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

[allwaystired]

50 minutes ago, Stay.Of.Execution said:

i think they used microsoft paint for the vinyl

 

Fucking hell that's poor. 

Who designs this shit? I'm honestly stunned by that. 

[Mustard Tiger]

So my vinyl just arrived. Special shout-out to whoever sent the manufacturers a thumbnail of the artwork instead of the full file. It's a pixelated potato-quality mess. 

[GNR_RNR]

Really like the General, it’s like the Coma of the CD era. Really heavy. 
 

definitely sounds better than the leak/demo but that may just be a fidelity thing. 

[GNRRHCP98]

56 minutes ago, DSTK said:

Blame the record label. Not the band 

Yeah, it’s def a record label issue… or just a problem with modern pressings in general. QC in the vinyl realm is hit-or-miss in a mass production age… you should see some of the records I’ve stumbled upon, more egregious qualms than this (although I’ll admit this is still pretty darn disappointing.)
 

 

[colonizedmind]

52 minutes ago, Spoon87 said:

Don't get your hopes up.

What do you mean? Uncle Axl of course is delivering us a 25/12 present...surely 😸

[ChineseDemocracy2004]

Friends, correct me if I'm wrong but was The General described as a "Big Gun?"

[Rindmelon]

5 minutes ago, Mustard Tiger said:

So my vinyl just arrived. Special shout-out to whoever sent the manufacturers a thumbnail of the artwork instead of the full file. It's a pixelated potato-quality mess. 

Yeah mine just arrived, same. It's a sad state of affairs that on the extremely rare instance they are able/choose to release something they still find a way to fuck it up.

I bet the text on the magic 8 balls are crisp and high res though.

Unlike many i really like the song, but like many feel it is hampered by clipping. I can't justify financially supporting this shit anymore. Lions led by fucking chimps.

 

[Rovim]

Just now, ChineseDemocracy2004 said:

Friends, correct me if I'm wrong but was The General described as a "Big Gun?"

I don't think so. I believe that all Axl said was that the Chinese tunes that new Gn'R played live in early 2000's before tha album dropped weren't the big guns (the blues, madagascar, riad, Chinese, silkworms)

[Draguns]

It's an ok song. I get why Axl did the vocal effects, but it does take away from the song. For me, this is an average song. I prefer Monsters over The General. 

[IzzysMissy]

38 minutes ago, janrichmond said:

I listened to it just now (with really good headphones) and WOW! 

It sounds like shit. I rate it lower than anything they've released. Ever.

💩

lol be careful with your opinions here 🤣

[allwaystired]

20 minutes ago, Rindmelon said:

Yeah mine just arrived, same. It's a sad state of affairs that on the extremely rare instance they are able/choose to release something they still find a way to fuck it up.

I bet the text on the magic 8 balls are crisp and high res though.

Unlike many i really like the song, but like many feel it is hampered by clipping. I can't justify financially supporting this shit anymore. Lions led by fucking chimps.

 

I feel the same. Glad I cancelled my vinyl order and no way will I be ordering it again, especially given what people are saying about it on here. 

 

[kingcanyon]

42 minutes ago, janrichmond said:

I listened to it just now (with really good headphones) and WOW! 

It sounds like shit. I rate it lower than anything they've released. Ever.

💩

My world exitis still

[Lethalis]

Anyways... while we're here, complaining about bad mixes and MS Paint quality vinyl art, Sebastian Bach has released a single with Todd Kerns on bass and a complete video:

How is it possible that Bach can pull this off, but a huge band as GnR can't?

The song's fine as well. Sure, it's a bit tacky, but still brought a smile on my face.

Edited December 8, 2023 by Lethalis

[Zeppelin]

1 hour ago, Dacroix said:

When I listen to "Absurd", "Hard Skool" and "The General", all I think about is what a great album "Chinese Democracy" is. Maybe it's Axl's master plan to get us to value CD...who knows?

