D..

Kind of hard to keep track of what Slash is doing, even for me being on the forum ahah. I saw a video of Slash touring with Myles recently and I looked at recent setlists, thought he was touring with him. Too many side projects. Sorry if those are covers, didn't know. Still, that doesn't change the fact that I have a hard time understanding the point. I just feel it's wasted energy and talent. Kind of like some bands releasing a new album every year or every two years, more often than not it's pointless. I'd prefer Axl, Slash & Duff working on a real album, for 3, 4, 5 years if they need to and committing to it. Not doing ANYTHING except focusing on their own band. If everyone goes on tour, doing their side projects and albums/covers/whatever, how can they ever work together properly? It's just something I don't understand. So again, a lot of people blame Axl, but from what I'm seeing, the problem seems to be that everyone is doing whatever they want beyond Gn'R Tours.

My favorite thing out of those two tracks is Steven Tyler blasting out his harmonica. So cool, I'm happy he's still doing ok. Other than that, it's cool for what it is, it's a change from what Slash is generally playing, kind of refreshing for sure, but I don't see myself playing this on repeat and certainly not the kind of material strong enough to justify me buying a ticket for a gig. It's like cool little bonus tracks. I don't know whether Slash offered the material to Axl, but I can't picture him singing on these. Not for Guns anyway, doesn't suit the mood. Looking at Slash's setlists, there's not much I'd pay for. If he'd add Back to the moment and Serial Killer, maybe. I'd love to hear those two live, my favorite songs of his. I hope he has far better material for the album. Otherwise, just like what Duff has released, I don't see the point. I don't mean this in a harsh way, it's cool they're still working and touring, sure, but I don't find this exciting. I even feels it diminishes their comeback for an upcoming Gn'R tour. See, as much as a lot of people bash Axl constantly, and the lack of new real music, I enjoy his rarity. When he appears, even if it's something we've heard too many times, it still feels special. I'm not even sure whether I prefer hearing average new songs than no song at all. I'm just like "yeah ok, but what's the point?". And regarding live gigs, if the frontman is Myles Kennedy, I just can't picture myself going through this. I need a charismatic frontman to cope with all the waiting, all these people and the sweat. Sorry, maybe this post feels a bit too negative but just what I feel. They should do a megatour with Axl & Tyler rotating between songs and mixing their material. Or better, Gn'R + Aerosmith, with feats in each show. Who the f wants to watch Myles for 2 hours, frankly? Rant over, sorry, needed to be said.

Axl is clean & healthy nowadays, he doesn't even smoke, it changes your behaviour completely. Being clean as he is takes a lot of courage. Because not only does it change your behaviour/way of thinking/state of mind, it's also hard not to gain weight. And aging changes you. When you're 18-30, you're not scared of anything. Not the same when you're about to hit 40 and onward and you lose people around you. Seeing someone very close to you die changes you forever. Axl has matured a lot. He cherishes life, he knows how little time we have and tries to make the best he can do. He could have been selfish and just stop Gn'R, he has enough money. I'm sure you'll come to appreciate how he is more when you grow older. I'm very happy he's still alive and performing, especially at this level.

1. Soul Monster 2. There Was A Time 3. The General 4. Street Of Dreams 5. Madagascar 6. Hard School (the original demo, the "final" mix with Slash is a failure) 7. Catcher In The Rye 8. I.R.S. 9. Prostitute 10. Better 11. Chinese Democracy 12. This I Love 13. Sorry I feel this should've been the tracklist for the 2008 album. I really love those 13 songs, the order could change a bit depending of my mood. I can't really rate the other songs, I almost never listen to Perhaps, Riad, Scraped, Shackler, If The World, Absurd or OMG.

Being nice doesn't mean you never lied or are indeed a nice person. Sometimes people who appear to be dickheads turn out to be real good guys, some people you thought were so nice are assholes. Nice people can be real nice people too, of course. But I find it insane someone would save a picture allegedly from inside Axl's house and share it on the internet. It's his personal life, part of his home. Shouldn't be allowed on this board, if it's legit. Women these days with their fucking instagram stories... If he does have this book, it doesn't mean anything. You have to know what's written about you and know who you want to see again, or not. Internet is great for that. People share so much shit and write so much nonsense, it's easier to know who your true friends are than before the internet & social medias. Axl is a private man, and a very intelligent person. I'm sure he's been very hurt by a lot of nonsense people have written about him. This book may just show that, that he knows what's written about him. Then again, he clearly is someone who can forgive. It's not been said enough, but he has this ability. I can't forgive some people. Maybe it comes with age and wisdom. I've read so much shit about Axl on this board too these last few months, with hearsays from 30 years ago. Didn't reply but I found a lot of comments so cheap, mean and deluded. Anyway, Happy New Year to everyone on this board and to Axl especially. The Paris show really was an important night to me, under the circumstances. Lost my dad on November 2, it's something you can never really recover from I'm afraid. I'm happy Axl goes on with his music & vision, it's one of the rare few things I still enjoy very much. It'd be cool if we just talked about the music and the band, and not the personal, cheap stuff, hearsays and so on. Fuck that.

