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

[Kickingthehabit]

The General sounds like Marilyn Manson, which is fine but... ugh.

It's kind of crazy how Axl wanted to make an ACDC record a few years back. He seems determined to release the most joyless music with GNR.

[gavgnr]

1 hour ago, Amir said:

I've dug out my old laptop which had the Vienna 2010 afterparty phone leak, and it's interesting seeing how you can now tell it's the "I was there for you" chorus up to 0:18 and the bridge of Monsters matches up with 1:28 to 1:58 of that... but there's a lot that sounds so different? I'm not sure I can hear the "monsters in my head" refrain at any point? And man, those guitars go fucking HARD in that phone leak, the final cut seems neutered in comparison :/ Hopefully we get a leak of that version one day.

Good spot. I can hear that too now. Would like to hear the original someday as it sounds a lot meaner. Maybe a bit cluttered? I love the version we have. 

[colonizedmind]

Just had a belly full of 😄🫣 reading all the comments from the infamous "keep dreamin" under the A I Robin video...seems it was basically made to just troll him/them especially....wonder what their alias on here is, they refer to being part of all the forums....is it you estrangedtwat? 😏

I mean, this dude seriously has paid for 100 video chats at least to spend some time with Robin, surely to offer dick sucking services at a drop of a hat....anywhere, anytime.

Hilarity! I can't wait to see his reaction or disappearing act when he finds out he loved a solo from his arch nemesis, Slash (Monsters) 🔥

Edited November 8, 2023 by colonizedmind

[TiedHands]

1 hour ago, Amir said:

I've dug out my old laptop which had the Vienna 2010 afterparty phone leak, and it's interesting seeing how you can now tell it's the "I was there for you" chorus up to 0:18 and the bridge of Monsters matches up with 1:28 to 1:58 of that... but there's a lot that sounds so different? I'm not sure I can hear the "monsters in my head" refrain at any point? And man, those guitars go fucking HARD in that phone leak, the final cut seems neutered in comparison :/ Hopefully we get a leak of that version one day.

Oh man, I'd kill to hear whatever that version of the song was. I REALLY love "Monsters" but it's clearly changed a lot over the years. I want THAT song. I'm pretty fascinated by the fact that maybe what we heard in the cell phone clip was at one point The General? Or maybe the clip was just labeled wrong all of these years. The cell phone clip always sounded more like what I thought The General would actually sound like, based on the comments through the years. 

[colonizedmind]

1 hour ago, Nosaj Thing said:

Just found out that Gn'R released a new song "The General", watched the video and I have to say, it's a good song.  Suits Axl's current voice perfectly.  Axl also sounds pretty good on that track.  Kudos to them, they managed to work something out after all these years.

...And Jesus has moved the stone and re-entered the fray...

[TiedHands]

Also, I firmly believe the bridge from Monsters originally belonged to The General but got turned into a different song at some point. Lyrically, it fits in much more with The General than Monsters. Monsters is clearly about a scorned lover, while The General is clearly about child abuse. The lyrics from the bridge fit much better with the abuse theme than a song about a woman that broke his heart. 

[Amir]

2 minutes ago, TiedHands said:

Oh man, I'd kill to hear whatever that version of the song was. I REALLY love "Monsters" but it's clearly changed a lot over the years. I want THAT song. I'm pretty fascinated by the fact that maybe what we heard in the cell phone clip was at one point The General? Or maybe the clip was just labeled wrong all of these years. The cell phone clip always sounded more like what I thought The General would actually sound like, based on the comments through the years. 

I think the clip was just labelled wrong because of confusion with thinking the orchestration was The General when it was Monsters for the 2010 shows and The General for the 2006-07 shows.

6 minutes ago, gavgnr said:

Good spot. I can hear that too now. Would like to hear the original someday as it sounds a lot meaner. Maybe a bit cluttered? I love the version we have. 

I'm trying to force myself to hear the "monsters in my head" bit but I can't tell if I can actually hear it or it's just in my head (hah). It would be hard to make out on such a clip since those vocals are so low in pitch, but I'm wondering more and more if that particular refrain was recorded much more recently than the other vocals on Monsters 🤔

[Illusion1987]

1 hour ago, Kickingthehabit said:

The General sounds like Marilyn Manson, which is fine but... ugh.

It's kind of crazy how Axl wanted to make an ACDC record a few years back. He seems determined to release the most joyless music with GNR.

How bummed would we be if we only heard the General and didn't hear Monsters?

 

 

[evilfacelessturtle]

3 hours ago, Amir said:

I've dug out my old laptop which had the Vienna 2010 afterparty phone leak, and it's interesting seeing how you can now tell it's the "I was there for you" chorus up to 0:18 and the bridge of Monsters matches up with 1:28 to 1:58 of that... but there's a lot that sounds so different? I'm not sure I can hear the "monsters in my head" refrain at any point? And man, those guitars go fucking HARD in that phone leak, the final cut seems neutered in comparison :/ Hopefully we get a leak of that version one day.

Yeah, it's very different. I'm tempted to record my own replication of it, using the benefit of knowing what we know now, and maybe even the real vocals if I can separate them from the track well enough. I can clearly hear some "ooh ooh"s that weren't in evader's version after the chorus ends in the beginning and it drops out the instruments. Just gotta get my laptop fixed, lol.

[Voodoochild]

Sorry, but The General doesn't sound like Marilyn Manson or industrial stuff at all. Really.

