2018 CD Leaks Discussion Thread **NO LINKS, NO ASKING / HINTING FOR LEAKS**

[Amir]

Is there an extra synth part in the version of TWAT that leaked last night? 2:32 to 2:34?

[Ratam]

30 minutes ago, BOSSY78 said:

I may be the only one who hasn't listened to a single leak, but I am enjoying reading this thread.

My whole artist integrity mindset keeps me from listening but I am a fan and I am curious and so will live through you all🤣

Me too, i just listening seconds the snippets of Atlas, no more that it.

[Live Like a Suicide]

I was just thinking:

The General has to have a pretty high chance of being on the next album, because Axl described it as a relative of Estranged and it's something that Brain mostly worked on (who is still on good terms with Axl).

[Gackt]

2 minutes ago, Live Like a Suicide said:

I was just thinking:

The General has to have a pretty high chance of being on the next album, because Axl described it as a relative of Estranged and it's something that Brain mostly worked on (who is still on good terms with Axl).

It's complicated, since Axl went from planning two albums for ChiDem in the early 2000's to there being three albums in 2007 with all the accumulated material.  With what we've seen and heard so far, I wouldn't be surprised if this was truth.

Quote

"One of my favorite songs is this song called 'The General', which is so... it's by far the heaviest metal tune I think ive ever heard Axl do, this slow, grinding riff with these high, piercing vocals, screaming vocals. [...] [Axl] goes, 'Well, this comes out on the third record. It relates to this song, it's a trilogy, this goes with this lyrically.'" (Baz, Metal Edge, 11/06/07)

"[Bach] says Rose told him that a slow, grinding track called 'The General' is 'the sequel to [Use Your Illusion II's] 'Estranged,' that goes to the parable that Del James wrote of the trilogy' (James penned the short story that inspired the 'November Rain' video)." (Rolling Stone, 06/25/08)

 

[Live Like a Suicide]

2 minutes ago, Gackt said:

It's complicated, since Axl went from planning two albums for ChiDem in the early 2000's to there being three albums in 2007 with all the accumulated material.  With what we've seen and heard so far, I wouldn't be surprised if this was truth.

 

Thanks for the comment and quotes. If i had to guess, Axl's original plan of a trilogy has been completely upended by the reunion, so i would hope that he includes The General on the first album with Slash and Duff since UYI, especially since it is an alleged sequel to Estranged.

[Blackstar]

I wouldn't rely too much on what Sebastian Bach said he heard and his descriptions of the songs; not on his taste, either.

[YOUCOULDBEMINE.]

I have been gone for some years. Still follow the band and enjoyed 2 shows of their monster tour.

Last night I sat down to listen to the leaks after I kept seeing articles talking about them but I don't know man. It took me a while back in 2008 to get used to Axl's CD voice. But he sounds even weaker and really frail.

That said, Hard School surprised me. I always imagined the rest of that 20 second leak to sound véry different. I like the chorus, a lot actually. It has a feeling that I've been missing on the album. The song sounds pasted together at some points tho.

Atlas Shrugged sounds really, really cool. The song reminds me of several bands, but I can't put my finger on it. Only the voice man, this is not the Axl I came to love and appreciate and I have a hard time enjoying itbecause of that. But in all honesty, I do NOT understand why this song and Hard School got shelved. They would've been fine on CD.

Eye On You misses everything I liked about GN'R in the first place. And WHAT THE HELL is he saying in the background man. "I know you think you're bad, but you're listening to Mac Daddy?" Mac Daddy, Axl? I don't know what I think of the song, it's not my thing and his voice is to clear. (Trying to still sound) raspy Axl is the only Axl for me.

Perhaps contains everything I never expected to hear Axl say on a song and it makes me wonder if he was still really mad about either Slash or Izzy or whoever else wasn't around anymore in '99. But again nothing to write home about. I do hear Brian May in this song tho, I wasn't sure at first but I saw a thread dedictated to the subject. To bad his sound got a bit lost in the mix.

In State Of Grace Axl sounds reaaaaaly frail. He sounds like he got hit in the nose or something. But I'm not a fan of Nine Inch Axl, and I understand why some of these songs never saw the light of day. (And yes I understand that these songs are demo's and that they would've been touched up for a release, but it's not like Axl redid any of the vocals for the songs that díd make the final cut. So I don't think he would've done much about that.)

