Hard Skool Officially Released at Midnight - Sept 24

[Sweersa]

17 minutes ago, RussTCB said:

Just listened to it in the car a few times at full volume from Spotify and JESUS the production on this is a mess. 

Sounds like they need Bob Ludwig back, or is this a mixing issue and not mastering? 

[Nick85]

I dunno guys. Maybe I'm not a enough of a sound expert, all I can hear is a badass GNR track.  All it really needs to be in this dojo. 

[Sweersa]

I take back my slight criticism of how 2008 CD was mixed after hearing Absurd and Hard Skool's production.

At least CD was mastered beautifully, and the levels seemed pretty good, save for the low bass. 

[axlslash]

Has there been a single song that leaked, got tweaked, and then was officially released where the final cut is better than the leak? I mean shit, they took Brian fucking May off Catcher in the Rye. This band remains a caricature of itself. Do we now believe even more? Maybe Ashba really was better than the other one... #ABSUЯD

[axl666]

1 hour ago, Pele said:

It is the same.  Someone has overlayed them both together and it's the very same.

It could be straightforward cannibalization of one song for parts. However it could also be that these songs are intended to be on an album and phrases and motifs will repeat throughout the album (like NIN The Fragile, which I assume axl is a big fan of).

[19AT5]

5 minutes ago, RussTCB said:

What a bummer. The song IS really good but my God is the production a bummer. 

It really is bad. There's a fuck load of additional unneccessary crap underneath during the middle breakdown and the last chorus. That amount of compression should also be illegal! 

[Sweersa]

Could the album version of both singles be mixed and mastered better? I don't want to hear The General, Soul Monster, etc. in a jumbled up mess of a production. 

[AxlRoseCDII]

Man, I feel stupid almost listening to everyone talking about the mix. Should I be hating this? Idk, I don’t feel like there’s anything wrong with it. I’m not an audiophile perse but I’ve played music in bands for years. 

[19AT5]

3 minutes ago, Sweersa said:

I take back my slight criticism of how 2008 CD was mixed after hearing Absurd and Hard Skool's production.

At least CD was mastered beautifully, and the levels seemed pretty good, save for the low bass. 

Mastering doesn't set the levels though. To be fair, mixing ChiDem would be a fucking nightmare. But it is compressed to hell as well and it suffers big time. I'm guessing that by compressing the layers they felt they could add more to it. Another example of less being more! 

[oneway23]

Just now, AxlRoseCDII said:

Man, I feel stupid almost listening to everyone talking about the mix. Should I be hating this? Idk, I don’t feel like there’s anything wrong with it. I’m not an audiophile perse but I’ve played music in bands for years. 

Maybe your ears are shot from playing in bands for years...I'm not being sarcastic.  It happens.

[19AT5]

Just now, AxlRoseCDII said:

Man, I feel stupid almost listening to everyone talking about the mix. Should I be hating this? Idk, I don’t feel like there’s anything wrong with it. I’m not an audiophile perse but I’ve played music in bands for years. 

No, it's personal choice 100%. If you like the mix, then that's all that really matters.

[vloors]

2 hours ago, thunderram said:

Yes, it is new if it hasn’t been released nor heard by the vast majority.

When the UYI albums dropped, nobody was complaining that many of the songs had been worked on for years. Even before AFD ever dropped.

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.

They are new songs. The only notable difference is how long the core of the work sat idle until being officially completed and released.

Hardcore fans are too obsessed and focused over the fact that they’ve known about the projects for years and had heard leaked demo versions due to the day and age we live in where things aren’t able to be kept in the dark as easily as they used to be.

95%+ of those that consider themselves GN’R fans but aren’t the hardcore types living on fan forums or actively searching for unreleased demo content have never heard of or about any the 3 songs that have released over the past few years.

I dont like cut and paste songs that took minimal effort on Axls part. Theres just no feeling, effort or real collaboration there from a bands perspective.

Dude couldnt even be bothered to do some new ohhs aahhs heys etc so they cut/pasted parts of Eye on You.  Whats Axl bringing to the table other than his producer using cut paste skills on 22 year old vocals these days? Out of style vocal/lyrics at that too. 

I would prefer they create something new as a collaboration instead of Axl saying here use these 22 year old out of style vocals I made when doing my new metal/solo phase and try and work something around them. Then not bothering showing up in the studio for even new overdubs. 

Both songs in my opinion sound too outdated to be on commercial radio for new rock stations, not classic sounding enough for classic rock radio and not pop enough to gain attention on mainstream either.

I dont think they will be hits for the 95% of fans you mention because they are the ones hanging onto afd/lies/llusions type records. With no advertising, interviews, promotion or probably radio play I doubt a high number of them even know these new songs exist, let alone be interested in them.  

Guess that leaves us 5 percent living on fan forums that they should be trying to impress hey. 

Edited September 24, 2021 by vloors

[GNFNRUK]

8 minutes ago, 19AT5 said:

It really is bad. There's a fuck load of additional unneccessary crap underneath during the middle breakdown and the last chorus. That amount of compression should also be illegal! 

