Blackstar

I'm not sure that it says "its soul burns out", but definitely in some lines in the chorus the last words are "burnt down" or "burnt out" and in some "it's over now", so it's not the same in all the lines. But even if the word "soul" is not on the chorus, it's in the second verse: "you stole my soul with the devil's romancing". We discuss the lyrics here:

That was "Daddy Can the Devil do Mommy and me?" He said he wrote it inspired by some segments from the movie that he saw: https://www.a-4-d.com/t5025p30-21-september-1997-november-1999-josh-and-tommy-joins-robin-leaves-live-era-is-released#21281 I guess it was something that he wrote for himself and didn't submit it to be included in the film score.

Slash and Duff have got credits for all the songs released by the NITL lineup, including these. Just read the link in my signature - or if you're on your phone and can't see signatures, click here (it's a long post, so if you're only interested in the credits for the new songs, scroll down to the end) and also here for more details about the credits for The General and Monsters..

It was two guys, the keyboard tech and Melissa's own tech.

Radio silence about the leaks, however the explanation from Fernando on Reddit and the subsequent apology about the delay by the band accounts on social media were after they knew that the songs had leaked.

No, we don't. But he didn't really rap with "GNR", it was just Dizzy and his friends (the so called "shadow band") and maybe Paul Tobias. And it was in 1997, before actual CD sessions started.

I have bookmarked this.

It's still 5 weeks until the official release and I dread to think how many more conspiracy theories people will have come up with in the meantime. And it won't end even after it's been released. The guitars will be the same, maybe there will be credits saying it's Slash, yet there will still be people saying that it's really Robin.

Yes, if they're going to play one of these songs live, it should be Monsters. I think that The General would be difficult because, in addition to Axl's vocal issues, it would be just awkward for him to sing these lyrics.

For me it's 100% (and I'm rarely that confident about something).

Marco Beltrami has recognized Monsters as one of the songs he worked on and he's confident that it was a separate work than the one he did on The General. And Monsters also matches Axl's description of Soul Monster perfectly, plus there's "monsters" and "soul" in the lyrics. So it's case closed, really.

I'm confident that it's not. As far as the band is concerned, these songs haven't been released yet.

Well, we now know that Monsters and Soul Monsters are the same.

Yes, the quote is in the OP.

I listened a few times and I think may be And although I understand your lack of/you lost your self respect

Yes, there was (as always), but I don't think anyone now doubts that it's Slash.

It really sounds that you haven't following the band at all for at least the last 8 years. You don't even know who is in the band now.

There were no Fortus solos, but Fortus was on the tracks. And of course there were no Finck and Buckethead solos - except of about 2 seconds of Finck on Perhaps. But why is this "proof" that Slash and Fortus wouldn't share a solo on another track?

In that case, though, it would be still an older version and not one with Slash and Duff. Because I don't know if that person would have access to recent recordings with Slash and Duff - I don't think that these would circulate in the "black market"

And how would he be sure that it was the same song he had? Or that "Monsters" wasn't just part of a new title of The General (since the registration in the database suggests that it's one song)?

Yes.

There are explanations for all that. Read the comments in the Beltrami thread.

I think I clearly hear "damage" there.

It is kind of legendary, because some iconic live albums were recorded there.

If they are demos from the early 00's (they are not), how would the hoarders know that the song is now called Monsters ? It certainly had another title at that time. Or how would they know that it was the same track that they had?