Blackstar

Yes, it was in two different articles that reported about Axl's conversation with fans at pool side in Rio 2001: https://www.a-4-d.com/t1683-2001-01-16-o-globo-axl-talks-at-pool-side https://www.a-4-d.com/t7429-2001-mm-dd-rolling-stone-argentina-axl-rose-fifteen-days-in-the-life I'm really wondering how fans made the connection between that mention of a song about child abuse and The General, considering that Bach's comment about it being the sequel to Estranged didn't hint to this subject matter. Was it just due to Evader's interpretation or was there a rumour before that?

I think Ratam meant that that there was no comments in the articles about the lyrical subject matter.

Photos part 3 https://www.instagram.com/tylertantrum/ https://www.instagram.com/alonerpirate/ https://www.instagram.com/lias1229/

Eddie Trunk said that Slash told him off the record a few weeks ago that this last leg has been his favourite since 2016.

https://www.instagram.com/tako217/ https://www.instagram.com/lias1229/

If the liner notes on CD is anything to go by, it looks that Axl used vocals that were mainly recorded by Sean Beavan between 1999-2000 (the majority of the songs on the album) and by Caram (Better, This I Love, Sorry, Shackler's Revenge, Scraped). If I'm not mistaken, RTB, who was the producer from around spring 2000 to the end of 2001, is not credited for recording/engineering on any songs (but I have to look in the album credits again to be sure), so the Caram recorded vocals must be from 2002 or later and Axl didn't use vocals recorded in the RTB era.. There's also a credit for Beavan on Perhaps. There are no credits for Hard Skool, but it's safe to say that the vocals on that were recorded by Beavan as well. Since The General wasn't around yet during Beavan's tenure and the tracks Beltrami worked on in the summer of 2002 didn't have vocals, the vocals must have been recorded sometime later in 2002 or maybe in 2003.

It's not anything concrete, just something some fans have assumed, but I can't remember which was the second instrumental from the locker leaks they were referring to (and it's been a while since I've listened to all those).

The reunion seems to have been originally only about touring, so 2016-2017 was the "reunion (nostalgia) tour". But regarding after 2018, yes, they could have done all this sooner. I think Slash wanted to release and tour "Living the Dream" which had already been semi-recorded but was pushed back because of the reunion, and Duff wanted to do solo stuff too. In 2019 they started rehashing the CD leftovers and 2020 would have been the year of starting releasing them, but Covid came, so it was all delayed and Slash recorded another SMKC album. The problem is the very slow pace these are being released (two songs in 2021, nothing in 2022 and then two more in 2023), which, combined with the fact that the first two songs that were released in 2021 were songs we had heard made a portion of the diehard fans lose faith. And, of course, the elephant in the room is writing brand new material, which hasn't happened yet. Slash said that in 2022 (October), but was definitely talking about the 2023 tour: Slash: Well, I mean, I want to go in and cut a whole brand new record at some point, probably sooner than later. But other than that, we have stuff that we still got to come out, so that’s gonna be coming out piecemeal over the next… I don’t know, over the next few months or something like that. So that’s basically it. We have one more tour left to do next summer, and then that will free us up to be able to go in and work on a new record. So, you know, I’ll keep you posted. https://www.a-4-d.com/t7509-2022-10-19-sirius-xm-s-trunk-nation-interview-with-slash

I would love that. I think that's what they should do if they write new material. And they should absolutely record a studio version of Wichita Lineman. The live rendition is excellent.

Shackler existed in the locker leaks as a raw instrumental (titled "Shancler's Revenge"). It was developed at some point later and combined with another Buckethead tune (don't remember which one). Definitely that was long before Ashba was in the band. Ashba joined after CD was released.

After listening to the best quality live version with headphones on, think that was "time to forget" on the first chorus and "to forgive" on the second chorus.

Yes, they are from the locker leaks. The first song you described is called State of Grace. I don't know about the other, since you didn't provide any description.

From the songs on CD: the vocals on Shackler's Revenge were definitely recorded after 2003 because of the subject matter of the lyrics. Also the vocals on Better, Sorry, Scraped and This I Love were recorded after 2000 for sure, most likely 2002 or later. From the leaks: The vocals This I Love remix. Monsters/Soul Monster vocals were also most likely recorded after 2003 (Axl said he recorded them "on a Christmas Eve" and I think a forum member found that there was a studio booked at Christmas 2004 - Axl was also in the studio during the holidays in 2006).

I don't mean it so much in the sense that Axl is afraid of criticism, but in the sense an album is much more of a "statement" than individual songs. And what kind of statement would such an album be? It can't be the continuation of CD, since that project was over long ago and it wouldn't really connect with CD 1 as years have gone by. And it can't be the reunion album either, because it comes from another era. So it's kind of out of time and place. The standalone way is a way to still release these songs that Axl has been sitting on for so long and wanted to release without making a "statement". I don't mind it at all. My only problem is the big gaps between releases.

The problems is that an album consisting of CD era "leftovers" can't be the reunion album and can't be the second half of CD either, because that project and era don't exist anymore. So the standalone songs way seems to be the only "harmless" way to get these songs out.

Yeah: Axl: Okay, so we're gonna try a new song... one I haven't sang since this tour started somewhere this spring. This could be very interesting. If there's ever a better place to fall on your face, I think this fuckin' counts... This is called The General.

https://www.spin.com/2023/11/guns-n-roses-the-general-debut-hollywood-bowl/

I think it was about both: that it would be The General AND Monsters and also that what we thought was The General was Monsters. The second hint in the joke wouldn't make sense without the first one. It's the kind of inside joke Fernando would make so that he could go back and say "I told you it was a monster" etc.

I think, if we consider that screenshot of the alleged CD2 track list real, all tracks included in it have vocals. Tonto and Nothing are in there (which maybe means that Axl finished Nothing at some point), and there's also "Monstrocity" and "4 Heavens", whatever these are (I don't think 4 Heavens is KOHD as many people believe).

I think hoarders didn't have even earlier versions of either song, as it seems that everyone, including "insiders", thought that Monsters from the cell phone recording was The General. Probably it was leaked by someone associated with the band, but not necessarily with the band's permission.

https://www.instagram.com/lias1229/

Yes. There are no shows in December (and there won't be for a while).

"Fuck this band. They hate hardcore fans" (Flashback from this forum a week ago )

That's the job of the publisher of the artist and in Axl's case it's Universal. We'll have to wait until it's up in other databases that get the information from Slash/Duff's and Brain's end. It's not just the registration. It's also Fernando's quip and even the fact that the tracks leaked together. If Monsters was going to be released separately from the beginning, e.g. with Altas, it most likely wouldn't have leaked or Atlas would have leaked, too. That's an additional reason why I think a mistake in the registration is unlikely. So I think they're either being released together or there's a change of plan that is due to the poor quality of the vinyl pressing because of the length of the two tracks. If that's the case, it was a poor decision on the band's part to make it vinyl exclusive.

Yeah, but on the other hand it was more than what we expected and were promised.