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

[Jw224]

I really didn't notice much difference when I listened to the vinyl. Exact same mix with the exact same problems. 

[Gordon Comstock]

4 hours ago, Jw224 said:

I really didn't notice much difference when I listened to the vinyl. Exact same mix with the exact same problems. 

 

If the leak and eventual release of The General has taught me anything, it's that a surprising amount of people don't know what the word 'mix' means.

It's a shame, really. Perhaps sounded nice, but I probably won't bother listening to the record again since The General still has noticeable issues. Guess I'll hold out hope for an IEM recording from the next tour...

[Powerage5]

On 12/20/2023 at 8:56 AM, Lelex95 said:

So, I got my copy finally and it’s the shitty with all the pixels. 
to be honest i still can’t wrap my mind around how a such a successful band does something so bad and silly. 

Just to play devil's advocate here a little bit...while the pixelated cover is a widespread problem, it's not a universal problem. As far as I can tell everyone who has reported a pixelated cover has an EU pressing (With the "made in the Czech Republic" sticker on the shrink). However, not all EU copies have a pixelated cover - mine does not for example, and I've seen others say that. So the issue is not as was originally thought where someone submitted the wrong file type or something, it's obviously a printing error. Surely the test pressings that went to the band didn't have the pixel issue present. So they likely weren't aware of this issue before the records started shipping out. You've got people pulling these records to ship in some warehouse that have no idea what the finished product should look like, so nobody is reporting it before it's too late. Next thing you know, they're out in the wild and it's the first anybody actually notices it looks like shit. 

We like to pin every single thing on TB around here, but sometimes it's really not their fuckup, nor within their ability to fix before it's too late. 

On 12/23/2023 at 2:38 PM, Gordon Comstock said:

Spun the vinyl yesterday, it sounds fine... aside from the kick drum. I really don't know how so many people here don't notice it.

Yep, kick drum still sounds like pure ass. The vinyl doesn't sound enough better for me to make a habit of spinning that over streaming on my Apple TV. 

[ToonGuns]

On 12/23/2023 at 9:42 PM, gavgnr said:

What player did you get? I’ve been thinking about getting a record player for ages, but don’t know which to get. I want a quality sound but my budget isn’t huge.

Depending on your budget I’d highly recommend Rega Planar 1 or the Planar 1 Plus. The only difference is the “plus” has an inbuilt phono stage so you can plug it directly into powered speakers without needing to buy a separate phono (standard setup would be: record player, phono, amp, speakers - but if you buy a record player with inbuilt phono and then couple that with powered speakers you’re good to go). When I first got into vinyl for years I had that exact set up (Rega Planar 1 Plus) with a set of Edifier bookcase speakers off Amazon - sounded great.

Whatever you do though I wouldn’t go too budget - the really cheap ones have such poor cartridges that they actually damage your records as the needles are poorly designed / too big and can permanently scratch the grooves (not to mention sound dreadful). Go with a proper vinyl if budget allows.

Reach out if you get stuck or need help - there’s a vinyl thread on the forum 👍

Edited December 25, 2023 by ToonGuns
A few additions

[DeNfr]

[NormisX]

On 12/23/2023 at 10:00 PM, Gordon Comstock said:

 

Not the electronic verse drums, but the real drums in the chorus are clipping all over the place. It's most noticeable in the fills leading into and out of the chorus, can you hear a 'click' or static kind of sound on the kick beats?

Are we listening to same vinyl rip? Original digital version is clipping like crazy on almost every bassdrum kick, but vinyl rip has almost no clipping...

[Gordon Comstock]

33 minutes ago, NormisX said:

Are we listening to same vinyl rip? Original digital version is clipping like crazy on almost every bassdrum kick, but vinyl rip has almost no clipping...

 

I haven't listened to the rip, I listened to the actual vinyl and the digital releases.

But, it's fucking hilarious that people were freaking out about The General being vinyl-exclusive at first, and it turns out a vinyl rip is the best version

[NormisX]

14 minutes ago, Gordon Comstock said:

 

I haven't listened to the rip, I listened to the actual vinyl and the digital releases.

But, it's fucking hilarious that people were freaking out about The General being vinyl-exclusive at first, and it turns out a vinyl rip is the best version

 

[evilfacelessturtle]

19 hours ago, Powerage5 said:

Just to play devil's advocate here a little bit...while the pixelated cover is a widespread problem, it's not a universal problem. As far as I can tell everyone who has reported a pixelated cover has an EU pressing (With the "made in the Czech Republic" sticker on the shrink). However, not all EU copies have a pixelated cover - mine does not for example, and I've seen others say that. So the issue is not as was originally thought where someone submitted the wrong file type or something, it's obviously a printing error. Surely the test pressings that went to the band didn't have the pixel issue present. So they likely weren't aware of this issue before the records started shipping out. You've got people pulling these records to ship in some warehouse that have no idea what the finished product should look like, so nobody is reporting it before it's too late. Next thing you know, they're out in the wild and it's the first anybody actually notices it looks like shit. 

We like to pin every single thing on TB around here, but sometimes it's really not their fuckup, nor within their ability to fix before it's too late. 

Yep, kick drum still sounds like pure ass. The vinyl doesn't sound enough better for me to make a habit of spinning that over streaming on my Apple TV. 

 

I work in print production, coincidentally. Almost every company we work with sends us CRAP to work with. I'm talking like a 200x450 resolution image for a sign that will be 4x8 feet in size. I don't expect anyone who isn't a designer to know anything, and act accordingly. So while TB were dumb to send them a poor quality source file, they are not unique in that whatsoever, and it's the whole job of the production company to ensure the quality of the product by rejecting low res source files.

