Physical copies of Hard Skool available for pre-order

[Manfisman]

I think at some point the marketing site treated said something like Hard Skool EP, right? (same tracks and everything, just different description). It only says 7" Vinyl and CD now. I guess that was a mistake.

 

But yeah I saw some people bashing the band on Discord saying stuff like "This is your new EP". LOL

[RussTCB]

27 minutes ago, sliverjazz said:

Is their any verification needed that the vinyl will sound better? All music is made digitally so is the vinyl going to sound better than the audio cd and high definition streaming versions?

"vinyl sounds better" is a beauty is in the eye of the beholder type thing for me. 

[James Bond]

I don't recall the band itself ever referring to it as an EP. I think it was always just "Hard Skool Vinyl/CD" but some of the usual sites (Blabbermouth) considered it as an EP and their wording reflected that. I don't think it was ever intended as anything more than a single with bonus tracks.

[GnR Chris]

No doubt the internet and streaming services have devalued art in all formats. People don't want to pay for anything anymore. That's why concert prices and merchandise are so expensive these days. The social aspect of perusing aisles of music and checking out cover art, talking to like-minded folks, that's all gone.

I'm buying the vinyl and CD because I have room for it in my Locked N' Loaded box. I will almost certainly never listen to either in those formats because streaming is too easy and readily available. But physical media is infinitely more enjoyable in regard to sound quality.

People just don't realize it 'cause they're so used to hearing everything compressed and even further degraded over bluetooth. Seriously. Spotify already isn't the best quality. Then you add bluetooth from phone to your speaker and it sounds even worse. Thankfully, at least I have Spotify connect on my AV receiver, or otherwise I'd pull up Spotify on my Xbox or TV to avoid bluetooth altogether.

There's no doubt joining a party session on Spotify when friends are over and having everyone add to queue while vibing to music in real-time is a ton of fun. It's not the same having to keep popping in CDs. Or creating a "mix tape" ahead of a get-together. The live queue ends up taking us on journeys from early '90s grunge to modern-day mumblerap to deep tropical house. That's something you can't predict with a mix tape.

My buddy and I are going to do vinyl listening sessions again this winter. Pick a classic album each time, have a few adult sodas, and crank it the whole way through.

Edited September 28, 2021 by GnR Chris

[Manfisman]

52 minutes ago, James Bond said:

I don't recall the band itself ever referring to it as an EP. I think it was always just "Hard Skool Vinyl/CD" but some of the usual sites (Blabbermouth) considered it as an EP and their wording reflected that. I don't think it was ever intended as anything more than a single with bonus tracks.

I think when they just uploaded the items (when the cost was $30) it said EP. But I may be wrong

[GnR Chris]

I love how my order says "you selected split shipment" as if I had a choice. Nearly $14 to ship two items is shakedown central.

[19AT5]

3 hours ago, Sweersa said:

Just imagine if it was re-worked a little, with killer Buckethead guitar parts.

I would prefer Gary Sunshine's killer parts instead. Some good Chris Vrenna drum programming wouldn't go a miss either. I've heard from sources close to the band that they recorded Brian May filling a kettle and it sounded amaaaaaaaazing. Perhaps they could tag that into the middle section along with a cowbell Rob Gardener played at a gig in 1985. Just imagine man!

[GnR Chris]

3 hours ago, RussTCB said:

Oh I totally agree with you. Some of my best friends are working musicians and I'm not pleased with how the current state of the industry for them BUT I do all I can to ensure they get paid. 

I literally put my money where my mouth is by creating a podcast and two YouTube videos every week (<--- NOT a plug) for the specific purpose of getting people to buy more music. That's all I can do as a fan, but I'm working very hard at it. I'm overjoyed that the YouTube channel is growing and the podcast is high on the charts / over 100,000 listens. That means I'm having as big of an impact in helping musicians as I can as a fan. 

Bro, send me a link please on PM.

Edited September 28, 2021 by GnR Chris

[ZoSoRose]

Streaming hasn’t fucked the industry (well, it has), labels have. The writing was on the wall over 20 years ago with the advent of digital file sharing and they didn’t adapt. It sucks

[RussTCB]

28 minutes ago, GnR Chris said:

Bro, send me a link please on PM.

Done. Sent links to the podcast and the YouTube channel

[Tom2112]

I honestly wouldn't even consider buying this🤔 not sure what you're getting for your money besides just having another gnr physical object. If they put a third new song on the release that wasn't streamed beforehand I'd buy it just for that. This to me has no pull factor. Not shitting on it, I just don't really get why people are buying this🤔 want the HQ quality? Get tidal!!

When a new full length album comes out I'll have it pre-ordered on cd and later maybe buy it on vinyl too if I like it enough. Until then my piggy bank is safe from gnr😄

[RussTCB]

10 minutes ago, Tom2112 said:

I honestly wouldn't even consider buying this🤔 not sure what you're getting for your money besides just having another gnr physical object. If they put a third new song on the release that wasn't streamed beforehand I'd buy it just for that. This to me has no pull factor. Not shitting on it, I just don't really get why people are buying this🤔 want the HQ quality? Get tidal!!

When a new full length album comes out I'll have it pre-ordered on cd and later maybe buy it on vinyl too if I like it enough. Until then my piggy bank is safe from gnr😄

I'm one of 4 Tidal users on the planet 😂 

I ordered the 7" though. Simply because I have everything other song GN'R has every released on vinyl. 

