Here Today... Gone To Hell!

I will first say that Better is my favorite. It is kinda catchy. However the one song that has that POP chart catchyness is IRS. It has a simple few lines that repeat. The kind that you sing along to, even if you don't understand the meaning of the song. That is the stuff that sells. Better and TWAT may be a longer lasting songs in the long run.

I think IRS is catchy as well. My opinion is that it will do well if it's released as a single. Still, it doesn't mean that more complicated songs (musically or lyric-wise) can't make it to success.

We figured this out 11 months ago when the songs first leaked.

I find Better more catchy than IRS.. IRS lacks too much power from the chorus. Live it's pure gold though.

I think Better is way more catchy than IRS

honestly, i think irs sucks.  it's the weakest of the new songs (aside from rhiad and silkworms).  i even hope that it won't make the album.

How you find Better not as catchy as IRS, I do not understand. How the hell does that intro not get stuck in your head?

No one ever told me when I was alone
They just thought I'd know better, better.

No one ever told me when I was alone
They just thought I'd know better, better

Lets just basically put it this way  BETTER is the single end of story, you don't put any random songs on a commercial unless its a single.  I remember listening to the radio and the DJ saying that GnR licsensed paradise city and a new song for Harley Davidson hmm now put two and two together and what do you get.

4

IRS is way better than Better for this line alone

"I had my dogs on  yooooouu ooooo ooooooh    eckkkahhhhh ahhhh ahhhhh ahhhhhh"


Betters Guitar Tone is Very Irritating to the Ears.

Good one my fellow pacific Northwestiner

It doesn't get stuck it my head,   I might go around humming the melody or something but I don't think the lyrics flow right

idk

But IRS is way more catchy, and IMO thats what is needed to make it in todays radio

I want whatever you smoked to hear that.

I strongly disagree. Every single person whom I've shown the leaks to prefers or is more reactionary to Better. Better as a track is just more dynamic and more commercially appealing than "IRS" imo. Better is the better single...

"Better" is the better potential single. "IRS" is the better live song.

When your driving down the highway, what are you more likely to be signing... Better with a high pitch... or IRS.... The answer is IRS.

Actually, I'd be more likely to be singing "Better." I find the "IRS" chorus to be very awkward, although I do like the song. Live it stirs up emotions and gets the audience going with its momentum. Otherwise, "Better" is the better conceived track, and plays better as a single with single appeal.

irs sucks.
its not a good song.
it's borring, it's annoying and the beat sucks.
maybe it's a good song if you are waiting for the RHCP album, but not GNR

I agree with your first statement. ?I disagree with your second. ?

Have you seen both songs performed live? ?Let me say, both kick major ass! ?But, with Better, damn, I'm telling you right now it is easy to go nuts over live!

We don't even know what's going to be on the album, so speculation over the first single is a bit silly. ?I can't wait for March!!! ? 8) ?

 I hope it's The Blues. I love that song.

Better should (will) be the first single.

A good second single would be Madagascar....and I'm sure that would make an amazing music video.

 The blues would probably be a touching romantic video with candles and stuff.

Better is very "catchy" the kind of song you have in your head after you hear it.  But I do like the Blues...the piano intro. does the same. : ok:

Wrong.


Uh-uh.


No.

Anyway, I agree that IRS is more "catchy" than Better, because it has better sing-along potential.  That doesn't make it BETTER than Better.  I think it's not quite as good as Better.  But Better doesn't have that rhyming quality that is necessary for something to be catchy. 

Then again, I don't usually go for catchy (though catchy does get stuck in my head).  I prefer power and uniqueness.  When Axl starts screaming "I never wanted you to be so full of anger"...yeah, that does it for me.  I'm certain Better will be a single, though I'm not as sure about IRS.  I'm really more interested to see whether GNR puts out Maddy or The Blues (or, if both, which comes first).

yeah, what part of the song was that in?  :hihi:

You have to listen to Better at least 10 times before you get the full "gist" of the chorus.  Most people don't know the words, the words are simple in I.R.S, but BETTER is a way BETTER track.  Madagascar is still the best among the new songs though.

better is a "better" single...

think I need some sleep know.

My big problem with IRS is that the chorus is in it like 10,000 times. If it weren't for that, I'd like it just as much as Better.

I love how the chorus turns on IRS. That after "you know it's true" is mind blowing.

