Hard Skool Officially Released at Midnight - Sept 24

[B F O G]

THIS IS THE DAY WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR, LOVE YOU AXL SLASH AND DUFF!

[RONIN]

22 minutes ago, WhazUp said:

Right, while there is correlation to the term "Jackie Chan", fans have the uncanny ability to make a small connection and then automatically it is fact lol.  It is very possible it is a pre-nuGNR track but it is also possible Axl called it Jackie Chan for some weird Axl-inside joke that only he gets and it was unrelated to the potential Jackie Chan film songwriting attempt in '96.  Only time will tell, if a band member discusses its origins

Fair point, although the former imho seems more likely than the latter. You have a song title that was mentioned by Duff in '96 when he was on the Howard Stern show and by Matt Sorum in his autobiography as a track they were working on in '96. On the flipside, as you mentioned, it could have been an Axl inside joke and for some reason this song Hard Skool coincidentally has the same working title, "Jackie Chan" , as that '96 track. What are the chances?

What I probably should have said earlier is that this song "originated" in the 1996 sessions with Duff and Slash when it was just an instrumental track. The vocals were clearly laid on years later and no doubt the various nu guns lineups tinkered on this through the years. That, to me, seems likely.

Edited September 25, 2021 by RONIN

[agustingloger]

Everyone i know liked the song. None of the liked absurd 😂 and most of comments on the internet are good! All My Friends liked it. When Axl's raspy voice goes on Magic happens! Everyone was smiling at "but You had to play it cool..." They all agree sounds vintage GNR with modern sound. NONE of them said Anything about the mix. Hahaha for fucks sakes enjoy this great song You cunts

[Voodoochild]

3 minutes ago, Blackstar said:

Yes, it was in 1996. There are several quotes about it here:

https://www.a-4-d.com/t5018-19-december-1994-october-1996-axl-and-slash-fights-slash-quits#20215

So yeah, this could all lineup as one of Axl's songs that transited between original lineup and CD era tracks. Like @RONIN just said, seems more likely that Hard Skool could be from 1996, even though it was only a instrumental.

I'm curious about this:

Rose's sound is a lot more synthetic than anything I would get anywhere close to. That's about all I can say.

Makes me think Axl was already trying those overdistorted industrial guitars. 

[Alejandro GNR]

When Axl sings in his trademark voice he goes back to being the best voice to ever grab a mic in the RnR/Hard Rock world…

Just the GOAT

[agustingloger]

1 minute ago, Alejandro GNR said:

When Axl sings in his trademark voice he goes back to being the best voice to ever grab a mic in the RnR/Hard Rock world…

Just the GOAT

Totally 

[Blackstar]

8 hours ago, Voodoochild said:

So yeah, this could all lineup as one of Axl's songs that transited between original lineup and CD era tracks. Like @RONIN just said, seems more likely that Hard Skool could be from 1996, even though it was only a instrumental.

I'm curious about this:

Rose's sound is a lot more synthetic than anything I would get anywhere close to. That's about all I can say.

Makes me think Axl was already trying those overdistorted industrial guitars. 

I remember you (I think some other forum members, too) had mentioned something about how unusual the guitar parts in the verses of the Village demo are. I've listened to it with the vocals muted and it really sounds unusual, although I don't have the knowledge to describe and analyze it. I guess Axl isn't playing on the demo, but maybe it has to do with how it was written?

Edited September 25, 2021 by Blackstar

[agustingloger]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 

 

 

 

Edited September 25, 2021 by agustingloger

[B F O G]

7 hours ago, --DEA-- said:

I really hate the negativity in this forum.. If they release a new album with new songs.. Well guess what.. It will be the same  negativity. Mix is wrong, Bring Matt or Steven back. I don't here Welcome to the jungle.. Axl can't sing.. And so on.. Why is there always a problem? 

To all of you that hate this band so much. This is what you get! Guns N' Roses 2021 😘

Well said homie! haters gonna hate, this BAND IS FUCKING BACK!

[Voodoochild]

2 minutes ago, Blackstar said:

I remember you (I think some other forum members, too) had mentioned something about how unusual the guitar parts in the verses of the Village demo are. I've listened to it with the vocals muted and it really sounds unusual, although I don't have the knowledge to describe and analyze it. I guess Axl isn't playing on the track, maybe it has to do with how it was written?

Possibly. And Robin Finck is actually a pretty good choice to realize the potential of those weird sound ideas Axl had. IRS comes to my mind, especially considering the 1999 arrangement, but mostly those 'calm' parts where Robin slides some notes with a clean guitar over acoustics and very very bright electric guitar (which I assumed it was Paul Tobias). Maybe that lead guitar in the introduction was also Axl (both in IRS and Hard School from 1999/2000)? 

[WVsax27]

idk he could probably do this in the studio now too....it's the studio, they use all kinds of recording tricks. He could easily just do it a bit at a time and cut/paste. Which BTW- isn't a new thing.

Edited September 25, 2021 by WVsax27

[prairieboy]

My 5 simple steps to happiness today.
 

STEP 1. Get in car.

STEP 2. Play Hard Skool.

STEP 3. Find max volume before distortion.

STEP 4. SHUT THE FUCK UP and enjoy a new officially released GnR rocker. 

STEP 5. See STEP 4.

