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

[ZoSoRose]

We love you, “The General”. You are not the best son but you try hard.  You won’t grow up to top the billborda chard but that is a-ok with daddy

[BillConnor_1982]

 

Rainbow jukebox is back online.  Commence with Operation General

[youngunner]

1 hour ago, ZoSoRose said:

We love you, “The General”. You are not the best son but you try hard.  You won’t grow up to top the billborda chard but that is a-ok with daddy

brilliant

[jamillos]

Good to know I'm not the only one who sometimes posts while being wasted!

[Jakey Styley]

I fucking hate Slash’s wahwahwah fill in the beginning of each verse 

[El Guapo]

15 minutes ago, Jakey Styley said:

I fucking hate Slash’s wahwahwah fill in the beginning of each verse 

You can just hear he's not into it, probably hates it even. 

I wonder what Melissa, Fortus etc. really think of this release. I mean, they're all great musicians and they all look like idiots and shameless and greedy leeches because they're involved with this mess.

Maybe it really is a joke, some kind of self parody?

Edited December 10, 2023 by El Guapo

[ToonGuns]

18 minutes ago, Jakey Styley said:

I fucking hate Slash’s wahwahwah fill in the beginning of each verse 

It reminds me of that Halloween album he did.

[jacdaniel]

Why are people still talking about Bucket and Finck? 

They helped to write these shit songs. I want to be done with them and this era. 

[alfa75]

Between the huge expectations and the fact that this came out as a standalone single, there was no way TG could satisfactorily deliver. If this had been track 9 on a 12 song album that included Atlas, Monsters, SoG, the previous 3 releases, etc, it would not be getting all the heat it’s getting. It would just be another ‘Bad Apples” Shotgun blues”, etc. I know some people love those songs (as some do TG) but I think we can agree they are not generally considered amongst the band’s best.  Much like CD itself, it’s hard to listen to without considering the context, and just as a piece of music. Good, great, bad or otherwise, depending on your subjective opinion of course.
 

It’s an interesting glimpse into where Axl was at a particular time and a fascinating, dark, artsy, experimental track. The mixing sucks, that I think we can most agree on. It certainly could have been better arranged, fleshed out, etc, but it is what it is. In a strange way, it’s somewhat reassuring to know that they didn’t seem to repeat the CD error of reworking endlessly. Slash and Duff added their parts to a basically finished song and called it a day. Lazy? Uninspired? “Perhaps”

While there is obviously no guarantee of “new” material, I am firmly convinced no such material will ever happen until Axl gets these songs out of his system. Maybe he’s “done” working on them anymore and so this is what we get, like it or not. To be fair, he likely spent a lot of time and invested himself in them, so why would he want to scrap them. It’s crazy for me to hear people implying that they should have never released it, after all all the complaining over the years about no new music. There was never any guarantee that every release was going to be a “top tier” song. No GNR album is all top tier IMO, not even AFD. Maybe TG is the “Anything goes”of this era.

For me, it’s an interesting addition to their catalog, and they have also done some experimental stuff.

In an ideal scenario, these songs act as a GNR Lies type stopgap, until they can generate original material, which for all we know they are working on right now.  I also, think that “if” this happens, the music will reflect the current band, just as TG reflected the people who were around at the time. I don’t see Duff bringing in any trip-hop beats, etc.

 

 

[jamillos]

27 minutes ago, alfa75 said:

Between the huge expectations and the fact that this came out as a standalone single, there was no way TG could satisfactorily deliver. If this had been track 9 on a 12 song album that included Atlas, Monsters, SoG, the previous 3 releases, etc, it would not be getting all the heat it’s getting. It would just be another ‘Bad Apples” Shotgun blues”, etc. I know some people love those songs (as some do TG) but I think we can agree they are not generally considered amongst the band’s best.  Much like CD itself, it’s hard to listen to without considering the context, and just as a piece of music. Good, great, bad or otherwise, depending on your subjective opinion of course.
 

