The reason why although Better is the most catchy GNR song ever, it never became a hit

[Rovim]

It's because it was released as the second single and didn't get much airplay after Chinese Democracy tanked. Chinese Democracy got a lot of airplay but no one liked it. If Better was released as the first single back in 06 it would have been a hit.

Agreed. The band had one shot to make an impression with anyone who was even slightly curious about the record. CD (the track) was an utterly underwhelming first statement, so much so that it caused most people to write off the album. And like a movie that doesn't open well in its first weekend, support gets yanked by its backers. Better would have definitely done a better job at bringing people on board. Hell, they should have just gone balls out and released TWAT as a first single. It's not as though a lengthy single is uncharted territory for a band like GNR.

But this is to assume that the band/Axl had any control over the selection of the first single. I remember hearing a rumor awhile back that they wanted Shacklers Revenge to be the first single. Not sure if that would have been the right way to go, but probably a better move than the title track. If I was calling the shots the order of the singles would have been Better, TWAT, and Catcher. Reason for this: they're the most GNR sounding songs on the album (and also my three favourite songs).

Maybe Better as the first single, then Street Of Dreams, I.R.S, and This I Love.

The rocker, ballad, rocker, ballad formula seem to work for a lot of bands. Also: Better is very catchy with Axl's vocals in the front, Street Of Dreams is a very melodic UYI type song, and I.R.S and This I Love usually get a very positive response from casuals.

It could have worked.

[wasted]

It would have helped for Better not to have leaked. When it did was the only time I felt there was a buzz about GNR. It had the buzz that a single and album need first week.

That kind of happened for me again with Shacklers but I dont think it could be considered a commercial single.

The songs I expect to hear in a bar unexpectedly are SOD and TIL. Like I heard Yesterdays a few years ago.

Thats why Guns needs to get back to a hard rock sound if they ever want a hit song or album again.

[downzy]

I've said this a million of times and I'll say this again, Street of Dreams is a terrible song. Just terrible. It's what you'd expect if Axl was writing a broadway musical or penning a song for Journey. I have not met one casual or non-fan who actually likes this song. Anyone who thinks this song would have brought greater success to the band is dreaming. If you anyone can point out a hook in this song I'd surely appreciate it because I still haven't found one in almost 13 years of listening to it. The only thing catchy about this song is the little piano intro Dizzy wrote. I remember reading recaps of the song in 2001 from the Vegas gigs with people calling it the next November Rain. When I heard it I thought I must have downloaded the wrong song because I couldn't get over how meandering and boring the song was. It has definitely not improved with age.

Better and TWAT were the only two songs that my friends who were non-GNR fans liked. Anecdotal I know, but they really should have gone with the two songs that actually sound like GNR. Chinese Democracy (the album) has three power ballads (SOD, TIL, Sorry), and none of them would have worked as a single. TIL maybe if there was a tremendous amount of momentum behind the album and Axl was 28 years old, but it's just too mushy coming from a 50 year old dude for mainstream to dig it.

I often get the impression that people on this forum want to like this album more than it deserves. Efforts are made to make songs more radio friendly than they actually are. There were very few singles on this album. Better was one of them, if not the only one. TWAT maybe if Better charted well.

Edited July 28, 2013 by downzy

[magisme]

Better would have tanked, too. A decade and a half goes by and Axl's big comeback song is an uninspired pop song with a cringeworthy intro, no chorus, shit vocals, and ridiculous production? Nah.

The album was no good. It had no good singles. Those are two different things, but they're both true.

[Young_Gun]

It's because it was released as the second single and didn't get much airplay after Chinese Democracy tanked. Chinese Democracy got a lot of airplay but no one liked it. If Better was released as the first single back in 06 it would have been a hit.

I love Better but I personally don't see this generation calling up and requesting it. First single or not.

[wasted]

It was kind of the fourth single really.

ITW, Shacklers, then Chi dem. Then way past the first two weeks Better. I didnt know it was a single until a year later. And only recently that SOD was.

Rock n Roll Train, Day that Never Comes, Magnificient didnt become huge hits either.

[Gibbo]

Love better but the intros wrecks it

[DieselDaisy]

Personally I would have went..

1/ Better

2/SOD

Both with videos. But this should have been 2001.

[wasted]

it's really the leaks that distorted things.

It's strange how GNR the release was in the way they released ITW as like a Heaven's Door on a soundtrack, then Shackler's as like an It's So Easy/YCBM. Then Chi Dem as Jungle, Better could have been SCOM and SOD as a Nov Rain.

It was totally ignored that Axl was the only old GNR member left and his songs SOD, TIL, TWAT, Catcher should really be the focus.

It was only by the 5th single that people would have got a GNR sounding single.

If Better was a hit would we have got videos of TWAT and Catcher? That would have been victory.

[trqster]

I remember that on Howard Stern show they played for the first time Better (Chinese Democracy single was already on air at the time) and Howard, the other guy with him and some people listening said that it didn't sound bad at all, but CD was much better...

[useyorappetite]

axl imitating miley cyrus at the beginning ruined it for me. maybe axl has some sort of disease and he cant hear his own voice. it makes sense.better, scraped, RIR...

[wasted]

To me ITW sounds like a smash hit.

[Hollywood Gunner]

Tell me one song that is more catchy. (Catchier?)

Wttj, pc, nr etc... but assuming were talking about songs that never got big... pretty tied up... idk why its been growing on me so much lately, but great song and catchy as hell

[Rustycage]

To me ITW sounds like a smash hit.

Not really. The vocals are WAY too polished. The music might have been ok for modern music fans but the vocals just dont sound good at all.

[ARX77]

Better is a great song. And of all the new songs played at a show by the middle of the song people are rocking out instead of heading to the bathroom. Better didn't make it as a single because after Chin Dem flopping as a single the radio stations stopped playing the album.

