Catcher in The Rye is the best song from any GN'R member following UYI 1 and 2

[Gordon Comstock]

If you're gonna try to compare Catcher to Slash/VR's biggest singles, you should probably be prepared to be called on your bullshit.

 

For a valid comparison, here are the numbers of Slash's mid-album non-singles on YouTube vs Catcher:

Catcher in the Rye (Demo version) - 130K
Catcher in the Rye - 385K (but there's another with over 200K, none of the others have secondary 'top views' as substantial)

Halo - 460K
We Will Roam - 130K

Too Far Gone - 115K
Beneath The Savage Sun - 240K (but there's a live one with more)

VR's Headspace - 120K
VR's Pills, Demons & etc. - 70K / American Man - 170K
 

The only one that compares is "Gotten", which is mostly despised by the GNR fanbase and was eaten up by Maroon 5 fans, so, I'm not saying view counts are meaningless, but consider the context

 

[vail2004]

best original songs by GNR members post UYI: 1) Catcher (agree w you); 2) Street of Dreams; 3) Shuffle it All; 4) Fall to Pieces; 5) Prostitute

[Top-Hatted One]

Loving the Alien is loved by the GNR fan base as well.

And I love Gotten. Once I allowed myself to give it a chance even though I never cared for Marron 5 and Adams singing style. Now I think Adam is awesome. Love the work he did on that song. Great lyrics and the way he sings that song really fits whereas a traditional rocker would probably ruin it

[StrangerInThisTown]

Street Of Dreams is superior to Catcher in every way as a song. But it's a good 2nd

[Axls_Moustache_Rules]

The demo is up there with the best Guns songs. 

[Silent Jay]

3 hours ago, JustanUrchin said:

Judging by your refusal to acknowledge facts and apply those facts to the OP, your opinion substitutes for facts because it is far more refined than “everybody else’s opinion.”  Yet the opinion of “everybody else” who was initially crucial in your first reply is now inconsequential despite the cite of charting, sales, downloads, plays and so forth.

Beyond this failed logic, your backhandedly state that the public is dumb—it cannot discern for itself what it likes and what it doesn’t.  These same dummies are opening their wallets for albums and songs that they like best and in the greatest numbers, and spending their time playing YT clips that they like best and in the greatest numbers.  “Catcher” is right there on YT for viewing, and presumably on Spotify, iTunes and elsewhere.  And attached to a known band name.  Popular culture is at everyone’s fingertips.  If it’s good, people will buy, listen and watch.  If it sucks, they won’t.  Coca-Cola thought it could reinvent its sugared, carbonated water.  It sucked.  People wanted the original.  But Coca-Cola didn’t wait 23 years to acknowledge that while it thought New Coke was badass, the masses hated it.  Your logic dictates that since the public doesn’t know what in the hell it likes, New Coke rocked because you and a few hundred thousand people with refined “taste” liked it.

Chalk me up in the majority—the class of dummies.  Except I’m even dumber—I actually forked over the cash at Best Buy to purchase “CD” while the majority of dummies rejected it without a listen, abided by word-of-mouth, or waited to test the waters for free on YT.

Anyone who likes Axl’s unending stream of Liberace piano pieces accompanied by guitar that first surfaced on UYI and dominated CD, great for them.  The piano piece in question in this thread has barely received a yawn on YT.  Meanwhile, the factual numbers of Slash alone that I listed directly refute the OP’s contention and crush the 15 songs of original content that Axl released in 25 years.  And counting.

A Grammy or 19 million YT views for “FTP” doesn’t deter you that Axl’s dispensing machine of “Catcher” songs is New Coke as you move the ball?  Cool.  You should dig this.  It’s a piano piece from the era that influenced Axl.  Using your logic, the idiot masses (which includes me) wouldn’t even know that such masterpieces existed or where to find such masterpieces, and yet this “rockin, orchestral accompanied” piano piece that “Catcher,” “Madagascar,” “This I Love” and so on imitates has three times the views of “Catcher.”  We already got the pretentiously tacky blazer, so just throw some lyrics on this, and you have your rock Heaven.  And you got some tapping, to boot!

 

What a load of bullshit. It's hilarious. You guy are real class newbie. How old are you like ten or something? Breaking bad references and shit.

Put it simply straight. Streams mean nothing if the song is better than another. Stay on topic.

But if you're willing to, sharing your streaming knowledge with us here, please stop with the youtube crap, Catcher isn't even released officially on YT. It's all with marketing issues and search engines. Why can't you talk about real streaming services like Spotify? Myspace maybe back in 2008, too young? Still pointless argument. The fact that you are talking in this particular thread in 2016 and surely not in the She Builds Quick Machines underrated thread is something very telling.

