THE GENERAL - MONSTERS - Official Discussion Thread. NO LINKS OR ASKING FOR LINKS

[axlweave]

 Beltrami said Seven was the best out of the songs he worked on sad thing is we will probably never hear it

[Dacroix]

WHERE'S THE EPIC?

[colonizedmind]

2 hours ago, allwaystired said:

Those clicks and pops you all mentioned (and I thought I'd never notice!) are all over the last bit! 

I'm not a big one for worrying too much about production and mixing nuances....but even to me this sounds mixed terribly, especially the drums. 

What a wasted opportunity. Again.

What were they doing when they even bothered to turn up and listen to "mixes"...did they choose the wrong one? Those photos gave the illusion that they were caring quite a bit about the upcoming releases...

To be honest, it sounds Frankensteined...and I expected it to, as it was Frankensteined...it's a recording with material recorded over 20 years apart and in many different sessions and it's probably as finished as it was when Axl left it....he's the custodian of all this particular material and I don't think he's gone back to add anything to any of the last 4 tracks which if they were actually CD2, he definately would of added vocals/verses/layers...

Some of that would of been welcome...others not. 

So, I'm indifferent...still waiting for my Vinyl though, have folk got them today! I got a dispatch email at least.

1 hour ago, axlweave said:

 Beltrami said Seven was the best out of the songs he worked on sad thing is we will probably never hear it

Pfft...we said that about General...then we ended up with that AND Soul Monster....you'll hear it, you just need to live long enough...

Edited December 8, 2023 by colonizedmind

[IzzysMissy]

30 minutes ago, SoulMonster said:

I agree, except that I find it slightly better than Monsters. I benefit from not really expecting much. I didn't expect it to be fantastic, I never listened to evader's version. It's good, not fantastic and not terrible. Good. It could easily have replaced a few of the weakest songs on CD. I also don't listen to it on some fancy system so I don't notice anything wrong with how it is mixed or mastered. 

So in the start of that sentence you seems to accept that personal preferences in music is highly subjective and that whatever we like is all valid, but then in the second half you still feel like shitting on people who think this is one of GN'R's best songs. Classic.

With all the hype this song had, lol, delusional is the perfect word to describe the top 5 reactions, imo of course. For the record, I think/feel that Perhaps is easily the best if their most recent releases. There I said something nice.

[SoulMonster]

19 minutes ago, axlweave said:

 Beltrami said Seven was the best out of the songs he worked on sad thing is we will probably never hear it

Why don't you think we will hear it?

[Rovim]

18 minutes ago, IzzysMissy said:

With all the hype this song had, lol, delusional is the perfect word to describe the top 5 reactions, imo of course. For the record, I think/feel that Perhaps is easily the best if their most recent releases. There I said something nice.

you said something silly....again cause you don't seem to understand that there is no person in the world that is qualified or able to decide objectively on which are the best Gn'R tunes. Hype is not relevant. Music is just expression of emotion, like art. 

for example, Rolling Stone magazine was of the opinion that Led Zeppelin was shit at first. Many people disagree. It doesn't mean anything cause the listener and how he perceives the music is also a factor which makes music subjective. 

believe it or not, your opinion is just your opinion.

Edited December 8, 2023 by Rovim

[MJRoses23]

Did I miss someone mention this? On the Youtube version theres a note under the song that says this: 

Music video by Guns N' Roses performing The General (Audio). © 2023 Guns N' Roses, under exclusive license to Geffen Records

Then theres a link to Vevo. Wonder if a video is coming.

[Stay.Of.Execution]

i think they used microsoft paint for the vinyl

 

[Dacroix]

When I listen to "Absurd", "Hard Skool" and "The General", all I think about is what a great album "Chinese Democracy" is. Maybe it's Axl's master plan to get us to value CD...who knows?

Seriously, the mystique of Guns N' Roses is over. There is nothing. There is no master plan, there is no masterpiece, there is no Axl's Vault, there is nothing. It's all a big farce that we ourselves helped maintain all these years by posting on a forum.

Edited December 8, 2023 by Dacroix

[DSTK]

3 minutes ago, Stay.Of.Execution said:

i think they used microsoft paint for the vinyl

 

Blame the record label. Not the band 

[Rindmelon]

14 minutes ago, MJRoses23 said:

Did I miss someone mention this? On the Youtube version theres a note under the song that says this: 

Music video by Guns N' Roses performing The General (Audio). © 2023 Guns N' Roses, under exclusive license to Geffen Records

Then theres a link to Vevo. Wonder if a video is coming.

so does the hard skool audio video video

[DingBat]

What the fucks with the popping? How did that get past them? 

That might have been the reason they delayed the release, fixed it, and then some dingbat went and sent the wrong version to streaming.

I don't care about artistic choices, they should do whatever they want, but this is bollocks.

[Rovim]

Just now, DingBat said:

What the fucks with the popping? How did that get past them?

the popping is a sequel to the blip in Scraped

[Spoon87]

19 minutes ago, MJRoses23 said:

Did I miss someone mention this? On the Youtube version theres a note under the song that says this: 

Music video by Guns N' Roses performing The General (Audio). © 2023 Guns N' Roses, under exclusive license to Geffen Records

Then theres a link to Vevo. Wonder if a video is coming.

Don't get your hopes up.