Seriously, the mystique of Guns N' Roses is over. There is nothing. There is no master plan, there is no masterpiece, there is no Axl's Vault, there is nothing. It's all a big farce that we ourselves helped maintain all these years by posting on a forum.

I agree. There was always that mystique that they were sitting on gold, but this stuff is not it. Not for me, at least. I still think the leaks are neat and show the energy of what was recorded at the time, but these glued-together songs are beyond disappointing. They are shells of what they once were. If GNR wanted to really re-work these and suck all the life and soul out of them with this new lineup, well, they succeeded.

Some will say we were never meant to hear the leaks and blah blah. But, they're there. In reality, they sound like products of their time, and they're all the better for it. These new Frankenstein songs, with parts thrown in and mashed up, with newer (and much shittier!) production values? They're the epitome of deflating.

Maybe they'll release Monsters sometime next September and we can have close to half a new album by 2025.

[Rovim]

4 minutes ago, IzzysMissy said:

lol be careful with your opinions here 🤣

knowing the difference between opinions and facts is a great skill to have in life. Something you seem to lack. @janrichmond is never shy when it comes to expressing her opinions, but she also never tried to pass her opinion as fact which makes her not annoying.

[El Guapo]

3 minutes ago, kingcanyon said:

My world exitis still

My World is so much better than this in every way.

[colonizedmind]

Just now, ChineseDemocracy2004 said:

Friends, correct me if I'm wrong but was The General described as a "Big Gun?"

By us! 😝

BUT here's the thing...it's all been myth and this mythical song in a realm like here, has grown legendary status as the years have passed....to a point of astronomical levels...as when you have such huge gaps in releases, what the hell other shit we meant to do than wax lyrical...so understandable...but we really knew little to nothing about it that was cast iron fact. Seb's comment that we often referred to, could possibly be debunked now as "Soul", which he was talking about or a mistake by the journalist in their article....if he heard "3 albums worth" in one sitting, he's honestly not gonna get it all remembered right, he didn't take notes surely 😏 if I'm right in saying, Axl has never really said anything about The General until just before he played it, nothing concrete and it's really only his mouth that matters, on these most personal, yet abstract of lyrics. We are again left to fill in the blanks on that one....but one would assume it's autobiographical and about his step-father, as it be a bit strange otherwise, to delve into the touchy subject. No pun intended.

So, I'm thinking about this year in GNR world as a whole and all the twists and turns, after Oct 27th, I knew we had what we'd basically get (hopefully) on Dec 8th, despite what the Bucket/Finck fans were fervently proclaiming as guitar work by the old NU-Guns...🫣

Excuse me? Where are you...hit the bunker as expected!

How come now it's not them 100%, those posters haven't come out saying, they like the material? Cause it's all politics, ain't it! Not really about the sound of the song, really...

So we had a lot of pre-ideas and thoughts on this mythical beast of a song, and frankly "Perhaps we were wrong"...as a lot of the guest work was done based on the assumption a duff phone recording of another track was The G....So I think we should and I certainly factor in all these missteps when coming to a conclusion to my thoughts on the song. I think it will take a few weeks/months for me to figure out the place this song has in my mind....it's messy and so is it's subject matter, so we can perhaps cite that as artistic choice.

Either way...today is the day we thought we may never see....after 15(!) Years, Guns N Roses has released the actual "The General" to their official channels...

It was always gonna be a polorizing one and will rage on over the weeks...but can we all agree, it's a milestone day! We don't get them often so we must mark it! 

 

[janrichmond]

3 minutes ago, kingcanyon said:

My world exitis still

I was gonna say it's worse than My World. It makes MW sound like a masterpiece

 

[oneway23]

58 minutes ago, Rovim said:

"if you actually think this song is amazing, then you're not listening to music correctly and should work on expanding your musical knowledge" 

give me a fuckin' break.

That's not what I said, AT ALL.  Instead of being defensive, let's have a conversation.

Let's stay within the GN'R bubble, then, OK? 