And I listen to Catcher In The Rye on cd with my stereo. 

Edited July 14, 2016 by Silent Jay

[Gackt]

Catcher's a great song, not one of my standouts on ChiDem though..I'd give that nod to Better, There Was a Time & Street of Dreams

I feel like one of the few who loves If The World 

[AxlsFavoriteRose]

22 hours ago, AxlRoseCDII said:

I'd argue the same thing, but with There Was a Time. That song is a masterpiece in my opinion.

there was a time is my favorite song from CD and up there with my all time songs ever

[liers]

It's one of my favorite GnR songs... But the best since UYI....? Tough to give it that.

Maybe if you had the 99 demo combined with bumblefoots parts at the end... But as it stands, I think prostitute is better. IRS and TWAT are close too. Better is good but I've never gotten into the song as much as some people have. The final version of SOD sucks IMO, but I loved the 2002/2001 version. Madagascar, TIL, SR, and ITW are all good too in their own respect, but they're all different sounding so it's hard to compare them to things other GnR members have done post UYI.

[action]

5 hours ago, Tom2112 said:

How do you explain one of GnR's biggest songs of all time November rain then. Like it or not November rain is just as much the GNR sound as Jungle or any of heavier side of things, same goes for Patience, Estranged, Don't Cry etc.

GnR do both, stripped down barbarian rock and Big and bombastic power ballads. Axl has been layering vocals since UYI, CD was a natural progression for him. Catcher is a bit of a mess though, but there is a decent song buried in there somewhere, just wish the producer would have had the balls to say "we have enough gtrs, and synth... lets just mix the track as is!".

"november rain" and "catcher" are worlds apart though. the former has dramatic, heartfelt guitar playing. those solo's sound like pain, lovehurt. I can't say the same about catcher where they went for a more technical approach. I sense nothing heartfelt, genuine in there at all. It sounds too calculated and scripted.

[liers]

7 hours ago, Jw224 said:

Yes, because how many people hear a song or how popular it is really tells of its quality ?. 

One of the most well known/best selling songs ever is margaritaville by Jimmy Buffet...

By the logic some people here are using, a song about some old drunk guy who can't get his life together is a better song than November Rain? Or Prostitue?

[ironmt]

I would take fall to pieces any day over Catcher although the second part of the song Is very good.

[wasted]

Musically and lyrically it seems like the most universal song on CD. There's more fiery songs and songs finished more definitively like Sorry and Better but Catcher has a populist appeal. The subject matter, the Beatlesque 68 vibe. As deep as the lyrics go, it's a catchy tune. 

[DieselDaisy]

Awful. Reminds me of Coldplay.

[bigpoop]

The best is Izzy's "Time Gone By"

 

 

[Jw224]

10 hours ago, JustanUrchin said:

Judging by your refusal to acknowledge facts and apply those facts to the OP, your opinion substitutes for facts because it is far more refined than “everybody else’s opinion.”  Yet the opinion of “everybody else” who was initially crucial in your first reply is now inconsequential despite the cite of charting, sales, downloads, plays and so forth.

Beyond this failed logic, your backhandedly state that the public is dumb—it cannot discern for itself what it likes and what it doesn’t.  These same dummies are opening their wallets for albums and songs that they like best and in the greatest numbers, and spending their time playing YT clips that they like best and in the greatest numbers.  “Catcher” is right there on YT for viewing, and presumably on Spotify, iTunes and elsewhere.  And attached to a known band name.  Popular culture is at everyone’s fingertips.  If it’s good, people will buy, listen and watch.  If it sucks, they won’t.  Coca-Cola thought it could reinvent its sugared, carbonated water.  It sucked.  People wanted the original.  But Coca-Cola didn’t wait 23 years to acknowledge that while it thought New Coke was badass, the masses hated it.  Your logic dictates that since the public doesn’t know what in the hell it likes, New Coke rocked because you and a few hundred thousand people with refined “taste” liked it.

Chalk me up in the majority—the class of dummies.  Except I’m even dumber—I actually forked over the cash at Best Buy to purchase “CD” while the majority of dummies rejected it without a listen, abided by word-of-mouth, or waited to test the waters for free on YT.

Anyone who likes Axl’s unending stream of Liberace piano pieces accompanied by guitar that first surfaced on UYI and dominated CD, great for them.  The piano piece in question in this thread has barely received a yawn on YT.  Meanwhile, the factual numbers of Slash alone that I listed directly refute the OP’s contention and crush the 15 songs of original content that Axl released in 25 years.  And counting.

