Mikey Whipwreck

Axl and Pitman were known to be working to finish up CD2 in 2014. They were in a spot where they were going to have to release new music again. Public interest had waned and they were getting relegated to smaller and smaller venues. Of course, the reunion scuttled that. The new music we've gotten has coincided with leaks and weakening ticket sales, I don't think that's coincidental. Even though 90% of the people showing up to a GNR show are only interested in songs from AFD through UYI

I always thought Axl doing a punk song by way of The Prodigy and Crystal Method was hilarious. That and Eye On You would have added some welcome levity to the imaginary 2000 or 2001 version of CD. They are not great songs but they are fun, weird and unexpected The final version is old men making a generic punk-ish rock song. A lot of the personality is gone. And I hate the way the vocals are edited, it ruins the song for me. If not for that aspect it would be alright

Axl said in early 2006 that they were working on 32 songs and 26 were "almost" done. So that would be about 2.5 albums worth of material, maybe more if there are some 6-8 minute songs in there. Didn't the trilogy quote come from Bach? He probably heard about 2.5-3 hours worth of music and figured that's 3 albums worth

Piano's been an integral part of rock music from the beginning. Doesn't get more traditional than that. The rest of those critiques come down to taste and execution. I'm calling it traditional because it's a simple mid-tempo rock song that could have been composed in 1976, 1993 or 2004. As far as them getting in a room and making something better in 2023, I doubt it. The key members have shown signs of being creatively bankrupt for some time. Vocally and lyrically, I don't see Axl improving on his 1998-2007 work, when he was at least motivated to get in the studio and had something to say. Which is why we're getting the leftovers. He has nothing to write about and has deteriorated vocally. If that wasn't the case they would have recorded and released new music by now A brand new "riff rocker" would probably similar in quality to Hard Skool, instrumentally. Hard Skool basically sounds like SMKC featuring Axl Rose. And a new "Axl song" is unlikely to be better than Perhaps.

Out of all the completed Village demos that didn't make CD, this is the one that would benefit the most from the instrumental being reworked The first minute or so is very promising, sounds like it's building to a massive chorus but doesn't really go anywhere after that. It has a Southern rock feel that Slash can really enhance, it's in his wheelhouse

Ideally CD would have come out in 2001, knowing what we know now. The Village leaks show they had more or less an album and a half of completed songs in 2000 and everything else they finished came from when Buckethead was still in the band, even if it was technically completed after his departure

Perhaps is a traditional rock song

Other reason I see this as connected to Catcher and Lennon is MDC was noted to have been a Beatles and Lennon fan but came to resent Lennon for his comments on religion, the Beatles being bigger than Jesus and so forth. Essentially that Lennon was a sacrilegious figure and a false idol. So the "shot and crucified my savior" line is Axl acknowledging he and others still view Lennon that way and killing him did nothing to change that But in this song, while portions seem inspired by those events, it's left vague outside of that one line, unlike Catcher which is more direct

Just an interpretation, based on the fact that we know the Lennon assassination was weighing heavily on his mind at the time this and Catcher were composed. The "you pulled the gun that shot and crucified my savior" line seems pretty unambiguous to me given the context, and the "you" in the song seems directed at an isolated, unhinged individual But unless Axl speaks on it directly, which is unlikely, we'll never know for sure.

I'm sure it is frustrating to a degree. But they were paid salaries while in the band and they received writing credits where due. Tommy, Robin, Josh and Paul all get a piece of royalties from Hard Skool. That seems preferable to it collecting dust in the vault

It's a companion piece to Catcher. In the literal reading the "you" is Mark David Chapman the "savior" being Lennon. The narrator being Axl or any Lennon fan who had their hero stolen from them through a senseless act. Perhaps "I/we" as a collective were wrong for ignoring MDC, allowing him to feel this isolated and angry. But also, his actions were futile in that nobody respects, knows, or understands him. He's still alone and misunderstood, with the added burden of being universally despised and ruining his own life But it's presented in vague enough terms that it can be seen as admonishing anyone who commits atrocities, mass shootings, and so forth with the aim of gaining notoriety

Since they are indicating a release date of October 23, 2023, the manufacturer may have given them a maximum number of copies they can deliver by that date, given how backlogged the industry is in terms of producing vinyl records. Just speculation but maybe if they hit a certain number of pre-orders, that has to be it for the first pressing

CD has pretty consistent themes of trying to overcome various forms of betrayal and oppression One of the best descriptions of CD that I've read is that it's a meta concept album about a rock star with a persecution complex who feels abandoned by his band and those closest to him, and who feels the weight of his past successes, trying to figure out how to make an album that will top his previous works

No, it hasn't leaked

Do the vocals sound like they were recorded in 1999?

