Guns n' Roses Release New Track

Happy Friday - Guns n' Roses have blessed us with a new track. It's actually a piece that Axl Rose has been working on for quite some time but now it is done and recorded and yes, it features Slash and Duff McKagan and the rest of the current lineup. The song is called "Absurd" which is fitting for Guns these days. The song was previously "Silkworms" and was reworked to its current form. What do you think?

New. Fn. Song.
⚡️ ABSUЯD ⚡️
Out NOW. Everywhere.https://t.co/34IcujcmsQ pic.twitter.com/gVh7RUaJ0W

— Guns N' Roses (@gunsnroses) August 6, 2021

Comments

[Mike]

Well, what I think (since you asked) is that this doesn't sound anything like Guns N Roses, and that people who may have been looking forward to new music will likely be let down.

To be less diplomatic, I will say this sucks and why on earth would they release a song written by Dizzy Reed and Chris Pitman? No ACTUAL members of Guns N Roses had anything to submit? Seriously???

If Axl is going through old demos to recycle, maybe take a page out of the Van Halen playbook and work on songs that were written back in your heyday? Like when you actually wrote catchy and badass hard rock songs...

Izzy Stradlin must be laughing his ass off right now. "You don't want to pay me, fine, write your own riffs".

Sad.

[Kixchix]

This is pretty big news. Sounds like Sex Pistols meet Ministry. If what Mike said is true about the writers of the tune. That’s odd. I could tell Duff put his stamp on the song. I thought the Illusion albums were their jump the shark moment. But what do I know. I like the intensity of the song. But Axl is nowhere to be heard, his voice sounds like it’s under their dirty laundry

Casual fans will never hear this. Life goes on

[Him]

Yes, this is a heavily revised version of a song that has been floating around in various demo-modes since the decade-plus time that CD was being written, rewritten, reworked, and then worked again.

That said, it does feature Slash and Duff alongside Axl. So I think you can hear a bit of their influence going on (certainly Duff, if you compare this to older demos of "Silkworm," the original title for the track when it wasn't this track).

And please note: I have no real love for the fact that GnR are back on the road with Duff and Slash and Axl. It is what it is. I saw the band with just Axl advertised . . . and it happened to be a show where Duff was subbing in that night in Vegas. It was great! Two hour-plus set. Axl didn't embarrass himself. A lovely time. And I will be going (at least I think I will, as I have alluded to recently) to see them again in a few weeks with Mammoth opening. Interested to compare this show to the previous one, and also interested to see what Wolfie sounds like live with a band. Aside from having to wear a mask, I hope it will be another good time (and my first show since Ghost in Reno way back in Sept. 2019!?!?). In fact, that is the reason I am planning to go: to finally see a show with good friends. Hell, I was even considering going to see The Black Crowes, that is how desperate I am!!!

Me? Personally? I like it. It is odd. It has a bit of that pee and vinegar that GnR had with "Get in the Ring" and "Pretty Tied Up," with a bit of microphone-distortion punk mixed in (I think you nailed it, Kixchix . . . the Ministry vibe is strong with this one! And getting compared to the black sheep of punk Rotten/Lydon is a compliment for Axl these days). And the lyrics? Hilariously out of step, non-PC, gibberish. It's as if the CD-era band decided to sit on top of the AFD-era band and give them a noogie.

Let's put the idea of the AFD-era sound to rest. Never will happen again. So you are going to, at best, get weird mash-ups. Like this. And I hope they play it when I see them. And if this is a preview of what is to come, I am at least interested.

Get in the ring? Nah. More like, was in the ring. Where were you?

[Him]

Edit: "Silkworms."

[Steverox]

To each their own … I think it’s terrible. No idea why they released it, and I would be royally pissed off if they played this live over say any Appetite song …

[crued]

My 2 cents:

A> that video is TRIPPY!
B> I heard glimpses of G&R in there, but KixChix is right it does not sound like Axl

[crued]

@Kixchic, @Him you can all breathe easy.. here's a vid from a few days ago.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWLw_T5nxyQ

[Him]

Crued, thanks for sharing. That said, I wasn't that worried. Axl sounds in fine enough form. And I notice he is doing that lower-register thing, saving his strength for the screams (a smart idea, says the non-musician). Slash is Slash. Duff is his sinewy-self. Dizzy looks bored, like he is slapping watermelons at a Whole Foods.

I like Steverox's approach . . . to each their own. I'd certainly prefer to hear "Absurd" over some of the CD stuff, and perhaps over some of their covers. Thing is, they do a long show. So one person's bathroom break is another person's chance to laugh at lines about maggots!

[Jeff]

You know its a bad track when anything on Chinese Democracy is better than this. Absurd indeed!

[Metalboy!]

Mike and Steverox said it all …

To be clear, this absolutely, unequivocally frickin’ S*CKS!!!

I saw Guns N’ Roses 5 times, the first time with the original line-up at the last club date they ever played at long defunct The Bayou in D.C., twice at The Roxy in NYC with Sorum replacing Adler and twice at Madison Square Garden with Clarke replacing Stradlin and it was pretty much “All Killer, No Filler”.

Plus, I saw AXL/DC, meaning AC/DC, with Axl Rose replacing Brian Johnson, an experience akin to witnessing a hurricane, tornado, typhoon all rapped into one as Angus was able to re-tune his guitar to the original Bon Scott era tuning even for the Brian Johnson stuff, the result of which made Brian Johnson seem like nothing more than one of Axl’s baggage handlers.

Note, I don’t say the latter lightly, having seen Bon Scott era AC/DC three times and Brian Johnson era AC/DC five times, also having met Johnson twice, once randomly for a 10 minute conversation in front of The Sheraton Times Square in 1989 and when I also randomly stumbled upon one of AC/DC’s few record signings at Virgin Megastore in Times Square.

In summary, if “Absurd” is any indication, hearing it and ANY new live material, along with listening to the rest of a new Guns N’ Roses album (if there ever is one) will sound just like the name of this song.

Let’s hope I’m wrong.

[Metalboy!]

Well put, Jeff!