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

[JimiRose]

2 hours ago, IzzysMissy said:

I’ll tell ya what - silly or not - I’ll be in a team meeting with 40+ people who I work with. We all love gnr, work in the music biz, and promote/book/see THOUSANDS of shows a year collectively. We also receive THOUSANDS of band submissions a year of artists trying yj break in.

you may say that’s a small sample, or too specific, or whatever, but that’s a room of 40+ people whose literal job is to promote music. Would you care for the feedback/opinions on this track? We did it for perhaps via Zoom call and I’d say it was like 40/60 of “it’s an ok song” vs “I’ll pass” but a 100% agreement that if this was the submitted work in order to get on a bill, we’d never book that artist. But gnr would get away with it. I mean it’s comical. And no one liked the other songs that were released. Also opinions, but to me that is subjective.

anyway, if you like it and others do as well that’s GREAT. If you want to spend money on it that’s your business. I just think it’s absolutely hysterical that this is the best that gnr could do.. a copy/paste job over a 20+yr project? Meh, good for you I guess. 
 

You interested in British political punk rock that blends the dead kennedys, the clash, the pistols an nirvana? Not that we give a fuck if you like us. 

2 hours ago, DingBat said:

What the fucks with the popping? How did that get past them? 

That might have been the reason they delayed the release, fixed it, and then some dingbat went and sent the wrong version to streaming.

I don't care about artistic choices, they should do whatever they want, but this is bollocks.

I didnt notice this playing it through my phone or car speakers. As soon as i put my expensive head phones on i picked it up a couple of times. I thought one of them was a gun shot. 24 years later. Unbelievable. so shoddy. Why the fuck do we care, they clearly dont give two shits about the music, or legacy or the fans. Can anyone argue that anymore?

[JimiRose]

1 hour ago, allwaystired said:

Fucking hell that's poor. 

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

Every time you think GnR couldnt sink that bar any lower, then BAM, they limbo under it once more. So shoddy. My bratty little punk band would be ashamed of this packaging and our budget was £500! 

[Coma16]

I'm pretty sure the art was intentional.

Do we finally have official lyrics?

[Sweersa]

They need to stop sending these songs to Helen Keller to mix. I just listened to the high-res FLAC on headphones. I could hear the clipping, even on cheaper headphones. Sounds like the guitars are super heavy on one channel. 

They overdid it with the vocal processing too. I bet a rough mix from 2008 would be many time better, in all aspects.

Overall, slightly clearer than the leak, but the mix is worse, how can it be? They have fallen from their grace with me now. 

[Zeppelin]

Yeah, that artwork has to be intentional. Doesn't it? I don't even know anymore. I'm hoping it is intentional, because that's a pretty gigantic blunder if it isn't. Mind you, GNR is full of blunders, so whatever.

[Blackstar]

2 hours ago, MJRoses23 said:

Did I miss someone mention this? On the Youtube version theres a note under the song that says this: 

Music video by Guns N' Roses performing The General (Audio). © 2023 Guns N' Roses, under exclusive license to Geffen Records

Then theres a link to Vevo. Wonder if a video is coming.

It's just a short link to share the same yt version.

1 hour ago, guitarpatch said:

The mix and mastering is disappointing. Throw in the low res artwork on top of it and that tells you all you need to know 

It’s obvious that they don’t take these songs and releases seriously. So why should we? 

It is what it is. A bare bone budget to get these out and it shows. Wake me up when they work on something new 

They seemed to take the release of Perhaps more seriously (made a video, did some promotion), but I guess they thought that few people from the demographic the promo stuff was aimed at would buy the vinyl.

[Sweersa]

For anyone who cares, this song is not on TouchTunes  

[Rovim]

4 minutes ago, Coma16 said:

I'm pretty sure the art was intentional.

Do we finally have official lyrics?

in page 192 in this thread, from Apple music (official lyrics)

[El Guapo]

1 minute ago, Zeppelin said:

Yeah, that artwork has to be intentional. Doesn't it? I don't even know anymore. I'm hoping it is intentional, because that's a pretty gigantic blunder if it isn't. Mind you, GNR is full of blunders, so whatever.

Intentional or not, it fucking sucks ass. Just like that turd of a song and it's "production". 

 

[IzzysMissy]

18 minutes ago, JimiRose said:

You interested in British political punk rock that blends the dead kennedys, the clash, the pistols a nirvana? Not that we give a fuck if you like us. 

The most punk thing about being punk is not givin a fuck about opinions, right 🤣  

my current company actually has major roots in punk and hardcore- we book bands into rooms of 500-1000 in that genre here in the States. This fan base is my FAVE to deal with, no drama, no complaints. Just music and pit life.

we are currently streaming Shane MacGowans funeral pre get-together.

[Appetitefordiscussion]

pretty much the same that leaked but damn I can actually make out the backing vocals on the verses a bit better. Overall, 2nd best song on the “album” out of what’s been released.  