[Cosmo]

16 hours ago, ToonGuns said:

Depending on your budget I’d highly recommend Rega Planar 1 or the Planar 1 Plus. The only difference is the “plus” has an inbuilt phono stage so you can plug it directly into powered speakers without needing to buy a separate phono (standard setup would be: record player, phono, amp, speakers - but if you buy a record player with inbuilt phono and then couple that with powered speakers you’re good to go). When I first got into vinyl for years I had that exact set up (Rega Planar 1 Plus) with a set of Edifier bookcase speakers off Amazon - sounded great.

Whatever you do though I wouldn’t go too budget - the really cheap ones have such poor cartridges that they actually damage your records as the needles are poorly designed / too big and can permanently scratch the grooves (not to mention sound dreadful). Go with a proper vinyl if budget allows.

Reach out if you get stuck or need help - there’s a vinyl thread on the forum 👍

I have a Rega Planar 1 Plus with an updated cartridge and a glass platter. Couldn’t recommend it more. Love it. And it already sounds great straight out of the box, I only upgraded it cause I’m easily manipulated by Youtube videos 

[ToonGuns]

1 hour ago, Cosmo said:

I have a Rega Planar 1 Plus with an updated cartridge and a glass platter. Couldn’t recommend it more. Love it. And it already sounds great straight out of the box, I only upgraded it cause I’m easily manipulated by Youtube videos 

What cartridge you go for?

[AxlUlrich]

Listening to the cd now. The General sounds so much better and less muffled on the chorus

[NormisX]

1 hour ago, AxlUlrich said:

Listening to the cd now. The General sounds so much better and less muffled on the chorus

what CD?

[DSTK]

1 hour ago, NormisX said:

what CD?

The only cd available, Japanese import 

[username]

14 hours ago, evilfacelessturtle said:

 

I work in print production, coincidentally. Almost every company we work with sends us CRAP to work with. I'm talking like a 200x450 resolution image for a sign that will be 4x8 feet in size. I don't expect anyone who isn't a designer to know anything, and act accordingly. So while TB were dumb to send them a poor quality source file, they are not unique in that whatsoever, and it's the whole job of the production company to ensure the quality of the product by rejecting low res source files.

You're probably right about TB not being the only idiots doing this... BUT for this I can bring out the ago-old argument that shit like this, for some reason, only happens to GnR. Not to any other high profile rock band. Just GnR. Every other band I've purchased music from in the past years, be it vinyl or cd, does not have this problem. But GnR does. It's always something with them. 

Edited December 26, 2023 by username

[NormisX]

32 minutes ago, DSTK said:

The only cd available, Japanese import 

Oh, I've missed this one compleatly. How is that version compared to vinyl rip on YT? This one - 

 

[DSTK]

52 minutes ago, NormisX said:

Oh, I've missed this one compleatly. How is that version compared to vinyl rip on YT? This one - 

 

The vinyl version of the general is better than the digital version, no idea on the CD version...I haven't bought a cd for over a decade...the Japanese version of the CD isn't expensive, go & buy it 

[NachoLZ]

Sounds way better lol

[Illusion1987]

I'm still thinking which song is more unlistensble- Absurd or The General?

[fabrph5]

3 hours ago, username said:

You're probably right about TB not being the only idiots doing this... BUT for this I can bring out the ago-old argument that shit like this, for some reason, only happens to GnR. Not to any other high profile rock band. Just GnR. Every other band I've purchased music from in the past years, be it vinyl or cd, does not have this problem. But GnR does. It's always something with them. 

Because they choose to do it.  There is no logical reason to say otherwise

[NormisX]

3 hours ago, DSTK said:

The vinyl version of the general is better than the digital version, no idea on the CD version...I haven't bought a cd for over a decade...the Japanese version of the CD isn't expensive, go & buy it 

Hope someone rips CD version... I haven't had a CD player in 10 years

[doakes]

Do y’all think we’ll ever hear the original Nu-GnR General demo?

Since this is a Brain composition, I can’t imagine much is different other than the Slash lick on the intro and solos.

[WhazUp]

1 hour ago, doakes said:

Do y’all think we’ll ever hear the original Nu-GnR General demo?

Since this is a Brain composition, I can’t imagine much is different other than the Slash lick on the intro and solos.

Yeah unlike Monsters where it has a ton of guitar parts such as the leads and even the repating lick during the chorus that sounds Slash-ified, The General seems just like the only real guitar-centric parts are what you stated - the wah bits from Slash and the outro solo.

Outside of a different mix bringing certain elements up or down, beyond a few of those guitar licks and the outro solo being different, I can't imagine the nuGNR version being much different at all

[The Matinator]

Yeah with Pittman & Brains buddy both playing on the track, you gotta assume the only real difference would be some minor leads from Slash & maybe a little different baseline.

[GnR Chris]

1 hour ago, WhazUp said:

Yeah unlike Monsters where it has a ton of guitar parts such as the leads and even the repating lick during the chorus that sounds Slash-ified, The General seems just like the only real guitar-centric parts are what you stated - the wah bits from Slash and the outro solo.

Outside of a different mix bringing certain elements up or down, beyond a few of those guitar licks and the outro solo being different, I can't imagine the nuGNR version being much different at all

Yeah, but that outro solo is pure gas. Axl’s vocals are so high that it gets buried a little bit. But it’s some really nice work from Slash.