Perhaps is a very good song, superior to HS and Absurd. As was true with the Village versions. Preferred the original solo to this version but this holds up well and sounds like continuation of the UYI era, so it probably will get a better response than the others One has to question why it took 7 years into the reunion to release a lightly reworked version of a the 20 year old song, but still. It's good. And combined with the unofficial official confirmation of The General's imminent release, this is the most positive development in some time on Planet GNR

The drums on the demo are a lot better and because of that it had superior drive and sense of urgency And even the rough mix is better than the flat overcompressed dynamics of the final release

Based on Silkworms and Hard Skool, there's a good chance the Village version will be better than the final release anyway

Graspop is on Thursday 6/15. Would make sense to debut Perhaps live there with a midnight release If those set lists including The General are real probably a month or two after that

Been this way ever since his original comeback 2001-2002: voice was much cleaner, occasionally seemed out of breath and lacking power, but still "had it" when he wanted as shown with the LALD screams 2006: great for the most part. Rasp was back, more consistent power, and still had tremendous range 2009-2010: like 2006 but arguably better 2011-2014: voice sounded completely shot at some shows, solid at others but clear step back from the previous two tours. Breath control was diminishing. Of note, routinely sounded great doing Riff Raff and Whole Lotta Rosie even when struggling on GnR material 2016 Axl/DC: sounded great, it was obvious he took this gig very seriously 2016-2017: far from perfect but higher floor and higher ceiling than 2011-2014. I saw them after Axl/DC and he was so much better than he was in 2014. It's been downhill from there. Playing hundreds of shows at in the 3 hours range combined with the continual effects of aging and his diminishing interest have had a lot more impact than doing 22 shows with AC/DC

The AC/DC stint has nothing to do with the current state of his vocals His voice was sounding shot at times 2011-2014 and he came back sounding better than ever with AC/DC. 2016-2017 he sounded the same or better than he did 2011-2014, depending on the day you caught him. It's gotten worse from there because of age, wear and tear from touring and perhaps not caring as much The other thing is, AC/DC is probably easier to sing for him than Guns. Not strictly in terms of vocal power, but range and breath control. GnR lyrics are typically denser and have to be delivered faster. AC/DC lyrics or more "chant like," you're not having to sing with power and spit out a bunch of syllables with nowhere to take a breath. YCMB and Better, for example, have sections that are ridiculously hard songs to sing from a breath control perspective Not a coincidence that Riff Raff and Whole Lotta Rosie were always among his the best performances of the night 2009-2014

Doubtful. Robin, Josh, Tommy and Paul all got credited on Hard Skool. And it's a near certainty their contracts stated anything they recorded for GnR could be released by Axl and UMG at any time. More likely, Axl just doesn't feel like releasing it for whatever reason. I'm sure Slash and Duff aren't pushing too hard to release more Paul Huge songs either.

It's a game of chicken. People see that sales are slow, so they're waiting for the inevitable price drops and promos Closer to the concert date you'll start seeing two tickets for the price of one deals and what not. And if they still don't sell then yes cancelations are likely Don't know why they think there's still demand for this They probably needed to disappear for 5 years then do a "Farewell Tour" to do stadiums again at least in the US

Fully agree, it just seems like a lazy post production trick and to my ears it's jarring, takes me out of the song

Perfectionism is no longer a factor. See out of time vocal splice on Absurd, the cheesy cock rock school bell trope and re-using vocals from the Eye On You demo on Hard School, the flat and overcompressed mix on both. Say what you want about CD but the arrangements and dynamics of the mix on there were meticulous, clearly the work of someone obsessing over those songs. Many would argue that was to the album and songs detriment, but clearly he cared. These last two releases it seemed he'd stopped caring. It's also obvious he has zero interest in composing new music or laying new vocals. Slash has said point blank they have not written or recorded any new music together in the last 7 years, just reworked some of Axl's old stuff. It's not that unusual either, for an artist of his age to be done writing and recording new songs. But the teases, false starts and implications that more is on the way followed by years of radio silence is what causes most of the griping from fans