For anyone who's keeping score.... about 20 or so listens in on the general. I dig it as an avante garde ode to Dio and Axl's heavy metal influences. Decent track. Definitely a grower type track. I wouldn't put it on my work out playlist.

I'm at least 50 listens on Monsters. To fit in with the pattern of lunacy, I've come full circle in my quite sound system of carbon dating. That's definitely Slash. If it's not Slash, then Robin or Richard have acheived black belt in imitating Slash's tone and signatures. This should have been the reunion lead single followed by something safe, like Hard Skool(minus the school bell).

Even after getting these satisfying tracks.....My appetite for the Beaven and RTB takes intensifies. As much as Monsters turns me on, I still want to here that staccato like take Bucket does on the cell phone clip. The Village sessions are the true holy grail of the Chinese saga. I'd love to have the other half. Dragon with vox and Quiksong would top the list. But if we thought the general was in that cell clip and we're debating Soul Monster and Me and My Elvis, maybe I've already heard them.

I think it's safe to assume the vocal takes are definitely final. However nobody can carbon date these because we're all hearing different guitarists etc. I'm sure somebody will want their 15 and the origins of the leak will unfold.

I've listened to the instrumentals several times and it definitely sounds like two different lineups. Then again I don't really know anything.

The instrumental version of the general is far more tolerable.

Sorry to beat a dead horse, god knows there's so much new music to talk about, but that Razz clip was mid 2006?