 

Edited September 25, 2021 by prairieboy

[Mr Mini Mite]

When I search on youtube "guns n roses checkmate" or "guns n roses Jackie Chan" hardskool appears on top of the list 

[Powerage5]

Any reports from the halls of the high skools? Are kids dancing in the hallways when it gets played over the PA systems?

[mystery]

10 hours ago, SoulMonster said:

I talked to someone close to Axl and apparently the song was never intended on the soundtrack to a Jackie Chan movie. The working title, Jackie Chan, was chosen simply because Axl was watching a Jackie Chan movie at the time.

Didn't the General get it's name simply because Brain was eating General Tso's chicken while he was recording parts for it? I wonder if the General is another song that has a working title that might have been changed at some point. I wonder with regards to Absurd when the title was changed from Silkworms.

[SoulMonster]

1 hour ago, Blackstar said:

@SoulMonster has shared some new information earlier in the thread regarding why Axl called it Jackie Chan (I have quoted it a couple of posts above): it wasn't because it was going to be in a Jackie Chan movie, but just because Axl had watched one when he wrote it.

Although this information doesn't clarify when it was written, it seems to refute only the part about it being intended for the movie, so maybe the rest of the assumption about its origin in 1996 is correct.

Yes, it was in 1996. There are several quotes about it here:

https://www.a-4-d.com/t5018-19-december-1994-october-1996-axl-and-slash-fights-slash-quits#20215

Absolutely. I have always thought it dated back to 1996 and considered it more of song coming out of work on a follow-up to UYI than from the CD sessions. Of course these terms becomes a bit arbitrary, but it just sounds more old-school, classic Guns, than a lot of the material that ended up on CD. In addition, the song only existed in one track on the Village leaks, in a complete form, with no additional experimental versions, suggesting to me it had been through all that before and was ready for release whereas a lot of the other songs needed more work. 

It could be that Duff/Matt misunderstood at the time, and that it wasn't intended for a JC movie, or that the band worked at another song at the time intended for such a movie. This I don't know. But Hard Skool got it's working title because Axl watched a JC movie when he wrote it (likely came up with the guitar riffs and vocal melodies). 

[Basic_GnR_Fan]

9 hours ago, oneway23 said:

Are rock stations still a thing?

They are indeed

[RussTCB]

1 hour ago, Powerage5 said:

Any reports from the halls of the high skools? Are kids dancing in the hallways when it gets played over the PA systems?

There was a guy earlier who said he left economics class to listen to HS. I immediately asked him to tell us if he danced in the halls. Sadly, he chose not to reply so we may never know. 

1 hour ago, prairieboy said:

My 5 simple steps to happiness today.
 

STEP 1. Get in car.

STEP 2. Play Hard Skool.

STEP 3. Find max volume before distortion.

STEP 4. SHUT THE FUCK UP and enjoy a new officially released GnR rocker. 

STEP 5. See STEP 4.

 

I tired that but Step 4 was completely ruined by the awful production of the track. 

[StrangerInThisTown]

5 minutes ago, RussTCB said:

I tired that but Step 4 was completely ruined by the awful production of the track. 

Glad I'm not the only one, lol. They went a giant step backwards from the leak version, not sure what happened. It doesn't have the same sonic appeal, and I think that's my only problem with it, not the actual song. But if this is exactly the production Axl likes in 2021, we got to live with that

[megaguns1982]

2 hours ago, prairieboy said:

My 5 simple steps to happiness today.
 

STEP 1. Get in car.

STEP 2. Play Hard Skool.

STEP 3. Find max volume before distortion.

STEP 4. SHUT THE FUCK UP and enjoy a new officially released GnR rocker. 

STEP 5. See STEP 4.

 

I did the same but the shitty mix bugs the hell out of me. Hopefully it’s better on the CD 

[jamillos]

3 hours ago, Powerage5 said:

Any reports from the halls of the high skools? Are kids dancing in the hallways when it gets played over the PA systems?

You'd have to be a fool not to do it that way
You'd have to be a fool to throw it all away 

[Sledge]

I'm amazed that it has physical promotion. Vinyl cd and cassette. Not sure if the trucker hats are "me" though

[Lipfel2]

After hearing the track more often, it's really hit and miss for me. In the fast bits, I enjoy Slash's guitar quite a bit, in the bridge, the drums are a big disappointment. 

But for me, it becomes more clear, that I can't understand Axl's musical standpoint. In the first breakdown part in the soundcheck, I was almost convinced, that there would be new lyrics, because the lead guitar is not that exciting and more of a backgroundsound. But instead of thinking "what new could I contribute that serves this (new) song" he goes "what do I have already recorded (20 years ago) that I could force into the song" which I feel is so limiting. I just don't understand copying the hey's and the scream from Eye On You... 

[jekylhyde]

I liked Absurd a bit more (sans the repeated lyrics in the verses), because it sounds like an experiment, where the band is having fun, where as Hard Skool seems like a more honest attempt at making a Guns-sounding song, but it kinda lacks that little extra swagger and swing.

The absence of those worked on Chinese Democracy, because they weren't hard rock songs, which Hard Skool clearly is.

It's in no way a bad song and it is VERY catchy, but it sounds a bit too tight and over-produced. It doesn't breath and everything sounds like they are played to a clicktrack. 

But if I let go of my analyzing side, I can honestly say I like it. I listened to it like 20 times yesterday, so it obviously doesn't suck. And in the end, it is so cool to have new Guns N' Roses music! 

[allwaystired]

Anyone seen the physical copies available in the UK? Only seem to be the US store .....