since track-by-track seems to be the way u guys roll i'll join in. mine is a bit more like axlin's than polluxlm's..

Been Away too Long: tip-top fun opener, nice to have them back on this kinda form

Non-State Actor: doesn't really go anywhere after the promising pening. gets a little too soft & boring melodywise. some nice flourishes from cornell & thayil rescue it. lyrics are fun - like the idea of settling for a little bit more than everything. might've been an awesome b-side this, if such things existed anymore

By Crooked Steps: awesome. classic SG moment this.

A Thousand Days Before: bit of a non-starter this one. hints of some killer BMF riffage before it immediately drops/slips into less interesting territory & never really pulls back out of the slog. solo is nice but too restrained!

Blood on the Valley Floor: awesome. classic SG. unapologetic slice of Sabbath-y doom grunge.

Bones of Birds: ugh. desperate cornell crapfest. i was worried the album would be like this when the reformation was announced.

Taree: great cornell vocal on this. grows into a bit of a scorcher. good stuff.

Attrition: nice punky riffage & driing pace. could do w/a bit more spite n bite tho. thayil steals the show on this one. just needed a little bit more venom, or maybe confidence/self-belief & it'd be a classic (it;s kinda like they're afraid to push this one where it really needs to go) .

Black Saturday: terrible after the first part. album coulda done w/a groovy little acoustic number but they totally crapped all over this.

Halfway There: another cornell crapfest. the mid-tempo ballad is what broke the band in the first place (DOTU) & this is maybe the weakest, puniest SG have ever been. bar Thayils exploits you couldn't distinguish it from the plethora of crap american soft rock bands.

Worse Dreams: this is more like it. menacing & exciting. chorus could be bigger. it doesn't quite erupt r explode like the awesome intro suggests. thayil absolutely kills it tho, twice. great track.

Eyelid Mouth: brilliant 1-2 this & WD. in fact the albums closing 3 are the best run on the record. this is another vintage SG performance. unapologetic groovy grunge slime. thayil reminding us of his superhero prowess.

Rowing: the only prob w/this one is it's either a little too long or far, far too short. great track & great closer.

so yea, just reiterating what i said. a few duff tracks, some absolute brilliant one's & lots of fun. coulda been better, coulda been a whole lot worse. stellar return. i'd like to see more ambition, more psych & punk spirit across the board on the next one. an album full of Attritions & Blood on the Valley Floor & we'd be getting back to the days when they were a real vibrant, exciting force (i.e. Ultramega thru to BMF).

the time has come, hell the time has probably passed by, where axl should just 'shut up & sing'. that is one of the biggest wastes, the years w/o his voice. look at rod stewart for example, amazing voice & he used it & still does & still people get off on it.
axl's got an amazing voice but he refused to use it. maybe he couldn't due to his head but it still doesn't make the wasted yrs any easier.
he should have a far bigger catalogue of great vocal performances behind him. but his reluctance to do anything robbed him & everyone of his voice. he should just shut up & sing & stop worrying so much about control.
he should do this & he should do that.. he should he should he should!! the fucking waster!

well no. in the context of GnR only, you put slash on the record & the hype & interest swell. for all intents and purposes slash is identifiable as GnR as axl is. it's easier to sell/promote his image & the GnR brand than it is VR or his solo work or GnR w/o him. it just is. it's countless the amount of times said, 'it's not really GnR w/o slash'. you get all those people & dissenters back w/slash on the record.

tbh there's no justifiable reason why slash isn't in the band. personality clash aside, this line-up especially. the common denominator to the million 'what if's' is slash. you put his name on the record it just generates much more interest.

There's no better songs on CD than the seeker.
DLIBYD is as great as anything GnR ever did but yea Axls voice doesn't do it justice.

I'm assuming the reasons axl plays these songs are 2fold: he identifies w/the lyrics more than he does say Perfect Crime r Garden of Eden; they're easier for him to sing than prostitute or ITW.

thank you.

yea a few people got surly when i kept harping on about this but really all the evidence tells us is there is nothing in the pipeline & no motivation to get shit done.
anyone who believes otherwise is taking the word of liars & hypocrites as a basis for a futile hope.

if axl had anything to say or release, he'd find a way to get it out. but he quite obviously doesn't care and/or doesn't have anything to offer.