uzi your illusion

So weird for him to play something totally different from what's recorded, if in fact what we have is the official version. It's not like Estranged or some of the others that he's probably a bit tired of playing note for note. Lends more credence to the possibility that the version we've heard might be Bucket?!

For the guitar players on the board, how close is Slash's live solo vs. the leaked version of the song?

Gotta admit I thought the same. But I've deferred to the guitar players on the board to say whats what. But at first glance as someone who's listened to Slash and Bucket for countless hours, I thought General was BH and Monsters was Slash. To my "novice" ears at least.

I know it's been discussed but it is still lost on me why it would still be called "The General" if the title originally comes from what Brain was eating at the time. Would love to know why Axl decided to keep that "placeholder" title for a song with seemingly very deep subject matter. I know it's been discussed but it is still lost on me why it would still be called "The General" if the title originally comes from what Brain was eating at the time. Would love to know why Axl decided to keep that "placeholder" title for a song with seemingly very deep subject matter.

What exactly were the circumstances of the cell phone recording coming out? I know the clip, but I'm not familiar with how we came about it, or how it was sat on for 8 years (based on your above post).

This is a guess? Or is that a phrase from somewhere?

The bridge on "Monsters" with those amazing vocals take me right back to the best parts of I.R.S. with the same classic Axl voice. Love every second of it.

I dislike the bell a lot but always thought of it as a bit of a nod to "School's Out". Obviously we knew the boys all love Alice.

Yea I think that's right that a lot of it could be about her. I just recently re-read the chats he did here and he speaks a lot about how most of his songs are only partially influenced by sole individuals, and how even if they sparked an idea for a line, they maybe aren't the basis for the rest of the song. So I'm sure the truth lies somewhere in the middle. I guess a part of me just really hates to think of him as this guy who was still really fucked up almost a decade after the relationship ended, totally spent emotionally, and holed up in Malibu staring off into the ocean at all hours of the night. Most people have terrible breakups once or twice, and I can buy into him feeling things differently and more so than most. But it just bums me out to think he maybe never was able to move past it. By the way, if you haven't listened to these songs on headphones, you're doing yourself a massive disservice.

I read this comment quite a bit, but who's to say that these songs are about Stephanie? He could have had plenty of other relationships through the years that weren't public, that also could have ended badly.

You dont think it shares orchestration from The General? I was pretty sure I hear the same bits in both parts. Or do you view them as part 1 and part 2 when you say 2 songs?

Evader Can you wadger a guess as to how clean or raw you think the vocal tracks on General are? Meaning, in your opinion and with your experience, do you think this is the final product or do the vocals seem weird to you? At least in the chorus of the first part of the song.

Help me undertand. If Pittman wrote stuff, but his parts were recorded over would he still be listed on the credits. is it possible that his contract in Guns paid him as an independent contractor who forfeited any writing credits in leiu of say a bonus if material was recorded and distributed? Is that a possibility?

If that was the case though wouldn't Bucket be listed in the writing credits?

You know I've always bucked against that line about Axl trying to chase the trends. I think if you hear a song or style you like and then it pushes you creatively to make something that is in your style but now influenced by the newer material that you're hearing, that shouldn't be looked at as a negative. I guess it would be one thing if we thought he heard Linkin Park for example and decided he wanted to add a rapper to try and appeal to the younger kids, but he didn't legitimately like that sound. It's something different to be inspired by a sound and then create based on that. Just always struck me as a cheapshot when people said that. Like in 2002 with the braids and the jerseys, I always assumed Axl just liked the look. Not that he wanted to look like he belonged in a Wu Tang video.

Remember during the Axl Chats, the man himself said he'd rather not comment about exact inspirations to give the fans some time to develop their own ideas. So here we are! I get lots of late era Faith No More influences from these two gems. Think "Stripsearch", "Last Cup Of Sorrow", "Paths Of Glory" Anyone else hear that?

No clue how close or far off this interpretation might be. But I've heard the 9 minute one now a ton of times. I take the first part [General] to refrence the child abuse that took place early on in his life, with the eerie orchestration in the background acting as the manifestation of those feelings that the abuse could cause. And Monsters, as the companion piece, sounds like it's about a failed relationship with a woman later on in life that falls apart for whatever reason. But prehaps the abuse suffered early in life still seeps into Axl's day to day, underlined again by the same orchestration during this part of the song, and that the abuse will always play a part poisoning his adult relationships. That's how I'm reading into it. And if it's close to being accurate, it's exactly what I would have hoped for as a fan who waited on CD and knew it could live up to his artistic heights.

"kinda industrial slash" I really like that lol

These few and far between days are really as good as the forum ever gets Savor it boys and girls

I've been an avid fan since 1996 and heard Axl sing countless hours and I'm having a hard time making out some of these vocals in General. Even in the "cleaned up" version. I have a hard time believing that General is the final version. Monsters however sounds pretty perfect.

I heard one from gnrevolution.com Wheres the version you are referring too?

I think Monsters is amazing from the first listen. I'm getting there on General but my issue with it is how hard it is to make out the vocals. So if it's an unmastered/demo version it would be unfair to judge. Really enjoy what I can make out though.

Was relistening to annold Appetite For Distortion podcast with Sean Beaven and he mentions that it was his idea to bring in Bob Ezrin. Maybe if he comes on the podcast again @Gambit83 could ask him if he heard about Ezrin's feedback or if he ever spoke to Axl about it after the fact.

What's this a reference to?

I'd love to hear isolated audio of what Axl is playing when he picks up the guitar.