Amir

https://store.universal-music.co.jp/product/dsku12021/ https://store.universal-music.co.jp/product/uizz15790/ If they had the Tokyozilla one on a beige tee I'd buy it.

I thought Slash improved Absurd and I liked his and Duff’s parts on Hard Skool. I prefer Finck on Perhaps and what I can hear on Monsters. It’s not a case of automatically preferring one guitarist over another.

Yeah, from 1:03 the rhythm seems to match with "the monsters can't kill me..." from the final version, but hard to say for certain. I'm trying to find an analogue for that cool guitar from 0:30 but can't. Also not sure who the guitarist is, sounds like Finck to me? I'll defer to @Voodoochild

I think the clip was just labelled wrong because of confusion with thinking the orchestration was The General when it was Monsters for the 2010 shows and The General for the 2006-07 shows. I'm trying to force myself to hear the "monsters in my head" bit but I can't tell if I can actually hear it or it's just in my head (hah). It would be hard to make out on such a clip since those vocals are so low in pitch, but I'm wondering more and more if that particular refrain was recorded much more recently than the other vocals on Monsters 🤔

They're from gnrontour.com, that's where I found that snippet about Silkworms I linked to above: https://www.gnrontour.com/sets2001/20011229reviews.html https://gnrontour.com/sets2001/20011231reviews.html

I've dug out my old laptop which had the Vienna 2010 afterparty phone leak, and it's interesting seeing how you can now tell it's the "I was there for you" chorus up to 0:18 and the bridge of Monsters matches up with 1:28 to 1:58 of that... but there's a lot that sounds so different? I'm not sure I can hear the "monsters in my head" refrain at any point? And man, those guitars go fucking HARD in that phone leak, the final cut seems neutered in comparison :/ Hopefully we get a leak of that version one day.

"It is still very new for them to play together as band, with Robin (Finck) and Buckethead. That was a surprise. Obviously, that was the correct decision to make, but it was not originally planned to have three guitarists." (Axl, Rock & Pop FM, 01/22/01) "Originally it was gonna be a two-guitar player group. I split forever so I thought and went back to Nine Inch Nails. In my absence they were looking to replace me and Josh Freese, the drummer at the time, had brought Buckethead in to essentially fill the slot I had left. They really liked him but he's kind of a stunt guitar player. He does a very specific thing and he has a real genius sensibility about him. But he rarely plays the same thing twice ever and when you're trying to cruise through "Nightrain" that just makes it a little (laughs) too different. So they needed someone to anchor the songs. They kept Buckethead to do what Buckethead does and they needed someone else to play alongside. ... I think especially with Guns, I was more of a soul player than a soundscape artist." (Robin, Ultimate Guitar, 01/17/14) "This band did not come together by a bunch of guys meeting each other in a bar or down on a corner in their old neighborhood, so it's taken a long time to pull these guys together and then have them develop a chemistry with themselves. When we did our first show in Vegas, Robin and Buckethead didn't know each other at all. You've got two lead guitar players trying to kill each other with their abilities. [...] I think they can be cordial to each other, that whole kind of thing, but when they're actually playing, it gets that kind of alpha male thing going, like 'Who's the real lead guitar player?'" (Axl, WRIF, 11/21/02) http://www.gnrevolution.com/viewtopic.php?id=3531

This gives me hope there's a version of Eye on You with Finck and Bucket guitars...

I think vocals were likely recorded in 2000, the Village leak is dated to November 2000. EDIT: That said, Bucket doesn't have a writing credit (just Rose and Pitman), so it could be his guitar parts were added later and it was initially just synths à la Eye On You.

And then they added guitar and the "bitch like you" chorus for the Jan '01 shows. My guess is by Dec '01 it had morphed into something similar to the '18 leak.

@Arnuld @dude69 @DannyVinyard do any of you remember what Silkworms sounded like at this show? I found this review online which makes it sound like it was already closer to the 2018 leak/2021 release of ABSURD than the earlier performances in 2001: http://www.gnrontour.com/sets2001/20011229reviews.html

Huh, that must've been the first show they had them, since the one I got in Seattle a couple of nights before ends with the Vancouver date.

I'm reminded of that awful fake "Prostitute" song which was just random screaming with the word "prostitute" thrown in the middle.

I wonder if Freese ever heard The General before last night considering it was a Brain song?

Which gig is this from?

I get so emotional watching this 🥲

Was absolutely worth it in 2010. Every show was electric. For the 2012 show in Atlantic City I queued from 4pm, doors opened 9pm, opener came on at 10:30, GNR after midnight. It was fantastic. With the UK shows in 2012 is when I really started to feel the wait time, I remember being especially pissed at the London shows when Axl said they wanted to play longer the first night but couldn't because of curfew. All I could think was, why didn't you come on earlier? But I think those were the last shows I went to where they were particularly late, I don't remember them being super late for Serbia 2012, and Abu Dhabi 2013 was the first show I went to where they were on time. I think there may have been a short delay at Buenos Aires 2014 but the atmosphere for that show was great with the return of Duff. Toronto was one of the later shows in 2016 but it was amazing, even worth suffering through Billy Talent for The Japan 2017 shows were so weird for me, the first starting at 6pm and the second at 5pm, ending before most shows usually start! London 2022, people were pissed the second night, but it was only a 45 minute delay and Axl was sick so it was understandable.

I think Apple Records have been taking down a lot of videos, though. There's also a fanmade video which attempts to mimic what a Beatles version would sound like, closer to the original demo: Between Hackney Diamonds, The General and Monsters, and Now and Then, the last one is definitely my favourite of new releases from legendary dinosaur bands. I've been listening to it on repeat all day, so haunting yet weirdly uplifting at the same time. If someone told me they didn't like Guns N' Roses I could understand that, just a matter of opinion, but if they said they didn't like The Beatles I would assume they are dead inside

That's rad! That's sad

I checked out the demo and I can see why people would prefer it if they've listened to that for years. I thought it was cool but I prefer the final released version.

I was gonna check that out but I guess I shouldn’t now? 😬

It's a crocodile or alligator which... gets injured/scarred? Probably some kind of metaphor for abuse and abusing and emotional scars, I dunno, such a weird choice. I'm not sure I understand the possessed bleeding piano for Perhaps either

Yup, play shorter sets with songs that are easier to sing (PTU, Bad Obsession, The Garden, Down on the Farm, etc.), and don't play two nights in a row. After London 2022 I was sure it was gonna be a struggle at these two Hollywood Bowl shows. Even Seattle to Vancouver was tough with one night rest in between (but Axl was clearly already sick at the Seattle gig, blowing his nose, etc.). Doing 3+ hour shows from June to November is tough going at any age.

Tbh I think for the casuals you don't even need that many, the absolute essentials for them are WTTJ, PC, SCOM, NR, and KOHD/LALD. For everything else you can have alternates. 1. WTTJ 2. ISE/Brownstone 3. ABSURD/Hard Skool 4. LALD/KOHD 5. ChiDem/Better/TIL 6. RQ/DTJ 7. Civil War/Estranged Duff Solo Spot 8. The General/Perhaps/Monsters 9. OTGM/My Michelle/TAY/Anything Goes/PTU/Down on the Farm/SoYL/Reckless 10. Locomotive/Coma/The Garden/Bad Obsession/YCBM Slash Solo Spot 11. SCOM 12. NR 13. TWAT/Prostitute/Madagascar/SoD/Catcher/Sorry 14. Nightrain Encore: 15. Don't Cry/Patience 16. PC The casuals will hear everything they want to hear, and the hardcores will go to multiple shows to hear more songs.