Hard Skool Officially Released at Midnight - Sept 24

[Axeli]

I'm not complaining. The band is going right direction. 2 new songs in two months. Nice! 

[PaoloLA]

They just played it recently this morning on the local rock station here in Montreal. 
Wonder which channel SiriusXM would play it

[Sweersa]

1 minute ago, Pele said:

You honestly don't believe he's recorded vocals for those, surely?

Of course he has. He even told us about one.

I'm pretty sure you're a troll at this point.

[RussTCB]

New hotness:

GN'R releasing more new music

 

Old & busted:

Pele still going on about old vocals

[Iron MikeyJ]

So my thoughts on Hard Skool. First off, what an improvement over the leak. The leak had potential, but it would have ended up sounding like a CD era song. The final version, ACTUALLY sounds like Guns n' Roses. Dare I say the first "proper" Guns n' Roses sounding song since Sympathy for the Devil.

 

I did not expect to like it this much, it NEARLY amazing imo. I'll start with positive, I like it better than Thinking bout you (which I LOVE all the songs on Appetite). But I could totally take thinking bout you off of Appetite, and replace it with Hard Skool, and it wouldn't hurt the album in the slightest. I honestly didn't think they could top a song from Appetite, even the worst song in Appetite. So I say congrats to Axl, Slash, and Duff for pulling that off. 

As for the negatives, the only major complaint I can say, is they didn't realize the full potential of the song. When I think of Guns, one thing I NEVER say, is they had more areas to explore with a song, that they didn't explore. Take Nightrain, that song has everything including the kitchen sink in it. They took that song to every possible avenue it could go to, which is what's missing from Hard Skool. Why? IMO, they didn't jam it as a band enough, and it shows slightly. The fact that it was an Axl "paste" job, holds the song back. I hope they explore some possible areas for the song live, because I can hear a classic Guns n Roses jam out in the outro of the song (think Nightrain, which Hard Skool lacks). 

 

Having said that, the song is banger. I'm really impressed. It's a more rocking song than ANYTHING on CD (and I like CD), but THIS sounds like Guns n' Roses. It brings me to my final point, I disagree with many of you on here, Izzy and Adler are not required for a Guns n' Roses song. Heck even Duff isn't required, it's ALWAYS been Axl and Slash. If you have those two, than the Guns n' Roses magic is there. 

Despite TSI weaknesses, it's biggest strength is Axl and Slash are awesom on that album. So it STILL sounds like Guns n' Roses, even without Izzy and Adler. Same applies for the Illusions albums, plenty of those songs were written by Axl, Slash, and Duff (Civil War, Estranged, November Rain, etc). So I've never bought into the idea that Izzy and Alder are required for a "Guns n' Roses album." Axl and Slash are capable of bringing the magic all by themselves, and when you add Duff, it's just Guns n' Roses, plain and simple. Now you need Izzy and Adler for the Appetite era magic, I'll agree with that. But not for the. "Guns n' Roses magic" Axl and Slash are really all you need, and Hard Skool proves that. 

Finally, this is the most rocking song by Guns n'Roses since TSI. Better than anything on CD, as far as a rocking guns song goes. It not on the same level as Jungle, YCBM, Nightrain, etc. But I WOULD put it on the next tier down with songs like Anything goes, Thinking bout you, Garden of Eden, Right next door to hell, etc. 

 

Good job guys 👍👍

Edited September 24, 2021 by Iron MikeyJ

[Tom-Ass]

1 hour ago, GNR_RNR said:

GNR fans haven’t had it so good  in years. And when it finally gets good how do some react? With needlessly pedantic moaning 

To be fair, everyone's opinions of having it so good can vary but..... Axl has really conditioned his fans to have REALLY low expectations over the last 25 years.. 

[Pele]

4 minutes ago, Sweersa said:

Of course he has. He even told us about one.

I'm pretty sure you're a troll at this point.

Lol at believing Soul Monster exists.  He lied.

19 minutes ago, Realitysux said:

I do hope they include that "as it begins" piano tune from the leaks

it is one of the best melodies I have heard last years

I think Thyme was a lovely tune.

[Pele]

2 minutes ago, Tom-Ass said:

To be fair, everyone's opinions of having it so good can vary but..... Axl has really conditioned his fans to have REALLY low expectations over the last 25 years.. 

How can anyone think 'we are getting it good'.

He's just released a dreadful 20 year old demo as a 'new' song, then followed it up with an ok 20 year old demo.

This is exactly how I said it would go.......

[GoForJMark]

3 minutes ago, Pele said:

How can anyone think 'we are getting it good'.

He's just released a dreadful 20 year old demo as a 'new' song, then followed it up with an ok 20 year old demo.

