Has The General done damage to gnrs rep?

[DSTK]

Damage? No what a bullshit pointless over reaction, some like it , some don't..its hardly the end of the world is it

It's just a song, if you dislike it, don't listen 

[DannyVinyard]

7 hours ago, tboneman said:

I think 2002 lineup and their VMA's performance were much worse received by public. It was seen as a freakshow with hiphop cornrow-Axl, Buckethead, Robin and all the other band members looking like from completely different bands put together. I remember late night shows like Conan making fun of them and Axl.

They were way better than what we have today, and that performance was way better than anyone else's that night.

[Mikey Whipwreck]

GNR's legacy and reputation is their output from 1987-1991. It has more than stood the test of time and outside of the most rabid segments of the fanbase is all anyone cares about. 

The General is a curiosity, a 20 year old song reworked and released with no fanfare. It won't have any impact one way or another. 

Based on daily Spotify streams, TIL and Better have settled in right below the biggest of "big guns" so those songs had some staying power with a larger group of people, along with a few other CD songs but for the most part anything past UYI is not moving the needle, good or bad.

[mr-fukaji]

rememer when Axl Rose was dressed like an eccentric head shop owner and he dove headfirst into a photographers face and caused a riot

[Bitchisback]

This is a band that put out one in a million and a charles manson cover. 

 

Nobody gives a fuck about this song and it won't change anything 

[guitarpatch]

Nobody cares about a new song in 2023 except for us. It’s a nostalgia band to 95% of the public. If they even heard it, it’s forgotten in a week. No matter how positive or negative a reaction.
 

New music is not why they go to a show. New music reminds them that they are on tour. It’s a news cycle refresh 

Who cares about “rep”? Like and enjoy what you want. Not what other people perceive 

[Ratam]

I will be succinct..... NO.

[Towelie]

4 hours ago, SoulMonster said:

I don't even know what to listen for.

I hear the song and I like it. I like the staccato bass beat, I like the sinister feeling throughout, I like art that tackles dark topics, I like the power riffing in the chorus, I LOVE Axl's attack when he sings "and those who understand" in the chorus (that's classic Axl venom on level with anything in his career), I like the drum fill before the second chorus and I like how the guitar double the vocal melody in the breakdown, I like the vocal melody in the chorus and the juxtaposition between Axl's piercing vocals and the riffage underneath, and I find it utterly fascinating how I can't tell the guitar from the vocals in the end before I hear Axl's vibrato on the final note.

Maybe the song could have been mixed punchier or whatever, or maybe the drum sound isn't perfect with some scratching sounds on them. I dunno. Still, it is completely dwarfed by the qualities of the song.

Yup, this. 

People keep banging on about the production and the bad quality etc, but to me it sounds deliberately murky, much in the same way Axl's voice was produced on Oh My God.

I don't know what clipping is and quite frankly,  I wouldn't want to listen out for it or be directed to notice something that could hamper my enjoyment of the song.

[El Guapo]

The general is a fart in the wind and already forgotten.

[DSTK]

1 hour ago, DannyVinyard said:

They were way better than what we have today, and that performance was way better than anyone else's that night.

Madagascar was epic 

[Tom-Ass]

It started with Absurd and hasn't stopped since... I would argue that it started with CD but we won't go there lol.  But yeah, with the exception of maybe Perhaps.. These songs are pretty bad.  

[Stay.Of.Execution]

The general public will hate monsters too btw. 

[Sosso]

8 minutes ago, Tom-Ass said:

It started with Absurd and hasn't stopped since... I would argue that it started with CD but we won't go there lol.  But yeah, with the exception of maybe Perhaps.. These songs are pretty bad.  

I would argue that it started with the bands drug addiction and Axl's rants 

Edited December 15, 2023 by Sosso

[Tom-Ass]

5 minutes ago, Sosso said:

I would argue that it started with the bands drug addiction and Axl's rants 

Their drug addiction harmed their reputation? My memory isn't the best, but I don't remember them ever being any more popular than they were when they were all banged up. 

[Cosmo]

Lol no one even knows The General exists

[Voodoochild]

22 minutes ago, Stay.Of.Execution said:

The general public will hate monsters too btw. 

