The "New Album" Thread. Thanks to the long ass thread, I’m going home!

[HollyWoodRose84]

14 hours ago, gavgnr said:

I hear ya, but bands have gotten clever in terms of maximising returns from new albums. Special editions, different artwork etc. 

 

11 hours ago, Tom2112 said:

But! Gnr don't want to be called a nostalgia band. So, they either eat the loss of spending months in the studio, not seeing the old fashioned huge pay day albums used to be OR they accept the title of nostalgia band and just keep doing the constant touring on the back of AFD/UYI and fire out the odd new single with zero promotion every few years that even the die hard fans are struggling to love/like.

I think there's an album in them that can grab that no 1 spot for a week, and they can write some songs critics won't tear apart. I don't see them having mainstream radio play like A song from Dua lipa or artist like that though, I think gnr's days of ruling the airwaves is narrowed to classic rock shows.

I don't really see s brand new album happening but they are capable and Axl is definitely capable of sounding like old Axl in the studio.

 

14 hours ago, fabrph5 said:

This is just another GnR excuse.  Taylor Swift tours non stop and just released a double album of really good music.  Greenday tours and releases music, the stones...., metallica....  thay ALL do except our band

I was just commenting on how artists in general make money these days. The Guns brand doesn’t consistently release music because Axl doesn’t want to. It’s that’s simple. They’re making a TON of money touring. Slash records, drops albums and tours over and over to keep himself out of trouble. Duff always had a side gig going on when he wasn’t with Guns. The rest of the “band” as well.  Axl is the only one content sitting in his mansion doing nothing. We will get what we get if and when we get it. Guns is purely a nostalgic act now. They had a window when they reunited when they were firing on all cylinders and Axl’s voice was pretty much 99% intact to do something that would have went mainstream and made them relevant again but that time has passed. 

[Sweersa]

3 hours ago, rocknroll41 said:

Did Axl record anything with acdc? I don’t think he did.

I don't think so. I wish they would release a live Blu-ray of Axl/DC. I'd pay good money for that. 

4 minutes ago, HollyWoodRose84 said:

Slash records, drops albums and tours over and over to keep himself out of trouble. Duff always had a side gig going on when he wasn’t with Guns. The rest of the “band” as well.  Axl is the only one content sitting in his mansion doing nothing. 

Your line about Slash keeping out of trouble is hilarious, and also probably true.

As far as Axl, he's probably busy playing his Jersey Jack Pinball Guns N' Roses pinball machine. That is one sick pin! 

[ZoSoRose]

I just don’t think there’s enough behind the curtain to justify what most people are imagining to be a new album.

They haven’t written and recorded any all- new material, and are drip feeding 20- year- old reject songs (Seinfeld, “not that there’s anything wrong with that!”).

I’ll be happy with 2-4 more leftover Chinese songs and then having them compiled on a numbered record sold through their website. That’s what I would like

[Sweersa]

46 minutes ago, ZoSoRose said:

They haven’t written and recorded any all- new material, and are drip feeding 20- year- old reject songs (Seinfeld, “not that there’s anything wrong with that!”).

CD2 songs are not "reject" songs. It's very clear at this point they had two albums + worth of "completed" songs by the time the 2008 album came around. They didn't shift the best of the material to the 2008 album. The original plan was a 2009 follow-up, per Axl. And in 2014, Axl said the second part of CD has been recorded for a while. I wish people would stop perpetuating this BS of songs that were not on the 2008 album being "rejects". 

The village leaks support this as well (Hardschool, Perhaps and Atlas, though I don't feel Atlas is great), in addition to Monsters leaking a few years after. (Soul Monster, which we know existed by 2010 with vocals, and was likely recorded years prior)

[Voodoochild]

46 minutes ago, Sweersa said:

CD2 songs are not "reject" songs. It's very clear at this point they had two albums + worth of "completed" songs by the time the 2008 album came around. They didn't shift the best of the material to the 2008 album. The original plan was a 2009 follow-up, per Axl. And in 2014, Axl said the second part of CD has been recorded for a while. I wish people would stop perpetuating this BS of songs that were not on the 2008 album being "rejects". 

The village leaks support this as well (Hardschool, Perhaps and Atlas, though I don't feel Atlas is great), in addition to Monsters leaking a few years after. (Soul Monster, which we know existed by 2010 with vocals, and was likely recorded years prior)

I think you're right. It's clear that they had several songs ready or almost ready by 2008, but it didn't mean that CD was the "best of the bunch". Especially considering that the bulk of it was already A-listed in 1999/2000. It's like saying the second and third movie of a trilogy were rejects of the first one. 