I'm sorry, but, the bar should be much god damn higher for Guns N' Roses!  It might be unfair, but, that's on them for being so awesome out of the gate, alright? LOL

Dead Horse, Locomotive, Bad Apples, Back off Bitch, Bad Obsession...These were the level of "just" album tracks!  Not the standout material, but, they fleshed out the record, gave it some color or attitude... Whatever the record as a whole needed.

The B material for the Chinese era is nowhere near the standard of even the best of the CD tracks.  It's not about wanting Appetite redux or not growing out of a mullet, it's about quality releases and having standards...taking pride in your work, and that's reflected in the effort you put out. 

These are demos Axl Rose either wouldn't, or couldn't finish, and, they sound that way.  Amateurish productions, lazily slapped together, spit-shined with a fresh coat of paint, released under the guise of new material. 

It's insulting to the people who get up on that stage every night, and, it's an insult to their fan base, who has stuck with them, yes, "through all the fucking shit" and who supports them, year after year, tour after tour, regardless of anything else.

If you like the song, that's great, but, please, can we save words like "incredible" and "amazing" for songs that actually deserve it, and , maybe for bands who actually put the work in?

Edited December 8, 2023 by oneway23

[janrichmond]

All opinions are welcome here but don't be an arsehole to those who don't share yours.

[Ninjapie24]

The more I listen to it and compare it to other Guns songs, the worse it gets. I feel the dark more moody setting was done far better on Sorry. That’s a song I’ll actually go back and listen to. This’ll probably be down there with Absurd and My World and only be listened to when I’m hearing full albums or their whole discography 

[kingcanyon]

1 minute ago, janrichmond said:

All opinions are welcome here but don't be an arsehole to those who don't share yours.

agreed everyone has different music tastes if we did then this discussion would be over by now

Edited December 8, 2023 by kingcanyon

[Rindmelon]

43 minutes ago, allwaystired said:

Fucking hell that's poor. 

Who designs this shit? I'm honestly stunned by that. 

I worked in print many years ago, it's clear that someone has used the low res place holder image by mistake. This isn't even the first time they have done this, parts of the Chinese Democracy booklet were the same. The incompetence in much of what they involve themselves in has gone from unfortunate to inevitable. 

[ezosk]

I dislike The General

Haven't heard the other one yet

[Rovim]

5 minutes ago, oneway23 said:

That's not what I said, AT ALL.  Instead of being defensive with the grade school swipe-back, let's have a conversation.

Let's stay within the GN'R bubble, then, OK? 

I'm sorry, but, the bar should be much god damn higher for Guns N' Roses!  It might be unfair, but, that's on them for being so awesome out of the gate, alright? LOL

Dead Horse, Locomotive, Bad Apples, Back off Bitch, Bad Obsession...These were the level of "just" album tracks!  Not the standout material, but, they fleshed out the record, gave it some color or attitude Whatever the record as a whole needed.

The B material for the Chinese era is nowhere near the standard of even the best of the CD tracks.  It's not about wanting Appetite redux or not growing out of a mullet, it's about quality releases and having standards...taking pride in your work, and that's reflected in the effort you put out. 

These are demos Axl Rose either wouldn't, or couldn't finish, and, they sound that way.  Amateurish productions, lazily slapped together, spit-shined with a fresh coat of paint, released under the guise of

new material. 

It's insulting to the people who get up on that stage every night, and, it's an insult to their fan base, who has stuck with them, yes, "through all the fucking shit" and who supports them, year after year, tour after tour, regardless of anything else.

 

I enjoy The General as its own thing. It doesn't take anything from how much I enjoy it just cause it's not as good as some of the other Gn'R tunes, especially from 30 plus years ago when they were still at their peak. And honestly, it's exactly what you've said. Just elitist gate keeping nonsense.

I'm all for discussing Gn'R, but your post was very condescending and just seemed ego driven for the purpose of making you feel good about your superior taste and vast knowledge in music juts cause you don't care for The General. 

it's not a big deal, I just thought it was ridiculous of you to suggest something must have been lacking in the listener's musical experience and they were ignorant in case they thought The General is an amazing track. Surely you can see the problem with this way of thinking.