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

[metalavenger99]

One theory i would actually bet money on, is this:

They chose to rework Monsters with Slash to address the fanbase (as crazy as it sounds), the vast majority thought that the cellphone clip was The General, even Fernando vaguely joked about that, right? Think about it, why wouldn't they follow the path of Absurd and HS and just go for Atlas + Perhaps? Why would they specifically chose to release what was considered the holy grail and then its "follow up" which is actually a completely different song??? They could've saved themselves from the risk of messing up like this, and people would still be excited about another EP like the one we had in 2021... But it was a smart move to capitalize on the hype while pleasing the hardcores, (the 9 min mashup on youtube quickly reached like 7k views on YT before it was taken down, so no, while the vinyl money could be insignificant next to the NITL cash, it's not only 34 forum nerds the only ones who care about this). 

So, Monsters was the one meant to be released as a vinyl only hidden track after TG. Similar to "Her Majesty" on Abbey Road, it was going to start playing after some weird seconds of silence... this, as a nod to the hardcore fanbase (with the obvious main objective of selling the shit out of it, that as the end goal all along, of course). It was found out not too long ago that it was registered as "The General and Monsters" but they probably didn't wanted to give that away too soon, and that's why it was never listed as that on the official store, for like 2 months or so, maybe a month and a half ...

Enough time for Rock Radio Italy, which got that info (likely incomplete and not detailed), and since The General was the only track listed across all of the GNR official media and stores, they put out the exclusive news that The General was actually going to be released as a vinyl only track, never to be released on digital formats.

That's basically it, this could be one explanation for all of that i guess.

So what happened days prior to the 27th? That's where the other possibility may come into action here... the quality was a disaster and they tried to backup and get rid of Monsters and save it for a next release, but someone got it before they could follow trough without us knowing, it was too late.  

Now, if we only get The General on streaming services without the hidden track or without Monsters as a playable song next to it... then i'll be even more confident about this 👍

[gavgnr]

^^Great post

[22frets]

34 minutes ago, metalavenger99 said:

One theory i would actually bet money on, is this:

They chose to rework Monsters with Slash to address the fanbase (as crazy as it sounds), the vast majority thought that the cellphone clip was The General, even Fernando vaguely joked about that, right? Think about it, why wouldn't they follow the path of Absurd and HS and just go for Atlas + Perhaps? Why would they specifically chose to release what was considered the holy grail and then its "follow up" which is actually a completely different song??? They could've saved themselves from the risk of messing up like this, and people would still be excited about another EP like the one we had in 2021... But it was a smart move to capitalize on the hype while pleasing the hardcores, (the 9 min mashup on youtube quickly reached like 7k views on YT before it was taken down, so no, while the vinyl money could be insignificant next to the NITL cash, it's not only 34 forum nerds the only ones who care about this). 

So, Monsters was the one meant to be released as a vinyl only hidden track after TG. Similar to "Her Majesty" on Abbey Road, it was going to start playing after some weird seconds of silence... this, as a nod to the hardcore fanbase (with the obvious main objective of selling the shit out of it, that as the end goal all along, of course). It was found out not too long ago that it was registered as "The General and Monsters" but they probably didn't wanted to give that away too soon, and that's why it was never listed as that on the official store, for like 2 months or so, maybe a month and a half ...

Enough time for Rock Radio Italy, which got that info (likely incomplete and not detailed), and since The General was the only track listed across all of the GNR official media and stores, they put out the exclusive news that The General was actually going to be released as a vinyl only track, never to be released on digital formats.

That's basically it, this could be one explanation for all of that i guess.

So what happened days prior to the 27th? That's where the other possibility may come into action here... the quality was a disaster and they tried to backup and get rid of Monsters and save it for a next release, but someone got it before they could follow trough without us knowing, it was too late.  

Now, if we only get The General on streaming services without the hidden track or without Monsters as a playable song next to it... then i'll be even more confident about this 👍

This is the theory that makes the most sense so far! 