Yeah I don't hear anything different with Monsters. I don't think Monsters will be a japanese cd as a bonus track, feels like a hoax.

The original version must be longer. I'm now sure this song was reworked & shortened just like Hard School & Silkworms were reworked & shortened. I really hope we get to hear it someday.

I have my sources.

I've listened to the japan leak, it's definitely the same as the leak we had, but the mix is a bit better. Axl's vocals are a bit lower, and you can hear the instruments better. No major difference, the quality is just a bit better overall. I'll wait for the vinyl and play it, but I don't expect much difference. It was Slash & Duff playing, end of debate. Which means, we may hear the original one someday (Chinese Democracy Super Deluxe Box with everything please, I'd spend $1000 on this if done properly).

Yes I think the same, it's the only thing that really makes sense considering Monsters isn't on the Perhaps vinyl and was thought to be The General for years.

Haven't written in a while, thanks Blackstar for the summaries and good information. So someone got the vinyl and no word about the audio quality/mix of The General? We need this information. I'm not really surprised Monsters isn't on the vinyl, I doubt it ever was. Guns don't release a lot of songs, so having such a strong title as a hidden bonus track on a vinyl would have been weird. Extremely cool & weird but would make no sense financially. I think TG & Monsters were registered together to save time. Don't know how this really works, but I guess that's what happened. I have a new theory: I feel there's a strong possibility a hoarder had Monsters, anytime between 2019 and 2023 (because it's Slash, so it can't be much earlier). Back when that hoarder got Monsters, he may have believed he was getting "The General", based on evader's clip. And so what may have happened is a trade between someone who had The General, and someone else who had Monsters. Both may have believed they had an earlier or latter version of The General and made a deal. Then they saw the registration thing, saw the name "Monsters" and renamed Monsters accurately because of the lyrics. They may even have believed the songs were one or connected because of this registration thing, and clearly thought both would be on the vinyl. So one of the two hoarders leaked both, thinking that's what was going to feature on the vinyl solely based on this registration thing, and thinking the value of both songs would be gone shortly. And there are only two people (maybe even a third one) I know of who could have done this. But I'm pretty sure I know who it is. He's had a habit of lowering quality/interfering on tracks to maintain a bit of value, that's why I'm curious about the final audio quality on the vinyl. I'm thinking of a deal because of where it was leaked, the nickname that was used, and the fact the registration thing clearly influenced the leak. I doubt the leak would have happened this way without the registration. We may just have gotten The General. And the person who did this isn't a hardcore hoarder, his aim is for everyone to enjoy most tracks, but still keeping things in case he can get more things to leak using a valuable track. There are many types of hoarders, he isn't someone who keeps everything forever. Of course it could be simpler, and someone having access to the soundboard & recordings, but it doesn't make sense he would choose that specific board and choice of nickname. And I doubt anyone working for Guns would compromise their place just because a vinyl was delayed. It did cross my mind but it doesn't make sense. The great news about Monsters not being on the Perhaps vinyl is that there's more coming. Probably Atlas as rumored. More songs and more vinyls, I'm all for it.

I did cross my mind, didn't want to mention it and upset people But I highly doubt it's DJ either, it just feels Slash all the way. I think the only studio Gn'R song I heard from DJ was his Better remix. I sadly lost it, but I remember it being very Halloween-esque. Kind of like if Better had been reworked for a Tim Burton movie. It was cool, but nothing like those leaks. I expect DJ to have reworked other songs with this kind of style.

Yes it would mean older versions (without Slash and Duff). If we find out the vinyl features the same versions, then those leaks didn’t come from a hoarder.

If the leaker is who I think of, he's a diehard fan and must have followed the credits thing regarding the vinyl, so either he named the second song because of those credits (& lyrics during the song) or it was already named like this when he bought & received the files. It's not impossible Monsters has been called that way for quite some time. Or it's an inside job but it's unlikely the more I think of it, because it did leaked in a specific place. Most likely scenario: as the vinyl was about to be released and the credits got out, whoever leaked those tracks bought it from a hoarder who felt the value of both songs would crash after the vinyl's release. The deal must have happened recently, but before October 26th, when it was clear the vinyl would be delayed or even cancelled. If those came from a hoarder, it's more likely it's old versions from the 2000s. Maybe early 2010's. I'm just not hearing it, I'm still convinced it's Slash & Duff. If it's not then great news, means we'll have two versions.

You're right! So another version of Thyme with Beltrami must exist. Curious how it evolved. We'll see if M. Beltrami is kind enough to answer the last mail I sent him, but I feel I'd be pushing it if I asked about PRL and others haha. I doubt he remembers those, he's already struggling with Monsters & TG. Have no idea for what P.R.L. stands for either, just that it was supposed to be the follow-up title to CD at some point, it's probably changed since then. P.R.L. and other instrumentals or parts on the Village Sessions sound like video game musics from the late 90's, especially Tekken 2 & 3 intros. I highly doubt those trakcs will make a comeback anytime. It would be amazing if Axl could do another chat sessions with us and clarify a lot of questions you all have, he's the only one who knows every detail. Maybe Fernando too. I hope they release a big CD box at some point, like they did AFD & UYI. But it would need to be even bigger, there's so much stuff, we still ignore a lot of things. Zutaut's locker wasn't the only one, I feel it's the tip of the iceberg. There must be tens of cd's with different versions of The General, Seven, Soul Monster, and others. Maybe totally unknown titles.