One may disagree with Axl and dislike the non-CD songs from that era (meaning the Village leaks and the official released ones), but remember that a lot of people would trade some of those tracks from others that ended up being on CD, like Riad and Scraped.

BTW I love Riad and still think it's very underrated.

12 hours ago, Gordon Comstock said:

What's weird is not being able to hear very blatant effects, or even acknowledge them. Yes, it sounds like a modern Axl vocal take... which has been filtered to hell. This is clearly different than what he did on CD songs, or OMG, it's not just 'some reverb' and it really is jarring enough to question whether it's AI at first listen. I'm not sure why this is hard for you to grasp.

Don't want to keep talking about this on this thread too, but I disagree. It's not filtered. It's just reverb and compression to my ears. Lots of mid frequencies there that makes it a bit harsh, but it's just the reverb and compression on the EQ. 

[ZoSoRose]

1 hour ago, Sweersa said:

CD2 songs are not "reject" songs. It's very clear at this point they had two albums + worth of "completed" songs by the time the 2008 album came around. They didn't shift the best of the material to the 2008 album. The original plan was a 2009 follow-up, per Axl. And in 2014, Axl said the second part of CD has been recorded for a while. I wish people would stop perpetuating this BS of songs that were not on the 2008 album being "rejects". 

The village leaks support this as well (Hardschool, Perhaps and Atlas, though I don't feel Atlas is great), in addition to Monsters leaking a few years after. (Soul Monster, which we know existed by 2010 with vocals, and was likely recorded years prior)

 

Edited Wednesday at 03:41 PM by ZoSoRose

[DeNfr]

2 hours ago, Sweersa said:

CD2 songs are not "reject" songs. It's very clear at this point they had two albums + worth of "completed" songs by the time the 2008 album came around. They didn't shift the best of the material to the 2008 album. The original plan was a 2009 follow-up, per Axl. And in 2014, Axl said the second part of CD has been recorded for a while. I wish people would stop perpetuating this BS of songs that were not on the 2008 album being "rejects". 

The village leaks support this as well (Hardschool, Perhaps and Atlas, though I don't feel Atlas is great), in addition to Monsters leaking a few years after. (Soul Monster, which we know existed by 2010 with vocals, and was likely recorded years prior)

correct. the singles we had in recent years are better than most of CD songs. 

I always suspected Axl may have held back the best tracks, anticipating that Chinese Democracy
would be criticized regardless, because of its high cost and the time it took to make.
So, why put all the great material on it?

Furthermore, we know that Axl likes to think long-term, and even though it seems unlikely given
his statements over the years, perhaps he kept the material he was most attached to for a possible
reunion with Slash? It's not like he rushed to release those tracks after 2008.

 

[JimiRose]

3 hours ago, ZoSoRose said:

I just don’t think there’s enough behind the curtain to justify what most people are imagining to be a new album.

They haven’t written and recorded any all- new material, and are drip feeding 20- year- old reject songs (Seinfeld, “not that there’s anything wrong with that!”).

I’ll be happy with 2-4 more leftover Chinese songs and then having them compiled on a numbered record sold through their website. That’s what I would like

I'd take this as an 8 track album

Hardskool

Absurd

Atlas Shrugged

Witchita Lineman

State of Grace

Perhaps

The General

Soul Monster

 

Would love if there has been work done to Quick Song, Oklahoma/Berlin, Seven and Thyme for a full 12 track album, but that seems overly wishful. 

[ZoSoRose]

6 minutes ago, JimiRose said:

I'd take this as an 8 track album

Hardskool

Absurd

Atlas Shrugged

Witchita Lineman

State of Grace

Perhaps

The General

Soul Monster

 

Would love if there has been work done to Quick Song, Oklahoma/Berlin, Seven and Thyme for a full 12 track album, but that seems overly wishful. 

Naw, no covers. I want,

Hard Skool

Absurd

Perhaps

The General

Monsters

Oklahoma/Berlin

Zodiac

Tonto

[JimiRose]

8 minutes ago, ZoSoRose said:

Naw, no covers. I want,

Hard Skool

Absurd

Perhaps

The General

Monsters

Oklahoma/Berlin

Zodiac

Tonto

I think Axl would do Witchita justice, as I love the original. It'll probably be the only 'new' vocal he can pull off

[Tom2112]

4 hours ago, Sweersa said:

CD2 songs are not "reject" songs. It's very clear at this point they had two albums + worth of "completed" songs by the time the 2008 album came around. They didn't shift the best of the material to the 2008 album. The original plan was a 2009 follow-up, per Axl. And in 2014, Axl said the second part of CD has been recorded for a while. I wish people would stop perpetuating this BS of songs that were not on the 2008 album being "rejects". 

