WhazUp

1 minute ago, Route66 said:

Get better headphones sweetheart

then you answered your own doubts, Congrats

It's the same mix dude I don't know what to tell you, if the equivalent of a lot bitrate MP3 jumping to better fidelity is enough to fool you there is not much else to say

11 minutes ago, Route66 said:

the mix is different like I said 

The mix is literally exactly the same though, the only difference is there isn't massive data compression causing the high end to be all funky and so there is improved fidelity in that regard

Man Buckethead's solo sounds so great on this officially released version!

That artwork does fit the title - it looks like General artwork for a GNR song, not Specific artwork

I don't feel foolish - I got my money's worth of enjoyment from the concerts I saw and the albums I bought that have given me a lifetime's worth of enjoyment

From my perspective the only time anyone should feel "fucked over" is if purchased items don't arrive/are defective, or the band walks off long before a live show is slated to end and no refunds are given - not because a song on vinyl will also be available to stream lol

57 minutes ago, Slugworth said:

The General sounds a bit like Portishead, especially Dummy.

 

 

If you've never heard them, here's one of the songs from the album:

 

 

If you like it, download/stream the rest.

For sure, as soon as I heard The General, 90s trip-hop immediately came to mind.  Something also not outside the realm of like, Massive Attack and Tricky as well - the drum machine groove with the sitar samples to me could have easily gone more trip-hop than rock if it wasn't for the chorus of the song featuring the heavier guitars

3 hours ago, Blackstar said:

This seems very unlikely to me. Slash and Duff most likely added their parts some time between 2019-2021. If the two tracks had been out there and traded etc. since then, there surely would have been word on the street that the phone recording was not The General. Moreover, if the leaks are from that time, it means that they're not the final mixes, because the final mixes seem to have been done this past spring or summer (when Axl and Slash went to that studio to listen to them).

So if the leak turns out to be the final mix, probably someone who had access to the final mixes (not necessarily through the vinyl pressing) gave/sold them to someone else to leak them when the delay was announced. And either the original source (more likely) or the leaker messed with the quality of the mp3.

If the leak is not the final mix, my theory is that it didn't come from the hoarding circles (for the reasons I mentioned) but the source is someone from "inside" (e.g. someone who worked with them at that time) who gave the songs to someone to leak them.

That all can definitely be possible as well, which to me whoever was the person who hit "upload" and sent those files to GNRevo where it first got posted, was an absolute GOAT for GNR fans lol they definitely breathed so much more life in these forums with leaking these and they definitely massaged the reaction TB would have gotten much more due to the delay of the vinyl

To my ears, now that some time has passed, the fidelity sounds more like a really low bitrate mp3 than it does a needledrop.  My theory is, whenever Slash and Duff added their parts, the end result somehow was accesible by someone and it made the trading/hoarding rounds. 

The official releases will sound way better just because all the frequencies will be intact and not wishy-washy in the high end, with all the other frequencies rubbing up against eachother due to low bitrates chopping off file data all over the place.  I am guessing for example, Axl's vocal effects in The General, will sit a lot better with all the sonic info intact

Man it is crazy it has been so long!  I was around 16ish when the album came out, I remember going to Best Buy and getting two CD copies (one I still have in shrink wrap as a memento) and the vinyl.  The album is a nice snapshot of 2008 for me so I look at this anniversary from a nostailgic lens

Chinese does have its flaws to me, but I still enjoy it overall.  That said some songs (SOD, CD, IRS, CITR) I tend to gravititate towards the Village Session rough mixes of more nowadays, they just seem more organic sounding and meatier on the low end

I do find something odd about the fact she says she merely hearing GNR songs can effect her so she avoids places where they might be played..... yet went out of her way on two different occasions to publically discuss her meetup with Axl voluntarily and happily.  Not to mention the widly different tone of those past accounts compared to now

Combine that with the fact that the statue in NT is about to expire, idk something seems strange about it all.  It will be interesting to see how this plays out

I have just for comparing the vocals in the bridge of Monsters which honestly, Evader absolutely nailed with what tools he had and its crazy how close he got Axl's high notes and melody compared to what leaked.  He did a great job with what little could be made out so its a fun listen

14 minutes ago, PJ87 said:

You have it backwards, what I am saying is just because she alleges things doesn't make them true, or untrue for that matter. Seems like most folks on this forum assume all her allegations are true, which is not fair or reasonable either. I have seen enough of these things to know the truth lies somewhere in between. But who care what keyboard warriors think... 