This is exactly how I said it would go.......

Blah blah blah. Troll. You're just pissed 'cause you didn't get your KOHD '99.

[Zeppelin]

Much better than Absurd, but a collection of flatulence SFX would've been better than that.

But really, it's just okay. I enjoy it for what it is, but I think I prefer the leak at this point. Still, they did improve a few things with the final version, which I'm happy about. The intro being reworked is something that was sorely needed, and I'm glad they did that. Some parts of the demo felt sloppy (for obvious reasons), and they feel much tighter here. So, there are definitely some positives.

However, the actual sound of the song is pretty lackluster and borders on terrible. The mix is bland/flat, and I agree with others who comment about it sounding processed. One of the cardinal sins of rock is having something sound so processed to the point of it being a criticism of the overall sound of a band whose sound was once quite organic. There's just no life to it. No pep. It falls flat on its face right away as a result. How come the guitar has no bite to it? It sounds like it's being played behind a cement barrier. 

I would say that I wish there were parts added with regards to vocals and such, but we all knew that wasn't going to happen.

Overall, it's okay. Nothing mindblowing, but it's at least a better song this time 'round. A relief, to be sure.

[Stay.Of.Execution]

24 minutes ago, Pele said:

So?

We had it a couple of years ago thanks to a banned member.

We should have had it 20 years ago.

You must lead a sad little life

[Tom-Ass]

2 hours ago, thunderram said:

There were songs from AFD and LIES that were tunes brought over from previous bands. What’s the difference?

 

Doesn’t matter whether parts existed and/or were recorded in 1999 or 2005 or 2016 or 2020. The final result is new and previously unreleased just as NR, Don’t Cry, Back Off Bitch, and others were in late 1991.

 

And these 2 new tunes have SLASH and DUFF’s input/additions to them.

It’s no different than when AXL had most of NR and Estranged already worked out only to have SLASH contribute to it. Or when SLASH had ‘Girth’ as his own baby and AXL wrote lyrics for it.

These two songs are ideas AXL brought to the table that SLASH and DUFF have now contributed to and made their own.

 

 

There were songs from AFD and LIES that were tunes brought over from previous bands. What’s the difference?

They were a couple songs that Axl and Izzy wrote together.. They were only band for a short time and didn't have the opportunity to write tons of music.. They also 100% recorded the songs over. Taking a song like Anything Goes and making it their own. They were slapping tracks over their replacements songs

Doesn’t matter whether parts existed and/or were recorded in 1999 or 2005 or 2016 or 2020. The final result is new and previously unreleased just as NR, Don’t Cry, Back Off Bitch, and others were in late 1991.

Doesn't matter as much when it the parts "existed" or were written.. It is when they were recorded and who they were written by.

And these 2 new tunes have SLASH and DUFF’s input/additions to them.

It’s no different than when AXL had most of NR and Estranged already worked out only to have SLASH contribute to it. Or when SLASH had ‘Girth’ as his own baby and AXL wrote lyrics for it.

These two songs are ideas AXL brought to the table that SLASH and DUFF have now contributed to and made their own.

How much can you make a song your own, when you are taking finished vocals from an 20 year old demo? How much liberty can you take when your music has to fit over that perfectly?

Edited September 24, 2021 by Tom-Ass

[allwaystired]

5 minutes ago, Pele said:

How can anyone think 'we are getting it good'.

He's just released a dreadful 20 year old demo as a 'new' song, then followed it up with an ok 20 year old demo.

This is exactly how I said it would go.......

You should definitely mention it more. 

P.S. Have you got the lottery numbers for next week? Thanks. 

[Iron MikeyJ]

After CD actually released, I didn't spend much time agonizing over leaks. Sure, I would listen to them a time or two, but didn't care to put them on my phone or anything like that. Why? Because it was the CD era band playing on them. So I knew the final versions would be different (and they are). If I could do it all over again, I might not even have listened to them. It's like watching a movie without the special effects, or even worse, the star got recast. Sure, you will get the plot, characters, etc. But you run the risk of burning yourself out on the songs, before you hear the proper versions. 

I did that with CD. I was pretty much burnt out on CD, Better, SOD, tWAT, Shackler's, etc before I even heard the dang album. I don't really care to do that again. Just my opinion.

[Tom-Ass]

48 minutes ago, RussTCB said:

I never use Spotify on my desktop PC but I happened to be using it this morning and saw this.... the "fn" shit is so dumb 

 

Terrible.. I am surprised they didn't call it Hard Fn Skool....

