Sweersa

14 years too late!

The video would have been better with less or ideally no AI and the inclusion of Buckethead in some of the shots as it would have been fitting, especially if they restored some of his leads for the video.

It was worse than I expected, and I had low expectations. The song that could have benefitted most from a lyric video, doesn't get one. Bummer. At least Fernando isn't in it!

Of course! Most of them.

The lead guitar that Voodoochild wonderfully recreated, I swear on the 2010 leak, where it's hard to hear anything, that guitar bit starts again after the screaming Axl bridge. So I think that may not actually be a solo, but the main guitar lead of the song.

Just listened to your upload, very nice work! That is what I hear as well.

I really believe the structure of the song was changed from the 2010 version to the Monsters that leaked. You can hear the "oooo oooo" Axl sounds fairly clearly in the 2010 party recording. In the 2023 Monsters leak those are backing vocals. You can also hear amazing guitars that are missing from the 2023 leak as well. I can play it in my head near perfectly. Wish I could play it IRL to share how it goes.

I think 2000 Hardschool is one of the better songs they have, and would fit CD as far as quality goes. 2021 Hard Skool, I honestly don't want that on any album. They butchered that song into a C tier tune. I think Perhaps and Hardschool from the CD era would have fit CD, Atlas too, though I find Atlas to be a weaker song. I think the CD era Monsters / Soul Monster would have been pretty good as well. Zodiac 13 could be the Better of CD2 if they have a nice vocal track to it.

I believe the CD-era mixes of CD2 songs would largely be superior to what we are getting officially. One example that can be realized is 2000 Hardschool (which was labeled as a rough mix) vs the 2021 officially released Hard Skool. Perhaps 2000 vs Perhaps 2023 is more interesting, as I like almost everything about the official release except most of Slash's solo. I wish they had Slash record a second solo to Robin's like with CD and TWAT, or better blended them.

How wild would it be if Me & My Elvis is named Soul Monster and Monsters is it's own song.

I agree. Overall I like Monsters a lot more over The General. Aside from poor production on both songs (especially The General), my main gripe with Monsters (aside from it not being a CD-era mix with Buckethead, of course) is the chorus seems to occur too quickly in the song. In other words, I wish the verses were a little longer. It almost feels rushed. But, that's me being nitpicky and probably comes from me expecting Soul Monster was a longer song that it actually was. I wonder if they have any longer songs (~6 minutes or longer) left in the can. Like the Sorry, Prostitute or There Was A Time of CD2 from a song length standpoint. Most, if not all the CD2 stuff we got (leaked or released) with vocals are around 4 minutes.

Velvet Revolver and Slash's 2010 solo album had some cool music videos. The VR video where Matt was lip syncing to Scott's vocals in a bit was cringe though.

I didn't notice any clipping in Perhaps. I would be surprised if Bob Ludwig would tolerate such a shit mix with clipping before he masters it, but I could be wrong.

If they do a compilation album of all the singles, or whatever I hope they at least remaster them to sound better next to one another. So far Perhaps seems to be the only one suitably mixed for an album.

I know, but I'm speaking of what we all want.

CD2! Maybe they will correct the mix, or better yet, release the CD era version.

I like Slash's second part of his solo in 2021 Hard Skool. Aside from that, I miss just about everything from the 2000 mix.

I appreciate your input on this. I agree, it sounds different from the demo, but inspired by it at least. I wish they just kept him in there, it's maddening to me how quick they are to spend time and money recreating parts that are already great, though that's how they have done things for a while to keep current members included, which is understandable. I suppose that bit is the least thing to worry about with the 2021 Hard Skool. (Drums, mixing, etc.) I wouldn't be such a bother here and elsewhere with the Bucket/Robin posts if the NITL mixes were better. Perhaps seems to be the anomaly so far, where it sounds good from a production standpoint, and I'd say overall better than the 2000 leak, and Robin's first few seconds of his solo being present was more than a present to me. In other words, if they take the new Slash, Duff, etc. bit and mix and master the songs properly, that would be acceptable. Instead, some of these songs just sound maddening. Hard Skool and The General seeming to suffer most. Absurd is as it is named, so it works for that one, and I actually enjoy Slash on that song.

Interesting on The General, he shreds very well towards the end of that song. Do you believe the bit towards the end of Hard Skool before the chorus repeats is Richard as well? It sounds like Bucket in the 2000 mix.

When I first heard The General the last bits of lead guitar sounded a lot like Bucket. I assume that is Richard. I wish we had notes for these songs like we do on CD so know for sure who plays what, who is on drums on Hard Skool, etc. And who mastered what.

Is that really Richard there, or are you referring to the outro solo on The General?

That doesn’t mean Richard can’t take over on parts more suited for his level of playing, like they do live. Didn’t Izzy also play lead?

Apparently Paul Tobias would love to share too, but he said he isn't able to, which I assume to be a legal block of some kind.

I really wish Guns would feature Fortus more on studio material. He gets to play lead a fair bit during the tour. Why not have him play lead and a solo or two on the next album? Maybe he's already on a song or two we have not heard yet. I feel he's under utilized. He's the best current member to re-record the Bucket stuff, assuming they wan't to re-record that material.

I have met him in real life, and he was kind. He did seem to interact with the fans well.