The village leaks support this as well (Hardschool, Perhaps and Atlas, though I don't feel Atlas is great), in addition to Monsters leaking a few years after. (Soul Monster, which we know existed by 2010 with vocals, and was likely recorded years prior)

I think he meant rejects as they're no good and nobody likes them, rather than they were rejected from CD 1😁 everybody and their grandmother knows there was at some point a plan of releasing these songs as an album after CD 1. But... Axl.

[ZoSoRose]

32 minutes ago, Tom2112 said:

I think he meant rejects as they're no good and nobody likes them, rather than they were rejected from CD 1😁 everybody and their grandmother knows there was at some point a plan of releasing these songs as an album after CD 1. But... Axl.

Kind of... sort of... yes? 

For the record, I say rejects as someone who likes Hard Skool, Perhaps, and Monsters quite a bit. However, they didn't make the album, and they were long- lost and forgotten to time. I don't care what Axl's intention was with the release plan. Whatever it was, it changed, and the album released as a single CD/ double- LP of 14- songs. Therefore, I don't see why it is bad calling these CD- rejects. They literally are. 

We are diehards. We are starved diehards. If GNR released consistent material, an album consisting of these 5 songs as half of it would surely be seen as a relative non- factor or a disappointment by the majority. I like them for what they are, and because of the insane lore behind them... and because I have been talking about these dumb songs for 20- years of my life, but no, I'd never sit down and listen to Absurd or The General in a vacuum and be like, "wow, this is a real bop!". Even if I think those songs don't work, I am happy they are out and I have them, though. 

1. Hard Skool is a fun, competent rocker made special because of Axl's delivery on the chorus 

2. Absurd is absurd. Axl screams "pussy full of maggots" 3 times. In fact, the song is basically a minute long repeated 3- times. Sure, the production, guitars, and bass sound cool, but as a song it goes nowhere, sounds unfinished, and is pretty awful because of the lyrics. 

3. Perhaps is a fun little rocker that, again, is elevated because of Axl's delivery on the chorus. The song loops twice with minimal lyrics with a pretty okay- at- best guitar solo holding both loops together (I like this song before anyone bites my head off). 

4. The General is a mess. Reminds me of Absurd, as it is basically a minute long song looped over. The bridge is even just the verse with some goofy, half- assed singing over it. Also goes nowhere and repeats itself with minimal lyrics. 

5. Monsters is very cool, but even still struggles with the Axl copy and paste habit imo. The chorus vocals stick out a bit to me since they are copied each time and the "Oh's" sound out- of- pitch to me. Overall, I think it kicks ass, though. Killer Axl bridge and although subtle, I enjoy Slash on this track quite a bit. Definitely the best of the bunch. 

Of course, that is all my opinion, but I don't think Axl made a huge mistake leaving any of these off of the record. CD has a flow to it imo, and even if I like HS, Perhaps, and Monsters more than a few CD songs, I don't think they would necessarily fit being swapped in. Quite a few of these leftover songs struggle with a repetitive structure, and an unfinished feeling with the lyrics/vocals. I agree with the post above that says Riad is underrated. Scraped is the only song I would definitely swap, and I think it would need to be swapped with a rock song like HS. Even then, that is a pretty minor change. 

I don't think CD2 exists based on these tracks. Again, that doesn't mean I dislike them, I just don't feel like they would carry an entire brand- new, fully fledged release and all the hooplah that should go with it. If CD was 2- CDs of 10- tracks each, they could have been easily sprinkled in. 

So, despite my feelings, I am so happy we have these songs. Symbolically, it is great that they are out, and I enjoy them for what they are. I welcome any more they put out, and it is great we have closure after all of the years.

Once all the singles are out, I think an 8- song compilation album put out through the website is the best course of action. In fact, I would be beyond hyped to have that in my collection and would order it as soon as it went up. It should mirror the AfD Robert Williams release last year- make it a limited edition, number each copy, give it a title and some cool art, and make the cover foil. That would be freaking sweet and a nice wink to us on here. 

 

Edited Wednesday at 06:45 PM by ZoSoRose

[SoulMonster]

10 minutes ago, ZoSoRose said:

Therefore, I don't see why it is bad calling these CD- rejects. They literally are. 

Then Don't Cry, You Could Be Mine, November Rain, Bad Obsession, and Perfect Crime were rejects, too. 

[ZoSoRose]

Just now, SoulMonster said:

Then Don't Cry, You Could Be Mine, November Rain, Bad Obsession, and Perfect Crime were rejects, too. 

