Malcolm Malcolm

4 hours ago, The Matinator said:

Pretty ridiculous they’re releasing an 6 CD reissue of one of their albums without the original version of the album’s biggest hit included.

I also think this is weird. I'd go full two versions and put the Wilson mix of NR out as a single.

For me this is absolutely revelatory. Since Chinese Axl has seemingly used mix engineers at random, my least favourite being the job done by Chris Lord-Alge on Shadow of Your Love. I always liked November Rain, but I found the mix and the synth orchestra off, but now I feel I fully understand it. Everything about this is better. It's magisterial. I say this as someone who likes the mix done on Illusions by Bill Price (I also love his original punk work). 

17 minutes ago, Tom2112 said:

Can everyone stop referring to Axl as Rose🤣 Every time someone does this should get warning points added to their profile!

Also.... 11yrs isn't long enough of a wait?? or 17yrs depending on your count🤣

 

I also referred to him as Axl? What's the big fucking deal?

Basically it either needed to come out around the turn of the millennium when the public might have been fair about it and it would've been less overdone or it would have done best as a lost opus/curio depending on how you take it. By that I mean if it was to stand any chance with the public.

The voice is a highly unpredictable thing in the way other instruments are not. Axl quit smoking and is not an addict to anything else as far as we know. I agree that he has times when he sounds very thin, but I think for a first bash at this song it could've been worse. The choruses were decent but he was clearly finding his way during the verses. I think technically he still has an excellent voice but that will be highly variable in stadiums with his age, health, wear and tear, climate, rehearsals or not, voice coach or not, and various other issues. No singer sounds the same at 59 as how they sounded when they were 29. He clearly tried to address the two big issues the hardcore fans had with him being out of shape and the absence of new material. It doesn't mean the performance is where it would ideally be, but he's well aware of that going by his comments.

We're the hardcore fans, look at the comments under the videos. It wasn't a disaster to the general audience.

1 hour ago, rocknroll41 said:

What’s even left from the ChiDem sessions that has vocals? State of Grace, Atlas Shrugged, Perhaps, The General, Soul Monster… Is that it?

Im not counting stuff like Going, Save Me, Down By the Ocean, Tooth Puller, etc. cause there’s no way any of that shit is ever coming out.

Im also not counting Quick Song cause that’s just gibberish. And then there’s Nothing, but is that even really a song?

OMG, HardSkool and Absurd are all already out there, and Eye On You got folded into HardSkool, so no need to count those either.

And I know it’s likely that Berlin, Zodiac and Cuban Skies all have vocals too, but we don’t know for sure, so might as well leave them out too (for now).

So if the five songs mentioned at the top are really all that’s left in regards to full Axl vocals/lyrics, then it may be best to continue with the one-off singles approach.

I like Chinese Democracy but the best thing that could've happened to the album was a later release in some form like the Beach Boys/Brian Wilson's Smile. Obviously the record label and Axl couldn't agree and it came out as it did, but it was simultaneously both unfinished and overcooked because Rose is not a natural compromiser. There may be sessions we haven't heard that happened later in Nu GnR.

10 hours ago, MaskingApathy said:

That's not true, there's drum sounds on rock records that came out this year that sound much better than this song. This one should like cheap samples plus it's too obvious that the drums have been heavily quantized. Yes I know that most rock/metal nowadays has quantized/mapped drums but it doesn't sound so much like a cheap drum machine, it still sounds like a real drummer. The kick is way too loud imo, to where the rest of the kit (esp cymbals) are too soft. Cowbell needs to stand out a lot more like it does on all the old classic GnR material. There's some weird comping/editing going on with the drums too.

I know a lot of people don't like Elvis' production on SMKC and Alter Bridge but his mixes sound way better than this one. He also did the WVH and upcoming Tremonti albums and those drums (and overall mixes) sound incredible. For a band of GnR's status I would expect better. I guess it's fine if they want to keep Caram around to engineer the sessions but I think they need to get a real producer and mix engineer to work on their stuff. Like the mix on SOYL, that's what this should sound like.

The day Guns N' Roses start taking lessons from the guitar player from Creed is the day I'll stop listening to them.

3 minutes ago, eggers said:

This does not sound as exciting as the leak, and what the fuck is with the drum sound? Ugh.

Unfortunately that's a 2021 rock drum sound. It's shit and not what drums actually sound like, but we're in another period where drums are processed. 

But I mean ultimately, this song is Guns N Roses. It sounds like the band we love. That's the main thing.

Now it's out where I am I should say that the bass sounds fucking fantastic. That's definitely Slash in both channels, and much as I'm a fan, I'd like to hear him play off a rhythm player.

1 minute ago, Fozzie Bear said:

This just it...the DRUMS on the DEMO were so much better.  Something about this new version just isn't hitting...but cue the GN'R apologists who weren't even around when GN'R made amazing studio material.  All of my friends who grew up with GN'R are literally laughing at these last 2 "singles"....

The double hits sound a bit off to me in a similar way to the deliberately mistimed vocals on Absurd. I'm a fan of this song but I'm not entirely convinced by the drums.

1 minute ago, TeeJay410 said:

Yo, we found Josh's burner account

How can I be Josh AND Slash? I'm just a fan of great musicians. You're all too cynical sometimes.

