"The General" is officially delayed... but "The General" AND "Monsters" is (unofficially) out of the bag

[Blackstar]

33 minutes ago, rebeldhipi said:

I wonder what happened with Pitman actually, i feel like those tweets came after he was fired.

Maybe it was a Paul Tobias situation where they had a fight and Slash/Duff were like its either us or him.

Or maybe it was purely Axl that got fedup with him after some attitude about doing a reunion instead of a new album.

Many rumours about what transpired there.

But regarding the timeline, there was a near two-month gap between his passive-aggressive tweets (about being told by management to not mention Coachella) and his "nostalgia money grab" post. The "money grab" post was in late February 2016 and he apologized for it about a week later. Brain said that he got the call from Caram about Melissa right after Pitman was fired. According to Melissa, that happened in March and as a result she had little time to learn the songs. So I believe there were ongoing issues with Pitman and he either had been fired right before the "money grab" post or that post was the last straw that got him fired.

Edited August 22, 2023 by Blackstar

[Sosso]

32 minutes ago, rebeldhipi said:

I wonder what happened with Pitman actually, i feel like those tweets came after he was fired.

Maybe it was a Paul Tobias situation where they had a fight and Slash/Duff were like its either us or him.

Or maybe it was purely Axl that got fedup with him after some attitude about doing a reunion instead of a new album.

He had a fallout with Duff at the rehearsals and he would constantly make "noise" with his synthesizers. They got into a fist fight after the tweets. Duff won, Pitman was out.

Edited August 22, 2023 by Sosso

[Voodoochild]

1 hour ago, Sosso said:

He had a fallout with Duff at the rehearsals and he would constantly make "noise" with his synthesizers. They got into a fist fight after the tweets. Duff won, Pitman was out.

Is there a source for that? I do remember some rumors about Pitman not getting along with them. 

[AxlRoseCDII]

I’m not sure I buy the fist fight story. Would be hilarious if true though.

[AtlasIllusions]

On 8/18/2023 at 8:32 AM, Seb91 said:

 

[agustingloger]

It Will be released on streaming services too Right?

[Gunner55]

18 minutes ago, agustingloger said:

It Will be released on streaming services too Right?

I would hope so. I still haven't heard the live tracks from the Hard Skool EP cuz they aren't in streaming services. Now obviously those don't hold the grandeur of The General so I don't have as much a desire to seek them out. But General better hit streaming services. 

My opinion, as it's seemingly been on a setlist, it's gotta be available when it releases. 

[Alejandro GNR]

The may start rehearsing it as well any minute now

[drlaban]

3 hours ago, Alejandro GNR said:

The may start rehearsing it as well any minute now

Just like Axl rehearsing Perhaps?

[WhazUp]

8 hours ago, rebeldhipi said:

I wonder what happened with Pitman actually, i feel like those tweets came after he was fired.

Maybe it was a Paul Tobias situation where they had a fight and Slash/Duff were like its either us or him.

Or maybe it was purely Axl that got fedup with him after some attitude about doing a reunion instead of a new album.

Maybe Pitman just ended up... throwing in the towel.... so to speak 

 

 

[rumandraisin]

12 hours ago, Blackstar said:

Many rumours about what transpired there.

But regarding the timeline, there was a near two-month gap between his passive-aggressive tweets (about being told by management to not mention Coachella) and his "nostalgia money grab" post. The "money grab" post was in late February 2016 and he apologized for it about a week later. Brain said that he got the call from Caram about Melissa right after Pitman was fired. According to Melissa, that happened in March and as a result she had little time to learn the songs. So I believe there were ongoing issues with Pitman and he either had been fired right before the "money grab" post or that post was the last straw that got him fired.

It's not a stretch of the imagination to see where he was coming from though. 16 years with the band and suddenly Axl goes down the nostalgia cash grab route. 

[allwaystired]

Doesn't look like a CD is coming does it?

Anyone seen/heard anything? Gutted if it doesn't. I want The General in CD quality! 

 

Edited August 23, 2023 by allwaystired

[vloors]

13 hours ago, Blackstar said:

Many rumours about what transpired there.

But regarding the timeline, there was a near two-month gap between his passive-aggressive tweets (about being told by management to not mention Coachella) and his "nostalgia money grab" post. The "money grab" post was in late February 2016 and he apologized for it about a week later. Brain said that he got the call from Caram about Melissa right after Pitman was fired. According to Melissa, that happened in March and as a result she had little time to learn the songs. So I believe there were ongoing issues with Pitman and he either had been fired right before the "money grab" post or that post was the last straw that got him fired.

From what I remember Pittman also claimed he wasnt being paid for previous work and sued Axl the same year.

[jacdaniel]

I'm looking forward to hearing this one but I actually sympathise a bit with the song. 

The expectations are huge. It has been described as epic and linked to Estranged by people with great intentions but possibly a little over excited. 

The title itself sounds epic but I believe it's actually linked to Chinese food  Was maybe a working title that kind of stuck when it leaked. I don't believe it's about a General at all. 

If it is really about child abuse and some of the rumoured lyrics are true... It's going to be very heavy and not so relatable for a lot of people.

Doesn't mean it won't be a good song though. 

[Cosmo]

17 hours ago, pentatonicamenor said:

Slash is Guns N' Roses.

Nope. SMKC is the living proof he's not.

[Rovim]

1 minute ago, Cosmo said:

Nope. SMKC is the living proof he's not.

Guns N' Roses is Guns N' Roses. It was always the type of band where every classic member was a piece of the puzzle, of the sound and personality of the band. Even after Steven left it sounded different.

[rebeldhipi]

1 hour ago, allwaystired said:

Doesn't look like a CD is coming does it?

Anyone seen/heard anything? Gutted if it doesn't. I want The General in CD quality! 

