Question on the leaks

[robin2002]

Just thought I'd throw a question out, I wasn't active on this board at the time of the leaks (06/07) - Can you remember where you were when you heard about them and your reactions to actually hearing them? And did anyone purposely not listen to the leaks? If so, have you gone back and listened to them now?

[gavgnr]

I know the band hates leaks, but it was a v exciting time on the forums having waited for new music for so long

[CAFC Nick]

I remember logging on to the forum in my February half term during 6th form and basically sitting there for a few hours while stages of the first Better song leaked. Think the first leak was about 1:20, and ended at the first sentence of the bridge to the chorus. Very exciting times.

[YOUCOULDBEMINE.]

For a second I thought there were new leaks.

[Crash Diet]

A friend of mine who was a big GNR fan at that time showed me the first Better leak
At that point i came here, just lurking, and mining out new infos, the leaks etc.
This was a few days before the 2006 tour starts
I still remember hearing Better for the first time live in 2006 may 31, good times

Here's Madagascar from that night

[scottish nutter]

I was nurseing a semi while listening to them lol

[there is no dana only zool]

I know the band hates leaks, but it was a v exciting time on the forums having waited for new music for so long

This.

In retrospect, I feel bad for both downloading and talking about the leaks. At the time, I didn't know how damaging they actually were.

But to answer your question:

IRS 05/Eddie Trunk snippet: living in Detroit attending college. Lonely, depressed. Hearing even the shittiest of quality of nearly 30 seconds of an unheard GN'R song was awesome. Listened to it over and over and over again hahaha.

06 Leaks: Same situation, basically, only now with quality-sounding demos, I was psyched as all hell. I felt the same way about the songs back then as I do today: they fucking rock. Beautiful, challenging, versatile, accessible, awesome. Hearing them was very exciting because you had Axl popping up again in public. It gave me hope and optimism for the future; that the summer was going to rock, and what great timing it all was too; that I'd be graduating that year and getting to go back home to New England.

07: Better quality songs, but the most important for me was the full length Chinese Democracy track. That was and still is like a war cry. A GIGANTIC motherfucking TANK of a track. I'll never forget the first time I heard that leak in full. Specifically, the moment I heard the main riff repeated for the first time, because for a while, we had a snippet of the intro leading up to the main verse, and that was it. But then, with the full leak, like I said: after hearing the main riff repeated, it was like "fuuuuuuck, this is awesome!! The whole song!!" Favorite song off CD. Holds such special significance for me.

08 Skewrl leaks: Was living in Sacramento, CA for a few months with my younger nephew. Firstly, I love California more than life itself, so the fact that I now got to hear these dreamy-sounding tracks awash with awesome "color" and tone, was all the more "the shit." I remember standing out on the deck to our apartment, admiring the California sky, so bright and seemingly endless in size, and hearing ITW... then Riad in all it's cool-as-hell complexity (visually, it reminds me of an electronic checkers board with players on LSD, but nobody is at any risk while under the influence. Everything's fine and fun) and then Prostitute, which was simply beautiful and wonderful at the same time.

08 Shacker's aka "Chicken Dinner:" was spending a bunch of months back in Michigan - this time Royal Oak - with my brother. Yes, Shackler's leaked. Loved it. My first thought was that it reminded me of You Could Be Mine part II. Same with the other leaks, I listened to it over and over and over again. Also around this time, I won one of the "find the GN'R references" picture things that Kaneda had created. I spoke with him personally, on the phone, and found that he was a pretty swell dude.

So yeah, that's my story. Thanks.

[Crash Diet]

I know the band hates leaks, but it was a v exciting time on the forums having waited for new music for so long

They are, but Axl wrote an e-mail to Robin where he said the leaks actually HELp the buzz and even the album sales etc. He really surprised, though

(source is MSL's pendrive, lol but this is true as far as i'm concerned, that e-mail is real)

Edited May 8, 2014 by Crash Diet

[Nick85]

The first time I heard Better, TWAT & IRS in 2006 I was absolutely blown away. For my money, those are still the 3 best tracks on the album. Because of that impact, February 2006 was one of the highlights for me as a GNR fan. It was like f*cking Christmas.

Now bring on The General & Atlas Shrugged.

[suckerpunched03]

Yup. The leaks were awesome. Leaks or the potential axl finally plays a new song are the only reason I check this place. At the time I listened to them because I figured there was a decent chance we'd be waiting over 2 years for the album anyhow...

[RandallFlagg]

Without the leaks Axl would still be working on ChiDem and we'd have the same tour but without CD songs. A small slab of progress on a big wheel of mystery.

[Powerage5]

I remember it took me a few listens to get into If The World, but I loved everything else right off the bat.

[Carburetta]

Radio caller "so have you heard the new Guns N' Roses song?"

DJ: "yeah the Better one?"

In the background, quietly, but building up "no one ever told me when I was alone, they just thought I'd know Better, Better....."

It only went as far as the end of the first verse but it was AWESOME.

