The "New Album" Thread . The maybe, possibly, at some point, soon, whenever, wtf Axl thread🤞

[19AT5]

6 minutes ago, SoulMonster said:

Isn't that pretty much the consensus around here, haha? 

Personally, I can't get frustrated about such things, it is just a rock band. It doesn't affect me. Additionally, I kind of expected nothing since UYI and everything we've got, CD, tours and entertainment, has just been a welcome bonus. The glass was half full decades ago. 

I can't argue with what you said there! Good point, we'll presented. 🙂👌🤟👍🙂

Possibly some frustration comes from the sheer brazen cash grab of the past few years. And don't even get me started on the whole "we're f'n back" slogan... it is nauseating and embarrassing at best. I like the early GNR a lot and occasionally even listen to it! But when I see what it is today... I just cringe! It's difficult to accept them now as a serious band. Metallica are their peers and look how they do things. Night and day difference.

[SoulMonster]

1 minute ago, 19AT5 said:

I can't argue with what you said there! Good point, we'll presented. 🙂👌🤟👍🙂

Possibly some frustration comes from the sheer brazen cash grab of the past few years. And don't even get me started on the whole "we're f'n back" slogan... it is nauseating and embarrassing at best. I like the early GNR a lot and occasionally even listen to it! But when I see what it is today... I just cringe! It's difficult to accept them now as a serious band. Metallica are their peers and look how they do things. Night and day difference.

You can always make all kinds of comparisons and there will always be someone doing things better. You can compare with all the bands that are more fan-friendly or more functional and productive, like Metallica, or you can compare with all the bands that also were great in the late 80s, early 90s, and aren't even existing today. I am not sure it is more fair to compare with the few examples of legacy bands doing it better than GN'R and not with the many more bands that are now dissolved or doing even worse? I mean, along the entire gamut of outcomes, what we have isn't that bad. I guess if you like to be disappointed you should compare with Metallica; it is kind of like comparing your nation's best runner with Usain Bolt and being disappointed he isn't as good. Personally, I think we should just accept it for what it is and be grateful three of them are still able to tour together more than 30 years after Appetite. That's a lot more than I ever expected. And we are getting new music too!

And yeah, I cringe over the artwork and merch and over a thousand things in addition. No wait, I don't really cringe when I think about it. It is cringe-worthy, true, but I don't care enough to have that reaction; I am not personally invested in that sense where I feel ashamed about what the band does. I don't have that kind of ownership of it. I recognize it as bad, yes, but if I have any response at all it is more likely just a chuckle. It doesn't matter to me. 

 

[19AT5]

Just now, SoulMonster said:

And yeah, I cringe over the artwork and merch and over a thousand things in addition. No wait, I don't really cringe when I think about it. It is cringe-worthy, true, but I don't care enough to have that reaction; I am not personally invested in that sense where I feel ashamed about what the band does. I don't have that kind of ownership of it. I recognize it as bad, yes, but if I have any response at all it is more likely just a chuckle. It doesn't matter to me. 

 

Aye... on point there again! Touche.

[SoulMonster]

35 minutes ago, 19AT5 said:

Aye... on point there again! Touche.

But isn't that part of the life cycle of a fan? You start off being hugely invested in your favorite band, you "defend" it with your friends, act as a missionary to get others interested, spend a lot of time discussing the band and thinking about it; then years later you get less involved, you don't care as much and it takes a back seat to other things in your life. Whether you simply grow out of it or whether other things become more important (like career and family), I don't know. In that first period you would feel almost personally insulted when the band doesn't live up to expectations, in the later period it simply doesn't matter to you. So I am not saying it is wrong or abnormal to care so much that tacky merch affects you (and god knows it is shitty), it is entirely normal at a certain point in fandom. And I kind of like seeing that reaction here, because although I don't feel that way myself I probably recognize that I was like that, too, a long time ago and it is in a sense cute without meaning that in any condescending way. Then of course, some of us have invested so much in the band, emotionally, over the years that we still hang around and some of us still get emotionally affected by what this rock band of people we don't really know, do. Although that would be a bid sad because by now we should all have adjusted our expectations to the bare minimum. Personally, it's been many years since anything GN'R did bothered me. Don't get me wrong, I can still feel a short pang of disappointment if I feel the likelihood of new music shrinks (like when Axl decided to take Slash and Duff in again and go for the big reunion bucks), but all in all it is just irrelevant to what is important in my life.

