Opinions on the leaked songs

[pbj_jam]

music aside, just fun to watch it play out between the two extremes on both spectrums, competing for who can convince themselves the most that it's either the goat/bloat.

[Lies They Tell]

Together, as one song they're actually worth the wait. Together they are the kind of an epic song that I always imagined The General to be like. Individually they're cool too, but nowhere near as great as they are as one song.

I'm not sure which one I actually prefer more. The General sounds a bit muddy. There's slightly too much effects on Axl's voice too. And I'm not a big fan of the "Don't know what to tell you now" part. But overall I really like the disturbing lyrics and emotionally speaking The General touches my soul more than Monsters does. If The General was just one song, I feel like it would end too suddenly too. It would feel incomplete.

Monsters on the other hand would need a better intro if it was just one song. Feels like it starts from the middle point of a song. Other than that Monsters is probably the more consistently good song, even if it doesn't hit me emotionally as hard as The General does. Monsters is a cool song, but it would feel incomplete without The General. Together they are a masterpiece.

[Tadsy]

It’s only my opinion, so for fear of being unpopular and/or publicly ridiculed here goes.

 I’m not fussed.

It’ll probably make its mark in hardcore GNR land, and I can accept that. 
but honestly, it’s no better than the previous songs thrown out there , to me… it’s just apparent that these guys are so far past their peak creatively that throwing this kind of thing out there just makes me sad. 
 

if there’s people out there that love it, that’s great… but for me it’s just junk. I’m happy to live in the past when it comes to this band (and plenty of others) and it’s not really a knock on them… everyone gets old or the well goes dry or it just isn’t as good as the hits or whatever… 

I’ll still love em, but not for these releases. 

[StrangerInThisTown]

Some thoughts:

The General must be the darkest piece of music Slash has been a part of since The Unholy (that song too was about child abuse, but by catholic priests) and also really dark musically. Interesting to hear Axl on such a piece of music, this is the darkest shit Axl has written possibly ever, even My Michelle doesn't compare.

Then we get something Slash did on "Battleground" from WOF: the Monsters part is very reminiscent of what Slash did with Battleground, in terms of someone said it sounded britpopy and that was my first thought aswell, it's this big, anthemic vamp out at the end. It sounds "redemptive" musically after the dark first half of the song, and Axls "it's over now" lyrics complete it. As BG is one of my favourite Slash songs I was quite surprised and pleased to hear it. You can trace this formula actually all the way back to Rocket Queen.

Overall I can't see how you're gonna be disappointed in this, we've finally got our epic, after 3 short-ish songs. The General is the 9+ minute epic musical journey people hoped for, it just depends on if it's your style musically, and it's the darkest shit they've put out since Coma so not everyones cup of tea.

Edited October 28, 2023 by StrangerInThisTown

[Voodoochild]

I’m not surprised to see some people’s reaction. Like I tried to predict, the fanbase would be split on this, I just didn’t predict that it would also be split also because it’s a 2 combo track. lol 

 

 

[KIKOZ3]

The crowd's reaction to the songs is expected and normal.

There are a lot of people with very small minds, they are stuck in1980, in Hard Rock and are unable to appreciate new musical directions.

If it's not AFD repeatedly it's not good.

If you didn't like it, go listen to Slash's solo work and stop bothering here.

 

This is Guns n Roses these songs are from the Chinese Democarcy era and have the vibe of this formation and contribution of dinosaurs.

[invisible_rose]

Jury is out on The General. I'm hoping for a high res version soon so I can really give it a few proper listens.

Monsters - love it. Axl's vocals are unreal. I'd love to know when that vocal track was recorded. 

[invisible_rose]

3 hours ago, StrangerInThisTown said:

Some thoughts:

The General must be the darkest piece of music Slash has been a part of since The Unholy (that song too was about child abuse, but by catholic priests) and also really dark musically. Interesting to hear Axl on such a piece of music, this is the darkest shit Axl has written possibly ever, even My Michelle doesn't compare.

Then we get something Slash did on "Battleground" from WOF: the Monsters part is very reminiscent of what Slash did with Battleground, in terms of someone said it sounded britpopy and that was my first thought aswell, it's this big, anthemic vamp out at the end. It sounds "redemptive" musically after the dark first half of the song, and Axls "it's over now" lyrics complete it. As BG is one of my favourite Slash songs I was quite surprised and pleased to hear it. You can trace this formula actually all the way back to Rocket Queen.

Overall I can't see how you're gonna be disappointed in this, we've finally got our epic, after 3 short-ish songs. The General is the 9+ minute epic musical journey people hoped for, it just depends on if it's your style musically, and it's the darkest shit they've put out since Coma so not everyones cup of tea.

