The General being released (perhaps B-side)

[rebelhipi]

The interesting thing about this song is that many friends who like other bands liked the song. Those who like Guns just found it strange that it didn't have a cool solo. I honestly loved it.

Interesting observation.

[rebelhipi]

Id rank the new songs.

1. Perhaps
2. Absurd
3. The General
4. Hard Skool

[ITARocker]

And when you talk, speak for yourself, you're not entitled to say "we", don't think you count more than one.

Do you know what they say about people who live in glass houses?

I have never ever criticized or diminished anyone on the forum, I have always spoken for myself, I have always expressed my ideas and defended them. So you're clearly not talking about me....

Bro you literally said “we” in your post and talk about people as a group that we all belong to hahahaha

You misread i wasn't the one sayin' "we"...

[DeN]

ok let's play


1. The General
2. Hard Skool
3. Perhaps
4. ABSUЯD

[NaturalLight]

No!!!!

Yes!!!!


Sometimes I wonder how much/many people are influenced by other people's opinions.

If you're told something isn't cool/good/interesting etc., how many are likely to keep that in mind and allow it to color their own opinion.


I remember a time when GN'R was not cool at all. And then suddenly people started buying Greatest Hits like crazy. It had gone from cool, to uncool and back to kinda cool again.





/jarmo

It's fairly common and for other reasons as well. For example, the novel Ulysses by James Joyce is an incomprehensible turd, but a lot of English majors and scholars I know are too afraid to say it aloud in fear that their colleagues will find them stupid.

Anyway, I really like this new song. It reminds me a bit of a cross/mix between something off CD and the first 3 minutes of "Foundations of Decay" (the last My Chemical Romance song that came out).

[Wooody]

ok let's play


1. The General
2. Hard Skool
3. Perhaps
4. ABSUЯD

For me its

1. Hard skool
2. Perhaps
3. Absurd
4. The general.

[Mike McKagan]

1. Perhaps
2. Hard Skool
3. The General
4. Absurd

[sky dog]

1. The General
2. Perhaps
3. Absurd
4. Hard Skool

[axlroses]

1.  Absurd
2.  Hard Skool
3.  Perhaps
4. The General
5.  Monsters

[rebelhipi]

I like that everyone so far has a different order.

Means that the songs are all quality.

[ITARocker]

I like that everyone so far has a different order.

Means that the songs are all quality.

Could it not be that there isn't a great song that stands? These songs are leftovers in any case, so it makes sense. And it makes more sense now that CD 2 never saw the light. You get used to these songs very quickly tbh. I think perhaps is the more rounded song. Hard Skool is the classic filler. Absurd is the unconventional filler. The general is musically poor. All the songs have good/great ideas if we talk about vocals and vocal melodies (of course, these are axl's songs). But to me it's really hard to find something that it's up to par with the other gnr songs (CD included). I think he should put out the songs as they were and start writing something new with slash and duff at this point, knowing that they don't add almost anything to these songs.

[kyrie]

I like that everyone so far has a different order.

Means that the songs are all quality.

Could it not be that there isn't a great song that stands? These songs are leftovers in any case, so it makes sense. And it makes more sense now that CD 2 never saw the light. You get used to these songs very quickly tbh. I think perhaps is the more rounded song. Hard Skool is the classic filler. Absurd is the unconventional filler. The general is musically poor. All the songs have good/great ideas if we talk about vocals and vocal melodies (of course, these are axl's songs). But to me it's really hard to find something that it's up to par with the other gnr songs (CD included). I think he should put out the songs as they were and start writing something new with slash and duff at this point, knowing that they don't add almost anything to these songs.

Hard Skool would not have sounded out of place on UYI - easily fits in with something like Perfect Crime.

Arguably Perhaps as well. Do we call Don't Cry a leftover because it didn't make AFD?

[ITARocker]

I like that everyone so far has a different order.

Means that the songs are all quality.

Could it not be that there isn't a great song that stands? These songs are leftovers in any case, so it makes sense. And it makes more sense now that CD 2 never saw the light. You get used to these songs very quickly tbh. I think perhaps is the more rounded song. Hard Skool is the classic filler. Absurd is the unconventional filler. The general is musically poor. All the songs have good/great ideas if we talk about vocals and vocal melodies (of course, these are axl's songs). But to me it's really hard to find something that it's up to par with the other gnr songs (CD included). I think he should put out the songs as they were and start writing something new with slash and duff at this point, knowing that they don't add almost anything to these songs.

Hard Skool would not have sounded out of place on UYI - easily fits in with something like Perfect Crime.

Arguably Perhaps as well. Do we call Don't Cry a leftover because it didn't make AFD?

