It’s now been 16 years since metal legends Guns N’ Roses put out an album. Since then, they’ve gotten a few original members back but only put out a small handful of singles and one EP.
A lot of what they’ve been focusing on is reworking old material rather than writing anything new. But, when bassist Duff McKagan was asked recently on an episode of SiriusXM’s Trunk Nation with Eddie Trunk if the band was ever planning to release more new material, he insisted that the band had something in the works. Here’s what he had to say, as transcribed by Blabbermouth:
You’ll notice that McKagan was careful not to promise a new studio album from the band, and that’s probably a good idea.
Besides the fact that he’s right about there being more avenues to easily release individual singles in the digital age, there’s also the fact that the last time Guns N’ Roses promised a new album, it very famously didn’t go well.
The band took so long to release their sixth album, Chinese Democracy, after promising it for years that the album’s epic delay became a running joke that spread beyond the metal world.
Because of the years and years of false starts and the ever-changing lineup of musicians and engineers, and the use of 14 different studios, Chinese Democracy ended up becoming the most expensive album ever produced,
with a total estimated cost of $13 million. And, after all that, the album is just okay. So yeah, maybe it’s best that Guns N’ Roses tries to stick to singles these days.
In a move that we’re all gonna look back on as yet another moment we played with fire when the robot uprising happens, Guns N’ Roses tapped into the unchecked power of artificial intelligence to create the official music video for their latest song “The General.”
As you can see in the clip posted below, the video itself isn’t really anything to write home about, with that same old cobbled together AI bullshit taking center stage with some live footage of the band interspersed throughout the video.
Of course they overlay some more AI bullshit over that footage, in case you forgot that the band learned about ChatGPT or whatever the fuck they used.
And honestly, I don’t know what I was expecting. The song has strong Chinese Democracy vibes because it was written at the same time as that album. It’s just… there, if we’re being honest.
The song was officially released late last year as the B-side to the limited edition seven-inch vinyl single for “Perhaps” and was first performed live back in November in Los Angeles. At the time, Rose said it “could be very interesting.” And it’s certainly that… interesting.
I still don’t know why they didn’t just skip the AI altogether and hired whoever does the mascot for The General. Could have roped in some sweet car insurance money on the backend, but what do I know? I just write about music and get yelled at by randos.