I agree. The lyrics in The General are savage. It's a hard listen, more over when you know about Axl's childhood. 

No idea if it's one or two tracks, but now you mention Rocket Queen & Coma, I think you might be on to something. Whatever it is, I love it. Bravo Axl.

[Flayer]

Easily the best playing Slash has done on any of the NuGuns material.

[Tadsy]

5 hours ago, KIKOZ3 said:

The crowd's reaction to the songs is expected and normal.

There are a lot of people with very small minds, they are stuck in1980, in Hard Rock and are unable to appreciate new musical directions.

If it's not AFD repeatedly it's not good.

If you didn't like it, go listen to Slash's solo work and stop bothering here.

 

This is Guns n Roses these songs are from the Chinese Democarcy era and have the vibe of this formation and contribution of dinosaurs.

Who are you to tell people not to come here because they aren’t a fan of the songs? 
 

there’s another forum that dictates people’s opinions and this isn’t it. 

 

 

[iftheworld]

.

Edited October 29, 2023 by iftheworld

[StrangerInThisTown]

9 hours ago, iftheworld said:

.

Agreed

[TiedHands]

Monsters is fucking fantastic. It's the kind of "big gun" I've been waiting years to hear. All those people who have spoken over the years about how Axl has all of these amazing songs in the vault, thats where this song sits for me. I cannot get enough of it. I love the guitars, the lyrics, the vocal delivery, those fucking ear worm vocal melodies, and that vocal breakdown at 2:50 is the most Axl Rose thing since I don't know when. 

The General, eh. I think I would be more okay if I hadn't built the song up for so long. Having been obsessed with the cell phone clip, I always felt like The General would be THE big gun. Come to find out, it wasn't even from that song lmao. I get the point of the song, but the vocal effects really kill it for me. I can't make out most of what Axl is even singing. Its definitely not an epic like we all assumed. I dont hate it and I have to hope that what we've heard isn't the final version. 

[Caught_in_a_Coma]

Monsters is very catchy, and a very good track.  The General will be divisive due to the subject material and lyrics used to address it.  I think it's a good song but I probably won't revisit it often.

[MrSoftie]

Monsters gave me chills. The General didn't do much for me on first listen but after a few plays I like it a lot, but Monsters is something else. Played together though, it's a journey.

[evilfacelessturtle]

On 10/28/2023 at 7:43 AM, StrangerInThisTown said:

Some thoughts:

The General must be the darkest piece of music Slash has been a part of since The Unholy (that song too was about child abuse, but by catholic priests) and also really dark musically. Interesting to hear Axl on such a piece of music, this is the darkest shit Axl has written possibly ever, even My Michelle doesn't compare.

Then we get something Slash did on "Battleground" from WOF: the Monsters part is very reminiscent of what Slash did with Battleground, in terms of someone said it sounded britpopy and that was my first thought aswell, it's this big, anthemic vamp out at the end. It sounds "redemptive" musically after the dark first half of the song, and Axls "it's over now" lyrics complete it. As BG is one of my favourite Slash songs I was quite surprised and pleased to hear it. You can trace this formula actually all the way back to Rocket Queen.

Overall I can't see how you're gonna be disappointed in this, we've finally got our epic, after 3 short-ish songs. The General is the 9+ minute epic musical journey people hoped for, it just depends on if it's your style musically, and it's the darkest shit they've put out since Coma so not everyones cup of tea.

What you're referring to are outros in a major key. Slash has done them for a long time, on most albums he likes to have one. With Snakepit, you have Back and Forth Again and Back To The Moment. With VR, Gravedancer. With Myles: Far and Away, Not For Me, We Will Roam, Battleground, Wicked Stone (and more on the following albums I don't care for).

Compared to Battleground or Far and Away, though, it's not quite as good as those outros. They should have extended it for Slash to really get a groove going.

On 10/28/2023 at 11:01 AM, invisible_rose said:

I agree. The lyrics in The General are savage. It's a hard listen, more over when you know about Axl's childhood. 

No idea if it's one or two tracks, but now you mention Rocket Queen & Coma, I think you might be on to something. Whatever it is, I love it. Bravo Axl.

This may be controversial, but as I recall, Axl only mentioned being molested when undergoing regression therapy, which is a practice that is not taken seriously within the scientific community (link). Further, he claimed that it happened when he was 2 years old, but humans cannot form long term memories until 3-4 years old (link).

I do believe he was abused in other ways, though.