4 minutes ago, DarkLotus1111 said:

I do miss the drums from Josh Freese. Still that's just me, I enjoyed the "new" HS.

I don't know who is on this, and I thought Brain's drums on Absurd were great, but it's hard to beat Josh Freese. He just tears into everything with such energy and good taste. There's a reason he's probably now the world's best session drummer.

1 minute ago, AncientEvil80 said:

Got a listen, it's not bad at all, surprised me there.

Pros: Catchy chorus. Somehow reminds me of Crash Diet at times... Good job by Axl. 

Negs: A touch sterile composition and arrangements (too much of that chorus in the end...). Lacks a bit of uumph and texture (i.e.  missing Steven's and Izzy's touch). 

 

 

You're spot on about Izzy and Steven.

2 minutes ago, Fozzie Bear said:

No dude I’ve listened to it back and forth with the Demo 10x. It just hits so much softer and has none of the punch.  Axl should have released this song the way he wanted it.  Slash trying to play over bucket riff at the end is laughable.  The GNR apologist these days suck.  This is another shitty cut and paste job.  So the band never got into the studio together?  That’s so lame. 

Slash it’s great to have you on the forum! 

I fucking wish I was Slash.

4 minutes ago, Fozzie Bear said:

Omg wtf happened to this song? It hits half as hard as the Demo. Guitars sound flat and have no soul and everything about it feels lazy and copy and paste. This sucks. If the new album is just more of this butchering the 2001 bands work this legit sucks!!! Bucket runs circles around Slash. 

At this stage Slash is the star of the show. Axl is the leader but Slash now delivers consistently. The song's energy comes from him.

I don't mind Absurd, but it was very predictable that it would be widely dismissed, and it was also quite predictable that a good version of Hard Skool would probably hit home with the masses. So I wouldn't mind finding out why Absurd was released when it was. It seems like a curio or an album cut to me at best.

Slash and Duff really bring a lot to these two songs, and I didn't like their reworking of Better.

35 minutes ago, MaskingApathy said:

Referring to the bold part, do you mean he's heard the other new tracks that they're planning to release (new album etc)?

So I've just listened to it once, I'm going to wait for it to go on Spotify now. The middle guitar solo sounds like classic Slash like something from Don't Damn Me and the slide part harkens back to The Garden. I'm not thrilled with the cut n paste stuff but I think Slash and Duff would want to put out material that they've written from scratch so I think we'll get that too. I think they're trying to compromise; do a few of Axl's old songs which they like and then he'll work on new stuff that the band comes up with. 

It's worth bearing in mind that both of them actually liked Chinese Democracy so they may genuinely be pretty enthusiastic about this whole process. I mean, I like it, even if I wish it was a more organic sounding record. It's still the work of Axl Rose and there's a lot of good stuff there. I just wish some of the prog metal and electronic touches weren't there.

10 minutes ago, adamsapple said:

Same case with GNR, quality brand

I think you mean band...

7 hours ago, ZODIAC said:

Did i miss something? Did Beta say s.th. in regard to a release, recently?

She effectively said it would be on the album in one of her impromptu, inappropriate, ill-tempered replies to a fan on Instagram.

29 minutes ago, Voodoochild said:

Caram and Axl produced and mixed Chinese Democracy. There are a few additional mix by And Wallace that survived in the end product, but he wasn't the main guy. If you want to listen to his work on those songs, just listen to the Antiquiet demos. Keep in mind that those tracks were not mastered and had a low sample rate when streamed on that site.

I did not realise that. It does explain a few things.

8 minutes ago, star said:

My guess is, GNR released this for a bit of fun. I doubt the new album will feature the track. Possibly best saved for a b side track, or bonus track on a future CD single, assuming GN'R both with these formats. 

That's not what Beta said. At this stage anything could happen.

24 minutes ago, El Guapo said:

I really don't think Axl could deal with Rick Rubin and vice versa XD

There may be something to this. They certainly couldn't in the nineties.

Two things Rubin would certainly try to change would be 1) The ridiculous amount of layering of nonsense like sub bass and actual bass and real orchestras and synth orchestras, and 2) If Frank is the limited player many here think he is then Rubin would request a different/session drummer.

5 minutes ago, rumandraisin said:

Source? 

https://www.a-4-d.com/t4135-hard-school

And Matt Sorum's upcoming autobiography.

4 minutes ago, Sosso said:

Rick Rubin became one of the most overrated producers of all time. 

Read Interviews from various AC/DC members. 

It depends what you want from a producer. He went some way to explaining what went wrong on a recent episode of Talk is Jericho. The Ballbreaker album is disappointing but I really like Big Gun which was also produced by Rubin.

I've heard a few people complaining about the mix and blaming Caram Costanzo for the mix of Absurd and Chinese Democracy. Caram mixed Absurd but Andy Wallace mixed Chinese Democracy. Andy Wallace also mixed Live Era.

I basically quite like this song but I'm not convinced it was the wisest song to launch the semi-reunited band as a studio project. I'm really glad they included the drum track by Brain. He's the best drummer the band ever had, and they've had some great ones. I wish he was slightly higher in the mix but the guitars and bass sound fantastic.