SoulMonster

Lyrics inside?

Summer of 1988. Family vacation to Germany. The girl I was in love with had already told me about this cool rock band. I heard Sweet Child O' Mine on the radio as we drove through Denmark. I wanted to buy some vinyl and while browsing through this record store in some city in Germany, I saw this raw album (Appetite with the original artwork). I deliberated for a while between buying it or buying some shitty pop album that was trending at the time (Sabrina?), but went with Appetite, mostly because I wanted to get with that girl. After the vacation I put in on the turntable back home and I was sold.

Wait, wait, wait, hold up. Are you saying that Metallica released an album with clipping to a streaming services? That they were on the same level of incompetency as GN'R?

As I said, "Hey, this is just my opinion."

What has damaged GN'Rs reputation for real and made it into a very polarizing band is obviously Axl's behaviour over the years and his divisive vocals. It's really become a love-or-hate band.

He had a plan, he failed to deliver. Is that so hard to fathom? He even told us his plan. He clearly failed to follow through. Therein lies his problem.

Nothing a band can do at least.

It is definitely an interesting song, especially when the heavy part hits at 1:30 after the very monotonous start. It becomes a headbanger. I have listened to it quite a lot.

Alright, now you're gonna hear otherwise: All of these songs, possibly with the exception of Absurd, are good enough to replace some of the weaker songs on Chinese Democracy. More specifically: Hard Skool is better than Scraped, Perhaps is better than Rhiad, The General is better than This I Lobe and Absurd is better than If The World. Now you have reason to believe they were good enough to have been on the album. But hey, this is just my opinion and you are allowed to think differently, your highly personal opinion on the qualities of the songs don't need my or anyone else's validation. Furthermore, some of these songs were clearly intended to be released on the follow-up to Chinese. They weren't songs that weren't good enough, Axl had a plan for which record they would go on, and some of these at least were intended for the follow-up. The fact that Axl has decided to focus on the release of these songs, as singles, after he gave up on the follow-up, suggests how much they mean to him as songs.

More like that they will be indifferent to it, too.

Yeah. I wanna be angry about how poorly Raw Power by the Stooges was mixed, but no, the songs are still great. I still listen to it. The songs are more important. And that is why we love you.

Well, of course it could . It would be VERY strange if people who went through a rough patch wouldn't behave differently online, too. But again, as I just stressed, I do NOT think that people who get emotional over a song not living up to expectations are struggling in real life. I am not saying that. But maybe a few of them are? And the rest are just overreacting for other reasons.

I think it is clear that people react differently to what is thrown at them in life. And I think reactions here to The General is representative of this. We react differently, that's just how it is. Some see the glass half full, etc. And yes, of course our reactions online can be an indicator to how we deal with setbacks elsewhere in life, too, although I am VERY cautious to not suggest that people who expresses disappointment over this song has some anger issues or anything like that. I want that to be very clear, I do not believe that. For most, if not all, I am sure this is just an isolated overreaction. But still, I can be happy about not overreacting and try to balance my emotions more constructively.

Have I argued that people spend too much time here? Or post too much? I have more posts than most.

You missed the point where I did some speculation on whether such people are angry about all details in their lives, or whether they have nothing more important to be angry about.

I don't even know what to listen for. I hear the song and I like it. I like the staccato bass beat, I like the sinister feeling throughout, I like art that tackles dark topics, I like the power riffing in the chorus, I LOVE Axl's attack when he sings "and those who understand" in the chorus (that's classic Axl venom on level with anything in his career), I like the drum fill before the second chorus and I like how the guitar double the vocal melody in the breakdown, I like the vocal melody in the chorus and the juxtaposition between Axl's piercing vocals and the riffage underneath, and I find it utterly fascinating how I can't tell the guitar from the vocals in the end before I hear Axl's vibrato on the final note. Maybe the song could have been mixed punchier or whatever, or maybe the drum sound isn't perfect with some scratching sounds on them. I dunno. Still, it is completely dwarfed by the qualities of the song.

Yes, it is. And if some of the people who really want us all to agree that the song is terrible, get annoyed that I don't agree and happily express that disagreement and ruin their collective moaning, then that is just a bonus. As for your comment that I must feel good knowing I am not one of those who get pissed of because they are not happy about a song being released. I dunno know. Maybe it would be better if my life was so good I only got angry about irrelevant details in my life - that I had nothing important to get mad about. What I fear, though, is that at least some of the people who get angry about a song not living up to expectations get angry about a lot of stuff, including the minor things in life. I am very happy I am not one of those. I greatly prefer to go through life being happy and mostly content.

Thanks. I hope I am a appreciated counter-weight to all the people who spend a lot of their time telling people how pissed off they are over details in their lives.

Soon-to-be 48. I started listening to GN'R around the time of the release of Lies.

My pleasure. I didn't get angry when the band released One In A Million, I didn't get angry when the band released So Fine, I didn't get angry when the band released Bad Obsession, I didn't get angry when the band released If The World, I didn't get angry when the band released This I Love. And so on. Why should I get pissed off from having more listening possibilities? I choose to not listen to what I don't like, and happily listen to what I like. What would make more sense would be to be angry when the band does't release new music. But I didn't get angry in the long period prior to CD when nothing was released and I didn't get angry in the long period after CD when nothing was released. I guess it would be great if my life was so harmonious that a band not releasing music was the worst thing to happen and hence would evoke my anger, but I guess I have more important things to feel passionate about. Or maybe people who get angry over trifling matters just have anger issues? Now the band is releasing music again, albeit in drip-feed mode, and I am...happy about that. Partly because it gives me listening possibilities, but mostly because I genuinely like some of the recent releases, like Hard Skool, The General and Perhaps. It's hit or miss whether I like new GN'R music, but these I like. And fortunately I don't have big issues with the mixing, at least not to the extent it overrides me enjoying a good song. So yeah, I am not pissed off. Count me out of your "us".

I am not pissed off. Even if I didn't like the song I wouldn't get pissed off. It's a song. I am not a child. I didn't get pissed off when the band released songs I do dislike, either. And I don't hear the sound issues all the sudden audio nerds whine about.

Haha, no. It's a good song and most people won't care about the clipping.

Axl did the first night despite being sick, to not disappoint the kids. The kids had a great time, I am sure.

Don't feel bad for me, Hard Skool is great, and Perhaps and Absurd are not too shabby, either. And then we have The General, too. Not to mention songs we haven't received yet, like State of Grace which is among my top 5 GN'R songs. Seems like you are the one I should feel bad about because you don't seem happy with things.

Maybe not. I have some guesses why but it would be interesting to hear it from Axl.