stomp.
- There's also a deluxe version, apparently. If it's real, it comes in a wooden cabinet with a faux leather exterior. Examine the box's enticing innards and you'll find lots of vinyl, a 96-page hardcover book containing unseen photos from Axl Rose’s personal collection, gig flyers, an invitation to the original Welcome to the Jungle video shoot, 12 lithographs, band photos, some temporary tattoos, a turntable mat and cleaning cloth, six logo patches, five guitar picks, three replica ticket stubs, five skull lapel pins, a reproduction of Robert Williams' original – and controversial – cover art, two posters, a bandana, a replica concert banner, a USB stick, five skull rings, four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree. Possibly. And a numbered certificate of authenticity.
Still with us? Then come back and say hello at 5am GMT, Midnight EST and 9pm PST, and we'll reveal all.
