The "New Album" Thread. Thanks to the long ass thread, I’m going home!

[Voodoochild]

IMO, they don't have to release a cover album, but I wouldn't mind if they did. And I love Wichita too. 

Ideally, I wish they just release anything in a proper manner - I mean, in album format. They don't have to expect that every song will be loved, so release whatever they already have and move on. From when they released Absurd to now, they could've already released 2 albums worth of new songs (and I'm including CD era tracks here too). 

The best way to deal with all the pressure is to release it. 

[Blackstar]

18 hours ago, allwaystired said:

Yeah I'd agree with that. I have no issue at all with the Chinese leftovers getting dusted down and released- but just do it.

I don't see what possible advantage there is to sitting on them for months and months then releasing one song before killing the momentum again for another long period of time. 

If they came as an album, 10 or so songs, properly released and promoted, it would have far more impact. 

Although I think the piecemeal approach was the best for these songs (because I wouldn't want the "reunion" album to be CD era songs - and I also think that, for the same reason, such an album wouldn't have been received well outside a small core of diehards), I agree that they (Axl) shouldn't wait that long to release them. They should have just released all of them within a year. So just release the rest of them and get over with it.

[2020_Intensions]

21 minutes ago, Blackstar said:

Although I think the piecemeal approach was the best for these songs (because I wouldn't want the "reunion" album to be CD era songs - and I also think that, for the same reason, such an album wouldn't have been received well outside a small core of diehards), I agree that they (Axl) shouldn't wait that long to release them. They should have just released all of them within a year. So just release the rest of them and get over with it.

The same songs that would have made up this album are also not being received well outside a small core of diehards ... ??? It doesn't matter what way they chose to release them, the general public thinks these songs are garbage, and quite frankly, so do a lot of the diehards! 

[Blackstar]

2 minutes ago, 2020_Intensions said:

The same songs that would have made up this album are also not being received well outside a small core of diehards ... ??? It doesn't matter what way they chose to release them, the general public thinks these songs are garbage, and quite frankly, so do a lot of the diehards! 

I wasn't talking about the quality of the songs (which is subjective), but about the fact that, regardless of the quality, I wouldn't have liked an album of half-rehashed CD era songs as the first major release by the threeunion lineup; and that an album like that would have been rejected on the get-go by the media etc. (regardless of the quality, again) just because it would be from the CD era, so it would have been worse, imo. The only way an album like that could work would be if the tracks were fully re-recorded and there were a couple of newly written ones.

[JimiRose]

42 minutes ago, 2020_Intensions said:

The same songs that would have made up this album are also not being received well outside a small core of diehards ... ??? It doesn't matter what way they chose to release them, the general public thinks these songs are garbage, and quite frankly, so do a lot of the diehards! 

If they released all 12 at once, there would 2/3 songs that every fan of GnR would like though. That's the point. Nobody expects 12 classics and an all time great album either from scratch or CD leftovers. The point is, releasing 1 song at a time and then nothing for a year or so means that single song gets scrutinised to hell, then moved on from quickly. If the single they choose to release is more experimental or weaker, then everyone piles in and says the band is shit. If Absurd and The General are on a 12 song album which is coherently mixed and ordered, with songs that are radio friendly (hardskool, atlas) and more epic and AAA songs (Monsters) then people will find the ones they do like and be more positive. 

When you buy an album, if you like 4/5 songs on it, you'd probably say it's a decent album. If you like 6+ it's a very good album. When you release one single, if you don't like it, thats it. You dont like. everything is negative. It's almost like axl can't bear to release these songs, then when he does, he's so scared to fail, he releases them in a way where they are doomed to fail so he can just accept it. It's bonkers and no one else with a marketing brain would do it this way. But this is Axl. and TB. they're from a different planet

[Sweersa]

2 minutes ago, JimiRose said:

If they released all 12 at once, there would 2/3 songs that every fan of GnR would like though. That's the point. Nobody expects 12 classics and an all time great album either from scratch or CD leftovers. The point is, releasing 1 song at a time and then nothing for a year or so means that single song gets scrutinised to hell, then moved on from quickly. If the single they choose to release is more experimental or weaker, then everyone piles in and says the band is shit. If Absurd and The General are on a 12 song album which is coherently mixed and ordered, with songs that are radio friendly (hardskool, atlas) and more epic and AAA songs (Monsters) then people will find the ones they do like and be more positive. 