[Silence]

2 hours ago, Blackstar said:

Another possibility is that they originally intended to release them together (probably with Monsters as a hidden track) and that's why they were registered together, but then they found out that the quality on the 7'' was very low, so they sent it again for pressing without Monsters.

Its too bad we will not get a lengthy convoluted explanation from Axl about this piece of art.

[uzi your illusion]

1 hour ago, 22frets said:

To be honest, Slash goes pretty nuts on the outro solo of TG. I don't blame the untrained ear for thinking that it's Bucket. 

Hope he plays something similar live going forward. I really need to figure out what the heck he's doing so I can learn it myself. 

The outro is something completely different, but the rest of the parts are almost the same. 

So weird for him to play something totally different from what's recorded, if in fact what we have is the official version. It's not like Estranged or some of the others that he's probably a bit tired of playing note for note. Lends more credence to the possibility that the version we've heard might be Bucket?!

[WhazUp]

9 minutes ago, uzi your illusion said:

So weird for him to play something totally different from what's recorded, if in fact what we have is the official version. It's not like Estranged or some of the others that he's probably a bit tired of playing note for note. Lends more credence to the possibility that the version we've heard might be Bucket?!

I say this with what Ringo calls "peace and love" - it is Slash for God sakes, there is no way they would release a new single in 2023, with Slash in the band for 7 years, with a song where the lead is from a dude who has been out of the band for 19 years

The outro solo on TG is nothing really crucial to the melody, unlike the main solos to November Rain for example, its just Slash doing his thing and going crazy.  And the studio version was probably him just laying down various takes of him going crazy on the solo and them picking the coolest sounding take anyway - it wasn't a solo Slash wrote down on paper and thought out ahead of time

Edited November 3, 2023 by WhazUp

[22frets]

1 minute ago, uzi your illusion said:

So weird for him to play something totally different from what's recorded, if in fact what we have is the official version. It's not like Estranged or some of the others that he's probably a bit tired of playing note for note. Lends more credence to the possibility that the version we've heard might be Bucket?!

Not this again 

It's not unusual for Slash to improvise his solos live. He hardly plays his solos note-for-note. What he played today followed a similar theme to the one in the recording and was only missing all the shreddy parts. He probably recorded it so long ago that he couldn't remember the exact notes and just winged it on the spot. 

[ZoSoRose]

Fucking Axl admitted he hadn’t sang the song since spring. Like bro, come on 

[AxlRoseCDII]

21 minutes ago, ZoSoRose said:

Fucking Axl admitted he hadn’t sang the song since spring. Like bro, come on 

He said during the debut of Perhaps he doesn’t know how to sing it. I guess he must think it’s cool to admit to thousands of paying fans you didn’t practice.

[jacdaniel]

The real reason that people are desperate for it not to be Slash is because they’re dying to bitch and moan that Slash butchered it. 
 

And it all stems from the fact that they hate that Slash is back in the band and it’s more popular than before. It makes things even worse that Axls voice is no longer holding up and the general public see Slash as the star of the show

 So they feel this constant need to put Slash down again and again. Sad 

[betterman]

So what happens next? 

They debuted a new song on the tours last stop, will there be a video and digital release?

Will Monsters be the released on another product/single/EP/Album? 

Of tracks we know of, Atlas Shrugged might be the most commercial sounding (based on what I think Slash will add to the track)

Will there be radio silence until a new tour is announced or will they keep releasing songs while being off the road - it really doesnt matter as they dont do interviews, press and promotion either way - just touring

[THELINESMAN]

I think the General sounds much better live than in the studio leak we have heard. Axl really goes for the rasp in the chorus and it improves it so much. Suits the heavier sound. I hope the final version we get has raspy chorus like that. Well done last night Guns! How weird though that they didn’t play Monsters 🤔

[uzi your illusion]

51 minutes ago, WhazUp said:

I say this with what Ringo calls "peace and love" - it is Slash for God sakes, there is no way they would release a new single in 2023, with Slash in the band for 7 years, with a song where the lead is from a dude who has been out of the band for 19 years

The outro solo on TG is nothing really crucial to the melody, unlike the main solos to November Rain for example, its just Slash doing his thing and going crazy.  And the studio version was probably him just laying down various takes of him going crazy on the solo and them picking the coolest sounding take anyway - it wasn't a solo Slash wrote down on paper and thought out ahead of time

I dont think it makes sense either to release something with Bucket. I think it's possible though that what we heard is an older version that was leaked by someone who figured that the value of the track they had would plummet once Guns released the finalized track officially. I don't think that's totally out of the realm of possibility. For the record, I love Slash and couldn't be happier to have him back. Just throwing out possibilities. 