Surely you don’t mean Axl’s “hey heyyyy”? I mean they had to put SOMETHING Axl on that lengthy breakdown since he couldn’t be bothered to write or sing more lyrics over it. It’s like they’re reminding us “don’t mind this long instrumental section, we can assure you this is still a fn GNFNR song fam, listen closely, there he is!”

Edited September 24, 2021 by GNFNRUK

[RussTCB]

12 minutes ago, Sweersa said:

Sounds like they need Bob Ludwig back, or is this a mixing issue and not mastering? 

I'm not an expert in either, but I think it's a little of both. 

7 minutes ago, 19AT5 said:

It really is bad. There's a fuck load of additional unneccessary crap underneath during the middle breakdown and the last chorus. That amount of compression should also be illegal! 

All I can do is agree :/

[alfierose]

9 minutes ago, AxlRoseCDII said:

Man, I feel stupid almost listening to everyone talking about the mix. Should I be hating this? Idk, I don’t feel like there’s anything wrong with it. I’m not an audiophile perse but I’ve played music in bands for years. 

I'm fairly useless at breaking down the component parts of a track. I read some of these posts and think what am I missing here? I don't disbelieve them, I just don't possess those skills. I just either like it or don't. 

[agustingloger]

I agree is not that good as their previous works but it's like all bands. ACDC never topped Back in black stuff again , Metallica after Master of puppets the same.... It could be better? Yes. It could be worse? Hell yes! At the end of the day is a new Axl/Slash song. How long we've been waiting for this? I never thought they would be togheter again so this still a dream come true. Some people here are never satisfied...

[D..]

It's not bad, come on... It could've been better, is all...

But I went running and listened with my headphones, it was better for some reason. Love the rythm and Slash's work.

[GNR_RNR]

14 minutes ago, AxlRoseCDII said:

Man, I feel stupid almost listening to everyone talking about the mix. Should I be hating this? Idk, I don’t feel like there’s anything wrong with it. I’m not an audiophile perse but I’ve played music in bands for years. 

Agreed, I think people here just like to complain about mixes endlessly. 
 

I’m sure if people go looking for things they could have done differently in the mix they’ll find them. But the song still kicks ass. 

[Sweersa]

Axl's vocals under the solo are a little distracting too.

[©GnrPersia]

14 minutes ago, vloors said:

I dont like cut and paste songs that took minimal effort on Axls part. Theres just no feeling, effort or real collaboration there from a bands perspective.

Dude couldnt even be bothered to do some new ohhs aahhs heys etc so they cut/pasted parts of Eye on You.  Whats Axl bringing to the table other than his producer using cut paste skills on 22 year old vocals these days? Out of style vocal/lyrics at that too. 

I would prefer they create something new as a collaboration instead of Axl saying here use these 22 year old out of style vocals I made when doing my new metal/solo phase and try and work something around them. Then not bothering showing up in the studio for even new overdubs. 

Both songs in my opinion sound too outdated to be on commercial radio for new rock stations, not classic sounding enough for classic rock radio and not pop enough to gain attention on mainstream either.

I dont think they will be hits for the 95% of fans you mention because they are the ones hanging onto afd/lies/llusions type records. With no advertising, interviews, promotion or probably radio play I doubt a high number of them even know these new songs exist, let alone be interested in them.  

Guess that leaves us 5 percent living on fan forums that they should be trying to impress hey. 

Well said. Agreed 100%.

Now some people would come and say "you guys are just nagging regardless of these new band activities"

To each their own. 

[agustingloger]

Just now, Sweersa said:

Axl's vocals under the solo are a little distracting too.

Axl's vocals were all over Slash's guitar on UYI and no one cares

[2020_Intensions]

On 9/23/2021 at 8:39 AM, AxlRoseCDII said:

I might be insane but I swear I hear Eye on You vocals in the middle of the bridge LOL

I HEARD THE EXACT THING 

[oneway23]

I usually don't like making sweeping generalizations or painting everyone with the same brush, but, anyone here who was expecting anything different than what we're getting from Axl right now was setting themselves up for disappointment. 

I can empathize with being frustrated at the situation, but, any idea that they were going to get into a room together for six to eight months, write, rehearse, pre-produce, and record a brand new album from scratch is pure fantasy, at this point in their lives.

A lot of their contemporaries still make albums because it's really all they've known since they were teenagers, and many of never stopped making albums.  They just sort of carried on.

You really have to want to do it for the love of it, in this day and age, because there's certainly no money in making a full album anymore.  Slash may operate that way in his solo career, but, that was never going to be GN'R. 

Edited September 24, 2021 by oneway23

[agustingloger]

But You had to play it cool...! Singing this all day! 

[darkside259]

i hear the song like 100 times now, it s amazing, the rasp the bass intro killer, the slash uyi vibes, the lyrics is like the banad playing the axl breakdown, i fucking love it