Edited January 20, 2022 by SoulMonster

[19AT5]

1 hour ago, SoulMonster said:

But isn't that part of the life cycle of a fan? You start off being hugely invested in your favorite band, you "defend" it with your friends, act as a missionary to get others interested, spend a lot of time discussing the band and thinking about it; then years later you get less involved, you don't care as much and it takes a back seat to other things in your life. Whether you simply grow out of it or whether other things become more important (like career and family), I don't know. In that first period you would feel almost personally insulted when the band doesn't live up to expectations, in the later period it simply doesn't matter to you. So I am not saying it is wrong or abnormal to care so much that tacky merch affects you (and god knows it is shitty), it is entirely normal at a certain point in fandom. And I kind of like seeing that reaction here, because although I don't feel that way myself I probably recognize that I was like that, too, a long time ago and it is in a sense cute without meaning that in any condescending way. Then of course, some of us have invested so much in the band, emotionally, over the years that we still hang around and some of us still get emotionally affected by what this rock band of people we don't really know, do. Although that would be a bid sad because by now we should all have adjusted our expectations to the bare minimum. Personally, it's been many years since anything GN'R did bothered me. Don't get me wrong, I can still feel a short pang of disappointment if I feel the likelihood of new music shrinks (like when Axl decided to take Slash and Duff in again and go for the big reunion bucks), but all in all it is just irrelevant to what is important in my life.

You're absolutely correct in what you're saying here. I agree. Sadly I almost find GNR irritating now. Like they should've just called it a day on a high in 2017 or whatever. My level of investment has been low in context but when I saw them in 2017 in MSG, it peaked my interest levels again for sure. I've intermittently checked in here and there over the years (and possibly more through boredom during lockdown) but my expectation levels now are totally flat. So much so I sold ticket for Glasgow gig later this year. It's a shame how stale the reunion became. 

[Spoon87]

5 hours ago, 19AT5 said:

For me, the moment has passed. I had hope with the reunion. Genuinely thought they might manage to put out something decent. A late career creative high if you will. Well it was a 5 year wait for Absurd... something I'd heard and disliked 20 years earlier. Will be interesting to see what reaction the EP gets. I'd be stunned if there was much interest out with fan groups.

Does anybody just find GNR one of the most frustrating bands ever? So many chances and so little return.

This. Totally agreed.

 

My short bout of optimism after that Slash interview has vanished again, after I read through some of the stuff you guys rightly talked about the last few months. It's basically the same frustrating shit I talked about back then when I joined this board in 04 and there was also nothing to talk about. So yeah, big disappointment, this band.

Although I dived back into CD after years of not listening to it and I find myself enjoying it a lot more than back then. Weird.

[allwaystired]

Just now, WhazUp said:

I would definitely say that especially with everyone from the Appetite, Illusions, and CD eras all still alive, that GNR is the band with the most wasted potential without having any band members pass away prematurely

I'd be amazed if anyone could disagree with that. The wasted potential with GNR is off the scale. No other band comes close, barring those that died young etc. 

 

[Tom2112]

5 hours ago, SoulMonster said:

But isn't that part of the life cycle of a fan? You start off being hugely invested in your favorite band, you "defend" it with your friends, act as a missionary to get others interested, spend a lot of time discussing the band and thinking about it; then years later you get less involved, you don't care as much and it takes a back seat to other things in your life. Whether you simply grow out of it or whether other things become more important (like career and family), I don't know. In that first period you would feel almost personally insulted when the band doesn't live up to expectations, in the later period it simply doesn't matter to you. So I am not saying it is wrong or abnormal to care so much that tacky merch affects you (and god knows it is shitty), it is entirely normal at a certain point in fandom. And I kind of like seeing that reaction here, because although I don't feel that way myself I probably recognize that I was like that, too, a long time ago and it is in a sense cute without meaning that in any condescending way. Then of course, some of us have invested so much in the band, emotionally, over the years that we still hang around and some of us still get emotionally affected by what this rock band of people we don't really know, do. Although that would be a bid sad because by now we should all have adjusted our expectations to the bare minimum. Personally, it's been many years since anything GN'R did bothered me. Don't get me wrong, I can still feel a short pang of disappointment if I feel the likelihood of new music shrinks (like when Axl decided to take Slash and Duff in again and go for the big reunion bucks), but all in all it is just irrelevant to what is important in my life.