 

 

[Jw224]

Would suck if Monsters was actually gonna be on there and they took it off. 

[Towelie]

Just put it on streaming already.

[F*ck Fear]

1 minute ago, Towelie said:

Just put it on streaming already.

Monsters preferably.

[Towelie]

Just now, F*ck Fear said:

Monsters preferably.

Prefer The General tbh.

[rumandraisin]

1 hour ago, betterman said:

So what happens next? 

They debuted a new song on the tours last stop, will there be a video and digital release?

Will Monsters be the released on another product/single/EP/Album? 

Of tracks we know of, Atlas Shrugged might be the most commercial sounding (based on what I think Slash will add to the track)

Will there be radio silence until a new tour is announced or will they keep releasing songs while being off the road - it really doesnt matter as they dont do interviews, press and promotion either way - just touring

Atlas and Monsters in 2025 maybe?

[bangit]

The theory that Monsters would be a hidden track is probably most likely. They were always separate songs but do go well together and would be great back to back album tracks. The evidence clearly points that that being the intention. (Registration of the song + quality comment from GNR + the leak of both at the same point etc) 

Let's hope this still happens on the vinyl although it could certainly have been pulled and we just get TG. (just get 🤣) 

Really interesting to see what happens with this next month. If Monsters isn't released then when the fuck will we see that dropped officially!? Could be a long wait. 

[F*ck Fear]

10 minutes ago, Towelie said:

Prefer The General tbh.

Fair enough!

I'd be let down if they don't release a high quality version of Monsters, though.

[Lies They Tell]

Wow, I didn't really have big expectations since the first performances of Hard Skool and Perhaps were pretty terrible.

This sounded much better than I expected. A pretty good performance honestly. I love that video where the guy shouts "Axl, play us The General" and then right after that Axl goes, "Okay, we're going to try a new song" That must've been a special moment!

[rumandraisin]

8 hours ago, evilfacelessturtle said:

You TWAT...

Brain said they were eating "General's Chicken". WTF is that? Does he mean General Tso's chicken? I've never heard of a brand named General's chicken.

Honestly, I bet Axl just kept it because it sounded cool and the lack of connection to the lyrics makes it mysterious. He said he chose the name Chinese Democracy because it just sounded cool. Or like "Elvis Presley and the Monster of Soul". Did anyone really think there were going to be lyrics about Elvis Presley?

Yes General Tso's. 

And I guess the Elvis bit was like Jackie Chan, just a silly working title. 

 

[KIKOZ3]

1 hour ago, jacdaniel said:

The real reason that people are desperate for it not to be Slash is because they’re dying to bitch and moan that Slash butchered it. 
 

And it all stems from the fact that they hate that Slash is back in the band and it’s more popular than before. It makes things even worse that Axls voice is no longer holding up and the general public see Slash as the star of the show

 So they feel this constant need to put Slash down again and again. Sad 

There is no Guns n Roses without Axl.

Without Slash it existed for years.

Let $lash play the barbie song.

 

sucker

[DarkLotus1111]

That was a great performance. However; that video animation in the background during the song was god awful. 

Edited November 3, 2023 by DarkLotus1111

[Rovim]

4 minutes ago, KIKOZ3 said:

There is no Guns n Roses without Axl.

Without Slash it existed for years.

Let $lash play the barbie song.

 

sucker

it existed, but the numbers speak for themselves, it wasn't anything close to the success they've enjoyed pre new Guns or post reunion. Most people never wanted a Gn'R without Slash and that's not surprising as he always was a huge part of the sound, the material, the image of Gn'R, etc.