CaioAKR

Well, I stand corrected. lol Totally forgot about this interview. But at least my point stands that the band wasn't seeing eye to eye, so it would be really hard to get a cohesive effort from that. Also, we all know Axl has, let's say, changing desires, and this desire of making something close to AFD wouldn't last for long. lol

Zepp might have been more popular at their peak, but there were more artists (and, more importantly, more genres) fighting for a piece of the pie when GN'R was king, so one could argue it evens it out. Of course, Zepp is more influential, as it came first. I wouldn't say rock is irrelavant this days. It's even coming back these days, just not the old school rock some are accustomed with. Anyway, this wasn't supposed to become a dick measurement context between GN'R and Zepp. lol I just briefly mentioned them in my point that it's unfair to compare GN'R to The Stones. Grunge actually cast a huge influence on rock going forward and new metal was extremely popular well into the 00s. About the singles, they might be ballads, but they're very clearly hard rock ballads, with all the trapping of the genre, guitar solos and all. That's not the type of rock that's being pushed right now. I'm not saying new GN'R albums with Slash in, say, 1995, 1998 and 2002 wouldn't sell well. They most definitely would, but they wouldn't make GN'R anymore legendary than they already are or closer to being "the new Stones". They already were the biggest band of their generation. For example, if Metallica called it quits after The Black Album, I don't think that you really affect their legacy that much. Same thing for Iron Maiden after Fear Of The Dark and AC/DC after The Razor's Edge (one could argue they could stop much early and it still wouldn't change much). All of those bands sold very well and pleased their fanbases with their 90s, 00s and 10s albums, but those won't be the albums they'll be remembered for in the eyes of the general public.

I believe they're comparable in size, each on their time. Depends how you compare them, I guess. There isn't a very good way to gauge popularity between two bands from different time periods. If, say, we use Spotify listeners, GN'R is actually much bigger. But of course, if you're looking at Spotify, you'd think Queen was much bigger than The Beatles. lol It's not a very reliable metric at all, but it IS a metric. Of course, Zepp sold more albums, but their discography is give or take twice the size of GN'R's. Recognizability? I'd say more people know SCOM than Stairway to Heaven. All in all, of course it depends on where you live. Here in Brazil, GN'R is more popular for many reasons. I'd say GN'R is bigger in South America. I'm pretty sure Zepp is considerably bigger in the UK, though. Your mileage may vary.

A fair point, but I just think people romanticize too much what could've been. Hard rock was already falling in popularity pretty fast, so I don't think they would have another smash hit had they released more albums in that period. Grunge was dominating and new metal was taking over and we know Slash wouldn't want to mess with that (and Axl wouldn't want to do another Appetite, for that matter). The Stones are bigger also because they were popular much earlier, being pioneers and influencing, like, all rock bands in a time where rock was fresh. There's no way any band could replicate that in the 90s. There were a lot more things to listen to and everything moved much faster than in the 60s. When The Stones started their career, it was them, The Beatles and The Beach Boys (and The Beatles and The Beach Boys were much closer to each other in style than they were to The Stones). It was a completely different time, really. I geniunely think GN'R was as close to The Stones as they possibly could be. It's actually crazy to think they managed to be roughly as popular (arguably more) as Led Zeppelin. Sucks we didn't get that many albums, but I'm pretty happy with the band that actually was/is. And bring on The General!

I really don't think it would do much in terms of legacy. GN'R were the last rockstars. The world was changing quickly and they wouldn't stay on top for much longer anyway. GN'R is already the biggest band of its generation. No need to fantasize what could have been. One could even argue that if the band didn't implode sooner or later, it wouldn't be GN'R to begin with.

I mean, I always hear this, but the thing is: they kinda are the next Rolling Stones, anyway. They're most likely a top 10 all time rock band in recognizability. Top 20 at the very least. It's not like putting 2 more albums in the 90s would make them any more relevant. Ask Metallica. Of course, I would rather have more GN'R music to listen to, but I can't agree with this notion that the band's legacy got tarnished by a lack of releases.

Well, then this changes everything. Argument dropped. lol What makes you hopeful for Seven, though? It's one of my most wanted songs, but I feel it's been a long time since we've heard anything about it.