[Guest cbgnr666]

Why does a song like say" Legendary Child" by Aerosmith which blows or the new Bon Jovi " Another gay wave in the ocean" or whatever its called which is so unreal bad, get continuous play when they were released and even now,but a great song like "Better"which blows the both of them away is collecting dust?

Edited July 28, 2013 by cbgnr666

[niceguy]

Why does a song like say" Legendary Child" by Aerosmith which blows or the new Bon Jovi " Another gay wave in the ocean" or whatever its called which is so unreal bad, get continuous play when they were released and even now,but a great song like "Better"which blows the both of them away is collecting dust?

You do realize how the radio industry works, right? It's all about money, not how good a song is.

Sure, in previous years, the good songs were the ones that got played on the radio. But ever since Clear Channel was allowed to monopolize the radio industry (and you can thank the Republican party for that), radio airplay is a purchased commodity.

[Guest cbgnr666]

Why does a song like say" Legendary Child" by Aerosmith which blows or the new Bon Jovi " Another gay wave in the ocean" or whatever its called which is so unreal bad, get continuous play when they were released and even now,but a great song like "Better"which blows the both of them away is collecting dust?

You do realize how the radio industry works, right? It's all about money, not how good a song is.

Sure, in previous years, the good songs were the ones that got played on the radio. But ever since Clear Channel was allowed to monopolize the radio industry (and you can thank the Republican party for that), radio airplay is a purchased commodity.

Well that's true about money being the agenda,but other big bands still get alot of play, especially initally following the release no matter if their song is a hit or miss.I'm not saying everyone out there would fall in love with a song like Better but it would have done alot more if given that kind of chance.IMO.

Edited July 28, 2013 by cbgnr666

[SWIFTSLICK]

Well, it's not really radio friendly to start. You need to appeal to the yokels to make a hit song (read popular)... And the intro is really unusual. Also, MTV is not the promotional tool it once was. It's more about reality tv programming now than promoting artists music (unless you want to suck off Jay-Z and his over indulgent festival of bullshit he calls an album).

[wasted]

To me ITW sounds like a smash hit.

Not really. The vocals are WAY too polished. The music might have been ok for modern music fans but the vocals jus

t dont sound good at all.

The vocals sound great, fits right with current music. Clear and high. Granted its not what people expect from GNR. It has a great solo ands its very immediate. Nothing really pops out of CD like it. Obviously metal fans hate it tho.

But the reality is it wasnt a hit and didnt capture the current pop market. And the rockers didnt live up to the expectations of old GNR fans.

Reason GNR was big is they were heavy enough to thrash metal fans, rock fans and get total pop fans. Like i had rust in peace and everyone at school had pop stuff but they bought Afd for Scom and Uyi for Nov rain. Lies for Patience.

This didnt happen with CD. And lost metal fans, clasdic rock fans a bit.

But i look at it like this is GNRs late 90s album. It isnt really the record they needed to put out in 2008. in 2008 all anybody wants is retro GNR with classic guns sound. They want the rockers to rock 80s style and ballads to be gay. The average fan cant understand why GNR sounds like Korn or NIN. Nobody cares about the creativity it took to pull off such a thing. CD is genius and really true to Axls tastes probably, but its not what people want.

Its possible that long term its rep will improve and people will appreciate it, that what really did was make great fresh take on GNR.

None of the rock records from their peers took the risks Axl did with CD. They just recycled the formula. I appreciate Axl didnt just do that, I dont want music to be like that. That is probably the reality though.

Edited July 29, 2013 by wasted

[AndreCC]

It never became a hit, because first the video for the single was never released. Secondly no one was even interested in releasing it... if they were they had a video that was completed, it wasn't because there was no effort, they simply weren't interested.

Thirdly since Axl bailed out on all the interviews and press for Chinese Democracy because of his Azoff feud, this might have been the way the label had to show Axl who's in charge, cause in no way Axl should have skipped all that just because he had one guy fucking up with him.

As a matter of fact Axl fucked with the Label's plans for him for years...

[Riddick Bowe]

Great song, great lyrics. Too bad a real video never were released. That song should definetly have been the single to promote the album and a new sound!

[wasted]

Once the Best Buy deal was in play everyone went on vaycay. The label were never going to give Axl 4 mil for a video. So they had to do one themselves which the label weren't interested in anyway. CD straddles two eras, one era GNR would have sold 10 mil without trying, the other struggling to sell 1 mil - unfortunately for the label it was conceived in the former so they advanced them 14 mil to make the record, only to make 30 mil worldwide.

[GnR Chris]

I love "Better."

It's not the catchiest Gn'R song ever, it's not the most radio-friendly ever. Think "Nightrain," "Sweet Child O' Mine," ... something along those lines.

I like the chorus a lot, actually. "NOW I KNOW YOU BETTER!" and "No one ever told me when ..."

When I first heard part of this tune in a commercial for CD, I instantly thought "Wow, that sounds like old Gn'R. While the entire vibe of the song does not, the verses do. Axl is great on this one. I love the verses, lyrics, melody. Everything. The last verse/coda is fucking great.

Not sure this had a chance of being a hit though because Guns is considered classic rock. Alt stations are kinda dead and classic rock stations play the same three hits from various rock acts. It's pathetic, really.

Edited July 29, 2013 by GnR Chris

[Apollo]

LOL at a certain forum population.
So the reason the album/song/singles didn't take off was because the radio stations weren't paid off, because the label didn't push it, and because music fans are stupid and don't "enjoy" the right kind of music. Funny stuff.

As for the song, it's in my top 10 favorite GnR songs of all time. Sounds terrible live as Axl can't pull it off live. But the album version is awesome.