The only Catcher In The Rye thread you need!

[riotact_vancity]

It just seems to lose everything that I loved about the demo. Every little section was brilliant and I was eager to hear how it would evolve but it now sounds so flat and just passes me by. The album's biggest disappointment for me, but still a great song underneath the misguided production, so I'm genuinely glad others are able to love it.

Brian May's original solo was also inevitably better executed. Axl must be regretting cutting it out for Robin's inferior take now he's out of the band.

the leak was genius from "you decide..." up until the solo, the vocal layerings were incredible and made the song majestic. They stupidly took that out and now Axl's voice sounds flat, as in not hitting the notes, and it just isnt as good. Plus the mix is too crowded. I'll be listening to the leak at least as much as the finished version. too bad because the leak version, cleaned up with proper production, was a classic waiting to happen. listening to it as i type and cant believe how badly they gutted this song....tragic...the vocals right before "oh no..." and that breakdown are so beautiful on the demo and just fall short here, and that electric bloop thing in the demo got replaced by a string section which just sounds too safe....C- on the finished track, A- on the demo

[waxlrick]

The final cut is very disappointing. I thought the demo indicated that we would end up with something epic and in the class of "Stairway to Heaven". But sadly no.

The tempo is slow and boring, all the punchiness in the music and melody has somehow been stripped away. I think Axl might have redone the vocals and there just doesn't seem to be the same conviction. This is probably the worst song on the album along with Scraped for me. I cant believe how bad it turned out??? 

[Mobenrad]

I'll do a mix to put Brian May guitars back.

You should definitely PM me when that arrives my good sir. 

[Lesty]

I think this is my favourite song on the album. Hell, I think it might be up there as one of my all time favourites.

It's got such a beautiful melody, and the lyrics are awesome. Axl sounds great.

I love to see all the genuine love for this song. For me, it really stands out on the record, and showcases Axl's songwriting ability. This is the one song that just sounds like GnR, and could have been released in 1991 or 2008. I hope it gets picked to be a single, as I think it has a big chance to appeal to a broad audience.

[badapple81]

I'm glad Axl included this in the final selection. Not only as the final version is enjoyable, but it does what Axl has always done (like with UYI 1 and 2) and pushes the music from one extreme to another, and he pulls it off.

[Reinaldo]

An instant classic. Incredible track by Mr. Rose and Mr. Tobias. Again, that's GNR on a Queen/Led Zeppellin level.
Bass and Rythm guitars are powerfull!! Imagine it live, people!?!?.
Miss Mr. May's solo, but there's a fantastic work from Bumble there.

[TheClairvoyant]

I like the version on the official release, but definitely like the leaked version better. I was a little disappointed by the official version after hearing the leak for 2 years.

Guess that's why leaks are bad...If nobody heard the leaked version with Brian May, nobody would be complaining right now.

Still a great song on a great album.

[Reinaldo]

I like the version on the official release, but definitely like the leaked version better. I was a little disappointed by the official version after hearing the leak for 2 years.

Guess that's why leaks are bad...If nobody heard the leaked version with Brian May, nobody would be complaining right now.

Still a great song on a great album.

That's my biggest problem with Riad right now. Loved the new one, but still not confortable with it, comparing, etc.

Concerning CITR I'm already in love with it! Awesome song!

[lostdream]

It?s a very good song and I LIKE it...
...but I used to LOVE the leaked version...

That?s the difference.

[DeN]

I'll do a mix to put Brian May guitars back.

You should definitely PM me when that arrives my good sir. 

well, if I do it, it will be for my personal use only, sorry. I don't want any legal problems with the band I love.
anyway, even if I prefer the Brian May version, I still like the track and his new guitars parts, that's for sure.

[The Catcher]

Best song on the album, closely followed by This I Love, There Was A Time, Madagascar, Better and IRS. Catcher In The Rye is best Guns N' Roses song ever. Compleyely innovative and breathtakinly beautiful, I was stunned when I heard the leak and incredibly stoked when I found out it was on the album. I was very concerned when I heard it might not be on the album, but thank God it's there, the album wouldn't be the same without this song.

[big_machine]

The final cut is very disappointing. I thought the demo indicated that we would end up with something epic and in the class of "Stairway to Heaven". But sadly no.

The tempo is slow and boring, all the punchiness in the music and melody has somehow been stripped away. I think Axl might have redone the vocals and there just doesn't seem to be the same conviction. This is probably the worst song on the album along with Scraped for me. I cant believe how bad it turned out??? 

Scrapped is an aweosme song dude !!!!   that seems like QUEEN

[Insomnis]

I think my expectations were too high for this song.

It was my absolute favorite from the original leaks.

I think once I listen to it a few more times I will love it again, but the additional guitar work AS OF THIS MOMENT isn't doing it for me.  Overall the structure is the same and the lyrics are BEAUTIFUL and so is the piano and Pitman makes good use of his programs.  

Like I said before, after a few more spins, all will be good.  

To me it just seems too busy, almost like they tried to crowbar in as much content into each song as possible. I've always been a fan of less is better, so at times there is so much going on in some of these songs that at points I feel like there is just a wall of noise behind Axl's vocal.

What ^^^^^ said.

[CheapJon]

IMO much better then the leak, i'll probably come with a better "review" of the song laterz

[ThatGuy]

this is the one song on the album where i liked the leak better than the mastered version.  brian may's guitar solo was great.  i'm gonna guess the new solo is by finck... sorta sounds like his sloppy, loose brand of play.  it's not so much the guitar solo that makes it not as good as the leak... the new version sounds overproduced, the vocals are not as good, and the song just lost its overall, stripped down, classic feel to it.  however, i still do like the finished version, but having heard the leak, the finished product, in my opinion was dissapointing.

[Jada]

I had heard the leaks, but I wasn't disappointed when I heard the final product. This song is still one of my favorites on this album.

[novemberparadise23]

I like the bass part at the beginning. 

[Mobenrad]

I've showed the album to many of my friends. This along with This I Love and There Was A Time is their favorite.

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

I like the piano part at the end a lot.

[Frequent Flyer]

This final version of Catcher In The Rye is my ONLY point of contention with this masterpiece of an album. It was originally my favorite song out of all of the leaks up until today, but they really overproduced this one. I think a lot of its impact and melody gets a bit murfed as a result, because there's so many other things going on at the same time (like all the added guitars). Where this is usually a strong point in most songs on the album, I felt that here it was a detriment. I really felt that this song would end up being one of the modern classics off of this album, but as it is now, not so much.

Then again it may grow on me more, but I think it ended up worse for the wear.

And the new solo makes me sad Brian's was absolutely perfect.