ABSUЯD Single released at midnight

[Martin Riggs]

On 8/17/2021 at 4:12 PM, Martin Riggs said:

The difference between 10 million views and 1.5 million views is quite significant. Their song has been out a few weeks longer but that doesn’t come close to being the reason. Also Iron Maiden may have done promo for their song but it’s not like GNR didn’t get a lot of publicity when they released Absurd.

Almost 1 week later and Absurd is currently only at 1.6 million views. Honestly pretty shit numbers for a band of this stature and the amount of press stories there were when the song was released. Another half assed operation in a long line of them with this organization.

[RussTCB]

Just now, Martin Riggs said:

Almost 1 week later and Absurd is currently only at 1.6 million views. Honestly pretty shit numbers for a band of this stature and the amount of press stories there were when the song was released. Another half assed operation in a long line of them with this organization.

Such a bummer. There's so many different ways this could have been a big deal for GN'R but yet again they failed to capitalize. 

[Free Bird]

The less people outside this forum listen to the song that should(n't) be heard, the better.

Make an announcement, release a proper song, give some god damn interviews.

If the music is good,  the views will be better automatically. 

I get it, this was a fun song but now, do something right!

[Tom-Ass]

17 minutes ago, Martin Riggs said:

Almost 1 week later and Absurd is currently only at 1.6 million views. Honestly pretty shit numbers for a band of this stature and the amount of press stories there were when the song was released. Another half assed operation in a long line of them with this organization.

I don't think anyone should be surprised.. The song was garbage.. The way it was recorded was garbage.. This song is why a new album doesn't excite me.  CD era leftovers with Slash overdubs.. yay.....

[DTJ80]

Honestly? I think it’s a fun track and completely bat-shit crazy in terms of what people think/expect them to release. I also get why some people don’t like it - can’t please everyone and well thats fair enough.

Based on footage online it seems to go over well live too both the crowd reaction and the band performances. Not sure if the quoted streaming numbers include Apple Music - I have clocked up a fair few listens!!

Edited August 24, 2021 by DTJ80

[metalavenger99]

This is my opinion/take on/thread contribution based on major studies on Advertising/Marketing.

What i want to believe is that Absurd was picked as the first single because it was purely Axl's desire/taste and the way it could fit with the current situation: easy and fun for him to sing, Slash being a horror/freaky stuff fan, Duff's punk style(kind of)-related and finally, to quickly release something new and simple without needing to involve the rest of the members that much.

Of course having previously taken into consideration that the majority of the market (specially nowadays) was going to shit on it, so I guess they weren't expecting a big commercial success, but maybe they weren't expecting this big backlash from the casual listener and from a lot of die hards too (source: Beta's comments???), besides that, their plan must have been to simply don't give a fuck about what people say (as Axl himself said live) and I think the song is going to be a staple on the setlist for the rest of this band's existence, or at least for this tour, especially this leg. I personally like that.

The low number of views/streams: This song is so horrible for a lot of people (I get why), that with just the headlines of the news media, social media reviews, and comments,  plus the fact that almost everybody knows it's a 20+ year old song and there is no official album announcement, the conversion rate of random people actually going to give it a try after reading the news, hearing a little bit of the song on IG stories or watching snippets of the live performance is extremely low.

Now what i do want to believe is that they're ready to do some of the the following for Hard School (or at least what I think would be the best scenario possible)

- Official Album announcement prior to the release: HS as the flagship song.

- Proper advertisement: An intrigue campaign (teasing the fans in social media with hints, graphics, videos), interviews, merchandising, live performance at a huge and well covered event (probably in Europe).

- Music video (I'm dreaming lol but that will be the perfect complement).

- Or even a collaboration w/ a Hollywood movie or a cobranding project with a big brand, using the song for ad campaign/soundtrack purposes.

Then obviously the results are going to be different and not only that, a lot of people involved will have to set some actual goal numbers the song will need to achieve, commercially-oriented.

Everything they haven't done with this song, which I really love and still hope it was intended to be that way.

