Yep.. I tell my other half all the time that I won't allow myself to be medicated because i've become SO USED to how I think / process information that I fear medication would literally change my perception / thought processes. The very specific (if twisted / backwards to a lot of people) mental processing I do is what allows me to play poker as well as I do and be creative in business - I'm just used to me and don't want to not be me at this point.. lol. Plus, she loves me for all my idiosyncrasies, so its all good.

Oh yeah, add to everything else I'm left handed.. so... i'm a total clumsy dork, too.. lol.

I'm sorry, but if you think ANY of the CD tracks we've heard leaks of beforehand or Perhaps or Absurd or Hardskool are different vocal takes, I'm going to suggest you rethink that position.

Now, we do know there are ALTERNATE vocal takes (presumably recorded in the same general timeframe) for at least one song (TIL) and there are some SLIGHT variations on a few CD tracks that might be where alternate vocal take stuff had been inserted but I'm 'sorry' (lol, see what I did there?) - basically all the stuff we've listened to out of GNR in the last 15+ years was recorded closer to 25+ years ago, at least vocally. Obviously, you have stuff like 'Rock The Rock' that serve as an anomaly to this.. but, yeah.. I mean hell, even the original IRS leak played on Trunk's show so long ago was essentially the exact same vocals we got on the album.

I'm not suggesting, btw, that Axl hasn't been in the studio recently and recorded.. for all we know, they've recorded 10+ brand new tracks together - I'm just suggesting WE haven't heard any Rose vocals recorded post, let's say 2002 with the exception of what's on "Angel Down" and of course, the aforementioned 'Rock The Rock'.

We can only go by logic and what evidence we have - and thanks to the locker leaks we do have some decent evidence of vox matches to things we heard 'released' years after they were recorded.. just sayin'

Good question. I don't claim to be a musical expert or anything approaching it but .. how do I say this without sounding dumb.. the overall 'tone' of each recording sounds different. Now I recognize that studio trickery has come a LONG way since even, well, 20 years ago - but it just sounds to me like there's a gap between these.. both musically and vocally.

This might lend towards why I think 'The General' sounds off to my ears.. because it feels like.. I don't know.. maybe its been pitch shifted ever so slightly or something along those lines.. it just feels artificial / modified at some level to me.. its like if you oversalt a dish.. you can put in all the sweet components to 'counteract' it you want but at some level you can still taste that salt component..no way around it - that's what is happening for me mentally with this song (especially with headphones) - it feels like someone added extra layers of, well, 'something' but I can still taste / feel what was there before even if its no longer the prevalent (or anywhere near it) element.

I do agree with you that Slash and Duff or some very good facsimiles are making an appearance there on "Monsters" - not so convinced of the same re "The General" Like I've said to anyone who's asked.. Monsters (assuming that's the title of it) feels more complete.. in fact, it even seems like it has more 'layers' in the recording (i.e. overlayed vox, different elements going on in the instrumental parts, etc) - a bit less raw than the first track, to be sure.

Vocal tone wise, its hard to nail down when these were recorded.. I can pick up on slight differences in Axl's voice between them but, again, that could very well be chalked up to whatever manipulation was done to 'The General' (assuming I'm right and there was some done.. like I said.. SO many variables and just not enough solid data to go on)

I mean I guess the latest 'final' thing we can compare things to is, what, 'Rock The Rock'? and I think its safe to say that Axl's voice in that track shows some definite variances to what we hear here.. The 'anger bridge' (that's what I'm calling it for the moment) in "Monsters" reminds me, again, tonally, of how he sounds in the Aye-Aye-Aye part of the reworked SCOM from the Big Daddy soundtrack..

However, I keep going back to this - its 2023.. there are a LOT more studio tricks and hacks available now than there were even 10 years ago.. so.. without video / audio of the recordings with a timestamp, anything here is, at best, speculation based upon my own admittedly imperfect and not audio engineer ears... so.. take that for what its worth.

Regardless of all of this - I do dig both of these, for their own reasons but OMG (heh, see what I did there?) do I wish The General recording we have didn't sound so muddy and 'lost in the woods'.. its funny, it kind of reminds me of "Prostitute" in that the vox are buried behind a lot of production.. only in this case the recording quality we've been presented makes it even harder to pick out than Prostitute's lyrics on a fully finished, mixed album..so.. yeah, at the end of the day, who the hell knows.. lol.

^^^ True story.. I mean life isn't much fun without some gamesmanship and chaos

Good to see you as well. I'm still alive / around just ..in a different place in life where I can't exactly goof around on forums all day..   with that being said.. I keep up on the various pulses out there and fortunately have some nice people in my circle who keep me up to date on the latest 'wait...wut?' when it comes to GNR.

Rarely has a more accurate statement been uttered... just sayin'

Like most every other detail surrounding GNR, this leak is just 'weird'.. for a multitude of reasons. I'm a firm believer that the truth surrounding the details will get out there eventually so.. it is what it is.

For the record, I will say this - I f'n love "Monsters" (or wtfever its called...regardless, my sentiment remains)

#Peace