I get what you are saying, I just think at this point in time I don't know if I would feel confident going "hell hath no fury like a photographer scorned!" nearly as much as I would feel confident in simply believing that a woman at a workplace within the entertainment industry was sexually harassed by a dude in a position of power.  It happens every day, sadly

Of course I am on the side of, let's see all the facts - but I am already seeing too many people here quick to just dismiss Kat's claims (one poster earlier flat out said "I don't believe her") and that is mindboggling to me

More like Fernandon't, amirite?

Just now, ZoSoRose said:

That song is also over 30 years old, as is that entire era of the band. Ideally, they would grow up and function like decent people. They like to outwardly appear as if they do. It is no doubt all of GNR were gutter trash- scumbags in the 80s and 90s that no doubt did horrible things to people that did not deserve it. In an ideal world, they'd have grown up. 

 

Yeah for sure.  I would be very curious as to how much Axl and everyone else in the band knew about all of this, in particular the stuff with Fernando and the harassment. 

Either way, even if they didn't know, to me it is inexcusable in 2023 to operate a huge business operation without any sexual harassment policies and procedures to deal with such in the workplace - especially when that workplace is within the entertainment industry where sexual harassment is already out of control even within companies that have those policies to begin with

I know GNR is a rock band and with songs like Anything Goes, and all that, but to me on the business side of things it is mindblowing that a management team that conducts business and deals with contracting people for jobs didn't have any sexual harassment policies in stone - as well as an HR department

To me this is another reason why you don't just turn the family that did housekeeping for your ex, into your management team for a huge name brand and band

Someone should tell these fake leakers who want attention that if they want more attention next time, pick a song from the Village Sessions that is actually good

1 hour ago, Miden34 said:

I fcukin' love clockwork angels though. the garden, the anarchist, Bu2b, caravan, Headlong fight, Halo effect. a stacked album

Totally agreed, its a prime example of a rock band absolutely nailing it not only in their later years but for what ended up being their last album.  I hope a new GNR album quality-wise ends up being more like that album than not

3 hours ago, 1991RS said:

I have PROOF that it very well could sound like shit.. IRS, Prostitute and some others are almost unlistenable on the CD vinyl. To many layers and not enough space for the vinyl. The CD vinyl should have been on 3 records instead of just the two.

I have a US pressing of CD on vinyl too, I would say that is moreso just a bad quality pressing than it is the songs not physically being compatible with the space available to the vinyl - "Clockwork Angels" by Rush is another LP that had quality control issues sonically  when it came out not due to space, it was very sibilant

2 hours ago, StrangerInThisTown said:

Here we go again: there is not and there has never been an issue with space. Can we put that shit to rest already we have actual PROOF of this not being true:

And to the people who are saying "but it will sound shit" are you fucking kidding me, this sounds fine, what kind of nutcase audiophile snob maniac do you have to be to be outraged by the quality of this audio? It was good enough for the biggest band in the world at the time to be released officially, then it's good enough for you too.

Wait, actual proof of something that is actually helpful in a GNR discussion and not just people making up random stuff like saying The General still comes from State of Grace or something!? 

I am pleasantly surprised today, thanks for that

3 hours ago, ZoSoRose said:

They make good companion songs like Heartbreaker/Living Loving Maid but of course they aren’t one song lol. They have their own structures and do not flow as only one track

Also, who cares 

This is a good way to put it, with that Zeppelin example!  Both can easily be connected lyrically, through the orchestral arrangements both being by Marco, etc. but are two distinct songs. 

I am not sure why people are making such dramatic argumentation over this lol or think that it is an either/or situation (that it could only be literally one singular long song, or only two completely unrelated songs that have nothing to do with each other) and not a concept that lies in the middle of it all

My theory, and this can be totally wrong of course, is that The General is part 1 of the story, and Monsters is part 2 which can easily be attached to another vinyl release down the way such as Atlas - to resolve the story