[Tyson]

Axl tinkered with it WAY too much in the studio.  I still like it, but can't help but think while listening, "Why the HELL did you make this WORSE than it should have been?!?!"  WAY too much vocal distortion and overall production.  Would be pretty killer stripped down.  Add in a great Slash solo mid song and you have something classic level G'NR

[JimiRose]

1 hour ago, Lethalis said:

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.

Whats mad is a sebastian bach solo song has nearly as many views as the folklored general by GnR. Top work again TB!

[JimiRose]

15 minutes ago, IzzysMissy said:

The most punk thing about being punk is not givin a fuck about opinions, right 🤣  

my current company actually has major roots in punk and hardcore- we book bands into rooms of 500-1000 in that genre here in the States. This fan base is my FAVE to deal with, no drama, no complaints. Just music and pit life.

we are currently streaming Shane MacGowans funeral pre get-together.

Nice! Our biggest - 'non opening for someone with a crowd' - is about 150. we did get a song with a record label and they interviewed us and used the tagline ' we dont write songs to please or for you to like', they said we were the only band they'd ever worked with who said that so they were sending it to all their contacts  

Yeah it you get a pit going then it's been a great gig. 

[The Matinator]

Honestly I hope the CD version of Perhaps is mastered like The General. Not that i necessarily prefer heavy compression I'm just tired of turning up/down for Perhaps when i listen to the new singles lol.

[IzzysMissy]

9 minutes ago, JimiRose said:

Nice! Our biggest - 'non opening for someone with a crowd' - is about 150. we did get a song with a record label and they interviewed us and used the tagline ' we dont write songs to please or for you to like', they said we were the only band they'd ever worked with who said that so they were sending it to all their contacts  

Yeah it you get a pit going then it's been a great gig. 

Rooms with 250 and under are the best and most raw. All independent owned which is GREAT. Pulling 150 people as a headliner is friggin solid, good for you. I once worked a show with 9 or 10 bands on a bill and had tally the patrons to figure out the percentages for payment… always fun nights out. Amen about the pit, but never again… I’m too old. DM a link to your band! Doesn’t hurt to have it out!

[Tom-Ass]

Well this song sure is a steaming pile of shit.. It has zero elements of what made Guns N' Roses one of the greatest bands of all time.  Perhaps was decent (no great) but this and the other two are fucking terrible.. Keep diminishing that legacy boys!

Edited December 8, 2023 by Tom-Ass

[BreakDown2014]

That outro is still as good as the first time I heard it. Thanks, Axl and Slash

[Mustard Tiger]

I've now listened to both the Vinyl and the digital version on Tidal. The Vinyl sounds a LOT better. The clipping and popping that is all over the Tidal release is not on the Vinyl. At least, if it is, it is absolutely nowhere near as audible. 

I think there is a very real possibility that the track uploaded to digital providers is the one that initially got scrapped for the vinyl release due to distortion/sound quality issues. 

 

[El Guapo]

5 minutes ago, Mustard Tiger said:

I've now listened to both the Vinyl and the digital version on Tidal. The Vinyl sounds a LOT better. The clipping and popping that is all over the Tidal release is not on the Vinyl. At least, if it is, it is absolutely nowhere near as audible. 

I think there is a very real possibility that the track uploaded to digital providers is the one that initially got scrapped for the vinyl release due to distortion/sound quality issues. 

 

I don't care anymore who of the incompetent idiots fucked it up this time, doesn't matter anymore anyway since the song is complete and utter shit.

Edited December 8, 2023 by El Guapo

[drlaban]

8 minutes ago, Tom-Ass said:

Well this song sure is a steaming pile of shit.. It has zero elements of what made Guns N' Roses one of the greatest bands of all time.  Perhaps was decent (no great) but this and the two are fucking terrible.. Keep diminishing that legacy boys!

That’s why Perhaps is on the G side and The General is on the R side, not the opposite. 

[SoulMonster]

2 hours ago, oneway23 said:

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?

Huh? Of course people who think it is incredible and amazing should say so. Who are you to dismiss their opinions? Just because you happen to disagree doesn't make you the opinion police. Music is subjective. There is lots of music I really don't like, like This I Love, but I accept -- and appreciate -- that others do. Maybe you could try that, too, instead of trying to dictate or rather cancel others opinions?

[Mustard Tiger]

I quite like the song to be fair. The outro with the vocals blending into slash's guitar is cool as fuck. Hopefully they can sort the digital version. I can't listen to it all that loud for fear of blowing the tweeter in my right speaker, the vinyl on the other hand can be absolutely blasted 

[GNRmello77]

2 hours ago, Lethalis said:

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.

I listened to the song as well, it's pretty good.

[Twinaleblood]

Just received my 7" from the UK store 🎉