And I did nót hate Silkworms as much as I thought I would. It's not something I'd go back to, but it was still interesting to hear.

KOHD was a cool little acoustic tune, but Axl's timing is meh and once he managed to sound more Mickey than he did anywhere else back then I was done with it. Still want to hear the rest of the re-recorded AFD + YCBM tho, I really liked the redone solo + ending of SCOM back then. 

I also listened to the leaked instrumentals, and Zodiac sounds pretty damn cool. But doesn't that song have a demo wíth vocals as well? I remember people talking about that songtitle back in the day. No way that would've gotten that much talk if it was just an instrumental.

Aaaaanyway, it's still really cool to hear these demo's after 20 years of talking about them. I'm still interested in hearing the rest of it.

But honestly, right now I wouldn't mind hearing some demo's and instrumentals that might've been recorded in the last 3-4 years .

Oh and the '99 demo's of the CD songs with Josh Freese are pretty cool. It just shows how much shit got thrown on these demo's before release, which is a shame imho.

Edited September 21, 2019 by UcudBmine

[TheSeeker]

8 hours ago, The Real McCoy said:

From what I remember, yes. “Oklahoma” was on the setlist, but it was swapped out with “Riad” at the last minute.

That's so weird in hindsight - swapping one song about Erin for another

Maybe Axl wanted to write Oklahoma as some scathing takedown of Erin, but he had second thoughts and decided to put all his "frustration" into writing Riad about her brother-in-law instead

Edited September 21, 2019 by TheSeeker

[YOUCOULDBEMINE.]

7 minutes ago, TheSeeker said:

That's so weird in hindsight - swapping one song about Erin for another

Maybe Axl wanted to write Oklahoma as some scathing takedown of Erin, but he had second thoughts and decided to put all his "frustration" into writing Riad about her brother-in-law instead

I always assumed they were 2 different songs. And since the '99 demo of Riad leaked wíth vocals it's safe to say that Oklahoma is a different song seeing it was on the HOB setlist in '01 at first.

[Bozo]

I just can't stop thinking how the addition of Bucket messed up with the unity of these recordings and the band dynamics. These songs were pretty much ready to go in 99, and have a groove that is basically Stinson, Finck, Freese and loops. And it sounds awesome! Even if some of the Bucket's contributions are really great, it broke the overall feeling of "a band".

I can imagine the disappoitment of Tommy and Robin with the infinite rerecordings, cause they work was completely diluted over the years. Just listen to that bass lines, the guitar riffs, the toooones are so tasty. The drum fills swings.

The finished product sound sterile compared to these early stuff.

[TheSeeker]

5 minutes ago, UcudBmine said:

I always assumed they were 2 different songs. And since the '99 demo of Riad leaked wíth vocals it's safe to say that Oklahoma is a different song seeing it was on the HOB setlist in '01 at first.

I just wonder if it ever had lyrics

If Axl says it turned into "Berlin" he must have taken the instrumental and wrote lyrics about something else to it

Maybe whoever wrote the 1/1/01 setlist was sick of hearing Axl talk about the origins of the songs and confused Oklahoma and Riad since they both had Erin ties

[YOUCOULDBEMINE.]

1 minute ago, TheSeeker said:

I just wonder if it ever had lyrics

If Axl says it turned into "Berlin" he must have taken the instrumental and wrote lyrics about something else to it

Maybe whoever wrote the 1/1/01 setlist was sick of hearing Axl talk about the origins of the songs and confused Oklahoma and Riad since they both had Erin ties

Haha oh Axl. It only makes me want to hear it even more, instrumental or not.

[h2sublime]

Is there any word if the the electric version of KOHD and WTTJ have Axl Vocals?

[dave94]

3 hours ago, Live Like a Suicide said:

Thanks for the comment and quotes. If i had to guess, Axl's original plan of a trilogy has been completely upended by the reunion, so i would hope that he includes The General on the first album with Slash and Duff since UYI, especially since it is an alleged sequel to Estranged.

I think the idea of a trilogy had gone well before the reunion. I remember reading that it was supposed to be fully released by 2012.. well 2012 came and went a long time ago without any further mention of a new album let alone 2 so whether Axl has any intention of releasing these songs now or if Slash would want to work on someone else’s song... I am not sure

[Finck2006]

1 hour ago, h2sublime said:

Is there any word if the the electric version of KOHD and WTTJ have Axl Vocals?