When you buy an album, if you like 4/5 songs on it, you'd probably say it's a decent album. If you like 6+ it's a very good album. When you release one single, if you don't like it, thats it. You dont like. everything is negative. It's almost like axl can't bear to release these songs, then when he does, he's so scared to fail, he releases them in a way where they are doomed to fail so he can just accept it. It's bonkers and no one else with a marketing brain would do it this way. But this is Axl. and TB. they're from a different planet

I couldn't agree more with all of your points. It's rare I hear an album in a genre I enjoy and it has more than 2 or 3 songs I really like. At this point, who knows what Guns will do. If they want their NITL reheated CD singles included on an album with additional CD era songs and/or actual new stuff, they will at the very least need to remix and master the songs so they don't sound awful next to one another. An example is Perhaps being much quieter than the brick walled Hard Skool and The General. They need to utilize professionals for the mixing and mastering. The 2008 album was not perfect, but it did have a great master, and an OK mix. (Needed the bass guitars cranked though, IMO)

The quality of The General is actually so bad, it's distracting. I can hear the clipping, for those who can't or are not sure what it sounds like, it's like the snap cracker and pop of Rice Crispies, but a little sharper, and in this case during percussion. 

[JimiRose]

1 minute ago, Sweersa said:

An example is Perhaps being much quieter than the brick walled Hard Skool and The General. They need to utilize professionals for the mixing and mastering. The 2008 album was not perfect, but it did have a great master, and an OK mix. (Needed the bass guitars cranked though, IMO)

Yeah these 4 singles sound like 4 different studios with 4 different producers and 4 different systems used with the idea being to sound as different as possible. There's zero correlation. In an album format you tend to mix as an album for continuity. CD i thought was fantastically mastered, and agree the bass should have been higher but apart from that those mixes sounded ace. It's crazy 15 years more advanced they could be so much worse. I think most of the new songs are good enough to be on an album which makes it harder to take

[Sweersa]

8 minutes ago, JimiRose said:

Yeah these 4 singles sound like 4 different studios with 4 different producers and 4 different systems used with the idea being to sound as different as possible. There's zero correlation. In an album format you tend to mix as an album for continuity. CD i thought was fantastically mastered, and agree the bass should have been higher but apart from that those mixes sounded ace. It's crazy 15 years more advanced they could be so much worse. I think most of the new songs are good enough to be on an album which makes it harder to take

For sure! I initially thought they would keep the CD-era mixes and re-do some bass with Duff and a handful of solos for Slash, instead they re-worked the songs more than I would have imagined. Even Richard needed to re-record his parts to mesh with Slash's leads. It would have been acceptable if they did a good job with mixing and mastering, but they did not. It's a tougher pill to swallow because of that. 

I personally think I'll only ever be satisfied with the end of the CD-era being in the form of another large leak of the post-2001 work or if they release it as bonus content somehow. 

[janrichmond]

Personally I'd love a new cover album. If it were received well and charted it might give Axl the confidence to try something new. 

[Blackstar]

18 minutes ago, JimiRose said:

If they released all 12 at once, there would 2/3 songs that every fan of GnR would like though. That's the point. Nobody expects 12 classics and an all time great album either from scratch or CD leftovers. The point is, releasing 1 song at a time and then nothing for a year or so means that single song gets scrutinised to hell, then moved on from quickly. If the single they choose to release is more experimental or weaker, then everyone piles in and says the band is shit. If Absurd and The General are on a 12 song album which is coherently mixed and ordered, with songs that are radio friendly (hardskool, atlas) and more epic and AAA songs (Monsters) then people will find the ones they do like and be more positive. 

