''Beautiful Disease'' is an unreleased solo album by

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKa ...

bassist

Duff McKagan Michael Andrew "Duff" McKagan (born February 5, 1964), sometimes credited as Duff "Rose" McKagan, is an American musician. He played bass for twelve years in the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late ...

which was slated to be released as his second solo album in 1999. However, it was shelved after a merger between McKagan's parent label

Polygram PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a ...

and

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a ...

, and McKagan lost the rights to release it.

Overview

The album was recorded through 1998 in Duff McKagan's home studio with all the instruments and vocals on the album provided by McKagan himself, with the addition of guests like

Mike Bordin Michael Andrew Bordin (born November 27, 1962) is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the rock band Faith No More. He has amicably been known as "Puffy", "Puffster" or "The Puff", in reference to the afro hair style he wore in ...

Michael Barragan Plexi was an American gothic noise rock band consisting of Michael Angelos (vocals, songwriting, bass), Michael Barragan (guitar, Echoplex, Moog) and Norm Block (drums, percussion). Formed in 1993, their original name was Godseed. Their sound ...

Abe Laboriel Jr Abraham Laboriel Jr. (born March 23, 1971) is an American session drummer. He is the son of Mexican bass guitarist Abraham Laboriel, nephew of Mexican rocker Johnny Laboriel, and brother of record producer, songwriter, and film composer Mateo L ...

and ex-

members

Slash Slash may refer to: * Slash (punctuation), the "/" character Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Slash (Marvel Comics) * Slash (''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'') Music * Harry Slash & The Slashtones, an American rock band * Nash ...

and

Izzy Stradlin Jeffrey Dean Isbell (born April 8, 1962), best known as Izzy Stradlin, is an American guitarist. He was a co-founder and rhythm guitarist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, which he left at the height of their fame in 1991, and with whom he ...

. ''Beautiful Disease'' included new versions of the songs " Seattlehead" and "Mezz" that were previously featured on releases of Duff McKagan's previous bands,

Neurotic Outsiders Neurotic Outsiders was a British-American rock supergroup founded in 1995, consisting of Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols, Matt Sorum and Duff McKagan of Guns N' Roses, and John Taylor of Duran Duran. The first line-up featured Billy Idol and ...

and 10 Minute Warning respectively. The album was supposed to be released on Duff McKagan's birthday February 5, 1999. The promotional campaign for the album was started by

Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint. Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and h ...

with promo copies being distributed. During the same time a merger between

and

occurred and Geffen was merged with

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

into Interscope and McKagan's album was among others that was shelved. Nevertheless, Duff McKagan went on tour in support of the album putting up a band with

Dez Cadena Dez Cadena (born June 2, 1961) is an American punk rock singer and guitarist. He was the third vocalist and later rhythm guitarist for hardcore punk band Black Flag from 1980 to 1983. Cadena played guitar with Misfits from 2001 to 2015, initi ...

of Black Flag,

Taz Bentley Patrick Bentley, better known as Taz or The Taz, is an American rock and roll drummer. He got his start as a founding member of the local Dallas punk band, The Assassins, and is probably best known for his work with The Reverend Horton Heat, B ...

of the

Burden Brothers Burden Brothers are a hard rock band formed in Dallas, Texas, by Toadies lead singer/songwriter Vaden Todd Lewis and Reverend Horton Heat/Izzy Stradlin drummer Taz Bentley.Paoletta, Michael (2004)Singles: New & Noteworthy: Burden Brothers Beauti ...

and

Plexi Plexi was an American gothic noise rock band consisting of Michael Angelos (vocals, songwriting, bass), Michael Barragan (guitar, Echoplex, Moog) and Norm Block (drums, percussion). Formed in 1993, their original name was Godseed. Their sound ...

. During the tour McKagan came up with the idea to release a live album that would include the unreleased material. This resulted in Loaded's '' Episode 1999: Live'' live album that featured six songs from ''Beautiful Disease'': "Seattlehead", "Superman", "Shinin' Down", "Missing You", "Then and Now" and "Mezz". The songs "Seattlehead", "Superman", and "Then and Now" were eventually re-recorded and released on Loaded's debut studio album '' Dark Days''.

Track listing

All songs written by Duff McKagan, except where noted. #" Seattlehead" - 4:17 #"Who's to Blame" - 2:06 #"Superman" - 3:12 #"Song for Beverly" - 4:33 #"Put You Back" (Duff McKagan, Izzy Stradlin) - 3:24 #"Shinin' Down" (Al Bloch) - 2:54 #"Missing You" (Duff McKagan, Michael Barragan) - 4:52 #"Hope" - 4:32 #"Holiday" (Al Bloch) - 2:22 #"Then and Now" (Duff McKagan, Paul Solger) - 4:10 #"Rain" - 4:17 #"Beautiful Disease" (Duff McKagan, Eddie Hewlett) - 2:43 #"Mezz" - 4:42

Personnel

Studio personnel

- vocals, bass guitar, guitar, drums

Additional personnel

- lead guitar on "Hope" and "Mezz" *

- rhythm guitar on "Put You Back" *

- drums *

- rhythm guitar on "Missing you", "Who's to Blame" and "Then and Now", Moog Prodigy on "Missing you" *

Norm Block Plexi was an American gothic noise rock band consisting of Michael Angelos (vocals, songwriting, bass), Michael Barragan (guitar, Echoplex, Moog) and Norm Block (drums, percussion). Formed in 1993, their original name was Godseed. Their sound ...

- drums on "Missing you", "Who's to Blame" and "Then and Now"

References

{{Authority control Duff McKagan albums Unreleased albums