It’s an interesting glimpse into where Axl was at a particular time and a fascinating, dark, artsy, experimental track. The mixing sucks, that I think we can most agree on. It certainly could have been better arranged, fleshed out, etc, but it is what it is. In a strange way, it’s somewhat reassuring to know that they didn’t seem to repeat the CD error of reworking endlessly. Slash and Duff added their parts to a basically finished song and called it a day. Lazy? Uninspired? “Perhaps”

While there is obviously no guarantee of “new” material, I am firmly convinced no such material will ever happen until Axl gets these songs out of his system. Maybe he’s “done” working on them anymore and so this is what we get, like it or not. To be fair, he likely spent a lot of time and invested himself in them, so why would he want to scrap them. It’s crazy for me to hear people implying that they should have never released it, after all all the complaining over the years about no new music. There was never any guarantee that every release was going to be a “top tier” song. No GNR album is all top tier IMO, not even AFD. Maybe TG is the “Anything goes”of this era.

For me, it’s an interesting addition to their catalog, and they have also done some experimental stuff.

In an ideal scenario, these songs act as a GNR Lies type stopgap, until they can generate original material, which for all we know they are working on right now.  I also, think that “if” this happens, the music will reflect the current band, just as TG reflected the people who were around at the time. I don’t see Duff bringing in any trip-hop beats, etc.

 

 

I'd just add that if there's an 'Anything Goes' of this era, then it surely is Silk Worms aka Absurd, and not The General. The latter doesn't reach anywhere close Monsters but still is at least a tier above SW. 

Edited December 10, 2023 by jamillos

[Stay.Of.Execution]

1 hour ago, El Guapo said:

You can just hear he's not into it, probably hates it even. 

You're a prime example of what's wrong with internet culture 

[JimiRose]

12 hours ago, Carburetta said:

No way.

Madness!

[JimiRose]

12 hours ago, Voodoochild said:

I don’t think those songs are in the same level as Estranged. But that’s just my opinion. And I do love TWAT and SOD/The Blues. 

And I agree that they are incompetent with mastering and releasing it, but I don’t see it as a leftover. 

Yeah, I don't think any of these songs should be seen as leftovers, but inevitably they will because of how axl has chosen to release them. The leftovers are the ones that never got past the instrumental stage. The ones Axl chose to turn to fully fledged songs (allegedly 32) are the ones he believes were of an equal standard. the 99 hardschool and atlas are way better than riad or if the world for examples and both would have fit in on the illusion albums. Soul Monster is better than most of chi dem and we all know silkworms (absurd) was initially going to be on chi dem. 

But the difference in mixing and mastering between chi dem and these. and then again between each of the 4 NITL have released. It is so weird. It's like they've used a different producer/mastering programme, and person and studio in different eras for each mix. you'd have though when slash and duff did the 6 nu songs, they'd have all been mixed and mastered there and then to at least give them some continuity. Another baffling GnR incompetence. 

[Towelie]

The fans disappointed that it's not Estranged 2.0 are beyond moronic and set themselves up for a fall. If, like me, you expected it to just be a song, a normal song, not the second coming of Christ, then perhaps you'd find yourself enjoying it a bit more. Or perhaps not.

Fans complaining that it doesn't sound like the UYI-era band, ummm, no shit sherlock? Honestly, some people have the strangest and most unrealistic expectations from these guys. 

I dig it. It's not amongst the best GNR songs, but it's solid and middling in their canon of work in terms of quality. It being compared to My World in terms of song quality is just fan hysteria after the anti-climax of realising that after all the hoopla and myth, it really is just a song.

[Gaanzer]

4 hours ago, ZoSoRose said:

We love you, “The General”. You are not the best son but you try hard.  You won’t grow up to top the billborda chard but that is a-ok with daddy

Daddy don't. 

[Gaanzer]

2 hours ago, ToonGuns said:

It reminds me of that Halloween album he did.

It's a terribly unimaginative riff. 

