"Better" - discuss it in this thread

[Skeba]

Best part of the song at the moment for me...

Each to their own I guess.

[kaddisonmoore]

Best part of the song at the moment for me...

Each to their own I guess.

thats my favorite part too. changes it from a pop song to a rocker with major pop infulence lol

[phaseONE]

Well, i see it as the worst part of the song, the screaming is so lame sounding, he should really re-think that part.

[The Dog]

No way, the middle part of this song is so awesome....I get goosebumps imagining Axl screaming that part at Hammerstein with all of us screaming the words right back.

I wonder if Axl and company know that its gonna  be mostly forum people if they open with better.....then again, Jungle is just the classic opener, I don't think GNR should ever open with another song...EVER! haha

[FortusGNR21]

The "metal" part in the middle of the song rocks dude! His voice sounds so powerful, to me It's a throwback to Old Axl, sounds as good here as he has for a long time IMO! 

[MJRoses23]

Yea the crazy screaming part is the best...i get chills everytime i hear it.  The part it could do witout is the funny computer breakdown thing.  It doesnt fit.  Other than that the rest of the song is amazing

[Deez Nuts]

I have a couple close buddies who are excellent musicians and know their shit. ?I made them a cd of the demos and live boots. ?One likes GNR but isn't up to date on them and the guitarist isn't really into them, but I got a call the very next day after they heard the demo cd. ?They were both blown away by Better. ?The guitarist said he just stopped what he was doing and was like, "what is he (bucket) doing! ?that's incredible, i would have never gone there (scale wise)".

My other buddy was impressed because "it seemed like all their new songs have a chord progression that's going down" and he could hear GNR evolving from their old catalog where it seemed like everything went up. ?He also said he could see why it's taking a long time and he's excited to hear CD. ?

After 2 months of this song I'm still not sick of it. ?The intro gets a little old after a while but the robotic verse, solo, and outro solo into the final verse impress me each time. ?

[ShotgunBlues1978]

The metal portion is really great.  It caught me off guard at first, but now I love it.  Buckethead's solo in the middle is great, it just comes out of nowhere and the effect he does at the end of it is nuts.  This song really shows why Buckethead is indeed the man, his fills and bridges are great.  I also love the outro, great solo from Finck, and the "no, no, no, no" background vocals by Axl are infectious

[bazgnr]

After hearing the leaks, a friend of mine and I were talking about how damn good it is just to hear Axl's voice again.  In regards to Better, he said "I hated how [the band] faded out after UYI with the lawsuits and lineup changes, all the rumors and all the waiting, and with SFTD being the last thing they put out...but this songs makes it all worth it.  If this was to be the last song that Axl put out, then I could deal with that.  It would be great way to close the GnR catalogue."

Not that I would ever hope that it would be that last we'd hear from Axl, but I agree - it's simply that good of a song.

[Lord Kayoss]

Definitely agree with that.

[russtcb]

After hearing the leaks, a friend of mine and I were talking about how damn good it is just to hear Axl's voice again.  In regards to Better, he said "I hated how [the band] faded out after UYI with the lawsuits and lineup changes, all the rumors and all the waiting, and with SFTD being the last thing they put out...but this songs makes it all worth it.  If this was to be the last song that Axl put out, then I could deal with that.  It would be great way to close the GnR catalogue."

Not that I would ever hope that it would be that last we'd hear from Axl, but I agree - it's simply that good of a song.

I feel the same way I think. Even if we never got to hear anything else (which we will) I feel that the demo of Better proves that Axl knows what he's doing and all of the doubters are wrong

[Evolution]

I love the little guitar part that goes "dee dee deedee" from BH into the riff signalling the start of the metal section. 

[Mobenrad]

This song is insane. It starts off as a pure pop-hip-hop intro with a voice reminiscent of Brittany Spears. That is not a bad thing. It goes amazingly well with the intro. I really like that intro.

It kicks in with a very simple sounding rhythm guitar riff. However, the pattern of the rhythm is very difficult and odd. That's the beauty of this piece. It's so simple, yet the rhythm is the hardest part of the song to catch. A

fter the 2nd chorus, Buckethead owns his guitar with a solo that makes you think "New Age on top of Pantera/Slayer rhythm." At the end of his solo, Buckethead uses his killswitch. That part makes me want to fucking knock somebody out. It's so intense.

After the solo, the head-banging metal part kicks in. It sends an adrenaline riff through you if you're playing drums or guitar along with it, or even when you're just groovin' to the music.

Then the voice kicks in...Axl...screaming with anger...he's pissed definitely because of some heartless bitch.

