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

[Its Tino]

I’m very happy that I think the leaks sound just fine. 
 

I grew up on cassettes so, yeah 

[allwaystired]

Why would people expect the leaks to be different to the ones on the vinyl? 

Curious as to why people think that - it's obvious the leaks came as a result of the vinyl, so it would make no sense for other versions to leak at that time. 

 

[GNRRHCP98]

23 minutes ago, Its Tino said:

I’m very happy that I think the leaks sound just fine. 
 

I grew up on cassettes so, yeah 

I second that… may I also suggest these most recent leaks sound even a TAD bit better… especially “Monsters” 

[ZoSoRose]

Monsters needs more tweaking than The General imo. I think the effects in The General are cool, but if you don't, I can see why the song would fall flat. Personally, I'd like the sitar- guitar volume lowered and the orchestra volume raised. Maybe the bass increased a bit, too, because it is bitchin' and Slash's volume swells increased a lot. They make it very atmospheric, live. 

I'd like more clarity with the guitars in Monsters, the pitch fixed or even the volume lowered in the "OH" before "but it's over now", and the last note of the song sounds a little off with the timing. Hey, I'll take what I can get, though. I am just thrilled to have these. If what we have is final, then great. 

Edited November 28, 2023 by ZoSoRose

[Blackstar]

1 hour ago, GnR Chris said:

I agree. And I am not really sure why people are so certain that “it CAN’T be final mix” because of the purposely distorted vocals. That is how Axl wanted it to be. It isn’t an accident or “placeholder” vocals just because someone wishes it didn’t have the distortion. 

I think the distorted vocals don't have to do with the mix anyway, it's an artistic choice made at the production stage.

[guitarpatch]

1 hour ago, JimiRose said:

Perhaps died within a week. it had like 4m youtube views and trended. 2 months later it's barely changed and people moved on. that's throwing a song away. If that song was immediately followed by another then another then an album it wouldnt have. If you give people an album they move onto the next song on that album and the next etc, then they go back to the song they loved at first and the cycle continues. You release songs one every few years they fall off a cliff and you forget about the band. you have them in an album you're continually eating those M&Ms

That’s what these songs serve as. A news cycle bump. These songs were released half way and towards the end of the tour. We seem to get 2 of them per leg.  

It looks like these songs were part of their promotion obligation with the promoter. Nothing more, nothing less. Repurposing what’s available and Axl doesn’t have to to do press. They make more $ off of negotiating a deal with live nation to drip these out every leg than what Spotify and some physical sales would produce 

Maybe if they come together to write an album’s worth of songs, it will be different next time 

[username]

Just now, guitarpatch said:

That’s what these songs serve as. A news cycle bump. These songs were released half way and towards the end of the tour. We seem to get 2 of them per leg.  

It looks like these songs were part of their promotion obligation with the promoter. Nothing more, nothing less. Repurposing what’s available and Axl doesn’t have to to do press. They make more $ off of negotiating a deal with live nation to drip these out every leg than what Spotify and some physical sales would produce 

Maybe if they come together to write an album’s worth of songs, it will be different next time 

Oh damn. That's a depressingly realistic theory. 

[Blackstar]

3 minutes ago, guitarpatch said:

That’s what these songs serve as. A news cycle bump. These songs were released half way and towards the end of the tour. We seem to get 2 of them per leg.  

It looks like these songs were part of their promotion obligation with the promoter. Nothing more, nothing less. Repurposing what’s available and Axl doesn’t have to to do press. They make more $ off of negotiating a deal with live nation to drip these out every leg than what Spotify and some physical sales would produce 

Maybe if they come together to write an album’s worth of songs, it will be different next time 

Does it make sense though to release a song towards the end of the tour? How does this serve the purpose of promotion if there are only two or three shows left? And The General wasn't even scheduled to be released during the tour - the tour would originally end on Oct. 16 and the initial release date was Oct. 27.