[Tom2112]

7 minutes ago, RussTCB said:

I'm one of 4 Tidal users on the planet 😂 

I ordered the 7" though. Simply because I have everything other song GN'R has every released on vinyl. 

Well by the end of the month you're 1 of 3😁 I have it but I can't justify having it along with YouTube music and every other bloody streaming service!

Yeah like you said, I think this is purely for completing the collection. I only own AFD, Lies, Live Era and Chinese as physical copies.... for shame, I know😬 but AFD and CD are both in my CD changer at all times... I need to get UYI I&II at the very least though! 

[RussTCB]

5 minutes ago, Tom2112 said:

Well by the end of the month you're 1 of 3😁 I have it but I can't justify having it along with YouTube music and every other bloody streaming service!

Yeah like you said, I think this is purely for completing the collection. I only own AFD, Lies, Live Era and Chinese as physical copies.... for shame, I know😬 but AFD and CD are both in my CD changer at all times... I need to get UYI I&II at the very least though! 

Haha, I hear ya on Tidal. I get their highest tier plan for $5/mo so it's worth it to me. I subscribe to the Third Man Records Vault and they offered a one time deal years ago. I jumped on it and have only paid that price every month so that's why I keep it.

As for GN'R on vinyl, I own an embarrassing amount lol. I own at least one copy of every song they've commercially released. So I had to add this 7" to the pile. 

[GnR Chris]

40 minutes ago, Tom2112 said:

I honestly wouldn't even consider buying this🤔 not sure what you're getting for your money besides just having another gnr physical object.

This is exactly it. I am not a collector 'cause I like to live pretty much clutter-free. But the physical releases will fit nicely into my existing box set. GNR is probably the only band I'd even buy physical media for these days. 

[Sweersa]

When I purchased Absurd from Qobuz, they had a high res download available, which is what I rolled with. They only have CD quality for Hard Skool. I wonder why that is.

[Tom2112]

22 minutes ago, RussTCB said:

Haha, I hear ya on Tidal. I get their highest tier plan for $5/mo so it's worth it to me. I subscribe to the Third Man Records Vault and they offered a one time deal years ago. I jumped on it and have only paid that price every month so that's why I keep it.

As for GN'R on vinyl, I own an embarrassing amount lol. I own at least one copy of every song they've commercially released. So I had to add this 7" to the pile. 

Ha! well your vinyl collection is pretty outrageous though, so it balances out! 

I was using tidal over the PA at work and it does sound better... that is kicker! When they have more music on it I'll swing back around. I do like that they give a decent percentage to artists compared to youtube

[Carne_asaDA]

This is NOT an EP. This what us folks from the 80's and 90's refer to as......"a single."

[Gordon Comstock]

According to itunes and spotify, an EP is generally 4-6 tracks and is under 30 minutes. If there's 3 tracks, it's still considered a single.

In 1991, it would've just been called a maxi-single. In 2021, the CD version qualifies as an EP.

[Sweersa]

9 minutes ago, Carne_asaDA said:

This is NOT an EP. This what us folks from the 80's and 90's refer to as......"a single."

Maybe it's an EVP: Electronic Voice Phenomena

[Stiff Competition]

The big issue to me here (which probably has been covered but I'm not reading all of this shit) is that yes, there is a big backup at pressing plants but the fact that we are getting that long of a wait means that they have no clue what the fuck they are doing in terms of planning. They should have sent these to a plant early this year and had it ready for the tour or at least RSDBF. To me, it just paints the picture of a management team flying by the seat of their pants. Honestly, no one will give a shit about Hard Skool by 6/2022.

[MaskingApathy]

1 hour ago, ZoSoRose said:

Streaming hasn’t fucked the industry (well, it has), labels have. The writing was on the wall over 20 years ago with the advent of digital file sharing and they didn’t adapt. It sucks

That's exactly it.

[allwaystired]

1 minute ago, Stiff Competition said:

The big issue to me here (which probably has been covered but I'm not reading all of this shit) is that yes, there is a big backup at pressing plants but the fact that we are getting that long of a wait means that they have no clue what the fuck they are doing in terms of planning. They should have sent these to a plant early this year and had it ready for the tour or at least RSDBF. To me, it just paints the picture of a management team flying by the seat of their pants. Honestly, no one will give a shit about Hard Skool by 6/2022.

That's a really interesting point actually. If this was planned, we wouldn't be waiting for the physical- it would have been ordered in advance, like any other band and been ready. That it wasn't suggests the whole release wasn't set up in advance at all........which either bodes well or not for any future release, depending on which way you take it. 

 

[Stryker]

9 minutes ago, Stiff Competition said:

The big issue to me here (which probably has been covered but I'm not reading all of this shit) is that yes, there is a big backup at pressing plants but the fact that we are getting that long of a wait means that they have no clue what the fuck they are doing in terms of planning. They should have sent these to a plant early this year and had it ready for the tour or at least RSDBF. To me, it just paints the picture of a management team flying by the seat of their pants. Honestly, no one will give a shit about Hard Skool by 6/2022.

Not to mention, money absolutely allows artists to “cut the line”. If this was a priority, we’d likely be getting it sooner.

[Gordon Comstock]

If they'd sent the songs to a plant earlier in the year, there's a good chance they would've leaked, and we know how paranoid Axl is about leaks...

The physicals are basically just a 'bonus' for the hardcore fans at this point anyway. I'm not too bothered about the long wait. But if they announce a full album and physical versions still take 9 months after that, then that's a different story.