Sure, I guess they were

[Sweersa]

Another way to explain it is if you had a pool of 26-32 songs (2006), you're not going to put all of the best ones on the first album. You are going to spread the A and B songs between the two (or three, as planned at one point) albums. Also, some songs may fit the theme (assuming they had a theme) of an album or compliment other songs, which impacts the track listing between planned multiple albums. We know a few tracks bounced between CD1 and CD2. (Catcher being one)

It was described the 2008 album was a "sampler" of the collective songs from CD1 and CD2, meaning there's really no cohesive theme, as the album doesn't flow that great, but the overall quality of that album is reflective of the overall quality of all of the songs they had done up to that point. In other words, if we did get CD2 in 2009, the quality of that album would be similar to that of the 2008 album, though a little darker in parts. 

Also, the track listing naturally evolved as progress on the album was made. From 1999 to 2008, many new songs were created, in addition to older songs being worked on. Scraped, Sorry, Shackler's Revenge, Soul Monster, The General, etc. were the "Buckethead" songs. On the 2008 album, we got the older songs like The Blues, Madagascar, Riad, etc. along with some of the newer Buckethead songs. It was a nice spread, both from an instrumental and vocal perspective, as Axl sounded a little different on songs he recorded vocals for a few years after 1998-1999. 

[ZoSoRose]

[ShadowOfTheWave]

Axl admitted he hoarded Don't Cry because he knew it had potential to be a hit and didn't want to put them all on the first album. This may have been the case with Hard Skool as well. As for November Rain, he obviously didn't feel it was completed until 1990-1991, and worked on it continuously. This is a different case than with songs like Absurd/Perhaps/The General, where he didn't even bother to write a second verse. They don't seem like rejects as much as unfinished.

[Tom2112]

2 hours ago, ZoSoRose said:

Kind of... sort of... yes? 

For the record, I say rejects as someone who likes Hard Skool, Perhaps, and Monsters quite a bit. However, they didn't make the album, and they were long- lost and forgotten to time. I don't care what Axl's intention was with the release plan. Whatever it was, it changed, and the album released as a single CD/ double- LP of 14- songs. Therefore, I don't see why it is bad calling these CD- rejects. They literally are. 

We are diehards. We are starved diehards. If GNR released consistent material, an album consisting of these 5 songs as half of it would surely be seen as a relative non- factor or a disappointment by the majority. I like them for what they are, and because of the insane lore behind them... and because I have been talking about these dumb songs for 20- years of my life, but no, I'd never sit down and listen to Absurd or The General in a vacuum and be like, "wow, this is a real bop!". Even if I think those songs don't work, I am happy they are out and I have them, though. 

1. Hard Skool is a fun, competent rocker made special because of Axl's delivery on the chorus 

2. Absurd is absurd. Axl screams "pussy full of maggots" 3 times. In fact, the song is basically a minute long repeated 3- times. Sure, the production, guitars, and bass sound cool, but as a song it goes nowhere, sounds unfinished, and is pretty awful because of the lyrics. 

3. Perhaps is a fun little rocker that, again, is elevated because of Axl's delivery on the chorus. The song loops twice with minimal lyrics with a pretty okay- at- best guitar solo holding both loops together (I like this song before anyone bites my head off). 

4. The General is a mess. Reminds me of Absurd, as it is basically a minute long song looped over. The bridge is even just the verse with some goofy, half- assed singing over it. Also goes nowhere and repeats itself with minimal lyrics. 

5. Monsters is very cool, but even still struggles with the Axl copy and paste habit imo. The chorus vocals stick out a bit to me since they are copied each time and the "Oh's" sound out- of- pitch to me. Overall, I think it kicks ass, though. Killer Axl bridge and although subtle, I enjoy Slash on this track quite a bit. Definitely the best of the bunch. 

Of course, that is all my opinion, but I don't think Axl made a huge mistake leaving any of these off of the record. CD has a flow to it imo, and even if I like HS, Perhaps, and Monsters more than a few CD songs, I don't think they would necessarily fit being swapped in. Quite a few of these leftover songs struggle with a repetitive structure, and an unfinished feeling with the lyrics/vocals. I agree with the post above that says Riad is underrated. Scraped is the only song I would definitely swap, and I think it would need to be swapped with a rock song like HS. Even then, that is a pretty minor change. 

I don't think CD2 exists based on these tracks. Again, that doesn't mean I dislike them, I just don't feel like they would carry an entire brand- new, fully fledged release and all the hooplah that should go with it. If CD was 2- CDs of 10- tracks each, they could have been easily sprinkled in. 