[Rovim]

18 minutes ago, guitarpatch said:

That’s what these songs serve as. A news cycle bump. These songs were released half way and towards the end of the tour. We seem to get 2 of them per leg.  

It looks like these songs were part of their promotion obligation with the promoter. Nothing more, nothing less. Repurposing what’s available and Axl doesn’t have to to do press. They make more $ off of negotiating a deal with live nation to drip these out every leg than what Spotify and some physical sales would produce 

Maybe if they come together to write an album’s worth of songs, it will be different next time 

doesn't seem very plausible to me. Not an approach I can see Axl taking, it just seems too cheap for Axl to agree to use Chinese material just to make a deal with promotors so the tour could keep going. 

my guess is that Axl chose to release these singles this way and there is no obligation to release anything when it comes to original material.

 

[guitarpatch]

25 minutes ago, Blackstar said:

Does it make sense though to release a song towards the end of the tour? How does this serve the purpose of promotion if there are only two or three shows left? And The General wasn't even scheduled to be released during the tour - the tour would originally end on Oct. 16 and the initial release date was Oct. 27.

If it’s just to fulfill a contract? Sure. It’s all negotiated. The General also isn’t technically a single. It’s a B side to Perhaps. They also announced the pre-sale and its inclusion during the tour.

Edited November 28, 2023 by guitarpatch

[guitarpatch]

12 minutes ago, Rovim said:

doesn't seem very plausible to me. Not an approach I can see Axl taking, it just seems too cheap for Axl to agree to use Chinese material just to make a deal with promotors so the tour could keep going. 

my guess is that Axl chose to release these singles this way and there is no obligation to release anything when it comes to original material.

 

When the alternative is for Axl to do press to keep the big shows happening? Maybe he’d rather just negotiate the songs to be released to fulfill that commitment

 

[DoMw94]

2 hours ago, allwaystired said:

Why would people expect the leaks to be different to the ones on the vinyl? 

Curious as to why people think that - it's obvious the leaks came as a result of the vinyl, so it would make no sense for other versions to leak at that time. 

 

As a result of the vinyl? The released ones will absolutely be the same as the leaks we've heard, but those leaks aren't vinyl rips, if that's what you're suggesting

[Blackstar]

18 minutes ago, guitarpatch said:

If it’s just to fulfill a contract? Sure. It’s all negotiated. The General also isn’t technically a single. It’s a B side to Perhaps. They also announced the pre-sale and its inclusion during the tour.

The announcement of the b-side didn't make another news cycle as it was attached to the release of Perhaps.

12 minutes ago, guitarpatch said:

When the alternative is for Axl to do press to keep the big shows happening? Maybe he’d rather just negotiate the songs to be released to fulfill that commitment

If Axl doesn't want to do press, Slash and Duff can do it. They in fact did a couple of promo interviews for the Australian tour last year.

Edited November 28, 2023 by Blackstar

[Rovim]

11 minutes ago, guitarpatch said:

When the alternative is for Axl to do press to keep the big shows happening? Maybe he’d rather just negotiate the songs to be released to fulfill that commitment

 

honestly, thinking that Axl was in a position which he had to choose between doing press or whoring singles to keep promoters happy seems to be a little bit of a reach. There is nothing we know that indicates any of that actually happened and a huge brand like Gn'R with Axl and Slash in the lineup brings with it a lot of power I would imagine. Maybe enough to not have to make cheap deals with promoters.

Edited November 28, 2023 by Rovim

[Slugworth]

18 hours ago, Caedo said:

For anyone wanting to hear the version played on Japanese radio to my ears it sounds exactly the same. I’m pretty confident they just played the leak version - potentially by accident if someone had sent it to them and requested it.

 

They're not playing the leak. The CD is being released in Japan and radio stations get their copies early.

 

Just face it...

 

 

14 hours ago, 22frets said:

I definitely notice a difference in Monsters. The instrument separation is a lot better and the mix sounds cleaner overall. 