100% this. When the reunion was announced I remember hearing and not being excited, one of my friends kinda asked why I wasn't celebrating because I'm a complete GNR nerd and probably had a GNR tshirt on at that exact moment. I just don't care as much as I used to. Think it's it's growing older and having other interests and priorities, but it's also years of anticipation building to nothing that has driven my interest levels down. 

[Popcorn crew]

For me it is like Star Wars after episode 6. (4,5,6). I had my closure. Yes, new episodes is up there but my interest is not as it was. 

Yet still enjoy taking trips to some tour date concerts.

[smokingarthur]

1 hour ago, Popcorn crew said:

For me it is like Star Wars after episode 6. (4,5,6). I had my closure. Yes, new episodes is up there but my interest is not as it was. 

Yet still enjoy taking trips to some tour date concerts.

This is worse than Star Wars as there aren’t any new episodes and the old ones are running in slow motion. 

[oneway23]

39 minutes ago, smokingarthur said:

This is worse than Star Wars as there aren’t any new episodes and the old ones are running in slow motion. 

And all of the new Star Wars episodes weren't filmed over twenty years ago (though they may have been better if they had been!)

[El Guapo]

Guns N' Roses fucking sucks now and for a long time. That's the cold, hard truth.

[Zeppelin]

2 hours ago, Popcorn crew said:

For me it is like Star Wars after episode 6. (4,5,6). I had my closure. Yes, new episodes is up there but my interest is not as it was. 

Yet still enjoy taking trips to some tour date concerts.

At least they made a new trilogy, even if the new trilogy was terrible. We can't get one original song out of these bozos.

[Stay.Of.Execution]

21 minutes ago, El Guapo said:

Guns N' Roses fucking sucks now and for a long time. That's the cold, hard truth.

It's your truth. Not a general truth.

[Pele]

13 hours ago, SoulMonster said:

Isn't that pretty much the consensus around here, haha? 

Personally, I can't get frustrated about such things, it is just a rock band. It doesn't affect me. Additionally, I kind of expected nothing since UYI and everything we've got, CD, tours and entertainment, has just been a welcome bonus. The glass was half full decades ago. 

Out of everyone on the forum - me suggesting Rose doesn't have any more songs affects you the most.

[Shacklers Absolution]

I honestly liked the older versions of old skööl n' absurd. I don't like the new guitars on old stool they just don't fit. And I don't think Slash do the CD material justice live. I don't think these new recordings with Slash is gonna fit. I mean CD was full of guitar virtuoso work and its not gonna fit with old CD material.

[WhazUp]

1 minute ago, Shacklers Absolution said:

I honestly liked the older versions of old skööl n' absurd. I don't like the new guitars on old stool they just don't fit. And I don't think Slash do the CD material justice live. I don't think these new recordings with Slash is gonna fit. I mean CD was full of guitar virtuoso work and its not gonna fit with old CD material.

I think Slash could fit well - when we think about it, what solos and songs from the entirety of the CD era are bound by essential "shredding" techniques such as tapping and all that?  Some, but for the most part you have solos like the ones on Street of Dreams, TIL, the 2nd solo on Better, CITR, which are all a bit more bluesy in nature. 

And the more shreddy type things, Slash can just do his way of playing fast such as his work on Anastasia

[Draguns]

13 hours ago, 19AT5 said:

You're absolutely correct in what you're saying here. I agree. Sadly I almost find GNR irritating now. Like they should've just called it a day on a high in 2017 or whatever. My level of investment has been low in context but when I saw them in 2017 in MSG, it peaked my interest levels again for sure. I've intermittently checked in here and there over the years (and possibly more through boredom during lockdown) but my expectation levels now are totally flat. So much so I sold ticket for Glasgow gig later this year. It's a shame how stale the reunion became. 

