Guns N’ Roses decided to treat their fans with new music this week. The hard rock band shared a single titled “The General,” marking their second release of the year following track “Perhaps,” which arrived back in August.
The band already played “The General” live last month during their two-night show at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl. However, this is the first time we get to hear the song’s studio version. It is a slow burner done Guns N’ Roses style, with frontman Axl Rose’s letting its screaming voice be the main star while guitarist Slash provides effective, hard-hitting riffs.
The song isn’t exactly brand new, being part of the recording sessions for 2008’s studio album Chinese Democracy. Its existence was hinted at throughout the years by band members themselves as well as collaborators on the record. According to the stories, it was conceived as a follow-up to Use Your Illusion II track “Estranged.”
“The General” will also get its release on vinyl, being paired up with “Perhaps,” which is another Chinese Democracy leftover that never saw the light of the day. The 7” vinyl is already available through the band’s official website but comes in limited quantity.
Guns N’ Roses confirmed that they are working on a new album back in 2022. However, there haven’t been many details about the project since then. The band’s most recent release was the extended play Hard Skool, which contained reworked versions of two older songs: “Hard Skool” and “Absurd”- and live versions of “Don’t Cry” and “You’re Crazy”.