Edited August 24, 2021 by metalavenger99

[Free Bird]

1 hour ago, metalavenger99 said:

This is my opinion/take on/thread contribution based on major studies on Advertising/Marketing.

What i want to believe is that Absurd was picked as the first single because it was purely Axl's desire/taste and the way it could fit with the current situation: easy and fun for him to sing, Slash being a horror/freaky stuff fan, Duff's punk style(kind of)-related and finally, to quickly release something new and simple without needing to involve the rest of the members that much.

Of course having previously taken into consideration that the majority of the market (specially nowadays) was going to shit on it, so I guess they weren't expecting a big commercial success, but maybe they weren't expecting this big backlash from the casual listener and from a lot of die hards too (source: Beta's comments???), besides that, their plan must have been to simply don't give a fuck about what people say (as Axl himself said live) and I think the song is going to be a staple on the setlist for the rest of this band's existence, or at least for this tour, especially this leg. I personally like that.

The low number of views/streams: This song is so horrible for a lot of people (I get why), that with just the headlines of the news media, social media reviews, and comments,  plus the fact that almost everybody knows it's a 20+ year old song and there is no official album announcement, the conversion rate of random people actually going to give it a try after reading the news, hearing a little bit of the song on IG stories or watching snippets of the live performance is extremely low.

Now what i do want to believe is that they're ready to do some of the the following for Hard School (or at least what I think would be the best scenario possible)

- Official Album announcement prior to the release: HS as the flagship song.

- Proper advertisement: An intrigue campaign (teasing the fans in social media with hints, graphics, videos), interviews, merchandising, live performance at a huge and well covered event (probably in Europe).

- Music video (I'm dreaming lol but that will be the perfect complement).

- Or even a collaboration w/ a Hollywood movie or a cobranding project with a big brand, using the song for ad campaign/soundtrack purposes.

Then obviously the results are going to be different and not only that, a lot of people involved will have to set some actual goal numbers the song will need to achieve, commercially-oriented.

Everything they haven't done with this song, which I really love and still hope it was intended to be that way.

We're still talking about GNR, right?

[metalavenger99]

39 minutes ago, Free Bird said:

We're still talking about GNR, right?

Hahahahaha shit you are right 

Well this is a more realistic situation: Probably back in 2003 this emoji had already predicted the medusa video and Silkworms as Absurd, watch:  

[Ak1nney]

Saying that most people know this is a 20 year old song couldn't be further from the truth. I'd say only people that visit the forums on a regular basis would know. Nobody else in the world would have knowledge of Silkworms.

[metalavenger99]

46 minutes ago, Ak1nney said:

Saying that most people know this is a 20 year old song couldn't be further from the truth. I'd say only people that visit the forums on a regular basis would know. Nobody else in the world would have knowledge of Silkworms.

Yeah it's not that a casual fan will go like, oh that's Silkworms played in House of Blues 2001, not at all, it's just that a ton of music websites/social media pages like RollingStone or Loudwire, or even news sites, gave them the news of the new single as a "GNR debuts Absurd, studio reworked version of ...." - "Headline: GNR plays new song at Boston show - Caption: It turns out to be an unreleased single of the CD era"

[Towelie]

4 hours ago, metalavenger99 said:

This is my opinion/take on/thread contribution based on major studies on Advertising/Marketing.

What i want to believe is that Absurd was picked as the first single because it was purely Axl's desire/taste and the way it could fit with the current situation: easy and fun for him to sing, Slash being a horror/freaky stuff fan, Duff's punk style(kind of)-related and finally, to quickly release something new and simple without needing to involve the rest of the members that much.

Of course having previously taken into consideration that the majority of the market (specially nowadays) was going to shit on it, so I guess they weren't expecting a big commercial success, but maybe they weren't expecting this big backlash from the casual listener and from a lot of die hards too (source: Beta's comments???), besides that, their plan must have been to simply don't give a fuck about what people say (as Axl himself said live) and I think the song is going to be a staple on the setlist for the rest of this band's existence, or at least for this tour, especially this leg. I personally like that.