Like anything in life, you have to measure your own expectations.  I think SoulMonster said it very well. For me,  I'm just as excited about GNR today as I was when I became a fan  in October 1987.  With that being said, my expectations of GNR is non existent. I don't really care anymore if they dominate the music scene  like they did from 87-93.  They already made a cultural impact. When they come out with new music, I'll be there listening to it. When they are in the NJ/NYC area, I'll try my best to see them. I know that they won't be around forever so  why not just enjoy them while they are still around. Being in my 40s, I have other priorities like my family, career, and trying to find a woman  for something long term, especially since I'm getting older now.  I think a lot of people need to temper their expectations and focus on other things in life. 

[fabrph5]

2 hours ago, Shacklers Absolution said:

I honestly liked the older versions of old skööl n' absurd. I don't like the new guitars on old stool they just don't fit. And I don't think Slash do the CD material justice live. I don't think these new recordings with Slash is gonna fit. I mean CD was full of guitar virtuoso work and its not gonna fit with old CD material.

The problem is most fans dont care about a GNR with fill in guitar players.  We want slash/Axl

[Shacklers Absolution]

10 hours ago, fabrph5 said:

The problem is most fans dont care about a GNR with fill in guitar players.  We want slash/Axl

I want the version that sounds the best regardless if who plays. And the new official release of Hard skööl is a downgrade from the old version.

[CubanSkies Dummy]

Last night, I couldn't sleep right. And I was thinking... "If 'Seven' is 'State Of Grace'?" but well...

We'll never know for sure. 

[kozydogg]

16 hours ago, Shacklers Absolution said:

I honestly liked the older versions of old skööl n' absurd. I don't like the new guitars on old stool they just don't fit. And I don't think Slash do the CD material justice live. I don't think these new recordings with Slash is gonna fit. I mean CD was full of guitar virtuoso work and its not gonna fit with old CD material.

I agree that the guitars on Hard Stool don't fit.  Definitely not the same vibe the original guitars gave the song.  I'm searching for the words to describe why they don't fit, but I can't.

 

I guess, the new guitars give the song a more "cheery" or "up-lifting" vibe, whereas I feel the original guitars (versus only) gave the song a more sinister or "epic" feel, which is what the tone of the song should have been the whole time.  This is probably because I listened to the 50 second clip of just the verse 1,000 times before we ever got the full demo and in my head I created a specific idea of what the whole song should sound like and it's nothing like what was actually released.

In summary, original demo verses are awesome...the rest of the song is kind of a turd.

[Shacklers Absolution]

7 minutes ago, kozydogg said:

I agree that the guitars on Hard Stool don't fit.  Definitely not the same vibe the original guitars gave the song.  I'm searching for the words to describe why they don't fit, but I can't.

 

I guess, the new guitars give the song a more "cheery" or "up-lifting" vibe, whereas I feel the original guitars (versus only) gave the song a more sinister or "epic" feel, which is what the tone of the song should have been the whole time.  This is probably because I listened to the 50 second clip of just the verse 1,000 times before we ever got the full demo and in my head I created a specific idea of what the whole song should sound like and it's nothing like what was actually released.

In summary, original demo verses are awesome...the rest of the song is kind of a turd.

Yes agree, I think the new song lost its power with the new guitar tracks and does not mesh with the vocals at all. 

If Slash would have re recorded the CD tracks I don't think I would have liked CD. The CD songs are like built differently and a big part of those songs are players like Bucket n' Ron. Slash is not a technical player. And I love CD because it is a very technical album

[19AT5]

3 hours ago, Shacklers Absolution said:

And the new official release of Hard skööl is a downgrade from the old version.

See I can't stand the intro on the old version. Waaaaay too happy.

 

6 minutes ago, Shacklers Absolution said:

And I love CD because it is a very technical album

Hmmmm disagree there! It is hardly Dream Theatre or Tool! There's lots of technical guitar soloing but that's it. Let's not forget that the intro riff to the title track is pretty basic and common. There is literally nothing particularly technical about it all. Most of the chord structures on the album are fairly standard too like... e.g. Madagascar, There Was A Time, IRS. Nothing wrong that, but let's not paint it to be something it isn't! 

[rumandraisin]

47 minutes ago, CubanSkies Dummy said:

Last night, I couldn't sleep right. And I was thinking... "If 'Seven' is 'State Of Grace'?" but well...

We'll never know for sure. 

Hahaha