I mean, I'm not even saying we're getting more songs soon, but why would you think a reworked OMG is more likely than any of those? If anything, Atlas is more likely than OMG because of the pattern of releasing Village Session songs. I assume you meant Soul Monster instead of The General, because we're absolutely getting The General. But the funny thing is if you said three months ago that a reworked OMG was much more likely to be released than The General, most people here would probably agree. Not saying a reworked OMG couldn't be the next song released. It absolutely could be. But the point is we can't be sure either way.

Yeah, I didn't post this to confirm that it's not coming to streamings. On the contrary. What this actually confirms is that the "never coming to streamings" bit was baseless. lol

This is nothing. My uncle who works at Guns N' Roses told me you'll have to go to the Tokyo Pokémon Center with a Gameboy Advance and a copy of Pokémon Emerald to get Cuban Skies by Mystery Gift.

Perhaps. But I sent this to their customer service, as it was a description on a product they were selling. They kinda had to respond. Even when I sent the message, I got an automated response saying they would answer in 48 hours. And this is pretty much a non-answer anyway. What I got from this is they very much want to keep us guessing about a digital release.

I was the one who got this response. lol It doesn't confirm anything, though. They backtracked in the website and here they left it open for breaches. They very clearly stated the band decided not to release on streaming "for now". This screams to me "you're not allowed to confirm nor deny it". lol To me it still seems they're trying to sell more vinyls before streaming it. lol But let's wait and see what happens.

Buckethead would never work with Axl again. Not in this lifetime. Oh wait...

Yeah, they totally knew what they were doing when they chose this track. Makes me hopeful somewhere, someday we might get Soul Monster and Seven if we scream loud enough. lol But yeah, this time they really threw the dogs a bone.

I think the writer was just looking for any GN'R ballad to make the comparison and November Rain was, like, right there. lol It would absolutely be better to compare Atlas to Yesterdays, though.

My top three was always: 1. The General 2. Soul Monster 3. Seven So yeah, I'm happy. lol Hopefully someday we get a Soul Monster with vocals and Seven, but it feels surreal enough that The General got officially announced. Officially. Guns N' Roses doesn't officially announce anything. lol Honorable mentions: Oklahoma, Cuban Skies, Ides of March (very probably this one changed names early on), Quick Song, State of Grace, Tonto, Zodiac 13, Monstrocity, Curly Shuffle, Devious Bastard, Dummy... I'll take what I get. lol

For all we know, it's highly unlikely that SOG is The General and, if it is, it evolved and changed so much it barely resembles SOG anymore, anyway.

The legend himself. Even if the lyrics are not 100% accurate (how could they be, anyway?), just listening repeatedly to the cellphone leak and then to your rendition, I'd say you did a phenomenal job, but you already know that. lol I figure you would be very curious to hear how the real deal stacks up, aren't you? I myself cannot believe we're getting the most mythical GN'R song of all. If we get Soul Monster and Seven, then my mission is complete, but really, if we were to only get one more song, it HAD to be The General. Glad Axl thinks the same.

This day barely started and it's already legendary.

WE FUCKIN' WON.

Glad it's being released. And glad I love the song. My favorite post-reunion single. And yeah, that incluídos Shadow Of Your Love.

THANK YOU. I too am brazilian and have a similar feel on this topic. Also, I know you from the Perfect Crime forums (was active there as ckspider) and you always had good, level-headed takes. Of course, everyone can criticize TB for their work, but it often feels as there's something underneath it. Calling them cons and grifters, for example, is totally uncalled for. They're there because Axl wants them to be there and they're certainly not the reason Axl so rarely releases new music.

I'm also team "still love it". My favorite leak with vocals. It 100% could fit in the Illusions and in my opinion it's better than more than half of the songs on those albums (and I love them). From what I gather, most fans like/really like/love the song, but those who don't, really don't. Which is completely fine. People will agree to disagree. I much prefer this song to Absurd and even Hard Skool and I'm very happy it's finally getting its moment.

I mean, I'll stop feeding the troll now. It's really not a big deal. I just think it's fair to call out people who basically call other people stupid for being hyped. There's absolutely nothing wrong with skeptcism. But that's all. At this point I'm repeating myself. Don't know how to my point any clearer, so I'll stop right here.

I think we all agree being skeptical is more than fair. The clown emojis are for calling people who simply are hyped for a probable release "doomsday predictors" that have "cult-like behavior". That's two very different things. You can be skeptical without being rude.