A lot has been said about Slash vs Bucket.

I think we should distinguish between technical ability where bucket owns most guitarists and creative suitibility where slash owns. Yes...slash can't play "Notthinham Lace" but you know what....bucket would NEVER have written the AFD and UYI riffs and melodies even if he's been in the band back then either.

James was making fun of Slash's "yesterdays style solo in rhiad  kinda thing, sure - slash always does huge bends with blues notes....but someone could easily give shit to buckethead for his obsession with the killswitch and love of the octave pedal...both of which would have ruined estranged.

Bottom line is - they're both great guitatists for totally different reasons. And sadly neither of them is in the band

Going back to what was said earlier, it will be interesting to see what BBF adds to these songs, as the key element the leaks have always lacked is a guitar 'vision' i think.

People will hate me for this, but I see it like this:

Slash is a fucking amazing guitarst...but he sticks to the one blues-rockk style mostly...as well he should because he owns everyone else when in that style...but it became obvious that Axl wanted to try recording some "my world" style tracks outside that box...and so started messing with the idea of bringing in people to play parts in different styles..ala paul huge etc....Slash found this insulting (and was sick of the BS as listed in his book) and left the band.

Axl replaces Slash with robin, a guy who has a more industrial flavour, but limited skills in the blues department. He writes some more modern sounding tracks (better), and does a couple of solos that are slashesque (blues). But he has limitations - (better outro, robins solo in TWAT both sound like a slash imitation) and he butchers the old songs. You arn't going to be writing a coma with robin around.

So axl get's in bucket. A guitarist with far more technical ability and speed than either robin or slash. Bucket adds some shred stuff, and is also good for adding to the industrial style and experemental songs cos of his primus style stuff. But I'm not sure if he would have added a lot of the classic rock songs..except for a solo here and there (irs, twat).

So axl brings in BBF, a guy who can also shred, but with more traditional roots. so it will be interesting to see what he adds.

I mean songs like IF the World demonstrate to me there is no guitar vision for these tracks. it's like Axl writes a cool melody then just hires a bunch of people to come in and see what they can do with it.
Basicly...GNR is a session musican studio band these days...and one that doesn't release albums yet sadly...

See that's what I find interesting about these tracks. The mixed reaction. Like from the first time I heard maddy I loved the song - and especially the first 2 verses. The solo that I know everyone else on here loves never did much for me, so i usually drift off or listen to the quotes in the middle bit.....

So this is a good example of the mixed reactions out there. Some love the song, some hate it, some like bits of it.

If the lyrics in the "new song lyrics" thead are correct this song HAS to be prostitute.

I mean "Love That You've Crippled For Fortune And Fame" and "Ask Yourself, What I Would Do
To Prostitute, Myself, To Live With Fortune And Shame" - pretty much seals the deal that the song is prostitute to me.

Then again...i guess a lot of the leaks have simialr themes.

Also...when he says "to prostitute myself"  it really doesn't sound liek the word prostitute to me. Like the metre and timing of the word fits 100% with that...but it really sounds like theres sounds that arn't in that word - like a "down" style word...but then again..axl often pronounces things a bit differently than i'd expect...like how he says "chains" in better.

I fucking love this song now anyway. It's amazing. Simple yet beautiful.

Yeah i'm sure his voice has changed since about 1995 or whenever the vanishing act began. I hated the 2000-2 voice live on those old songs, but the higher pitch works in these new tunes i think.

Does anyone else find this song insanely addictive? The first time i heard it I was just kinda like "Umm...wierd" but now I can't stop singing it and playing it! It's great.