THE GENERAL - MONSTERS - Official Discussion Thread. NO LINKS OR ASKING FOR LINKS

[dave94]

54 minutes ago, Miden34 said:

Also like we ALLLLLL keep saying, the registration came out for "The General and Monsters" 5 days before we got the leak. On a legal document, the two entities would need to be listed as sperate. "the General" and "Monsters". not "The General and Monsters". if its registered as one phrase, its one song. thats just legal fact. 

no. i dont wanna listen to all of the general to listen to monsters. i dont .like the general half much

The copyright / licensing filing is interesting because if it is actually “The General and Monsters” why was it explicitly listed and sold on the vinyl as “The General”?

I don’t think we can conclusively say yet if it’s one song “The General and Monsters” or two songs “The General” and “Monsters”. Maybe even both and either format can be used interchangeably based on the desired purpose at the time? If they are one song then there would need to be a better bridge between them, which we haven’t heard yet on the leaks.

 

Edited October 28, 2023 by dave94

[DoMw94]

14 minutes ago, gnrjanus said:

So. What song is the general? 

Leave me alone? Perhaps...

The General! 🤦‍♂️

[Miden34]

17 minutes ago, gnrjanus said:

So. What song is the general? 

Leave me alone? Perhaps...

maybe we have been listening to the in the wrong order. trying listening to them with monsters first then the general second. it almost sounds better. the wind down at the end of monsters makes it fit perfect

the songs we got are the general. its all one track. 

Edited October 28, 2023 by Miden34

[Flayer]

So what, if anything, from the Me & My Elvis demo actually made it into Monsters? Maybe I just haven’t listened closely enough, but they sound nothing like each other.

[Jakey Styley]

Gotta say I’m surprised to see people ragging on the General “daddy don’t” lyrics - we’ve known this song was about abuse for a while, and the lyrics SHOULD make you uncomfortable. Most musicians would never even write on such a dark and vulnerable subject.

 

I do think the chorus lyrics are weak in that it’s not clear what he’s trying to say, the whole “and the, and the, and” thing sucks

[JimiRose]

10 minutes ago, Cosmo said:

Your logic depends on:

- Really believing it got delayed because of "sound quality"

- Thinking they'd actually lose a significant amount of money by leaking the track

- Not taking into consideration the fact the problem was "leaking" out of the hardcore fanbase, and taking over their social media and communication channels

- Not considering the fact the vinyl was put on pre-order for months, and could have been likely almost sold out, or selling quickly

- Not considering the fact people were cancelling their orders and this could turn things around

The reason you think it's so dumb is because you're not capable of analysing the situation in an intelligent manner.

Good lord. you're making yourself sound like an idiot. Stand down champ. It's over. you said your theory. your theory is stupid and moronic to anyone who knows anything about this band. Move on. You are trying to argue that the sun is cold. 

[Blackstar]

1 minute ago, Flayer said:

So what, if anything, from the Me & My Elvis demo actually made it into Monsters? Maybe I just haven’t listened closely enough, but they sound nothing like each other.

Because it turns out that Me and My Elvis most likely wasn't Soul Monster but another song.

[JimiRose]

8 minutes ago, Underhardy said:

The vocal minority saying this is better than ‘blues based cock rock,” is.. absurd.. a song about daddy and another Seymour song presumably about how she hurt and abused him emotionally… the lyrics to monster are fucking cringe. The rasp part lyrics are cringe. It’s clear why these stayed on the shelf for so long.. instrumentals are epic… Axl not so much.

Ah yes, this song is so cringey, but its so easy, sweet child of mine and november rain arent.... are you a troll or a gnr fan? The general and mosters is visceral, it's real. those other songs are throwaway lyrics to write a pop song, or a love song, or to look hard. You can like them, but to many in 2023 those songs are cringey. 

[Cosmo]

1 minute ago, JimiRose said:

Good lord. you're making yourself sound like an idiot. Stand down champ. It's over. you said your theory. your theory is stupid and moronic to anyone who knows anything about this band. Move on. You are trying to argue that the sun is cold. 

So aggressive, so mad, wow. He's pissed, guys! Watch out!

You're incapable of actually arguing the facts so this is what you end up writing: dumbed down, illogical, ad hominem 3rd grade name calling 

[Free Bird]

3 hours ago, Agattuso said:

Imagine the U turns people gotta do if song released on December, and it's a different version while people been  praising Slash playing on this leak 

But people praise this version and this is Slash. Pretty simple.

[The Matinator]

So i just looked up Gravedancer on the credits sight & its listed separately from Don't Drop tbat Dime. Then i remembered DDTD is actually a hidden track on two different songs (its on the end of Gas & a Dollar Laugh on the Japanese CD) so its not the best example. Im pretty tired so I'm drawing a blank on other hidden tracks which are not separated on an album lol.

Edited October 28, 2023 by The Matinator

[Flayer]

1 minute ago, Blackstar said:

Because it turns out that Me and My Elvis most likely wasn't Soul Monster but another song.

I agree. We should probably stop putting so much faith in these random info bytes we’ve gotten from band members and so on over the years. They’ve got dozens of these unfinished tracks with constantly changing working titles floating around, and they were all built up out of separately recorded bits and pieces. I don’t even think Axl himself could keep all of it straight. 

[metalavenger99]

I'm a little disappointed now that apparently Soul Monster was just a part of The General. 

I never had a doubt about the Elvis instrumental being the same as Soul Monster. And i always thought that people that said that it was pure speculation were full of shit. 

Mainly because of the "Our most Sabbath moment yet" quote. Axl mentioned once that he got into Black Sabbath because of Technical Ecstasy, and that album is not as heavy or dark as previous work by Sabbath, and you even have the organ in some tracks. So the Elvis instrumental kind of matches with those 2 clues. At least it did for me but i've never posted about it.