 

All you're listening to is a fan edit or the same version and you're trying to will a better mix into existence.

 

This same shit happened right after it leaked. That clown merged the songs together, spammed it everywhere,  and a handful of people said it was better than the leak.

[gavgnr]

1 hour ago, username said:

1 hour ago, guitarpatch said:

That’s what these songs serve as. A news cycle bump. These songs were released half way and towards the end of the tour. We seem to get 2 of them per leg.  

It looks like these songs were part of their promotion obligation with the promoter. Nothing more, nothing less. Repurposing what’s available and Axl doesn’t have to to do press. They make more $ off of negotiating a deal with live nation to drip these out every leg than what Spotify and some physical sales would produce 

Maybe if they come together to write an album’s worth of songs, it will be different next time 

Oh damn. That's a depressingly realistic theory. 

Sadly correct though.

[22frets]

21 minutes ago, Slugworth said:

All you're listening to is a fan edit or the same version and you're trying to will a better mix into existence.

 

This same shit happened right after it leaked. That clown merged the songs together, spammed it everywhere,  and a handful of people said it was better than the leak.

Yeah, after further listens, it just seems like an EQ tweak. 

Edited November 28, 2023 by 22frets

[allwaystired]

1 hour ago, DoMw94 said:

As a result of the vinyl? The released ones will absolutely be the same as the leaks we've heard, but those leaks aren't vinyl rips, if that's what you're suggesting

Yeah that's what I thought. 

I don't understand why people thought the audio that leaked wouldn't be the audio we get on the vinyl. 

[Slugworth]

16 minutes ago, allwaystired said:

Yeah that's what I thought. 

I don't understand why people thought the audio that leaked wouldn't be the audio we get on the vinyl. 

I was just expecting higher quality of the same exact thing we've been listening to.

 

I sometimes forget this is GNR and such simple expectations are too much to expect.

 

It has to be amateur hour top to bottom, 24/7/365. Even their "big guns" can't escape this fate.

[F*ck Fear]

Is there a new rip of these two songs?

[Silence]

5 hours ago, Gordon Comstock said:

 

The leak is the final version, Axl absolutely would release a song with vocals that distorted, and GNR France posted pics of their vinyl days ago.

That felt obvious from the beginning. 

[Voodoochild]

44 minutes ago, Slugworth said:

I was just expecting higher quality of the same exact thing we've been listening to.

 

I sometimes forget this is GNR and such simple expectations are too much to expect.

 

It has to be amateur hour top to bottom, 24/7/365. Even their "big guns" can't escape this fate.

But we still didn’t get the official thing in its higher quality. I mean, the mix is obviously the same, but the audio quality should be better, I have no doubt about it. 

[gnfnr2k]

55 minutes ago, Slugworth said:

I was just expecting higher quality of the same exact thing we've been listening to.

 

I sometimes forget this is GNR and such simple expectations are too much to expect.

 

It has to be amateur hour top to bottom, 24/7/365. Even their "big guns" can't escape this fate.

 

This is what happens when a housekeepr and pool boy are running the band

[Old_school_gnr_fan]

Been a GN'R fan for 36 years, and I think "The General" is easily one of the ten worst songs the band has ever officially released. Seems like everyone's trying to polish a turd here, but that's what the song is: a turd.

Wasn't everyone kind of expecting something epic? Based on the urban legends of the song, it should have been something on a grand scale like Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir". Instead, we get a song that sounds distorted, with repetitive lyrics ( "don't know what to tell you now", over and over). We waited 25 years for THIS?

Just ditch the whole industrial rock/nu metal garbage, and go back to making rock and roll music.

[Its Tino]

4 hours ago, allwaystired said:

Why would people expect the leaks to be different to the ones on the vinyl? 

Curious as to why people think that - it's obvious the leaks came as a result of the vinyl, so it would make no sense for other versions to leak at that time. 

 

Isn’t it confined Monsters is not on the vinyl tho.