A Grammy or 19 million YT views for “FTP” doesn’t deter you that Axl’s dispensing machine of “Catcher” songs is New Coke as you move the ball?  Cool.  You should dig this.  It’s a piano piece from the era that influenced Axl.  Using your logic, the idiot masses (which includes me) wouldn’t even know that such masterpieces existed or where to find such masterpieces, and yet this “rockin, orchestral accompanied” piano piece that “Catcher,” “Madagascar,” “This I Love” and so on imitates has three times the views of “Catcher.”  We already got the pretentiously tacky blazer, so just throw some lyrics on this, and you have your rock Heaven.  And you got some tapping, to boot!

 

Just because a song is popular doesn't mean it's automatically good, is what I was saying. You're trying to say a song is crap based on YouTube views or steaming numbers, it doesn't work like that. People have opinions and you can't just dismiss them and try to make them seem irrelevant just because you disagree with them. You don't like Catcher, that's okay. Don't try to make your opinion definitive fact though. 

[SoundOfAGun]

 

On 12/07/2016 at 0:42 AM, Caught_in_a_Coma said:

Yeah, I said it.  Get at me, brehs and brehettes. 

 

There is so much sheer emotion in that song.  It's cryptic.  The music is amazing.  Axl sounds otherworldly

Glad it works for you. I like some of the little flourishes in the track - the vocals on "day like today" for example - but disagree that it is the best song to come out of all members post UYI, I would rather listen to:

Beggars and Hangers On

Speed Parade

Fall To Pieces

Slither

Come on, Come in

Back From Cali

Anastasia 

TWAT 

Wicked Stone

And that is just off the top of my head. I don't know what happened to Axl's lyric writing between UYI and CD, but barring TWAT, his lyrics weren't fit to lick the boots of the likes of Coma and Locomotive. Oh My God had quite interesting lyrics. Put that on my list as well. 

 

 

 

Edited July 14, 2016 by SoundOfAGun

[Un42nutzly]

I'd have to go with TWAT. Just listen to the instrumental and enjoy each nuance. Once you are familiar with that, go back to the studio version and you can enjoy the 'full experience',

[Top-Hatted One]

8 hours ago, DieselDaisy said:

Awful. Reminds me of Coldplay.

I think more Moby and Oasis

[Top-Hatted One]

5 hours ago, SoundOfAGun said:

 

Glad it works for you. I like some of the little flourishes in the track - the vocals on "day like today" for example - but disagree that it is the best song to come out of all members post UYI, I would rather listen to:

Beggars and Hangers On

Speed Parade

Fall To Pieces

Slither

Come on, Come in

Back From Cali

Anastasia 

TWAT 

Wicked Stone

And that is just off the top of my head. I don't know what happened to Axl's lyric writing between UYI and CD, but barring TWAT, his lyrics weren't fit to lick the boots of the likes of Coma and Locomotive. Oh My God had quite interesting lyrics. Put that on my list as well. 

 

 

 

Absolutely love Come on, Come in. Shame it was only released on a soundtrack to a shitty Fantastic 4 movie and went mostly unnoticed. Rockin VR song up there with the best of them.

[SoundOfAGun]

2 hours ago, Top-Hatted One said:

 

Absolutely love Come on, Come in. Shame it was only released on a soundtrack to a shitty Fantastic 4 movie and went mostly unnoticed. Rockin VR song up there with the best of them.

It could have bolstered Libertad and replaced one of the turds on there. Dollar and a Gas Laugh (I think it's called that) was only one that should have been released properly.

[Nick Cobraetti]

On 7/13/2016 at 11:28 PM, ludurigan said:

Catcher in The Rye is the best song from any GN'R member following UYI 1 and 2 except for the entire izzy discography, the entire neurotic outsiders album, and dozens of songs by VR, slash, duff, loaded and some others songs whose name that just escape me...

 

only izzy coulda saved this axl mess

 

I'll take CD over the entire alumni output combined, thank you very much!

[Good, Fuck'n, Night.]

14 hours ago, action said:

"november rain" and "catcher" are worlds apart though. the former has dramatic, heartfelt guitar playing. those solo's sound like pain, lovehurt. I can't say the same about catcher where they went for a more technical approach. I sense nothing heartfelt, genuine in there at all. It sounds too calculated and scripted.

All new music recorded post UYI by Axl is shite & should in no way be compared to the timeless music of "Guns N Roses".

[Good, Fuck'n, Night.]

On 13/07/2016 at 11:10 AM, Modano09 said:

But Steven Adler isn't on it.

This guy is a bot or FF's Mom.  

[ToonGuns]

On ‎13‎/‎07‎/‎2016 at 5:12 PM, EvH said:

Prostitute, Serial Killer, Saint Is A Sinner Too are all better songs than Catcher for starters. Heck, Gareth Rhodes' cover of it is better than the studio version.

I looooove Serial Killer. Great shout. Bridge vocal melody is killer, and one of Slash's all-time best solos.