When you buy an album, if you like 4/5 songs on it, you'd probably say it's a decent album. If you like 6+ it's a very good album. When you release one single, if you don't like it, thats it. You dont like. everything is negative. It's almost like axl can't bear to release these songs, then when he does, he's so scared to fail, he releases them in a way where they are doomed to fail so he can just accept it. It's bonkers and no one else with a marketing brain would do it this way. But this is Axl. and TB. they're from a different planet

This could work all the same if the songs were released close to one another, e..g. one song every two months.

I don't think that Axl's insecurity is the main reason for not releasing these songs as an album at once. It's mostly that while a standalone song is just that, a non-compilation album represents more than just a collection of songs. It's a statement. And what statement would an album like that make now? It could be neither the follow-up to CD (since that era is in the past) nor the "reunion" album. So, since these songs were not released as an album in a timely manner, they now stand in a void, especially as they contain ancient vocals and drums. It would be different if they were fully re-arranged and re-recorded. It also will be different if they are eventually compiled into an album after they're all released as singles (because that would be a compilation album), which is likely to happen.

[axlvai]

4 hours ago, sabian11 said:

We got that already 2 in fact. They just need to get in the same room and hammer out some new tunes like a real band. It shouldn't be this difficult LOL!

Its.more easy release a uyi show. 

[2020_Intensions]

I think you're all kidding yourselves contemplating single release vs album release ... It's sooooooo so obvious that what they're doing is drip feeding us songs to add excitement to each new tour lol this has nothing to do with artistic / creative integrity 

[colonizedmind]

Hypothetical here...Axl dies tonight (sorry Ax!)....huge Interest for the next year or so in GNR's history and what was in the vault....(a la any major dead artist)...Would Duff and Slash put out a bunch of songs they've worked on and release the album we want, Frankensteined but an album all the same...there would be an interest and somewhat demand for it...as in death, most often you have sales like your prime again for a minute....look at the charts the 12 weeks post Mj's death, he held almost every position in the top 10....

So Duff and Slash being doers, would want to mark his passing and the band...

Who would be in charge though? Surely they'd (should) have more say than Fernando and co if that happened? 🤷‍♀️

Thoughts? It could happen one day...

Edited March 15 by colonizedmind

[TheSlashrose]

I don't want to sound like a hater. But I have to agree that these leftovers from the CD are a kind of Frankenstein. I preferred to hear the final version at the time. Because as far as we know the album was ready in 2014. The General is one of the worst Guns songs, on several layers. Empty music, it has no feeling, it sounds like a machine playing, it sounds generic, it's not original. A covers album would be more respectful to the fans. I honestly liked Hard Skool and Perhaps, they sound like the old Guns. But it's very little for a band that got together eight years ago. Axl became rock's slacker. The band will be 40 years old and we have 4 original albums, 1987, 1991 (UYI's), 2008 (CD), and a shameless but classic EP GNR LIES. I don't think the band is doomed to failure if they release something, but Axl Rose is dead creatively.

[ChrisW]

Whenever Axl dies, it'll have to finally be admitted that there basically isn't anything else.  There might be music by Bucketbrain or whoever but very little in the way of actual vocals and lyrics, much less songs.  Otherwise Slash and Duff could have cranked out music for that years ago.

[Illusion1987]

7 hours ago, 2020_Intensions said:

I think you're all kidding yourselves contemplating single release vs album release ... It's sooooooo so obvious that what they're doing is drip feeding us songs to add excitement to each new tour lol this has nothing to do with artistic / creative integrity 

Funny...because it actually having the opposite effect. I lose more confidence in them with each craptastic release. 

 

Absurd  ....The General...95% of us here, with.no musical background  + 20 years and millions of dollars to burn on effects/musicians/ studio time can come up with something way better than those turds 

The drip feed isn't building excitement....they are the slow steps on their funeral march.