The low number of views/streams: This song is so horrible for a lot of people (I get why), that with just the headlines of the news media, social media reviews, and comments,  plus the fact that almost everybody knows it's a 20+ year old song and there is no official album announcement, the conversion rate of random people actually going to give it a try after reading the news, hearing a little bit of the song on IG stories or watching snippets of the live performance is extremely low.

Now what i do want to believe is that they're ready to do some of the the following for Hard School (or at least what I think would be the best scenario possible)

- Official Album announcement prior to the release: HS as the flagship song.

- Proper advertisement: An intrigue campaign (teasing the fans in social media with hints, graphics, videos), interviews, merchandising, live performance at a huge and well covered event (probably in Europe).

- Music video (I'm dreaming lol but that will be the perfect complement).

- Or even a collaboration w/ a Hollywood movie or a cobranding project with a big brand, using the song for ad campaign/soundtrack purposes.

Then obviously the results are going to be different and not only that, a lot of people involved will have to set some actual goal numbers the song will need to achieve, commercially-oriented.

Everything they haven't done with this song, which I really love and still hope it was intended to be that way.

 

Sounds amazing.

One problem: Team Brazil

[Bitchisback]

1 hour ago, Ak1nney said:

Saying that most people know this is a 20 year old song couldn't be further from the truth. I'd say only people that visit the forums on a regular basis would know. Nobody else in the world would have knowledge of Silkworms.

I'm sure all the people who think that Richard is Izzy definitely know the history of silk worms lol

[metalavenger99]

44 minutes ago, Towelie said:

 

Sounds amazing.

One problem: Team Brazil

100%

[Popcorn crew]

Give this song another 20 years and than it will have cult status. 

[EvanG]

3 hours ago, Ak1nney said:

Saying that most people know this is a 20 year old song couldn't be further from the truth. I'd say only people that visit the forums on a regular basis would know. Nobody else in the world would have knowledge of Silkworms.

If it wasn't for the forum, I wouldn't have known either. I think I had heard Silkworms once or twice before many years ago, but it wasn't memorable enough for me to recognize it when I heard Absurd.

[GoodOlJohnnyK]

I honestly think the biggest reason we got Absurd instead of Hard School (and why Hard School won’t be debuted on this tour) is because Axl can sing Absurd live right now. The chorus of Hard School, I don’t know. He could probably hit the notes, but not with much force right now.

I hope I’m wrong.

[Pskihq92]

20 minutes ago, GoodOlJohnnyK said:

I honestly think the biggest reason we got Absurd instead of Hard School (and why Hard School won’t be debuted on this tour) is because Axl can sing Absurd live right now. The chorus of Hard School, I don’t know. He could probably hit the notes, but not with much force right now.

I hope I’m wrong.

I sadly think you're right but hope you're wrong as well lol

[StrangerInThisTown]

30 minutes ago, GoodOlJohnnyK said:

I honestly think the biggest reason we got Absurd instead of Hard School (and why Hard School won’t be debuted on this tour) is because Axl can sing Absurd live right now. The chorus of Hard School, I don’t know. He could probably hit the notes, but not with much force right now.

I hope I’m wrong.

I can tell you exactly why you're wrong, they can simply 1) lower the key of the song, or even easier 2) tune down the guitars until it fits his voice, when playing live. Bands do this all the time, ACDC were doing it with Brian Johnson aswell during the ROB tour in 2015, until they tuned their guitars back up when Axl came in.

Edited August 24, 2021 by StrangerInThisTown

[agustingloger]

44 minutes ago, StrangerInThisTown said:

I can tell you exactly why you're wrong, they can simply 1) lower the key of the song, or even easier 2) tune down the guitars until it fits his voice, when playing live. Bands do this all the time, ACDC were doing it with Brian Johnson aswell during the ROB tour in 2015, until they tuned their guitars back up when Axl came in.

Axl/DC good old days! Last time Axl was seen

[GoodOlJohnnyK]

They could take the guitars down to D tuning or even C#, but anything lower than that really turns to sludge - especially live - and, honestly, a song can lose its energy.

He's not hitting the middle section of Better, not even close, and they haven't tuned that one down to C or B to compensate.