[Axl2002]

16 hours ago, Miden34 said:

i dont want a group of 60 year old men writing new songs about "I've been thinkin' bout thinkin' bout sex. always hungry for somethin' that i havent had yet." no thank you. At least the general has a meaning behind the song. 

Songs with meaning like Absurd. That is embarassing for 60+ year old to sing.

[Lelex95]

5 minutes ago, Axl2002 said:

Songs with meaning like Absurd. That is embarassing for 60+ year old to sing.

I read the comment and I was trying to remember an age I would have felt imbarassed singing “pussy full of maggots” 😂

[JimiRose]

19 minutes ago, Axl2002 said:

Songs with meaning like Absurd. That is embarassing for 60+ year old to sing.

All lyrics are subjective tbh. one persons fantastic is anothers dreadful. look at all Axl lyrics. You could see them as relationship poetry or corny nonsense. Sometimes you might think they're both depending on your current cirucmstance. When I was 18 and going through a break up with childhood sweetheart, chi dem lyrics really appealed, i thought they were incredible, they said how i felt. Now I'm a grown man in control of my emotions, they come across as corny and cheesy. But then again, most of classic rock are corny nonsense love songs! 

Pussy full of maggots, i doubt is to be taken too literally, people here look into that lyric so deeply but it's probably just something axl thought was funny and ties in with the rest of the song. 

Others call its so easy misogynistic, but songs and films shouldnt be taken that way, even if the content is racist, sexist etc, sometimes it just the story of something that happens in the real world. racism, sexism, male hubris all exist, and those things should be spoken about in music, even if it offends the weaker minded. That's what art is for, especially rock music. it's not all to be taken literally.

One of the most powerful songs ive ever heard is cop killer by body count. it's raw its real. they wanted it cancelled. How many cops were killed because of it? it's a song about a real thing and feeling. that hits harder.

[NormisX]

Is there a normal version of The General available somewhere without clipping or it's the same shitty version on all platforms?

[DSTK]

2 hours ago, El Guapo said:

You can just hear he's not into it, probably hates it even. 

I wonder what Melissa, Fortus etc. really think of this release. I mean, they're all great musicians and they all look like idiots and shameless and greedy leeches because they're involved with this mess.

Maybe it really is a joke, some kind of self parody?

Fortus plays on the studio track,  melissa doesn't 

[ChristmasFnatic]

8 hours ago, evilfacelessturtle said:

Were UYI I and II split up in that poll? Wouldn't really be fair IMO.

That I don't remember but I think so. But the fact that CD even defeated AFD… damn!

[El Guapo]

16 minutes ago, DSTK said:

Fortus plays on the studio track,  melissa doesn't 

It's clearly her voice right at the beginning of this mess ("daddy don't").

The point is, I have a very hard time believing any of the band members think that this is a slamming tune. Because it is really, really bad. It just is. Just listen to that laughable bridge thingy. The ending sounds just like something Dustin Bones would do, it's so bad it's like a parody.

You can sit there in your stonewashed Perhaps sweatpants and ignore the truth and force yourself  to like this abomination, but why?

[DeNfr]

4 minutes ago, El Guapo said:

It's clearly her voice right at the beginning of this mess ("daddy don't").

The point is, I have a very hard time believing any of the band members think that this is a slamming tune. Because it is really, really bad. It just is. Just listen to that laughable bridge thingy. The ending sounds just like something Dustin Bones would do, it's so bad it's like a parody.

You can sit there in your stonewashed Perhaps sweatpants and ignore the truth and force yourself  to like this abomination, but why?

 

OK but...do you like it or not? 

just curious

[Stay.Of.Execution]

8 minutes ago, El Guapo said:

 

You can sit there in your stonewashed Perhaps sweatpants and ignore the truth and force yourself  to like this abomination, but why?

I love it when people think their opinion of a song is "the truth". So mature. Also funny the desperate need to shove your own opinion down other people's throat. Like you can't stand the idea that other people enjoy this. Why does this make you so mad? You come across as very weird. 

Edited December 10, 2023 by Stay.Of.Execution