Edited March 16 by Illusion1987

[SoulMonster]

7 hours ago, TheSlashrose said:

A covers album would be more respectful to the fans.

It is immensely fascinating how someone can state that an artist releasing music fans don't like is being "disrespectful" to the fans. Was GN'R being disrespectful to me when they released Bad Apples? When they released If The World? When they released November Rain? Of course not, they are not in any way obligated to release music I want to hear, only music they want to release. How has the relationship between band and fan become so distorted? 

[SoulMonster]

4 hours ago, ChrisW said:

Whenever Axl dies, it'll have to finally be admitted that there basically isn't anything else.  There might be music by Bucketbrain or whoever but very little in the way of actual vocals and lyrics, much less songs.  Otherwise Slash and Duff could have cranked out music for that years ago.

So your argument is that since Slash and Duff haven't cranked out music for other songs with vocals, those songs don't exist? Is that your argument? You are sticking to it? 

Well, firstly, we know that Slash and Duff have "cranked out music" to more unreleased songs. They just haven't been released yet. We also know from the Village leaks, which provided a snapshot of the state of the music back in 2000 that yes, more music with vocals existed which now potentially could have been worked on by Slash and Duff. And keep in mind that the recordings, including vocal recordings, didn't end with the Village sessions, a lot more work was done after that, including writing entirely new songs. We also have numerous other tidbits of evidence suggesting additional songs with vocals exist. 

So in short, your argument is severely flawed. But yeah, we don't know how many additional songs with vocals exist. The optimistic of us would hope for at least enough to fill another album, the pessimistic would in pelesque fashion fall down on "nothing exists that I haven't heard".

[SoulMonster]

9 hours ago, 2020_Intensions said:

I think you're all kidding yourselves contemplating single release vs album release ... It's sooooooo so obvious that what they're doing is drip feeding us songs to add excitement to each new tour lol this has nothing to do with artistic / creative integrity 

Except that the releases don't really seem to be timed to propel ticket sales. Absurd was released a few dates into the 2021 touring, so that would work. But Hardskool was released at the tail-end of that tour with only a few more shows before the band would take a break for about 8 months before the next leg. Perhaps was released in the middle of the 2023 touring, instead of before the tour. And The General was released after the 2023 touring (although it was played at the very end of the tour).

You could argue that the intention was to release them more strategically to boost ticket sales but in true GN'R dysfunctional fashion they fucked that up so the singles were released more erratically. But let's get real, releasing these singles have close to zero effect on ticket sales alone. The vast majority of people attending these shows won't go there to hear a new GN'R song  It would work if the band coordinated the releases with doing press, to create more buzz about the upcoming shows, but of course that didn't happen and the singles alone got little media attention and barely didn't move the needle on ticket sales significantly. 

So what is the purpose behind these releases then? Fuck if I know, but here's my theory: Axl wants his songs to come out because they mean a lot to him and he feels he kind of owes it to the songs themselves; with Slash and Duff in the band they have to contribute to the songs (because Axl always wants the current lineup to be part of the music he releases); he doesn't want to release them as an album because an album is a statement and requires a lot of additional work; he works on geological time and this is as quick he is able to drip-feed music.

 

[2020_Intensions]

9 hours ago, SoulMonster said:

Except that the releases don't really seem to be timed to propel ticket sales. Absurd was released a few dates into the 2021 touring, so that would work. But Hardskool was released at the tail-end of that tour with only a few more shows before the band would take a break for about 8 months before the next leg. Perhaps was released in the middle of the 2023 touring, instead of before the tour. And The General was released after the 2023 touring (although it was played at the very end of the tour).

