Seb91

21 minutes ago, SurfsUp said:

Anyone else kinda miffed about how the EP is being marketed?  “Written and recorded by Axl Rose, Slash, and Duff McKagan this year”

Uhhhh Robin Finck, Tommy Stinson, and Buckethead might like to have a word with you…

Yeah, it is odd. The only thing I could think of is that The General may have been so heavily reworked by Slash and Duff that it became a co-write, however I guess we'll never know as we haven't heard earlier versions properly. 

1 hour ago, pbj_jam said:

if bach's comments on the song is anything to go by, the general will be something totally different never heard before. His descriptions ain't exactly the most credible.

I kind of see where he was coming on re Sorry, it definitely has nods to some Sabbathy doom stuff - predominantly the riff in the chorus but it's more a slight vibe rather than a full on doom metal song. I think the key thing is to manage expectations - I fear people (myself included) have really bigged up some songs over the years. I mean, in my head I'd bigged up Atlas to be some epic song with deep philosophical musings so was underwhelmed when I finally heard it (I do like it a lot though and a superb Brian May solo on there - I mean, I don't think it's possible Brian to not do awesome solos!).  

23 minutes ago, rumandraisin said:

Parental advisory sticker on the cover. Give me those piercing screaming Axl vocals we know are on The General. 

Maybe the parental advisory sticker means The General is just Absurd with added horns 

1 minute ago, rumandraisin said:

Atlas and Soul Monster, 2025?

Perhaps  - Thinking about it, it's the perfect word to sum up following this band 

Vinyl doesn't seem to be in the UK store yet. 

1 minute ago, Blackstar said:

According to what Slash has said in interviews, they worked with existing drum tracks. So apparently Brain's tracks are from the early 00's.

Ah, cool, thanks for clarifying! 

The song sounds absolutely epic on Spotify. The strongest of the three tracks for sure although HS would have made a great comeback single back in 2016. 

Has it been confirmed when Brain did the drum track for this - ie peak NuGuns era or the same time as Slash and Duff did their parts? I’m sure I read on here that he’s still technically a member of the band as he never actually left. 

Need to get up early to get Robert Plant tickets tomorrow but screw it, I'm staying up - t minus ten minutes here in the UK! My Mum was like - "Wait, haven't you already heard this a bunch of times?"  It's impossible to explain how it feels to be a GN'R fan haha. 

2 minutes ago, Martin Riggs said:

Yeah, but that’s not getting in a room this year and writing it together. Wonder why they’re lying like that in the promo material they’re giving radio stations…

If you take it literally they’re not technically lying though but yeah agree it’s odd that they’re wording it so it’s like it is a new writing collaboration when it’s openly known that it’s from the NuGuns era. 

Just now, bmus1 said:

Isn't that killswitch guitar at the beginning of Absurd uncredited to Bumblefoot? That wasn't "recreated" by Fortus.

I doubt we’ll ever get a full breakdown of who played on what. It would be great if all the multi-tracks leak at some point so we can have different versions with different combos of musicians 

1 minute ago, CAFC Nick said:

Yeah I get you, but ultimately I imagine in the Nu-Guns era everything was contractually attributed to Guns N' Roses - as in, any creative contributions would fall under that umbrella rather than individual personnel.

Yeah, that seems to be the m.o. Songwriting’s a pretty tangled thing in a rock band context anyway I feel. I mean Roger Waters sees himself as the writer as a lot of the Floyd stuff but without Gilmour and Wright’s melodic polish the songs would have sounded different I feel. 

1 minute ago, Blakemajors1 said:

So it isn’t robin’s solo if he isn’t credited right? Shouldn’t they all be listed out if that was the case?

I do find the press release that implied it was written by Axl, Slash and Duff pretty weird given that it dates from the NuGuns era. I suppose if Axl came up with the structure, lyrics and vocal melody then it isn’t incorrect as that’s classed as writing and then Slash and Duff did the recording two decades afterwards…

The Slash solo is growing on me and I like that there is a bit of Robin on there - kind of continues the Chinese vibe of releasing songs with former lead guitarists on them 

Definitely the strongest single so far - hoping it gets played live soon! 

Sounds epic! Miles better than the demo. Duff’s bass tone is phenomenal and Slash’s solo sounds better in proper quality! 
 

If whoever mixed this could remix Chinese so Tommy can be heard properly that’d be grand 

13 minutes ago, jonah said:

I was at a show in 2006 and heard it being sound checked before the show

Perfect Crime with 2006 era Axl and NuGuns would have been epic! 

2 hours ago, DoMw94 said:

Why would they? It's not out, it's not supposed to be out. For all intents and purposes, none of us here should have heard it yet, 20+ year-old song or not. They have no need to acknowledge something that in the wider, real world doesn't exist yet.

I think this is part of a bigger issue within Guns N' Roses' fanbase: entitlement.

As frustrating and disappointing this all is, it's the band's work – it's supposed to be heard when they release it, not when we accidentally find it or demand it. They'll acknowledge it when or if they're ready, and they'll release it when or if they're ready.