 

I take it as a good sign for more new music (Atlas) coming soon.

Absurd didnt get a physical release until Hard Skool was announced. Probably same here.

Vinyl for Perhaps / The General. Then release Atlas Shrugged with either a live track as the vinyl b-side or even a 4th new song. Then release a ep on cd with all the new stuff.

[jacdaniel]

18 minutes ago, Rovim said:

Guns N' Roses is Guns N' Roses. It was always the type of band where every classic member was a piece of the puzzle, of the sound and personality of the band. Even after Steven left it sounded different.

So true and sad that hardcore fans forget it. Together they were greater than the sum of their parts. 

After 93 but definitely 96 Guns became more just Axl and have struggled as a creative entity ever since. 

[Rovim]

1 minute ago, jacdaniel said:

So true and sad that hardcore fans forget it. Together they were greater than the sum of their parts. 

After 93 but definitely 96 Guns became more just Axl and have struggled as a creative entity ever since. 

I don't know if they struggled as a creative entity as a whole. Maybe it was more Axl overthinking it cause judging by the 2019 leaks, they had enough quality material (imo) that they could have released not long after the lineup with Sorum was over.

[Grayfox]

Maybe this is also Axls way of getting the band onto the same page. Axl had the reconstructed Guns record AFD. Maybes he’s done the same for the new material in order to go forward. 

[Blackstar]

1 hour ago, rumandraisin said:

It's not a stretch of the imagination to see where he was coming from though. 16 years with the band and suddenly Axl goes down the nostalgia cash grab route. 

It wasn't that sudden though. NuGN'R 2011-14 was a nostalgia touring band but without the original players. And the reunion probably wasn't so sudden either. Although in late 2014-first half of 2015 Axl was supposedly planning on releasing CD2, it's hard to say that it would have been indeed released in 2016 if it weren't for the reunion - I strongly doubt it, personally.

What was probably "sudden" and unpleasant for Pitman was that his leverage and position in the band's hierarchy changed as soon as Slash and Duff were back, and the focus was only on the "big three". He was one of the longest serving NuGN'R members and suddenly had to deal with the fact that Slash and Duff were now his "bosses", too.

"This is a nostalgia tour. Please don't mention those who are there the last 20 fucking years ... oh god no!! ... (a money grab) FU."

So I think that the bolded part was his main problem and not nostalgia. Richard, Frank and even Dizzy adjusted and took it for what it was, Pitman didn't.

1 hour ago, vloors said:

From what I remember Pittman also claimed he wasnt being paid for previous work and sued Axl the same year.

Yes, he sued Axl later that year.

[Blackstar]

As for the discussion about who/what is Guns N' Roses and the sound of GN'R, opinions differ among hardcore fans. For some it's Axl that makes it GN'R, so his presence is enough. For others it's Slash, for others it's not GN'R without Izzy or the AFD 5.

But it's an undeniable fact that for the majority of fans and people in general out there, the sound of GN'R is Axl's signature high-pitched voice and Slash's guitar tone. Slash's guitar tone with GN'R is equally distinctive as Axl's voice - you can tell it's Slash. And that's why, although the Illusions were stylistically, in part, a biggest departure from AFD than CD was from that part of Illusions (the stylistic distance between Estranged or Coma and AFD was bigger than the distance between Estranged and TWAT), Illusions were still GN'R to the vast majority of people, while CD wasn't.

[Lies They Tell]

On 8/22/2023 at 5:26 AM, Ak1nney said:

What makes The General the holy grail of what we haven't heard? I didn't think a demo had even leaked. One thing I know though... If people are building it up to be this epic, best CD-era song ever, they are bound to set themselves up to be disappointed. High expectations are RARELY ever met.

There's a few reasons why some consider it the holy grail of unreleased GNR music. For starters it's one of the three A-listed CD-era songs that Marco Beltrami worked on. So we know that it's considered a "big gun". The other two songs that we know are A-listed according to Sp1at are Seven and Soulmonster.

People who have heard it have praised it including Dizzy who said: "last year Brain had this song called "The General" that was really cool".

Brain himself who said: "it's an awesome jam... i hope it's released soon!!!!!! [...] it will come out... the shits to good!!!!!"

Sebastian Bach said: "one of my favorite songs is this song called "The General", which is so… it's by far the heaviest metal tune I think Ι've ever heard Axl do, this slow, grinding riff with these high, piercing vocals, screaming vocals."

Accrording to The Rolling Stones Bach also said that the General would be a sequel to Estranged, but there's a good reason to believe that might be a missquote.

Anyway, most recently Fernando said: "Perhaps is a great song; the General is a monster"

GNR also used to use the orchestral part of The General as an intro to their concerts. You don't tease people with tiny bits of an unreleased song unless you're proud of the song.

The song was played at some GNR after party and we've heard a cellphone clip of it. It sounds cool.

So yeah, there's many reasons to be hyped for the song. Personally I'm hyped because it doesn't sound like anything that we've heard from GNR before. It's dark and epic with an orchestra. The fact that it's different alone makes me want to hear it.

But you're right, if you hype something up too much, it's probably going to dissapoint. That kinda happened to me with Prostitute back in the day. Prostitute used to be an extremely hyped song, so for me it couldn't possibly live up to the hype.

Still, I consider Prositute to be a very good song. And that's enough. I'm Happy if The General is "only" a very good song.

[Stro]

Bach also called Sorry "doom metal" so I don't think he should be used as an accurate representation of any unreleased track.

[AxlRoseCDII]

12 hours ago, agustingloger said:

It Will be released on streaming services too Right?

I believe Fernando implied it would be. Someone asked on Reddit and he said “Perhaps”. My guess is it will be released still like how Absurd and Hard Skool were.