With "The General" seemingly close....

[Wabby]

We have all heard the title for nearly two decades like some of the other song titles we've heard years in advance, im interested to see if those songs lived up to your own hype hearing Baz talk about them or hearing they were a big gun. For example i was super excited to hear "Prostitute", finally hearing it sounded nothing like i thought it would, but still love the song, one of my favourites. "Sorry" another one was excited for for years, i was fairly disappointed with it. Hardschool/Jackie Chan/Checkmate hearing that clip back in the day, i believe after CD had already came out and was super stoked how that small clip sounded and when we finally got the leak and found out it was called HardSkool and got the chorus i was blown away, way better than i anticipated. I could name so more just interested to see what other peoples opinions were changed after they finally got to hear a song.

[Gibson87]

I was surprised by State of Grace. The version we have still needs to be fleshed out a little more but it's got a good foundation.

Atlas was disappointing though. I don't dislike it, it was just hyped up for years and fell short of my expectations.

Edited August 12, 2023 by Gibson87

[WhazUp]

I remember "This I Love" was a song hyped up because it was one that Axl mentioned a few times in interviews in the 90s before GNR even broke up, so knowing that was one that was being worked on and it had the strongest ties to the old days was very intriguing to me.

When the news came out of Patti Hood working on the harp part, I was like "harp? This must be epic"

Finally hearing the song when CD in full leaked a couple of weeks before the release date I remember liking it, but underwhelmed because it is hard for a song to match that level of mystery and hype.  But once my expectations were more down to earth I came to love the song for what it is and I still really enjoy it

[Bitchisback]

2 hours ago, WhazUp said:

I remember "This I Love" was a song hyped up because it was one that Axl mentioned a few times in interviews in the 90s before GNR even broke up, so knowing that was one that was being worked on and it had the strongest ties to the old days was very intriguing to me.

When the news came out of Patti Hood working on the harp part, I was like "harp? This must be epic"

Finally hearing the song when CD in full leaked a couple of weeks before the release date I remember liking it, but underwhelmed because it is hard for a song to match that level of mystery and hype.  But once my expectations were more down to earth I came to love the song for what it is and I still really enjoy it

This I Love is a lovely song.  Great solo from Finck.  It might not reach the highs of November Rain or Estranged but is still a very beautiful piece of art.  It would have been epic to see Axl tinkering around on the piano, singing the song with nobody else involved.  Just Axl and the piano 

[RONIN]

There's this one song called 'Sorry' that's almost like doom metal with Axl singing really clean over this grinding, slow beat that is fucking mean,' says Bach. 'I cannot get it out of my head.'" (Rolling Stone, 10/18/06)

Sorry was almost perfect...if not for some of the lyrics - it turns that song into almost a diss track like Get in the Ring. I love the mood of "Sorry", I really hope he has more songs like this in the bag and it's not just a one-off. This I Love could have been great as well but I think it's let down by the lyrics and the opera-esque theatrical mood/vocals. Just too melodramatic. A review once described it as Andrew Lloyd Weber-esque which I think is the perfect description.

The one song that came out of nowhere and was a surprise for me was "If the World". It's not perfect (that weird 70's porn riff) but it's a cool little song that flew under the radar a bit. I think it was one of the best songs on CD.

Edited August 12, 2023 by RONIN

[Fozzie Bear]

29 minutes ago, RONIN said:

There's this one song called 'Sorry' that's almost like doom metal with Axl singing really clean over this grinding, slow beat that is fucking mean,' says Bach. 'I cannot get it out of my head.'" (Rolling Stone, 10/18/06)

Sorry was almost perfect...if not for some of the lyrics - it turns that song into almost a diss track like Get in the Ring. I love the mood of "Sorry", I really hope he has more songs like this in the bag and it's not just a one-off. This I Love could have been great as well but I think it's let down by the lyrics and the opera-esque theatrical mood/vocals. Just too melodramatic. A review once described it as Andrew Lloyd Weber-esque which I think is the perfect description.

The one song that came out of nowhere and was a surprise for me was "If the World". It's not perfect (that weird 70's porn riff) but it's a cool little song that flew under the radar a bit. I think it was one of the best songs on CD.

Sorry and ITW are throw away tracks. GN’R is rock n roll man!  Better and Chinese D are the only two tracks on CD really worthy of GNR name and those songs HIT HARD the way GNR should. 

[TheGeneral]

3 hours ago, Gibson87 said:

I was surprised by State of Grace. The version we have still needs to be fleshed out a little more but it's got a good foundation.

Atlas was disappointing though. I don't dislike it, it was just hyped up for years and fell short of my expectations.

I'm of the exact opposite opinion. I think State of Grace is the worst song from the leaks, the vocals are awful and just lumbering along. Atlas on the other hand sounds really good.

Although Atlas, like Street of Dreams, is missing that certain hook. Those songs are bulding up to something and then it just falls flat.

[rumandraisin]

State of Grace lacks a guitar solo. But we don't know how developed it was. That might've been a very early version and maybe Axl laid vocals down over it just while the muse was there. 

[SoulMonster]

I don't think State of Grace needs a solo. I like the guitars as they are. And the vocals in the second half are mind-blowing. Not very easy to hear what he is singing, so a new vocal take would probably be needed.

