GUNS N' ROSES Guitarist BUMBLEFOOT: 'The AXL ROSE I Know Is A Thoughtful, Caring, Fun Person'

Classic Rock magazine recently conducted an interview with GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow.

Classic Rock: The perception, of course, is that W. Axl Rose is the Howard Hughes of rock. You must see the other side of that…?

Thal: It's funny you would say that about Axl. The Axl I know is a thoughtful, caring, fun person. He really is.

Classic Rock: Do you read some of the things that are printed about him and think, "What a load of shit?"

Thal: All the time. It makes me laugh. But people don't want the truth. They want to be entertained. They invent things, or they embellish. Anything to feed the fire. Some of them are definitely trying live vicariously.

Classic Rock: How much have you contributed to the "Chinese Democracy" album?

Thal: I don't want to say too much for fear of shaking the gift under the Christmas tree. I've played rhythm [guitar] tracks on every song and lots of [lead] solos, added parts to future songs. Over the 2006/7 tours, in between legs, we would hit a studio in New York or L.A., just spend ten hours a day laying down guitar parts. Hopefully what I did will add something worthwhile, that will help the song.

Classic Rock: Two of the latest tracks to be leaked — "If The World" and another known simply as New Song — sounded unexpectedly funky…?

Thal: Those were demos and not final mixes, I'm happy to say. By that I mean, I want people to be surprised and thrilled when they hear the album — as opposed to something they heard on the Internet. I don't blame the fans for wanting to hear it — they want music, and they want it now. The problem is that the guy who leaks it is getting in way of GUNS N' ROSES getting the album out the right way.

Classic Rock: Is the record even finished yet?

Thal: [After a pause]: The official word is that it's "in negotiation." Thing are going well, and I won't make further comment as it can — and will be — used against me on the Internet.

Classic Rock: Have even you given up asking when it will be released?

Thal: I hear that question in my sleep, all the time, asked by a thousand voices. How can I respond the right way? The album will come out when all the pieces are in place, when it's best for the fans, the band… everybody. I have complete faith in our new management [Irving Azoff and Andy Gould] making all those pieces fit.

Read the entire interview at www.classicrockmagazine.com.