So, despite my feelings, I am so happy we have these songs. Symbolically, it is great that they are out, and I enjoy them for what they are. I welcome any more they put out, and it is great we have closure after all of the years.

Once all the singles are out, I think an 8- song compilation album put out through the website is the best course of action. In fact, I would be beyond hyped to have that in my collection and would order it as soon as it went up. It should mirror the AfD Robert Williams release last year- make it a limited edition, number each copy, give it a title and some cool art, and make the cover foil. That would be freaking sweet and a nice wink to us on here. 

 

Ha! I was being intentionally obnoxious😄 

Agreed with everything you said though!

[ZoSoRose]

7 minutes ago, Tom2112 said:

Ha! I was being intentionally obnoxious😄 

Agreed with everything you said though!

I know 

I really do hope more songs come and they put them all on a record, but we will see. 

[evilfacelessturtle]

9 hours ago, ZoSoRose said:

They haven’t written and recorded any all- new material,

Hasn't it been said by Slash or other members that they have written all new material? I thought it had, if not exactly in those words.

 

6 hours ago, DeNfr said:

I always suspected Axl may have held back the best tracks, anticipating that Chinese Democracy
would be criticized regardless, because of its high cost and the time it took to make.
So, why put all the great material on it?

I'm sorry, but this is a wild theory. CD was Axl's masterpiece that would prove all the detractors wrong. It was his big statement against his ex-girls, ex-bandmates, ex-managers, the media, etc. (and his only statement because he wasn't doing interviews, writing books or even going out in public much). The time and cost are both evidence of it being a big deal to him, and a reason why it needed to be the best he could do. Not to mention, his ego would not allow his first album since the breakup to be sub-par. And if it took that long to release, he knew full well it was going to be ages before another album came out.

Now, with that said, music is subjective and lots of people will prefer songs that didn't make the cut. It's like the old "trim down UYI" discussion; nobody can ever agree on which songs get cut, and inevitably people will argue that some of the best songs were left off.

It's also the case that decisions are made for other reasons than quality. He may have thought Monsters was a top tier song, but felt the album was already too heavy with epics and needed shorter rockers like IRS to balance it out. Somebody (Fortus?) said that CD was basically a greatest hits of what they wrote during those years. It could have been more industrial or more ballad heavy, but they wanted balance.

Edited Wednesday at 10:07 PM by evilfacelessturtle

[ZoSoRose]

22 minutes ago, evilfacelessturtle said:

Hasn't it been said by Slash or other members that they have written all new material? I thought it had, if not exactly in those words.

 

Hey may have, but unfortunately, it only really counts if Axl is involved these days. Slash, Duff, and the rest of the band would write 10- songs for one in 2- months, probably. 

[DTV88]

3 hours ago, SoulMonster said:

Then Don't Cry, You Could Be Mine, November Rain, Bad Obsession, and Perfect Crime were rejects, too. 

I believe most of these have been answered for previously, feel free to add or correct me if I’m remembering incorrectly. 
 

Don’t Cry - was only held back due to not wanting more than one ballad on their debut. 
You Could Be Mine - teased in the liner notes of Appetite, so it was obviously a favorite of the bands  

November Rain - wasn’t quite a finished song yet, right? I think Axl or Slash said something to that effect. 
Bad Obsession - they already had one heroin song, held back for the follow up. I don’t think it would have fit on AFD anyways based on Izzy’s demo. 

Perfect Crime - I would consider this one as an AFD reject. I know it was played as early as 86 and it fits the AFD sound, but I don’t think it is good enough to replace anything other than maybe Think About You. It makes sense that it was released on the Illusions along with other older songs like Back Off Bitch. 
 

This was always Guns’ way of releasing music. They take the best of what everyone brings in, make it a Guns song and go from there. I mean, Axl kinda continued that and took it to a whole new level with CD, no?

[megaguns1982]

17 hours ago, rocknroll41 said:

Did Axl record anything with acdc? I don’t think he did.

I figure he did because he was in the studio with them before Brian re-joined.

unless he was just hanging out

[Gordon Comstock]

12 minutes ago, megaguns1982 said:

I figure he did because he was in the studio with them before Brian re-joined.

unless he was just hanging out

 

Wtf? Am I completely spacing here, or are you misremembering?

I don't think Axl was ever in the studio with them... he said if Angus asked, he'd like to do a record with them, but it didn't happen.

[SoulMonster]

3 hours ago, megaguns1982 said:

I figure he did because he was in the studio with them before Brian re-joined.

unless he was just hanging out

He was auditioning.