I believe the highest note of the middle section of Better is an E (there's actually an F# in the recorded version, but I don't remember him climbing for that one live on a regular basis). Hardschool is a D#. But live in 2021, at least at the performances I've been able to see on YouTube, he seems keen to hang out at C# for the majority of the Better mid-section and, when he does try to climb to the E, it ain't pretty.

Edited August 24, 2021 by GoodOlJohnnyK

[StrangerInThisTown]

35 minutes ago, GoodOlJohnnyK said:

They could take the guitars down to D tuning or even C#, but anything lower than that really turns to sludge - especially live - and, honestly, a song can lose its energy.

He's not hitting the middle section of Better, not even close, and they haven't tuned that one down to C or B to compensate.

I believe the highest note of the middle section of Better is an E (there's actually an F# in the recorded version, but I don't remember him climbing for that one live on a regular basis). Hardschool is a D#. But live in 2021, at least at the performances I've been able to see on YouTube, he seems keen to hang out at C# for the majority of the Better mid-section and, when he does try to climb to the E, it ain't pretty.

We don't know if Hard School is in D#, we haven't heard the new studio version, they could have changed the key or tuning since they reworked that song. Unless you think they would intentionally record the song in a key Axl can't sing anymore, which is obviously not gonna happen.

Nonetheless that doesn't matter because tuning down a half step usually does the trick for most bands. And HS is already tuned down from standard tuning so it won't take a whole lot to make it singable for Axl, maybe a half step further so they're a whole step down like Motley Crue have always tuned, even in studio. Sounds great.

Edited August 24, 2021 by StrangerInThisTown

[GoodOlJohnnyK]

13 minutes ago, StrangerInThisTown said:

We don't know if Hard School is in D#, we haven't heard the new studio version, they could have changed the key or tuning since they reworked that song. Unless you think they would intentionally record the song in a key Axl can't sing anymore, which is obviously not gonna happen.

Nonetheless that doesn't matter because tuning down a half step usually does the trick for most bands. And HS is already tuned down from standard tuning so it won't take a whole lot to make it singable for Axl, maybe a half step further so they're a whole step down like Motley Crue have always tuned, even in studio. Sounds great.

The soundchecks of the song have been in D#. Unless they're soundchecking a song in a key they're not planning to play it in - and I don't know why they'd do that considering Axl has soundchecked it in D# and Duff and Melissa have ran backing vocals in soundcheck as well.

Edited August 24, 2021 by GoodOlJohnnyK

[GoodOlJohnnyK]

2 minutes ago, GoodOlJohnnyK said:

The soundchecks of the song have been in D#. Unless they're soundchecking a song in an a key they're not planning to play it in - and I don't know why they'd do that considering Axl has soundchecked it in D# and Duff and Melissa have ran backing vocals in soundcheck as well.

Also, I'm not saying Axl can't sing in D#/Eb - that's the overwhelming majority of the Guns N' Roses canon. Obviously he can. It's just that I'm not sure he'd sound so great on that chorus on *this tour* where his voice, while improving, is not quite at its strongest.

[StrangerInThisTown]

10 minutes ago, GoodOlJohnnyK said:

The soundchecks of the song have been in D#. Unless they're soundchecking a song in an a key they're not planning to play it in - and I don't know why they'd do that considering Axl has soundchecked it in D# and Duff and Melissa have ran backing vocals in soundcheck as well.

I forgot about soundcheck. But that just means that they have decided on a key and tuning that Axl is comfortable with. The song is not released yet so they could have changed it anytime. Thus I don't see why him not being able to sing it live would be a logical argument. Most likely Axl just liked Absurd better after sitting on HS for the whole pandemic. Could be any "out there Axl-reason" why they haven't played HS or released it, really.

Edited August 24, 2021 by StrangerInThisTown

[GoodOlJohnnyK]

Yeah could be, and I'm hoping you're right because I quite like Hard School and would like to see it played/released.

I just can't help but think that, at a time when his upper register is a work in progress, maybe kicking out Absurd now and then keeping Hard School for Europe 22 might be a strategic move around being able to perform the song.

Edited August 24, 2021 by GoodOlJohnnyK