Caught_in_a_Coma

It's very good. It has a non-commercial, experimental, groove to it that reminds me of sections of Coma and Locomotive. I'd say it's top-tier Guns. Well done, Mr. Rose. I wish ChiDem 2 could have turned out how you intended it to. Edit: TWAT is indeed amazing.

Monsters is very catchy, and a very good track. The General will be divisive due to the subject material and lyrics used to address it. I think it's a good song but I probably won't revisit it often.

Monster feels like a perfect ending song for an album or EP. The way it rides out.

I know what you mean. I feel and hear pain when he sings that line (especially with the hurt/angry cat-like backing vocal). It makes listening to the General half of the song feel sad rather than enjoyable. But I think it gives the song bite and does whatever Axl wanted it to do. The Monster half of the song moves away from that and I feel that half of the song a more enjoyable experience. I think they're great tracks (or a singular great track) and remind me a bit of Coma (and a bit of Oh My God).

Edit: n/m

It's clear a lot of great Chi-Dem era material was left unreleased. Did we just need to be more patient? Did Axl need to compromise a little and release a taste to give people confidence in and patience for CDII? Do Axl, Slash and Duff really have enough left in the tank to make an album that doesn't use Chi-Dem 2 leftovers?

Monsters > Silkworms (I think this is far better than the final version)> The General > Perhaps > Hardskool > Absurd Songs range from good to excellent, IMO.

I always really liked Going Down and wished it got an official release.

Axl is the GOAT. This cements it. ChiDem/NuGuns era was like the Star Wars prequels/Clone Wars. Took time to see the good because it wasn't the glory days 2.0 but now people see the genius of it and miss it.

I really like this perspective. I wish Izzy was still with the band in this sense; more on the writing and recording side, less on the touring side.

I was under the Impression that Jackie Chan IS Hard Skool and was being worked on around 97. So if that is true, we've at least been able to hear that song. We know a decent amount about unreleased songs from the ChiDem era and we know Izzy and Slash say there was stuff being worked on in the mid 90s but we don't seem to know as much about them.

And is Brain the best drummer GN'R ever had?

Going Down. I really like that one. I like it when Axl takes a break from lead vocals and just does support like on 14 Years. I don't want it that way all the time, but it sounds great here and there.

OP I could see you being right, but I'm also wondering if maybe he felt he had too many piano-ballad songs centered on lamenting something lost already on ChiDem in Street of Dreams, Catcher (now that I think about it, I can't remember if Catcher is very piano driven but it is more of a ballad with a theme of loss) and This I Love and felt Perhaps would thematically and musically sound or feel redundant so it was being saved for ChiDem II