[Arnuld]

The more I listen to The General the more I like it. I just wish it emphasized the Beltrami stuff more. I always imagined it would have this intense intro based on the intro to the live shows all those years ago. 

[bmus1]

Is the Vienna 2010 recording around anywhere?

[Gunner55]

1 hour ago, bmus1 said:

Is the Vienna 2010 recording around anywhere?

Man I've never listened to the cell phone clip. One day I'll stumble across it for comparisons sake, now that we have the full real deal. 

[Miden34]

24 minutes ago, Gunner55 said:

Man I've never listened to the cell phone clip. One day I'll stumble across it for comparisons sake, now that we have the full real deal. 

yeah ive never actually heard myself. I am REALLY curious about the diffrenences 

[bumcheecksmcghee]

You can't much anyway, too much crowd noise. But now monsters is out, it definitely sounds the same. 

[Arnuld]

50 minutes ago, Miden34 said:

yeah ive never actually heard myself. I am REALLY curious about the diffrenences 

It’s pretty hard to hear. It’s not a very clear recording. It was obviously recorded off a 2000s era cell phone. You can make out the structure of the sound and some of the guitars and vocals but it’s muffled and people are talking over it. From what I can hear they certainly changed the song quite a bit with the Slash and Duff re-record. 

Edited November 9, 2023 by Arnuld

[bumcheecksmcghee]

21 minutes ago, Arnuld said:

It’s pretty hard to hear. It’s not a very clear recording. It was obviously recorded off a 2000s era cell phone. You can make out the structure of the sound and some of the guitars and vocals but it’s muffled and people are talking over it. From what I can hear they certainly changed the song quite a bit with the Slash and Duff re-record. 

Agree with you there. Question is though, changed the song for the better or worse though? 🤔 

[Towelie]

The best thing about Monsters is that it proves Pele wrong.

[Route66]

4 hours ago, Arnuld said:

The more I listen to The General the more I like it. I just wish it emphasized the Beltrami stuff more. I always imagined it would have this intense intro based on the intro to the live shows all those years ago. 

Agree, but this was a leak. Lets see what comes next. 

The Euro recording studio got pissed at the reaction when it became clear Axl and Slash were not into their mix. So they kicked the song out to the internet. Classy.

Edited November 9, 2023 by Route66

[gavgnr]

7 hours ago, Amir said:

'm trying to force myself to hear the "monsters in my head" bit but I can't tell if I can actually hear it or it's just in my head (hah). It would be hard to make out on such a clip since those vocals are so low in pitch, but I'm wondering more and more if that particular refrain was recorded much more recently than the other vocals on Monsters 🤔

Try 1:07 onwards in the cellphone clip.

Im 100% certain Axl is singing ‘The monsters they’ll kill me’ in both versions of the track

Edited November 9, 2023 by gavgnr

[colonizedmind]

21 hours ago, bmus1 said:

Is the Vienna 2010 recording around anywhere?

 

20 hours ago, Gunner55 said:

Man I've never listened to the cell phone clip. One day I'll stumble across it for comparisons sake, now that we have the full real deal. 

Ahem....😉

Skip to end....

Edited November 9, 2023 by colonizedmind

[Amir]

4 hours ago, gavgnr said:

Try 1:07 onwards in the cellphone clip.

Im 100% certain Axl is singing ‘The monsters they’ll kill me’ in both versions of the track

Yeah, from 1:03 the rhythm seems to match with "the monsters can't kill me..." from the final version, but hard to say for certain. I'm trying to find an analogue for that cool guitar from 0:30 but can't. Also not sure who the guitarist is, sounds like Finck to me? I'll defer to @Voodoochild

[Caedo]

Kills me that they changed the bit before the solo. Clearly originally there's a bit of a breakdown before launching into it, where it sounds like the chorus repeats but with an extended high note on "it's over now". Just sounds so much more dramatic as a buildup to an epic solo where the new version kinda just rolls into a bit of a tame Slash solo to my ears. But that's just one man's opinion based on a shit quality clip 

[Voodoochild]

1 hour ago, Amir said:

Yeah, from 1:03 the rhythm seems to match with "the monsters can't kill me..." from the final version, but hard to say for certain. I'm trying to find an analogue for that cool guitar from 0:30 but can't. Also not sure who the guitarist is, sounds like Finck to me? I'll defer to @Voodoochild

It does sound like RobAin Finck to my ears. I think @evader also thought it was Robain. 

1 hour ago, Caedo said:

Kills me that they changed the bit before the solo. Clearly originally there's a bit of a breakdown before launching into it, where it sounds like the chorus repeats but with an extended high note on "it's over now". Just sounds so much more dramatic as a buildup to an epic solo where the new version kinda just rolls into a bit of a tame Slash solo to my ears. But that's just one man's opinion based on a shit quality clip 

Don't follow you. I think it sounds the same structure-wise to me? Could you point this part on the clip to me?

[ZoSoRose]

14 hours ago, TiedHands said:

Oh man, I'd kill to hear whatever that version of the song was. I REALLY love "Monsters" but it's clearly changed a lot over the years. I want THAT song. I'm pretty fascinated by the fact that maybe what we heard in the cell phone clip was at one point The General? Or maybe the clip was just labeled wrong all of these years. The cell phone clip always sounded more like what I thought The General would actually sound like, based on the comments through the years. 

Once again, you are fascinated by bullshit because it was never The General. Only fans said that