But all of that was just my own theory anyway. It's very hard to argue now against Monsters being Soul Monster now, the words soul and monster are mentioned during the song, it has the mean bridge, and yeah you can still say it's similar to Black Sabbath. 

I still believe that the Elvis instrumental had the potential of an epic or at least a great song. I hope he recorded vocals for it. 

[Axl Rose aka God]

I think what I really wanna know now is what Axl meant when he told us that we may have heard parts of it it before, regarding The General. 

[Blackstar]

5 minutes ago, Flayer said:

I agree. We should probably stop putting so much faith in these random info bytes we’ve gotten from band members and so on over the years. They’ve got dozens of these unfinished tracks with constantly changing working titles floating around, and they were all built up out of separately recorded bits and pieces. I don’t even think Axl himself could keep all of it straight. 

Me and My Elvis being Soul Monster wasn't even based on something a band member or a source said. It was just speculation (or educated guess) from fans based mainly on the fact that it had "Elvis" in the title and on the assumption that every rumoured song must be in the Village discs under another name. And then the speculation somehow turned into confirmed "fact".

Edited October 28, 2023 by Blackstar

[Free Bird]

3 hours ago, kitstuai said:

Have you thought about the fact slash isn't playing on any of these 2 tracks. But since we don't know when this recording was made, we want to believe he's on them. 

How long do you listen to GNR? Its unmistakably him. His tone, his playing. It's not a song recorded back in 93 (wtf really ) it's a song recorded during the reunion era with existing vocals and drums from the CD era.

[Flayer]

2 minutes ago, Axl Rose aka God said:

I think what I really wanna know now is what Axl meant when he told us that we may have heard parts of it it before, regarding The General. 

The orchestra track that was played as a concert intro. It’s in the background throughout the song.

[DingBat]

3 minutes ago, Axl Rose aka God said:

I think what I really wanna know now is what Axl meant when he told us that we may have heard parts of it it before, regarding The General. 

It's the instrumental intro they used to play before shows. It's no great mystery.

[The Matinator]

4 minutes ago, metalavenger99 said:

I'm a little disappointed now that apparently Soul Monster was just a part of The General. 

I never had a doubt about the Elvis instrumental being the same as Soul Monster. And i always thought that people that said that it was pure speculation were full of shit. 

Mainly because of the "Our most Sabbath moment yet" quote. Axl mentioned once that he got into Black Sabbath because of Technical Ecstasy, and that album is not as heavy or dark as previous work by Sabbath, and you even have the organ in some tracks. So the Elvis instrumental kind of matches with those 2 clues. At least it did for me but i've never posted about it.

But all of that was just my own theory anyway. It's very hard to argue now against Monsters being Soul Monster now, the words soul and monster are mentioned during the song, it has the mean bridge, and yeah you can still say it's similar to Black Sabbath. 

I still believe that the Elvis instrumental had the potential of an epic or at least a great song. I hope he recorded vocals for it. 

I didn't think of that but Monsters definitely has the feel of Technical Ecstasy. Axls vocals on the verses also remind me of Ozzy. I thought that in my first couple listens before i made the connection that it could be Soul Monster.

[Rindmelon]

If you isolate the vocals so you get the instrumental too it's even clearer that it's Slash

[Free Bird]

3 hours ago, Agattuso said:

We are all making educated guess here.

Street of Dreams and This I Love have solos that sounds in my ears more Slash like than Absurd. So?

No

[Caught_in_a_Coma]

Monster feels like a perfect ending song for an album or EP.  The way it rides out.

[Cosmo]

1 minute ago, Axl Rose aka God said:

I think what I really wanna know now is what Axl meant when he told us that we may have heard parts of it it before, regarding The General. 

It's probably the concert intro, that consisted of parts of The General and of Monsters, specifically the part that starts at 0:51 and ends at 1:30 as well as the part that starts at 2:49. As for Monsters, it's the main orchestral section of the song

[D..]

I'm 100% positive it's Slash playing all over the two parts. It's not Bucket or Finck. I wish it was either because that would mean we would get another version and that those two tracks are the originals. But they are not. They are reworked versions with Slash & Duff.

On the Vienna phone recording, the guitar is very very different. I think Evader can confirm this, he clearly knows that phone recording better than any of us here.

I still wish we get the original versions at some point.

I tried to fuse the two tracks together, it doesn't really work, but I can see them putting a pause in the vinyl release. Those two tracks are clearly meant to work together.  Marco Beltrami's score is used on both tracks, and the lyrics are linked. I guess both songs are "The General". Part I & Part II.

Monsters does sound like what I expected of a title like "Soul Monster" but I have no idea. I don't recall Soul Monster being linked to The General, I recall Soul Monster being its own thing. Monsters definitely is the Part II of The General. Maybe it's Soul Monster too, who knows!

I'm pretty positive those two tracks will be the versions we get on a vinyl, but with a better mix.

I guess whoever leaked those songs yesterday saw a lot of hardcore fans complaining and it was a gift to make people stop complaining. Just a guess. I don't think it's a hoarder given it's Slash playing and not an antique demo. So I thank them VERY much.

Those two tracks, "The General and Monsters" are a work of Art.

Call me crazy, it's already in my top 3 from Gn'R. Could make it to 1 (1. Coma, 2. TWAT), time will tell.

Thanks so much to Axl for never letting go and giving so much of himself in those two tracks. I need to see them again live and need to thank Axl again in person.

 

 

 

[TrixAreForKids]

I think the consensus is that it’s Slash playing on Monsters. If it’s not, kudo’s for whomever tried to mimick his style, you got me!