If you don't distinguish a well rounded song witch catchy refrain, good lyrics, great vocals (not only from the main singer) great solo, bridge, outro etc etc with a basically mono riff songs with 300 vocal layers on it (that's the style of these new songs) i don't know what else to say.  Sure they would have fit , but again, perfect crime is not civil war or november rain as well as hard school is not better or this i love. You don't build an album around those songs, you use those songs to complete the album. If a good album like CD almost sell nothing 20 years ago, imagine an album made of these "new" songs what would sell today, even if slash and duff are back. That's my opinion ofc

[AdZ]

Omg we get it, you don't like it.

[gnrfan89]

1. The General
2. Perhaps
3. Hard Skool
4. Absurd (Only included for completeness)

[Oliver]

Some people like to pass their opinions as facts...

[kyrie]

I like that everyone so far has a different order.

Means that the songs are all quality.

Could it not be that there isn't a great song that stands? These songs are leftovers in any case, so it makes sense. And it makes more sense now that CD 2 never saw the light. You get used to these songs very quickly tbh. I think perhaps is the more rounded song. Hard Skool is the classic filler. Absurd is the unconventional filler. The general is musically poor. All the songs have good/great ideas if we talk about vocals and vocal melodies (of course, these are axl's songs). But to me it's really hard to find something that it's up to par with the other gnr songs (CD included). I think he should put out the songs as they were and start writing something new with slash and duff at this point, knowing that they don't add almost anything to these songs.

Hard Skool would not have sounded out of place on UYI - easily fits in with something like Perfect Crime.

Arguably Perhaps as well. Do we call Don't Cry a leftover because it didn't make AFD?

If you don't distinguish a well rounded song witch catchy refrain, good lyrics, great vocals (not only from the main singer) great solo, bridge, outro etc etc with a basically mono riff songs with 300 vocal layers on it (that's the style of these new songs) i don't know what else to say.  Sure they would have fit , but again, perfect crime is not civil war or november rain as well as hard school is not better or this i love. You don't build an album around those songs, you use those songs to complete the album. If a good album like CD almost sell nothing 20 years ago, imagine an album made of these "new" songs what would sell today, even if slash and duff are back. That's my opinion ofc

I never said you would build an album around them though, did I? You called them leftovers from CD2, I pointed out those two tracks wouldn't have sounded out of place among UYI cuts.

And in your own words you agreed. "Sure they would have fit..."

Not every Guns song is going to be November Rain or even Civil War

[axlroses]

All of these songs fit GNR…they have consistently changed and progressed..I knew a lot of people that didn’t like the Illusion albums because they weren’t Appetite.  I love AC/DC but after awhile it is all too similar.  I love this band for the diversity of songs.  Love it or hate it they are taking chances.

[ITARocker]

I never said you would build an album around them though, did I? You called them leftovers from CD2, I pointed out those two tracks wouldn't have sounded out of place among UYI cuts.

And in your own words you agreed. "Sure they would have fit..."

Not every Guns song is going to be November Rain or even Civil War

100% correct. But i was answering to rebel about the "all quality" songs statement, which is not necessarily true.

Let's say this, you can like shit music or good music, you can't argue about that.

Now, a leftover is a song which didn't make the cut.  We have 3 options:

1) the song was incomplete
2) the song didn't fit the album
3) the song didn't add anything to the album in terms of quality compared to the other songs, and it would have been just a +1 song, basically a filler.

(and then it could be a mix of these 3 points, right?)

Knowing well that the song were completed and fit the album (like we said) 15 years ago, what's the remaining point? Yep, right. I mean I'm listening to people calling the general a masterpiece like estranged, when the author himself put it on a b-side. Cmon now.

I kinda feel these songs suffer from lack of structure and to compensate that we have a lot of layers, basically vocal layers all coming from axl (not even from melissa or duff, for example).

You can like that, ofc, but it wasn't my point: I like perhaps for example, still consider it a very basic song. I think they can do a lot more, and after 7 years this is a little poor . In the same time frame they made AFD UYI LIES. I don't expect something like that ofc (i never expected anything tbh) but time goes bye guys...

[DeN]

it's a R-side because it's not a single for the general public.
Perhaps is more traditional in terms of songwriting and more appealing to people who don't listen to music often, with limited tastes and/or limited culture.

not to insult or diminish people who don't like it, but that's what it is.

how many people around here listen to Post-Rock? Musique concrète?
but everyone knows and can appreciate The Beatles. so yeah, it's a bit different, less accessible for the fanbase, and that's why it's not on Chinese, and that's why it's a "b-side".

imagine the reactions if the song made it on CD back then...