[Stay.Of.Execution]

Live look at Pele while repeating his stuff

[Pele]

2 minutes ago, Iron MikeyJ said:

After CD actually released, I didn't spend much time agonizing over leaks. Sure, I would listen to them a time or two, but didn't care to put them on my phone or anything like that. Why? Because it was the CD era band playing on them. So I knew the final versions would be different (and they are). If I could do it all over again, I might not even have listened to them. It's like watching a movie without the special effects, or even worse, the star got recast. Sure, you will get the plot, characters, etc. But you run the risk of burning yourself out on the songs, before you hear the proper versions. 

I did that with CD. I was pretty much burnt out on CD, Better, SOD, tWAT, Shackler's, etc before I even heard the dang album. I don't really care to do that again. Just my opinion.

Yeah but outside of maybe Perhaps and Atlas, you'll never hear the others unless you listed to the leaks.

[DTJ80]

2 minutes ago, Pele said:

How can anyone think 'we are getting it good'.

He's just released a dreadful 20 year old demo as a 'new' song, then followed it up with an ok 20 year old demo.

This is exactly how I said it would go.......

The band releasing final versions of Village Sessions demos utilising 99 vocals isn’t really a stretch though in terms of ‘how it would go’.

They are on record as saying they had been scouring those sessions for stuff to work on and we are seeing the result of that now. Whether that shows ‘creative bankruptcy’ or not letting a good idea go to waste is just opinion really.

And again - why shouldn’t they use 99 vocals? They will be better than what could be provided now so why wouldn’t they…that would be ridiculous. If there was a need to record something new (say something needed a vocal which called for a deeper take than what he could do before) then I’m sure they would.

[Pele]

1 minute ago, Stay.Of.Execution said:

Live look at Pele while repeating his stuff

Are you excited to hear Zodiac/Soulmonster/Seven etc lol

How long are you prepared to wait until you realize?

[Iron MikeyJ]

I'm saying it now, new album drops this November.

If you look at Axl's release history, it all lines up. CD was the first single from CD (kinda strange, new sound). They followed that with Better (which was one of the most classic sounding songs on the album, it's also more of a rocker). Then they released SOD around the time of the albums release. Even the Illusions had a similar type of release. 

I would go so far as to say Absurd is like CD, Hard Skool is like Better, and we will get the ballad around the time of the albums release (my guess is November). 

[Sweersa]

13 minutes ago, Pele said:

Lol at believing Soul Monster exists.  He lied.

Thanks for confirming my suspicion on being a troll.

Axl isn't the only one who has visited or been a member here who has heard a full mix of that song over the years.

@Brodie <3 RIP <3

[DTJ80]

1 minute ago, Pele said:

Are you excited to hear Zodiac/Soulmonster/Seven etc lol

How long are you prepared to wait until you realize?

I’m absolutely desperate to hear Zodiac 🤣

[Realitysux]

8 minutes ago, Zeppelin said:

Much better than Absurd, but a collection of flatulence SFX would've been better than that.

But really, it's just okay. I enjoy it for what it is, but I think I prefer the leak at this point. Still, they did improve a few things with the final version, which I'm happy about. The intro being reworked is something that was sorely needed, and I'm glad they did that. Some parts of the demo felt sloppy (for obvious reasons), and they feel much tighter here. So, there are definitely some positives.

However, the actual sound of the song is pretty lackluster and borders on terrible. The mix is bland/flat, and I agree with others who comment about it sounding processed. One of the cardinal sins of rock is having something sound so processed to the point of it being a criticism of the overall sound of a band whose sound was once quite organic. There's just no life to it. No pep. It falls flat on its face right away as a result. How come the guitar has no bite to it? It sounds like it's being played behind a cement barrier. 

I would say that I wish there were parts added with regards to vocals and such, but we all knew that wasn't going to happen.

Overall, it's okay. Nothing mindblowing, but it's at least a better song this time 'round. A relief, to be sure.

Both songs sound like a collection of uploading ,emails and copy pastes and I did like Chinese democracy

LIke a super bad edition of what younger bands like BMTH do with their tunes it works for them it is not working here

[James Bond]

Nena may have 99 Red Balloons, but Guns N' Roses has 99 Vocals.

[Iron MikeyJ]

3 minutes ago, Pele said:

Yeah but outside of maybe Perhaps and Atlas, you'll never hear the others unless you listed to the leaks.

Oh, well then. I'm not going to agonize over unfinished songs that don't have Slash and Duff playing on them. If CD had been released as an Axl solo album, I doubt most here would be going crazy over those leaks anyways. 

If they are good, I feel they will get released. We've had two new songs recently here, something IS happening for once. 

Hey man, I bought Oh My God the DAY it was released, as I have with ALL guns releases since 1994 or so. I've been a fan since 92, I don't need any guns n roses advice, I've seen it all, lol.  thanks though.