I think IRS and Better are both very catchy. Better is in the contemporary form while the style of IRS is rather classic/timeless.

If we're talking about picking a song that's going to be catchy to the general public...then I'd have to say Catcher in the Rye.  Especially with the "Na-na-na-na-na" part.  That kind of stuff screams pop radio single.

I think Better is much more catchy than IRS. Let's not forget that when the IRS leak was played on the radio last year MANY TIMES, that nobody really took notice. Of course it was only a demo but not many people were really impressed by the song. I love IRS personally but in today's world and the way the radio is these days, it just wouldn't do well at all.  Times have changed and the songs that get played on the radio just aren't as good as they used to be. Of course people here say, "These songs will be played on the radio so much because there haven't been any songs like this released, blah blah blah." But think about it, the songs that get played on radio today get played so much because PEOPLE OUT THERE LISTEN TO THEM AND WANT TO HEAR THEM.  The average music fan's taste in music has changed over the years and songs like The Blues, Madagascar and CD that people here think will actually get played on the radio, JUST WON'T. Maybe in other countries it's possible but not in the country I live in. Our radio fucking sucks anymore and it's sad. I can't even listen to the radio because it's the same Nickelback song getting played over and over again.

Of all of the songs we have heard so far, Better is the only one that has a chance at a good amount of radio play. That's just being realistic and thinking outside of the "GNR BOX" that so many of us are stuck in. I'm not even being negative because I love the new songs but The Blues isn't going to ever get played on the radio 10 times a day like some of the songs out there today. It just won't happen.

But of course, CATCHY SONGS SELL. That's just an obvious fact.  But radio play isn't the only thing that's going to sell this album to people. There are a lot of albums that are a success that you never hear played on the radio these days.

songs generally get more airplay if the band is recognised or has just had a hit single. say the blues is the second single, it will only go really well if better is a success. this story rings true for the james blunt songs goodbye my lover and wise men, which would not have done well at all if not for the success of you're beautiful
if the first two are a big success we could see up to six singles released from the album

by the way i hate james blunt with a passion

Better is catchy, and in many other ways the right choice for the first single too. B-side should be The Blues or Madagascar.

Anyway, I think the first lines are catchy enough:
"No one ever told me when I was alone, they just thought I'd know better, better.."

And then this powerful piece followed by the line above again is the most catchy part:
"So bittersweet, this tragedy won't ask for absolution, this melody inside of me still searches for solution, a twist of fate, a change of heart kills my infatuation, a broken heart, provides the spark for my determination.."

Beautiful.

yes, better will be a pop hit

pop in the sense of popular maybe, like Sweet Child was

like 3 days ago i played 2 of the new songs to one of my girlfriends ( :hihi:) anyway, i played her better and the blues she loooved the blues (of course) and thought better was ok, the day later the first thing she said to me good god i Loove better and i was like better or the blues? and she said BETTER :headbanger: i played her IRS yesterday and she said, well it was not as good as the first 2

Yeah, Better has to be the first single. No matter who I've played it for, GN'R fan or not, they have loved the song. It will be a big hit if they decide to use it as the single. It just has so many parts that stick in people's heads. The beginning, the main riff and verses, and the chorus all are catchy as hell. It will stick in people's minds.

really?

"In early 2006, a demo of the song (IRS), along with demos of "Better", "Catcher In The Rye", and "There Was a Time" were leaked on the Internet through a Guns N' Roses fan site. The band's management requested that all links to the MP3 files and all lyrics to the songs be removed from forums and websites. Despite this, radio stations began adding "I.R.S." to playlists, and the song actually reached 49th on trade mag Radio & Records' Active Rock National Airplay chart for the final week of February 2006 - the first time an internet leak had done so."

lmao that line cracked me up man.

i dunno i mean, i want quality songs, cause catchy ones can be too repetative and annoying

Did you copy and paste that from Wikipedia??  Good source, but anyway... have you read anywhere about IRS being played on the radio and tons and tons of people calling in and requesting it and talking about how great it was?? Everything I have read or heard has been just the opposite. Sure people liked the song and it was a NEW Guns N' Roses song so of course it's going to get some radio play when it first leaks, but nobody thought the song was anything great. I love the song, don't get me wrong, but in today's world it just wouldn't be a successful single.  I think it WOULD BE A HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE MOVE IF THEY DECIDED TO USE IRS AS THE FIRST SINGLE.  So of course they won't, it will be BETTER.  Better is the only new song we have heard that has a chance at regular radio play. That's not hating on the band, that's just being realistic.  Of course I can only speak for the radio stations by where I live and nobody can ever speak for the whole fucking United States or the rest of the world, but the Cleveland area rock stations would not play any other songs on a regular basis that we have heard outside of maybe playing Better. Cleveland stations fucking suck.