You could argue that the intention was to release them more strategically to boost ticket sales but in true GN'R dysfunctional fashion they fucked that up so the singles were released more erratically. But let's get real, releasing these singles have close to zero effect on ticket sales alone. The vast majority of people attending these shows won't go there to hear a new GN'R song  It would work if the band coordinated the releases with doing press, to create more buzz about the upcoming shows, but of course that didn't happen and the singles alone got little media attention and barely didn't move the needle on ticket sales significantly. 

So what is the purpose behind these releases then? Fuck if I know, but here's my theory: Axl wants his songs to come out because they mean a lot to him and he feels he kind of owes it to the songs themselves; with Slash and Duff in the band they have to contribute to the songs (because Axl always wants the current lineup to be part of the music he releases); he doesn't want to release them as an album because an album is a statement and requires a lot of additional work; he works on geological time and this is as quick he is able to drip-feed music.

 

While I understand your point, I just simply cannot agree. Everything this band does, for a long time now, is extremely calculated. It's not coincidence that both pairs of songs were released during US legs. I'm not saying the attempt is to boost ticket sales, they know people only come to hear the hits. It's just a cheap gimmick to make it look like there's something new and exciting happening. That's it. 

[rumandraisin]

15 hours ago, ChrisW said:

Whenever Axl dies, it'll have to finally be admitted that there basically isn't anything else.  There might be music by Bucketbrain or whoever but very little in the way of actual vocals and lyrics, much less songs.  Otherwise Slash and Duff could have cranked out music for that years ago.

Indeed. Until then though we have Atlas and Monsters to be released. 

[JimiRose]

1 hour ago, 2020_Intensions said:

While I understand your point, I just simply cannot agree. Everything this band does, for a long time now, is extremely calculated. It's not coincidence that both pairs of songs were released during US legs. I'm not saying the attempt is to boost ticket sales, they know people only come to hear the hits. It's just a cheap gimmick to make it look like there's something new and exciting happening. That's it. 

I don't think GnR and TB have the capability to do anything that is extremely calculated. GnR did play a show in US in 2022 and released nothing then. I think it's hard to say there's a pattern on 2 examples. Sample size is too small. It could just be totally random and happened to be when they were in US. We know perhaps was probably going to be released earlier. And we know Hardskool was soundchecked in 2019 or 2020, i forget which, then delayed due to pandemic. I think you're giving them too much credit for them to plan to give us something that is 'new and exciting'. They havent got a scooby doo what they are doing. (not a clue, for our US friends)

[fabrph5]

3 hours ago, rumandraisin said:

Indeed. Until then though we have Atlas and Monsters to be released. 

Those are my 2 favorites out of everything ive heard.  Sounds like classic Axl around the 2:40ish mark in Monsters  to me as well

[allwaystired]

My best guess is these songs are getting released because of pressure from Slash and Duff, who are probably a bit embarrassed about the lack of music and sick of having people ask them about it in interviews. I'd wager musician friends of theirs in other bands ask a lot too. 

If Axl cared about these songs he wouldn't have allowed them to come out so badly mixed and produced. The impression that comes across is that he couldn't give a shit about how they sound. 

Edited March 16 by allwaystired

[Blackstar]

42 minutes ago, allwaystired said:

My best guess is these songs are getting released because of pressure from Slash and Duff, who are probably a bit embarrassed about the lack of music and sick of having people ask them about it in interviews. I'd wager musician friends of theirs in other bands ask a lot too. 

If Axl cared about these songs he wouldn't have allowed them to come out so badly mixed and produced. The impression that comes across is that he couldn't give a shit about how they sound. 

I don't agree that Axl doesn't care. There's been effort from him behind these releases but it's not "recognizable" or gets overlooked, because it's more about non-creative aspects.  Although we don't know the details, based on the credits it seems that Axl has bought the master recordings of the songs from the label, and that the re-recording and production have been paid for by GN'R (not the label). He wouldn't have done this if he didn't care, would he?

As for how they sound, he has signed them as co-producer, so he's responsible for it. I don't know, maybe he thought that's how they should sound in terms of "modern" production aimed mainly at streaming services.