[©GnrPersia]

1 hour ago, Fozzie Bear said:

Sorry and ITW are throw away tracks. GN’R is rock n roll man!  Better and Chinese D are the only two tracks on CD really worthy of GNR name and those songs HIT HARD the way GNR should. 

I guess you're an AFD fan and probably think GNR had to stay within that album's range of style for subsequent releases. And nothing wrong with your opinion really. Mind you, songs like Estranged, Don't Cry, The Garden are all miles away from AFD as well.

But I personally prefer to see progress in the musicians I follow. In my opinion, we don't need every rock band to follow ACDC's path if you know what I mean. Though it's always cool for a band to revisit the old days every once in a while like Metallica's Death Magnetic.

Edited August 12, 2023 by ©GnrPersia

[jacdaniel]

The problem with hyping songs up for 2 decades is that some people have spent so long waiting that they'll just convince themselves that they love it. 

Others will be disappointed as nothing could ever live up to the hype. 

If "The General" was called something like noodle soup, nobody would even care about it. 

 

A lot of Slash's solo stuff is actually much better than the Guns material. I really think this band could release some awesome music if they just ditched this CD period.

[Fozzie Bear]

1 hour ago, ©GnrPersia said:

I guess you're an AFD fan and probably think GNR had to stay within that album's range of style for subsequent releases. And nothing wrong with your opinion really. Mind you, songs like Estranged, Don't Cry, The Garden are all miles away from AFD as well.

But I personally prefer to see progress in the musicians I follow. In my opinion, we don't need every rock band to follow ACDC's path if you know what I mean. Though it's always cool for a band to revisit the old days every once in a while like Metallica's Death Magnetic.

If by progress you mean an album that flopped and a new musical direction that broke up the band, sure some call that progress, I call it poop. 

[Fozzie Bear]

1 hour ago, SoulMonster said:

I don't think State of Grace needs a solo. I like the guitars as they are. And the vocals in the second half are mind-blowing. Not very easy to hear what he is singing, so a new vocal take would probably be needed.

How the hell are you calling a mumbled mess of vocals “mind-blowing”? You probably think Oh My God is better than Paradise City. Come on…admit…you like shitty songs like State of Grace. 

[Fozzie Bear]

The General is going to be some shitty wanna be Civil War with no Chorus that hooks you like Civil War.   Izzy knew how to make hits and without him all we get are weird songs that meander to nowhere. It worked with Estranged and Coma but hasn’t worked since. 

[pbj_jam]

the world is not ready for these songs, I'm afraid

[twistoflemon21]

'Seemingly close'

You know what band this is, right?

[El Guapo]

18 minutes ago, twistoflemon21 said:

'Seemingly close'

You know what band this is, right?

This!

[SoulMonster]

56 minutes ago, Fozzie Bear said:

How the hell are you calling a mumbled mess of vocals “mind-blowing”? You probably think Oh My God is better than Paradise City. Come on…admit…you like shitty songs like State of Grace. 

I call them mind-blowing because they figuratively blow my mind. The aggression in the vocals in the latter half of the song, and amazing screams at the end, is among the most impressive vocals I have heard from Axl. 

No, I prefer Paradise City to Oh My God. 

Yes, it should be pretty obvious by now that I like State Of Grace. Incredible song. And of course I don't consider it "shitty", which surely blows your mind, or whatever we should call it. 

[©GnrPersia]

1 hour ago, Fozzie Bear said:

If by progress you mean an album that flopped and a new musical direction that broke up the band, sure some call that progress, I call it poop. 

Ok. End of a civil dialogue.

Edited August 12, 2023 by ©GnrPersia

[Trin9498]

What makes anyone think we are closer to the general than we were 25 years ago?

[RONIN]

Oh My God was the best rocker from Chinese Democracy by far. Killer song. Had that old GnR swagger. Lyrics were vintage Axl. Just clean up the demo and remove whatever filter they used for Axl's vocals and it's perfection.

[jamillos]

'Seemingly' is the word, yes.

[SoulMonster]

1 hour ago, Trin9498 said:

What makes anyone think we are closer to the general than we were 25 years ago?

Some people believe it was featured on a setlist. 

[Voodoochild]

Watched a video about the history of this song (it was well made and pretty comprehensive) and it quotes Dizzy talking about The General, saying Brain brought it up “last year”, which would date to 2004 or 2005. Not sure how reliable Dizzy is with those kind of things, but that would indicate that Bucket didn’t actually record for this song as he would have been already out of the band. 

When I learned the riff from that cell-phone recording I immediately thought it was more Robin’s style than Bucket, by the way. 

[SoulMonster]

13 minutes ago, Voodoochild said:

Watched a video about the history of this song (it was well made and pretty comprehensive) and it quotes Dizzy talking about The General, saying Brain brought it up “last year”, which would date to 2004 or 2005. Not sure how reliable Dizzy is with those kind of things, but that would indicate that Bucket didn’t actually record for this song as he would have been already out of the band. 

When I learned the riff from that cell-phone recording I immediately thought it was more Robin’s style than Bucket, by the way. 

Marco Beltrami worked on The General in 2002.