Here are some of my impressions on some of the Rock Band 2 rips:

SOD--the orchestra and symphony play a bigger role in the song and that is a good thing.  It gives the song an added touch of grandeur.  Honestly, I didn't miss the guitars here at all in this song.  A vast improvement over the actual version.

Catcher in the Rye--I hate to say this but even without the lead guitar this song still sounds like a clusterfuck.  Those Axl howling background vocals are distracting. The piano part in the outro sounds out of place and almost destroys Axl's vocals.  It doen't belong there and adds nothing to the song.  Without the lead guitar though, Brain's drumming shines through though and I am glad for that.

Madagascar--The lack of a solo is the major weakness here.  Without it the song just sort of sits there in the middle and I'm waiting for something, anything to happen.  I have a better appreciation for the quotes and the solo after listening to this version.

Prostitute--Not much of a difference here but there is some juicy rhythm guitar work around the 4:15 mark (Bucket?)

Better--the bass is loud and clear on this one.  Without the lead guitar you can hear the techno influences of the song.  One awkward part at around 3:28 or so there are 3 seconds of total silence.  I actually like the last minute with Axl's backing vocals and the last verse of the song.  I still prefer the 2006 version though.

THANK YOU

I liked the original with Finck's solo--it didn't bother me(the solo) but it wasn't great or anything.  This version you provided however blows the original out of the water.  The multiple instruments blend in with each other and adds that extra dimension that was Axl's original vision when he was constructing this song.  I love the extra touches that the flute, harp and other wooded instruments.  I could never hear the strings or the harp clearly in the original it was always buried under something.  This version with the lowered vocals allows the instruments a chance to move to the forefront.  The symphony has a melancholic sound which reinforces the main theme of lost love and is rather appropriate.

I wish they had just canned the guitar solo and went with this version.

Atari,

When does the fantasy wrestling "season" end?  Just curious when the final point tabulations will be made.

I'll disagree in that I don't think that they're full confident about CM Punk as a main event guy.  Witness his bad title reign last year after cashing in MITB.  He also lost to Kane for some apparent reason at last month's PPV.  More likely he cash in MITB at this month's PPV in Chicago (his hometown) win it and drop it at some point to Jericho.  Jericho had a lot of face time on Smackdown and is being positioned as the main guy on that show.

Atari,

I think Skewrl also worked for UMG at some point.  In this case he differs from MSL and others, those guys leaked demos.  Skewrl I think leaked finished product (or at least close to) from a company he used to work for.  There's a big distinction there.  That's why he gets zero sympathy from me.  I'm not even considering the entire self promotion angle either.