That's what I remember, I wasn't listening to the actual radio show where it was first played, it was a clip somewhere. I loved it.

[Nick85]

The fact that "Jackie Chan" & "Silkworms" are still floating around and have yet to leak is such a bloody shame....

[thomase]

what about the leaks that we got this year 2 diff version of better dj version of better and bumblefoot version of better and going down and i listen to the leaks in 2006 2007 2008 2014 and it was great and going down is a great song i did not know those 3 songs leak untell i came here and it was a great to hear them

[Apollo]

I know the band hates leaks, but it was a v exciting time on the forums having waited for new music for so long

They are, but Axl wrote an e-mail to Robin where he said the leaks actually HELp the buzz and even the album sales etc. He really surprised, though

(source is MSL's pendrive, lol but this is true as far as i'm concerned, that e-mail is real)

Great point.

I was in heaven each time a new leak surfaced.

New music from my favorite singer of all time.

I wish it would start happening again.

[there is no dana only zool]

what about the leaks that we got this year 2 diff version of better dj version of better and bumblefoot version of better and going down and i listen to the leaks in 2006 2007 2008 2014 and it was great and going down is a great song i did not know those 3 songs leak untell i came here and it was a great to hear them

same with the most recent. DJ's Better is simply gorgeous. Reminded me of the house Gordon Gecko had in Wall Street. Specifically, sitting in his backyard on the beach, nearing sundown but still relatively light out. Just sitting out there, DJ's Better playing, reflecting upon life with an almost heroin-feeling, uh, feeling haha. Only, I also sort of pictured what this same scenario would be like if sitting in Axl's back yard, looking out over the Malibu beaches. Just an amazingly relaxing and satisfying experience. Being happy for life's accomplishments and stuff.

Ron's version was awesome as well. I wanted to hear a nice, soft acoustic version ever since I saw Ron jamming on it in a video.

Love Going Down also. Once again, when this leaked, I was on vacation in Michigan with my family. Great weather, right during the week of the Woodward Dream Cruise. Good time.

[IncitingChaos]

I wasn't even paying attention to Guns in 2006 but I remember when Better leaked because it actually got some attention. People thought it was the first leak that Axl sounded really good on and the song was more catchy than the rest.

[Estranged Reality]

Just thought I'd throw a question out, I wasn't active on this board at the time of the leaks (06/07) - Can you remember where you were when you heard about them and your reactions to actually hearing them? And did anyone purposely not listen to the leaks? If so, have you gone back and listened to them now?

i have very fond memories of when Better etc leaked. (it's getting foggy but IIRC, Better leaked first, then shortly afterwards IRS and TWAT.) It's hard to explain to someone who wasn't there what it was like -- it was our 'Where were you when JFK' died moment as a community. Axl had been gone a while, nobody knew where he was, no official material had been released from the album, no new songs played for years... then suddenly we get a few new tracks.

I'll never forget the satisfaction I heard listening to Axl's 'normal' voice again on the verses to TWAT. It was strange. A lot of us had grown accustomed to the '02 bootlegs and used to the Mickey Mouse helium shriek, but suddenly it was like hearing 1990s Axl again, but on a new tune. A jarring experience.

I still love TWAT. Think it's an underrated tune outside the GN'R community.

[Bumblefeet]

I never heard any of the 06/07 leaks, I heard most of CD songs for the first time except those they played live (maddy, blues, rhiad, chinese)

[Faxl Rows]

I'll always associate Better and Catcher with summer 06, getting into the whole nuguns thing and being blown away, seeing them that summer...

...then two years later, hearing ITW and what turned out to be Prostitute in summer 08 was simply magical. And of course, finally hearing Riad studio and playing it over and over again. Happy memories.

[Nick85]

^ Great post Estranged Reality. For GNR fans still intently following the band, February 2006 was like being handed an ice cold bottle of water after wandering the desert. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive from fans and even a good deal of the naysayers. Surreal, really.

In retrospect, 2006 really should've been the year the album dropped. The fans were primed, the new songs were fresh and the music world was watching.

Now where's that damn second album, Axl? ::sigh::

Edited May 8, 2014 by sofine11

[DR DOOM]

When I got my grubby mits on those 4 tracks in 06 I was jumping around like I'd won the lottery, between them, the new stuff from RIR etc and RAR and Inland Invasion I went on a GNR bender that lasted for months on end.

I saw someone referring to this a couple of weeks back, but I was sick to fucking death of "Born To Run" by the time I finally managed to get Catcher in The Rye

Cant help but be reminded of those bullshit demos too.

Edited May 8, 2014 by DR DOOM

[Bromle]

I remember it well. The leaks where out when I woke up. Put them on my phone and listened to them on the way to school. Better was only 1.20 as some here has said, and it was rumored to leak later. So that was pretty exciting. This was the time before the tour was official If I remember correctly, and there had been a Axl sighting at a Korn show or something.

On this forum, it was the bests of times.

[SlashisGOD]

I remember I put all the leaks on a burned CD and listened to them in the car all the time. It was something fresh for fans to listen to.