Oh, I hadn't thought about this possibility. They know us hardcore fans knew this phone clip & evader's mix and that we thought it was The General. So had they just released The General, they may have expected the fanbase to not understand where was that phone clip/evader sound we heard. So they must have added Monsters as a bonus, and maybe went as far as fuse it somehow (legally anyway) because we have confused Monsters with The General for over 10 years! We may have made Monsters turn into The General because of our confusion I still don't know who leaked the songs. I have my money on someone considering the nickname he chose and how silkworms was leaked at the same place, using the same kind of nickname referring to lyrics of the leaked song, but I'm truly wondering if it's some inside job to make it up for the delay. Whoever it is, it's still great marketing for Guns. It makes everyone talking about the songs, and every hardcore fan wants to buy the vinyl to check the differences, if there's any. And at the very least we want the vinyl to have the songs in higher quality since most of us absolutely love them. This vinyl will be a piece of history, maybe my most important Gn'R piece, even if it's not rare, idc.

Oh I believe he is still busy, his latest soundtrack was for The Nun II last month, and he still has other movies coming. I just think he's a very nice man and that my mails came on a day he could find some time to answer. He's probably not mailed as much as A-list actors, but I do believe he is contacted from time to time, and that he's kind enough to answer his fans. I wrote him through his website yes, couldn't find his twitter.

No problem. Yes it could be 9, he said 8 but that was so long ago he may not be 100% precise. That said, I don't hear Beltrami's signature sound for the CD era in the Thyme version we've heard, it doesn't sound like anything else he's touched on CD & General/Monsters, so maybe he doesn't count that one. Or maybe he forgot and there's another version of Thyme that sounds more like him. I'm really hyped for Seven, apparently it's the best one. It will be hard to beat Monsters, it's becoming my favorite out of all CD songs. On par with TWAT at least, I just love the mean section, it's crazy I've listened to it countless times, can't get bored.

I sent a last mail to Mister Beltrami, don't want to bother him too much, but someone was kind enough to provide me the original 2006 piece of music used in several intros from Gn'R gigs. So I sent it to him, maybe it may shed some light. Also I messed up, I asked him about "Soul Monster", but back when he worked on this song, it was called "Leave Me Alone". I corrected that. Hope he will answer, it's Halloween today after all, what a strange timing haha. "Sorry to disturb you once again (last time I promise ahah) but somebody was kind enough to send me your original composition, supposedly from The General, that was used to open GN'R shows in 2006. Very hard to find! Do you recall this specific piece of music used in 2006? Is it a mashup a two orchestral pieces you did or a single piece? To me it sounds like what you originally did for The General. But Monsters does sound a bit like parts of this intro too. Also I'm sorry I messed up asking you if you worked on "Soul Monster". Back when you were working on those Gn'R songs, Soul Monster was called "Leave Me Alone". So what I'm trying to find out is if this "Monsters" song is actually "Leave Me Alone". It'd be amazing if you could remember some stuff with this additional piece of music you created ; ) Again, thank you so much for your time & kindness, and I wish you a happy Halloween! (those songs fit the mood hehe)"

Please feel free to start a Soul Monster thread with the informations provided by Marco Beltrami, it will make for interesting debates for sure.

Thanks! Cleaned my inbox & pm'd you!

Dammit, can't add more reactions today. Great post. Would love to listen to the orchestral piece again, can't find it. I think someone even recreated it properly at some point. But yeah this intro to gigs was possibly a mashup. It's also clear to me The General's version we have was chopped, which further makes me think it's Slash & Duff on this version. I can totally picture a version of The General with a longer intro, and they must have cut it like they cut Hard School's intro. Like Beltrami said, those versions (leaks) have been modified from what those songs were 20 years ago.

Well now we have direct confirmation from Marco Beltrami himself that these were two different songs 20 years ago, his orchestrations are meant for two different songs. And as it is (the leaks), it's two different songs. Unless like you say they add a transition and that they flow together on the vinyl's release, it's two songs. That's why I'm very curious about the vinyl release. Did we understand the credits wrong? Will the vinyl feature exactly the leaks we have or something different? Will both The General & Monsters be on the vinyl despite the vinyl just indicating "The General"? Do Slash & Duff really play on those leaks? December 8th can't come soon enough.

You're welcome. The longer song he remembers must be one of the unreleased ones as I asked specific questions regarding The General & Monsters, how they changed/evolved, and if Monsters was Soul Monster ; ) He did acknowledge the album Chinese Democracy in his first mail so I think he isn't thinking of any song on that album we all know in his second answer. He's more like wondering if The General was the longest one, or another unreleased one. So I think it's either Seven, or an older version of The General. But who knows maybe he was thinking TWAT or Prostitute, this guy composed so much stuff in his career and is still composing for a lot of movies, it's already a miracle he remembers some stuff from 20 years ago : )