For sure. A bit less, but still...

[D4NNY]

20 minutes ago, Stay.Of.Execution said:

The general public will hate monsters too btw. 

I dunno man, I feel that could be a hit for them (in rock charts atleast) I know that stuff really doesn’t matter but it is so catchy, those vocals from Axl are incredible. I do feel it would be very well received 

[El Guapo]

2 hours ago, D4NNY said:

I dunno man, I feel that could be a hit for them (in rock charts atleast) I know that stuff really doesn’t matter but it is so catchy, those vocals from Axl are incredible. I do feel it would be very well received 

Agreed, Monsters could be considered as a cool, new Gnr track.

[dave94]

Out of people who have listened to the song, the hard core fans will probably support the band no matter what even after an underwhelming new release, and casual fans who will listen to it and think “not for me” will just move on to the next song without thinking twice about it

[Karice]

Wow, just literally like one MONTH ago, MANY Guns N'Roses Fans were like,"I LOVE The General," "The General is a wonderful song!" "Easily one of the best of the newer singles!"  MANY Fans are now saying,""You know, The General is actually a REALLY crappy song that shouldn't have seen the light of day." What a difference roughly a month makes. 

 

Edit. I wonder if many fans didn't like The General from the beginning, saw many other Fans were talking good about it, probably thought,"I don't want to look like a Debbie downer and get attacked for admitting I don't like The General, so I'll hop on the bandwagon and claim I like it too so I don't get attacked." When more and more people started talking crap about The General, those fans that falsely claimed to like it out of fear of being attacked if they bashed it could be like,"I never liked The General from the get go myself." But this is just my theory. 🤔💡

Edited December 15, 2023 by Karice

[eggers]

It's pretty funny to me seeing all the hard dicks over a song title for YEARS and then the crying when the song is finally released.

[Draguns]

It's funny to think that The General can cause damage when they released One in A Million back in the day. If anything One In A Million had the potential to cause much more damage to GNR, but it didn't. Additionally, the article that came out in 1994 regarding Axl 's relationship with Stephanie and Erin would have caused a ton more damage than song in 2023. 

This post is an overreaction to The General. The song is average that will not cause damage. If anything, it may even eventually enhance the reputation of GNR (Axl specifically) considering it's about child abuse. The only other song that I know of that deals with child abuse is Janine's Got a Gun. Other than that no other songs that I know of  tackle this subject matter. It may help victims of child abuse tackle their feelings on this and may be used in therapy or something. 

Edited December 15, 2023 by Draguns

[Karice]

1 hour ago, Draguns said:

It's funny to think that The General can cause damage when they released One in A Million back in the day. If anything One In A Million had the potential to cause much more damage to GNR, but it didn't. Additionally, the article that came out in 1994 regarding Axl 's relationship with Stephanie and Erin would have caused a ton more damage than song in 2023. 

This post is an overreaction to The General. The song is average that will not cause damage. If anything, it may even eventually enhance the reputation of GNR (Axl specifically) considering it's about child abuse. The only other song that I know of that deals with child abuse is Janine's Got a Gun. Other than that no other songs that I know of  tackle this subject matter. It may help victims of child abuse tackle their feelings on this and may be used in therapy or something. 

Luka by Suzanne Vega is also about child abuse. Luka is a boy being abused by his Parents, but it seems he doesn't want to get his Parents into trouble by calling the police on them or anything. 😫

[janrichmond]

 

I don't think this will damage their reputation. Why would it?

Has any song ruined a band's rep?

 

I don't like the song, but I also don't repeat the fact ad nauseam in every thread.

[Karice]

2 hours ago, eggers said:

It's pretty funny to me seeing all the hard dicks over a song title for YEARS and then the crying when the song is finally released.

The thing is, looking at the title, you'd never guess it's about an abusive Father. I thought The General was going to be an upbeat, happy song, not a depressing song about child abuse. 🤔 The General isn't even mentioned in the song. Song REALLY should have been named something like," Daddy Don't!" Naming it The General was an awful title. 

Edited December 16, 2023 by Karice