[Alejandro GNR]

This song is fantastic,,,it was worth the wait and I'm eager to listen to the final version or a better mixed one because the leaked one sounds like a mess in some parts. 

This it Axl's genious and artistry in a nutshell. What a talented motherfker...and man, those voices...I would give one leg for a documentary showing Axl's recording sessions...

[Blackstar]

1 hour ago, evilfacelessturtle said:

This may be controversial, but as I recall, Axl only mentioned being molested when undergoing regression therapy, which is a practice that is not taken seriously within the scientific community (link). Further, he claimed that it happened when he was 2 years old, but humans cannot form long term memories until 3-4 years old (link).

I do believe he was abused in other ways, though.

Yeah, that was the sexual abuse part he talked publicly about (the context of the story he told has been confirmed from other sources, but not the sexual abuse itself, which would be hard to find evidence for anyway).

But he also talked about being physically abused by his stepfather, which was from direct memory and not through regression therapy (there is also a separate sexual abuse claim, not made publicly by Axl but from someone who allegedly Axl had talked to about it, but the source is questionable).

[Rovim]

7 hours ago, Blackstar said:

Yeah, that was the sexual abuse part he talked publicly about (the context of the story he told has been confirmed from other sources, but not the sexual abuse itself, which would be hard to find evidence for anyway).

But he also talked about being physically abused by his stepfather, which was from direct memory and not through regression therapy (there is also a separate sexual abuse claim, not made publicly by Axl but from someone who allegedly Axl had talked to about it, but the source is questionable).

Axl also defended himself onstage against accusations he was homophobic by saying he was sexually abused  

[WhazUp]

On 10/28/2023 at 7:18 AM, KIKOZ3 said:

 

There are a lot of people with very small minds, they are stuck in1980, in Hard Rock and are unable to appreciate new musical directions.

 

Or, you know, people just have different opinions and that doesn't mean they are stuck to only hard rock? lol

[KIKOZ3]

Just now, WhazUp said:

Or, you know, people just have different opinions and that doesn't mean they are stuck to only hard rock? lol

You're going to keep antonizing me answering all my answers.

 

get out.

 

[WhazUp]

21 minutes ago, KIKOZ3 said:

You're going to keep antonizing me answering all my answers.

 

get out.

 

Two answers, in two threads I happen to be browsing casually anyways.  If you don't want replies, don't make posts - I am not going out of my way, just having fun replying to silly posts I see along the way lol

Edited November 3, 2023 by WhazUp

[KIKOZ3]

2 minutes ago, WhazUp said:

Two answers, in two threads I happen to be browsing casually anyways.  If you don't want replies, don't make posts - I am not antagonizing intentionally, just having fun replying to dumb posts I see along the way lol

I can smell the mold from a distance.

[WhazUp]

On 10/28/2023 at 4:08 AM, Lies They Tell said:

Together, as one song they're actually worth the wait. Together they are the kind of an epic song that I always imagined The General to be like. Individually they're cool too, but nowhere near as great as they are as one song.

I'm not sure which one I actually prefer more. The General sounds a bit muddy. There's slightly too much effects on Axl's voice too. And I'm not a big fan of the "Don't know what to tell you now" part. But overall I really like the disturbing lyrics and emotionally speaking The General touches my soul more than Monsters does. If The General was just one song, I feel like it would end too suddenly too. It would feel incomplete.

Monsters on the other hand would need a better intro if it was just one song. Feels like it starts from the middle point of a song. Other than that Monsters is probably the more consistently good song, even if it doesn't hit me emotionally as hard as The General does. Monsters is a cool song, but it would feel incomplete without The General. Together they are a masterpiece.

I still feel exactly as you describe when it comes to both of them together.  I know that The General was just debuted live without Monsters, but man both played one after another, both having epic Marco Beltrami orchestration and whatnot, just still feels right when it comes to a singular journey.  And to me having both together fills out everything a bit more - The General having the repeated lyrics in the verses for example, doesn't feel as lyrically sparse with Monsters to go with it

[WhazUp]

On 10/28/2023 at 6:07 AM, Voodoochild said:

I’m not surprised to see some people’s reaction. Like I tried to predict, the fanbase would be split on this, I just didn’t predict that it would also be split also because it’s a 2 combo track. lol 

 

 

It's been fun revisiting the threads made a few days ago when the songs just leaked, seeing that so far it seems like the opinions on the tracks have kept consistent since they came out.  The general opinion of Monsters being the stronger of the two seems to be holding fairly strong so far with The General being the most split which makes sense in part because as a title it was hyped up so much over the years