So you want songs that aren't "catchy"???  You want a bunch of songs that won't get stuck in your head or that you won't even remember after you listen to them??  Hmmmm... that's a new outlook.  I want fucking catchy\quality songs.  Writing good melodies is about making a song CATCHY. Sweet Child O' Mine is a catchy song and has a great melody.  Do you think Sweet Child is REPETITIVE and annoying??

Ive got better loaded on to the sound system in my pub and out of the 3 new songs Ive had on there people seem to like it the most.

I think the point is that catchy songs aren't always good songs.  Look at most big artists today...the music world is full of poppy, sing along, catchy shit.  And, most of it is terrible.  I'm not saying good songs can't be catchy (The Beatles?)...just that most artists nowadays use catchy as a replacement for quality. 

The most "catchy" GNR moment (IMO) is the chorus of Paradise City.  It rhymes, everyone knows it, and people who don't listen to a bit of GNR will sing along.  It's a catchy chorus on an otherwise uncatchy song.  Can casual fans sing the verses?  Most likely, the can't.  But they love that chorus.  The verses on SCOM are also catchy, and easy to sing for the casual fan. 

But, overall, GNR doesn't strike me as a band that won people over by being catchy.  They kind of beat you into submission, really, with the quality of their music.  IRS has a catchy chorus, and is probably the most catchy moment I've heard on any of the leaks or from live performances.  I don't think that's bad...GNR doesn't use catchy as a substitute for quality.     

But let's not forget that most of the shitty, "catchy", sing-a-long songs that are released today are released by bands that suck themselves.  I think that most of Guns N' Roses songs are catchy.  I've been listening to mostly the new songs as of late and after I listen to them I always have one of them stuck in my head for the rest of the day.  My ex-girlfriend would always have Better stuck in her head after she heard it. 

I just don't think it's fair to assume that because a song is "catchy" that it isn't any good based on what other bands are releasing today.  As you mentioned... The Beatles have arguably the most catchy songs ever written by any band and MOST people would say that they are all pretty awesome.  If GN'R starts releasing a bunch of songs without decent song structure and good hooks\melodies, then it's not going to get them anywhere.  Songs without melodies are BORING to most people.  I can't listen to bands that can't write decent melodies.  That is one of the best things that Axl does... writes great melodies that DRAW PEOPLE IN. 

The songs on this album are going to be "catchy" songs whether some of you like it or not.  That's what GN'R does.  I don't know why anybody would want less than that??  I for one don't want to be bored with Chinese Democracy after only a few listens and if the songs aren't catchy that's exactly what would happen... unless you are just an easily impressed, boring ass human being.

i think better is very catchy , but not in a sell out kind of way because it mixes a hard rock sound with just catchy elements

You make some good points.  I think the main problem is that we all have different definitions of "catchy."  Your definition seems to be based on good melodies, and that's valid.  A melody can get stuck in your head.  What often gets stuck in my head is a rhyming, sing songy verse or chorus (whether it's a good one or not). 

I think most artists these days rely on a song being catchy (my definition) as a crutch...because they aren't capable of writing quality songs and melodies (your definition).  I have NO problem with songs that meet your definition of catchy.  I don't have a big problem with songs that meet mine either.  It's songs that ONLY meet my definition, and don't go any further, that I dislike.  A catchy chorus or verse is fine, if it's attached to strong musicianship and songwriting.  Usually, it's not.  When GNR is catchy, it's also a great song.  I love the guitar solo in SCOM, for example, and that song is catchy as hell (your def. AND mine!).  But people like Britney et. al. who write (do they even write their songs?) these sing-a-long songs have nothing going for them other than "catchy," which is probably why image becomes so important, too. 

GNR isn't about catchy, to me.  It's about great songwriting and, if it happens to be catchy, too, then that's fine.