StrangerInThisTown

+ Tonto

Ok am I tripping or is there a background voice at 1:57 in The General that says "fuck that" ? It doesn't sound like Axl, sounds more like a female voice

MacDaddy don't

Isn't it hilarious the SOG conspiracy wasn't true, but that ANOTHER song ended up being The General? We thought SOG was The General, meanwhile Soul Monster was The General the entire time.

Of course, the surprise was only meant for the people who actually ordered the vinyl. With the leak, the only surprise was the leak itself, not the way it was intended to have to listen to The General all the way through to find out there's actually a 2nd song, and it being the actual song you wanted the entire time. We knew right away 2 songs leaked so the surprise was ruined pretty much.

Well it happened, but in a much less cool way. Imagine putting on your vinyl and being disappointed with The General, and you're like where's the fucking section from the cell phone leak? And then after a few seconds of silence another song starts, and you're like what? And then THERE IT IS. I'm sure Axl was aware that many people thought that part of Soul Monster was The General the entire time, so the way it was to be revealed that way with the second hidden song coming in, you gotta give it to GNR and TB that's fucking masterful planning. If that really was the idea all along, then that's fucking cool and finally something awesome the band did for fans.

I'm thinking somehow they do belong together in some way though, Monsters has part of The Generals 2006 orchestra show intro in it, and is also a continuation of the lyrics in The General, atleast in my opinion. There was clearly some thought put into putting them together like that, even when they're not one song.

Some guy uploaded Monsters to Soundcloud and it was taken down due to copyright with the notice: "the file you've uploaded contains audio of "The General" by Guns N Roses". So they're either fused together, or Monsters is supposed to be a hidden track for the vinyl.

It's both, Slash until exactly 4:03, then Fortus takes over

Yes they will, jesus christ. This has been posted about 18274 times in this thread already.

If I ever feel like I want to abuse drugs, I will contact these people

A man who is enjoying life to the fullest lol

Agreed

Oklahoma was retitled into Berlin a few years later, so the lyrics must have changed. But yeah it being combined with Seven and stuff like that we are moving into tinfoil hat territory here

For the people complaining about the distortion effect on the vocals on The General: I think it is a deliberate artistic choice, the song is not supposed to sound like an easy listening experience, it's a story from the perspective of a child who is getting molested. The whole song is supposed to convey a feeling of uneasyness, and to sound unsettling. This is by far the darkest shit the band has ever put out in terms of subject matter, they're not going for a pristine sound. That effect is just one more piece of the puzzle to make it sound like something is "not right". How that sits with people is of course to each their own, it is dark, and that's why this is a B-side song on a vinyl single.

You might be right in the musical train of thought here, but what makes no sense is that these songs are billed that way. The General is, officially, just that, the one song title. It doesn't even mention Monsters on the vinyl, it's just Perhaps/The General. And on the registration site it's also labeled as just one songtitle, albeit a different one, but still, just 1, The General and Monsters.

Part 1 of Another Brick In The Wall and Part 2 etc. are seperate songs. They are labeled as seperate songs with Part 1, Part 2, and they are also registered like that, seperately, on the songwriter registration sites. In the case here, it's officially clearly just registered as ONE single song, not The General 1, The General 2 etc. I haven't heard the Megadeth song, is it really 2 songs with each their own chorus verses bridge solos? I somehow don't believe that. These here are 2 fully completed, realized songs following each other, and are officially recognized as one song on both the vinyl and on the songwriting registration.

There are things that speak for both, and also against both theories, which makes it so confusing, and leaves many unanswered questions. If "Monsters" is not it's own song, but a part of The General: Why in the world is it not just that, a part of The General and we would just have a song registered as "The General". Why does it need an extra name if it's not an extra song? When even on the official vinyl, it's just billed as Perhaps/The General? But if it's a hidden track and it's own song: Why does the same orchestra keep going in both songs? Why do both songs clearly go together lyrically? An answer could actually be that GNR, over 30 years into their career, have pulled an in music history entirely unprecedented move, and created one song that is actually 2 songs, both with their own verses, chorus, bridges, and solos, as one song. Not sure what to think.

But that also really gives no further explanation for us does it?I mean it can support either theory, my theory that Soul Monster is not ever supposed to exist as an official, own, singular song, anywhere, and might not ever be intended to be released anywhere else, and stay as a hidden track on that vinyl B-side, or, that it belongs to The General and is still one song, just the later part of the song (even though it clearly is structured as it's own song with chorus verses and solos). Someone with a mind sharper than mine also suggested early in the thread that it is possible that someone in the GNR camp told the guy who registered the song to register The General and Monsters, and the guy LITERALLY registered "The General and Monsters" and not "The General and "Monsters", which would be an epic fail obviously.

I don't think we can have a definitive answer to this until the vinyl is out and we hear if there's a few seconds of silence in between the songs or not. If there is, that confirms to me that they're 2 songs. If they kind of flow into one another that would confirm it's just another section of the song. No other song ever has seamlessly transformed into a hidden track, the hidden track always had a break inbetween it and the song before. It is definitely strange that they seem to be fully fleshed out songs with structure, yet they both seem to use the same orchestra. It's strange and I can't recall any other situation like this in music history and I'm quite a music obsessive.

It's not something you notice when you just listen to it, but if you really listen closely you can tell that there's a change of guitar tone at exactly 4:03 in Monsters. Up until that point its 100% all Slash, but during that change part I'm not so sure it's him and not Fortus taking over. Would be strange of him to just switch his tone mid solo like that for no reason.

I've posted about this a bit earlier, I really believe Soul Monster is supposed to be a hidden track, maybe they were registered together as "The General and Monsters" because Soul Monster was never supposed to be released by itself as an official standalone song that exists, or ever receive a digital release, but be a hidden vinyl thing.

Can you post a bit more what your thoughts were when you first listened to Monsters today? I think it's a travesty it wasn't you who got to start this thread lol

I think I changed my perspective a bit on whether they're one song. It could be the case, but it could also be that what the leaker uploaded as Monsters really is (or what used to be) Soul Monster and it was supposed to be a hidden extra track as a surprise on the vinyl. Maybe they were registered together as "The General and Monsters" because Soul Monster was never supposed to be released by itself and split apart from The General as an "official" song, or ever receive a digital release, so Monsters might never was supposed to exist as a "singular" song by itself. Just a theory but I'm not so sure it really is supposed to be one song afterall. I suppose we can kind of tell when the vinyl released by whether there is a longer break between the 2 songs, or if they transition seamlessly into another.

"People" who have no clue, a 7" vinyl already contained a 8:53 minute November Rain back in 1992. Guess they didn't think that far before spouting some nonsense when what they are claiming is not possible, was possible 31 years ago. https://www.discogs.com/release/368536-Guns-N-Roses-November-Rain