[IzzysMissy]

13 minutes ago, Rovim said:

you said something silly....again cause you don't seem to understand that there is no person in the world that is qualified or able to decide objectively on which are the best Gn'R tunes. Hype is not relevant. Music is just expression of emotion, like art. 

for example, Rolling Stone magazine was of the opinion that Led Zeppelin was shit at first. Many people disagree. It doesn't mean anything cause the listener and how he perceives the music is also a factor which makes music subjective. 

believe it or not, your opinion is just your opinion.

I’ll tell ya what - silly or not - I’ll be in a team meeting with 40+ people who I work with. We all love gnr, work in the music biz, and promote/book/see THOUSANDS of shows a year collectively. We also receive THOUSANDS of band submissions a year of artists trying yj break in.

you may say that’s a small sample, or too specific, or whatever, but that’s a room of 40+ people whose literal job is to promote music. Would you care for the feedback/opinions on this track? We did it for perhaps via Zoom call and I’d say it was like 40/60 of “it’s an ok song” vs “I’ll pass” but a 100% agreement that if this was the submitted work in order to get on a bill, we’d never book that artist. But gnr would get away with it. I mean it’s comical. And no one liked the other songs that were released. Also opinions, but to me that is subjective.

anyway, if you like it and others do as well that’s GREAT. If you want to spend money on it that’s your business. I just think it’s absolutely hysterical that this is the best that gnr could do.. a copy/paste job over a 20+yr project? Meh, good for you I guess. 
 

[Rovim]

Just now, IzzysMissy said:

I’ll tell ya what - silly or not - I’ll be in a team meeting with 40+ people who I work with. We all love gnr, work in the music biz, and promote/book/see THOUSANDS of shows a year collectively. We also receive THOUSANDS of band submissions a year of artists trying yj break in.

you may say that’s a small sample, or too specific, or whatever, but that’s a room of 40+ people whose literal job is to promote music. Would you care for the feedback/opinions on this track? We did it for perhaps via Zoom call and I’d say it was like 40/60 of “it’s an ok song” vs “I’ll pass” but a 100% agreement that if this was the submitted work in order to get on a bill, we’d never book that artist. But gnr would get away with it. I mean it’s comical. And no one liked the other songs that were released. Also opinions, but to me that is subjective.

anyway, if you like it and others do as well that’s GREAT. If you want to spend money on it that’s your business. I just think it’s absolutely hysterical that this is the best that gnr could do.. a copy/paste job over a 20+yr project? Meh, good for you I guess. 
 

again with the team meetings and tales of your wondrful career how impressive. Look... it's not about you, I'm not trying to be a dick here, just trying to explain to you that your opinion is just that, your opinion and nothing more. You do your thing, but it's just subjective shit we're talking about here. 

your extensive personal experience in "the biz" doesn't make you less wrong, that's just a fact. I mean no offense.

[ToonGuns]

Review of the vinyl:

Packaging - 3/10. Boring front cover and print quality even worse. It’s a poor resolution cheap job. Paper inserts as well (although that’s fairly standard for 7”).

Song - 8/10. Not GnR’s best song but up there. Love the angry vibes of the chords in the chorus. 

Production - 4/10. A good song doesn’t make a good song, if you know what I mean. This could have been a 10/10 epic but just feels rushed and copied and pasted in the studio. The mixing is poor, I have decided I don’t really like the drum loops, and there’s just not a lot of thought gone into it. The intro could have been longer, the outro should have been extended to let slash shine more, and the dynamics need a bit of work. 

Mastering - 2/10. On my reasonably decent hifi set up it sounds like a muddy mess. I was listening to Johnny Winter from 40 years ago earlier and that sounds far better.

[IzzysMissy]

12 minutes ago, Rovim said:

again with the team meetings and tales of your wondrful career how impressive. Look... it's not about you, I'm not trying to be a dick here, just trying to explain to you that your opinion is just that, your opinion and nothing more. You do your thing, but it's just subjective shit we're talking about here. 

your extensive personal experience in "the biz" doesn't make you less wrong, that's just a fact. I mean no offense.

Not taking it as an offense.. opinions are opinions afterall. Good chat! Have a great day. 
 

@Rovim also i wanted to say that i only provide the inner workings of stuff i know, work wise that is. In the past people have been curious about how things work but honestly, I dont care one way or another. But I’ll certainly stop sharing. Certainly didn’t mean to offend either.

Edited December 8, 2023 by IzzysMissy

[tboneman]

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/guns-n-roses-the-general-single-1234920361/

 

 

[Voodoochild]

I don't think I had much to add, but like I've said before when it leaked: I like the song, I even prefer it to Monsters because of Slash's solo at the ending and because I really think the lyrics are powerful. 

This doesn't mean I like the mastering, of course.

[noonoo]

The clipping kickdrum is really annoying. Mixing and Mastering were way better on Perhaps.

[Bloodyhell81]

The song Was garbage a month ago and is still garbage now. Gnr are a touring band and that's it..   musically impotent is pretty spot on.  Had 6 years to come up with new ideas and nadda. Says everything u need to know

[Underhardy]

Usually when GNR post something on their socials, whether it be sub-par live Axl vocals, or a rare new song, the comments section is relatively positive from the casual fan base. Most of the comments on Instagram are people saying that the song sucks. Not good. I actually like the general, but I can totally see how fans don’t.

[DingBat]

12 minutes ago, noonoo said:

The clipping kickdrum is really annoying. Mixing and Mastering were way better on Perhaps.

It ruins the song for me. I don't understand how that's the version that got released. The clipping is obvious to anyone with ears and it's a piece of piss to fix.

[janrichmond]

I listened to it just now (with really good headphones) and WOW! 

It sounds like shit. I rate it lower than anything they've released. Ever.

💩