And finally, Robin's industrial past owns a part of the song. With a 7/8 signature, it really is a reminder of "Oh My God". The two riffs are very similar.

The only off-set of the entire 5 minute long epic song is the computer techno part. I am hoping that they will add a drum fill in place of it.

After that, Buckethead strikes once again with a classical technique of his, slap guitar with a wah-wah pedal set all the way back. (Yes, it's definitely his famous slap-'n'-pop technique.)

Robin's solo is the most emotional part of the song. It makes you really get a feel for what Axl went through. It makes you think about the song. Its meaning, its focus, its point.

The song finally dies down with the same riff from the intro.

All in all, we can definitely tell there are several influences. Industiral, New Age, Hip-hop (if not Rap), Techno, and Metal.

And we can also tell that Buckethead wrote more than half the parts of this song, due to the new age feel and the odd rhythm pattern (in mentioning the pattern of the rhythm, I do not mean the order of the verses and the arrangement or anything, but the pattern of the picking. It's 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3, 1, 1-2-3, and many songs follow ordinary patterns such as 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, so on and so forth).

[Siliconmessiah]

I love the little guitar part that goes "dee dee deedee" from BH into the riff signalling the start of the metal section. 

I guess I know what part you mean...the di di dididididididididideooow-part, right?   

It?s great!




And another great guitar-part is the one going in to the last verse, before the "naa naaa naaa" part.

Like in minute 3.42 of the song.

[Steel_Angel]

What is axl saying in the background at 4:00 thru 4:18?

[JB9988]

BETTER FUCKING KICKS ASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dave-gnfnr2k]

What is axl saying in the background at 4:00 thru 4:18?

I think he is repeating " I know better"

He is saying it like this

IIIII knoooowww Bet-tah

[Jonathan]

What is axl saying in the background at 4:00 thru 4:18?

I think he is repeating " I know better"

He is saying it like this

IIIII knoooowww Bet-tah

I can actually here that too, a little bit, but I think it's just "aah-aah-aah-aah".

[Dont Try Me]

This song is insane. It starts off as a pure pop-hip-hop intro with a voice reminiscent of Brittany Spears. That is not a bad thing. It goes amazingly well with the intro. I really like that intro.

It kicks in with a very simple sounding rhythm guitar riff. However, the pattern of the rhythm is very difficult and odd. That's the beauty of this piece. It's so simple, yet the rhythm is the hardest part of the song to catch.

After the 2nd chorus, Buckethead owns his guitar with a solo that makes you think "New Age on top of Pantera/Slayer rhythm." At the end of his solo, Buckethead uses his killswitch. That part makes me want to fucking knock somebody out. It's so intense.

After the solo, the head-banging metal part kicks in. It sends an adrenaline riff through you if you're playing drums or guitar along with it, or even when you're just groovin' to the music.

Then the voice kicks in...Axl...screaming with anger...he's pissed definitely because of some heartless bitch.

And finally, Robin's industrial past owns a part of the song. With a 7/8 signature, it really is a reminder of "Oh My God". The two riffs are very similar.

The only off-set of the entire 5 minute long epic song is the computer techno part. I am hoping that they will add a drum fill in place of it.

After that, Buckethead strikes once again with a classical technique of his, slap guitar with a wah-wah pedal set all the way back. (Yes, it's definitely his famous slap-'n'-pop technique.)

Robin's solo is the most emotional part of the song. It makes you really get a feel for what Axl went through. It makes you think about the song. Its meaning, its focus, its point.

The song finally dies down with the same riff from the intro.

All in all, we can definitely tell there are several influences. Industiral, New Age, Hip-hop (if not Rap), Techno, and Metal.

And we can also tell that Buckethead wrote more than half the parts of this song, due to the new age feel and the odd rhythm pattern (in mentioning the pattern of the rhythm, I do not mean the order of the verses and the arrangement or anything, but the pattern of the picking. It's 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3, 1, 1-2-3, and many songs follow ordinary patterns such as 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, so on and so forth).

nice analogy! good post man

And I agree 110% about the rhythm, it seems so simple but it's very, very hard to get a finger on it. Very strange pattern indeed. I love it. 

[dave-gnfnr2k]

What is axl saying in the background at 4:00 thru 4:18?

I think he is repeating " I know better"

He is saying it like this

IIIII knoooowww Bet-tah

I can actually here that too, a little bit, but I think it's just "aah-aah-aah-aah".

If you listen close I think its I know better.
It could be Nah Nah Nah Nah, but I know better sounds cool