Caedo

CD booklet says "not distorted meaning"

Holy fuck the instrumental sounds killer, guitars and drums so much crisper and clearer

Lol they did just release that version it just isn't a shitty MP3 file where you can't even make out all the flaws of the song properly

Should be an A side not a B side and I reckon it will be

Pointless comparison when Evader's song is based off Monsters not TG

This is the worst sounding Gnr song ever and it's not even close. Constant tics from clipping drums, and the most fucked up vocals I've ever heard. It's a shame too cos the underlying song has really grown on me since I first heard it. I was hardline all the way that it wouldn't just sound like the leak but clearly I was wrong

I don't buy it... Sounds the same to me with maybe a slightly cleaner MP3 rip. The slight vocal distortion from clipping in the verses of Monsters is exactly the same as previous leaks

For anyone wanting to hear the version played on Japanese radio to my ears it sounds exactly the same. I’m pretty confident they just played the leak version - potentially by accident if someone had sent it to them and requested it. I can’t believe Axl would put out a song with vocals that distorted and we have no evidence anyone has actually received the vinyl or CD.

In horseshit quality

Why is no one talking about this? Surely means it’s being dropped Friday

Surely this doesn't change anything if the working theory was that Monsters was going to be a hidden track and therefore wouldn't be listed on the tracklist regardless? I do tend to agree that they'll put it on a future release though - feels like way to strong of a song to relegate to a hidden track. Strong guitars, some beast mode vocals and the catchiest hook of any of the new songs

Using the time stamps from that YouTube video, at 2:09.25 the chorus ends, which in the new version just rolls straight into the solo. In the old clip it sounds like the guitars cut out for that breakdown bit then at 2:09.39 I can make out an Axl high note on “nowwwww” leading into the solo.

Kills me that they changed the bit before the solo. Clearly originally there's a bit of a breakdown before launching into it, where it sounds like the chorus repeats but with an extended high note on "it's over now". Just sounds so much more dramatic as a buildup to an epic solo where the new version kinda just rolls into a bit of a tame Slash solo to my ears. But that's just one man's opinion based on a shit quality clip

Chances they play it tonight and announce a midnight digital release?

Damn that's legit!

How they are literally completely different songs...

Lol serious recency bias going on in this poll - great tune but it’s not even close to the top tier of CD (Better, Prostitute and TWAT) in my mind

Surely they could have just released Monsters on its own and then we would still have the song everyone expected to be The General if that was the case. I reckon Axl's vision is for it to be a two-part song with the orchestral concert intro and lyrical themes the link between them

Surely no-one can think the pre chorus and chorus vocals on The General are good? I'm pretty confident it's just a sound quality issue and the real thing will sound much sharper but the vocals in those bits are close to unlistenable to my ears

What makes you think that? I feel like the most likely story is this is a vinyl rip of the rejected version which would make sense as the quality on The General especially sucks

Nah that is clearly Slash on that track unless my ears are fucked

Comparing the new version to the old phone bit they've definitely changed it a bit. On the old recording there's a little breakdown between the chorus and the solo where now they just roll into each other - kinda miss the Estranged vibe of that solo tbh but still kicks ass

Surely they’re gonna be a Holiday/Boulevard of Broken Dreams style double song? Otherwise why would they be redirected as one song on that songwriting credits site

Just saying if these were real and not some kind of freaky AI surely they’d be taken down by now…

I mean they play TWAT all the time and it’d be a helluva song to be more demanding than that