Us finding the leaks is on us. We're the ones who opened our Christmas presents the night before, leaving nothing for the big day...

Just to play Devil's advocate, the only reason we've heard it is because the song's so old. Things leak out eventually, so it's no surprise that they did. I mean, to put it in perspective twenty years before CD was 1988 and I doubt there was much mystery over Appetite era demos by that point. I also don't see it as entitlement when the band have spoken about new material, have been soundchecking it and it was prepped for release. That's the real mystery here. Maybe we'll eventually find out the reason for the holdup but I can understand people's frustration. 

16 minutes ago, kozydogg said:

For those who say it's never going to come out now: 

Why would they continue to soundcheck the song? Obviously, it's going to be played live, then released. 

Weren't they soundchecking OMG in the Ashba era and wasn't Going Down on a setlist (which we assumed to be a cover of the blues song)? They have got previous for this but I think the fact that it was a planned release with the artwork and the pre-save page means that it'll come out sooner rather than later. 

6 minutes ago, liers said:

If they didn’t want to release songs, they wouldn’t. No one is forcing them to

Yeah, that's the weird thing - if Axl had no intention of putting it out he wouldn't have let Slash and Duff add their parts to it and there was obviously a whole release plan. There's also the fact it's a soundchecking staple. 

9 minutes ago, AxlRoseCDII said:

It would be nice to be able to add it to my playlists in good quality, how the artist intends for us to hear it, without downloading it or having to listen to it as some bizarre upload. It would be nice to be able to send it to some family and friends without explaining how much of a dork I am for knowing this and saying that this is a demo that should’ve been out last century. By the time you explain that no one gives a shit. Not to mention just be excited to see your band pretending not to be a soulless nostalgia act and actually attempting to have any artistic integrity.
 

This is GNR. It was supposed to come out the 11th. If they keep pushing and pushing the release, the way this band works, it will never be out. It’s Chinese Democracy all over again. The goalposts will move and move as long as the band allows Axl to, aka forever. It’s been 2 years. Entire albums, hell, entire goddamn films are made and released in that timespan. 

Agree it's like Chinese all over again and this is just one song rather than a whole record! That's the main issue with GN'R really, they've got stuff good to go and have been soundchecking it constantly but for whatever reason it's like it doesn't exist. I mean, it's kind of mad that we've had the leak for four years, there are recordings of the soundchecks and now the whole jukebox saga and yet it's still being treated as some big release that shouldn't come out ahead of time.

29 minutes ago, downzy said:

Facilitating a project and tours like this still aren't easy. 

Look, I'm not a huge fan of how Fernando has conducted himself with the fan base, but I'll give credit where credit is due.  A reunion was never going to happen if Axl suspected it was being pushed on him by management that was only interested in collecting its 10-15 percent.  My impression is that Axl is very suspicious of people who are only looking out for their own financial interests and are willing to sacrifice how he feels to achieve their objectives.  One of the benefits of TB being less than supportive of a reunion with Slash is that Axl knows they weren't helping him because they knew it would only enrich themselves.  I have no doubt that they care about him very deeply based on my own interactions with both Fernando and Beta.  

So you can say TB was at the right place and right time, but I don't see how it happens without them.  

See my post above.

At the end of the day, if anyone thinks that being Axl Roses's personal or artist manager is easy, well, they should talk to some of the people I've spoken with.  I'm not here to shit on him as I don't know him.  But I don't think it's coincidental that there's been a revolving roster of people that have come and gone in Axl's life.  Managing Axl Rose isn't a job for someone who is there for the pay cheque.  It takes a tremendous amount of trust, something that Beta, Fernando and everyone else around him spent years building.  Who really knows, but if you think the reunion or tour happens (or continues past a few shows) without TB, you're not going to find much agreement from me.  

I feel this is spot on. I think the reality is there isn't a scenario in which Axl has regular management and it works out, I feel it's essentially a case of TB or bust. Whilst they're not the most competent management available to GN'R I feel like it's the only way things are going to work. I think the whole Chinese era really showed that no deadlines, incentives or motivation from anyone else really has an impact on what Axl does. Sure, it sucks that 'new' music is being drip-fed at a snail's pace but I don't really see anything that would change that unless Axl one day woke up and decided he wanted to make a record. 

I guess the bonus is he's still out there doing stuff and this is the most consistent and prolonged period of activity we've had at this point. He hasn't gone to ground for yonks like he did in the past. 

Thinking about it, there are some parallels between The Smashing Pumpkins and GN'R. The 2006 comeback was just Billy and Jimmy so a bit like the NuGuns era, then Jimmy eventually leaves and Billy's the last person standing and it seems a full-on reunion's nigh on impossible so we're into NuGuns territory. Revolving lineups and then James guests for a few songs (not too dissimilar to Duff getting back into the GN'R fold) and then there's a reunion eventually. However, like the GN'R reunion it's more of a continuation than a reboot - Jeff's still on guitar and he's been in the band since 2007 and Jack Bates is on bass rather than D'arcy (which seemed unlikely, a bit like Adler) or Melissa. The Pumpkins have been a bit more prolific after their reunion though 

Bad Obsession sounds great!