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tony286 · 03-10-2005, 11:28 PM

The New York Times
March 6, 2005
The Most Expensive Album Never Made
By JEFF LEEDS

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif.

IN the faint red light of the Rainbow Bar and Grill, Tom Zutaut sips
at his drink and spills a bit of regret. It's been 19 years since he
signed the then-unknown rock band Guns N' Roses to a contract with
Geffen Records, where they turned into multiplatinum superstars. Back
in those days, the Rainbow was their hangout of choice.

Years after he left the label, he returned in 2001 to try to coax Axl
Rose, the band's magnetic leader and by then its only original member,
into completing one of the most highly anticipated albums in the
industry: an opus tentatively titled "Chinese Democacy." The deadline
for turning in the album had passed two years earlier.

"I really thought I could get him to deliver the record," said Mr.
Zutaut, who spent nine months trying. "And we got close."

He is speaking in relative terms. Mr. Zutaut is but one of a long
series of executives and producers brought in over the years to try to
conjure up the maddeningly elusive album - to cajole the reclusive
rock star into composing, singing, recording, even just showing up.
Like everyone else who had tried, or has tried since, Mr. Zutaut came
away empty-handed.

Mr. Rose began work on the album in 1994, recording in fits and starts
with an ever-changing roster of musicians, marching through at least
three recording studios, four producers and a decade of music business
turmoil. The singer, whose management said he could not be reached for
comment for this article, went through turmoil of his own during that
period, battling lawsuits and personal demons, retreating from the
limelight only to be followed by gossip about his rumored interest in
plastic surgery and "past-life regression" therapy.

Along the way, he has racked up more than $13 million in production
costs, according to Geffen documents, ranking his unfinished
masterpiece as probably the most expensive recording never released.
As the production has dragged on, it has revealed one of the music
industry's basic weaknesses: the more record companies rely on proven
stars like Mr. Rose, the less it can control them.

It's a story that applies to the creation of almost every major album.
But in the case of "Chinese Democracy," it has a stark ending: the
singer who cast himself as a master of predatory Hollywood in the hit
song "Welcome to the Jungle" has come to be known instead as the
keeper of the industry's most notorious white elephant.

03-10-2005, 11:28 PM
tony286 lurker Industry Role: Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: atlanta Posts: 57,021	The New York Times March 6, 2005 The Most Expensive Album Never Made By JEFF LEEDS WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. IN the faint red light of the Rainbow Bar and Grill, Tom Zutaut sips at his drink and spills a bit of regret. It's been 19 years since he signed the then-unknown rock band Guns N' Roses to a contract with Geffen Records, where they turned into multiplatinum superstars. Back in those days, the Rainbow was their hangout of choice. Years after he left the label, he returned in 2001 to try to coax Axl Rose, the band's magnetic leader and by then its only original member, into completing one of the most highly anticipated albums in the industry: an opus tentatively titled "Chinese Democacy." The deadline for turning in the album had passed two years earlier. "I really thought I could get him to deliver the record," said Mr. Zutaut, who spent nine months trying. "And we got close." He is speaking in relative terms. Mr. Zutaut is but one of a long series of executives and producers brought in over the years to try to conjure up the maddeningly elusive album - to cajole the reclusive rock star into composing, singing, recording, even just showing up. Like everyone else who had tried, or has tried since, Mr. Zutaut came away empty-handed. Mr. Rose began work on the album in 1994, recording in fits and starts with an ever-changing roster of musicians, marching through at least three recording studios, four producers and a decade of music business turmoil. The singer, whose management said he could not be reached for comment for this article, went through turmoil of his own during that period, battling lawsuits and personal demons, retreating from the limelight only to be followed by gossip about his rumored interest in plastic surgery and "past-life regression" therapy. Along the way, he has racked up more than $13 million in production costs, according to Geffen documents, ranking his unfinished masterpiece as probably the most expensive recording never released. As the production has dragged on, it has revealed one of the music industry's basic weaknesses: the more record companies rely on proven stars like Mr. Rose, the less it can control them. It's a story that applies to the creation of almost every major album. But in the case of "Chinese Democracy," it has a stark ending: the singer who cast himself as a master of predatory Hollywood in the hit song "Welcome to the Jungle" has come to be known instead as the keeper of the industry's most notorious white elephant.