Have been told no vox in Jungle

[Modano09]

I'm Team Axl through and through and I legit love Chinese Democracy, one of my favorite albums.

But based on these leaks I can believe he obsessively tinkered with the songs that made up CD because they were his best ones and there's not a whole lot left. 

[Rovim]

48 minutes ago, Modano09 said:

I'm Team Axl through and through and I legit love Chinese Democracy, one of my favorite albums.

But based on these leaks I can believe he obsessively tinkered with the songs that made up CD because they were his best ones and there's not a whole lot left. 

But to base your belief only or mainly on these leaks is a mistake as these are old as fuck, do not represent everything Axl had even then, a lot can be done in almost 20 years which is how long it's been since these were recorded, and many who have heard unreleased material have said it's great.

More over, these are rough mixes and some of these tunes are obviously unfinished. Personally I think these leaks show the opposite: what was released wasn't a collection of the best tunes Axl had. He had more. Tommy said it was supposed to be more than 1 so a double album or a trilogy.

The leaks before the official release could have dictated some of what ended up on the album and why would you use your best shit on just one album when you can spread it across more than one like Axl seems to have planned to do? I believe Fortus, Slash, Duff, and Dizzy. They all said Axl got enough unreleased material, great material to work on and release.

Edited September 21, 2019 by Rovim

[Gordon Comstock]

54 minutes ago, Modano09 said:

I'm Team Axl through and through and I legit love Chinese Democracy, one of my favorite albums.

But based on these leaks I can believe he obsessively tinkered with the songs that made up CD because they were his best ones and there's not a whole lot left. 

3 of these songs are objectively better than at least 1/4 of what made the album, and we haven't heard the songs that were done after 2000 (The General, Soul Monster, etc).

I think the vault is filled with a lot more gold than we thought. We didn't even know the titles Perhaps or State Of Grace a few months ago but they both should've made the album.

[Arnuld]

1 hour ago, Modano09 said:

I'm Team Axl through and through and I legit love Chinese Democracy, one of my favorite albums.

But based on these leaks I can believe he obsessively tinkered with the songs that made up CD because they were his best ones and there's not a whole lot left. 

I think there was some grade A stuff written after the time period of the storage locker sessions. And SOG, Perhaps, Atlas, and HS are Grade A. And we haven’t even heard QS with lyrics or Nothing or anything else that is supposed to have vocals. 

[Guest]

14 hours ago, TheSeeker said:

I just remembered something

Wasn't "Oklahoma" on the 1/1/01 Vegas setlist?

So if they rehearsed it for that show, isn't it fair to assume it did have vocals at that point?

But then why wouldn't they have recorded it with vocals on the locker CD set?

Or maybe it was an instrumental that was never meant to have vocals?

SO MANY QUESTIONS

Yeah I remember this too, wasn't it mentioned in an interview Dell did with Axl for the archaic Official site way back when.

[DieselDaisy]

The only leaked song which completely perplexes me as to its non-inclusion on Chinese Democracy is 'Hard School' which is better than half of the album. Maybe 'Perhaps' could have replaced 'If the World' also, although I don't think 'Perhaps' is perfect. Otherwise, judging by what has leaked, I think we obtained the best of the songs with Chinese's release.

[rocknroll41]

5 minutes ago, DieselDaisy said:

The only leaked song which completely perplexes me as to its non-inclusion on Chinese Democracy is 'Hard School' which is better than half of the album. Maybe 'Perhaps' could have replaced 'If the World' also, although I don't think 'Perhaps' is perfect. Otherwise, judging by what has leaked, I think we obtained the best of the songs with Chinese's release.

Do you also consider Atlas to be “not album worthy”? Just out of curiosity.

[DieselDaisy]

1 minute ago, rocknroll41 said:

Do you also consider Atlas to be “not album worthy”? Just out of curiosity.

Thought it was rubbish, albeit I haven't listened to the version that leaked yesterday (it is on my computer).

[Towelie]

4 minutes ago, DieselDaisy said:

Thought it was rubbish, albeit I haven't listened to the version that leaked yesterday (it is on my computer).

It's a grower, give it a couple more listens.

[rocknroll41]

6 minutes ago, DieselDaisy said:

Thought it was rubbish, albeit I haven't listened to the version that leaked yesterday (it is on my computer).

The newer mix is a little better, yeah. Much easier to hear what Axl is actually singing.