July-October 2019 leaks

Another CD:

New Brain Drums

1. "Madagascar"-Drums Up**(Version Tom Likes)
2. "Madacascar"-Drums up Instrumental
3. "Madagascar"-Drums down 3 dB
4. "Madagascar"-Drums down 3 Db Instrumental
5. "Madagascar"-Old Josh Drums
6. "Madagascar"-Original Brain Drums
7. "Chinese Democracy"-Old Josh Drums
8. "Chinese Democracy"-New Brain Drums
9. "The Blues"-Old Josh Drums
10. "The Blues"-New Brain Drums
11. "Rhiad"-Old Josh Drums
12. "Rhiad"-New Brain Drums

Looks like all of it is coming out now. A slow trickle at first, now a cascade.

Two more

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T.W.A.T.: Rough Mixes of New Brain Drums

1. Less Ambience on Drums
2. More Ambience on Drums
3. Snare Compressed Only
4. Strings Up
5. Old Beaven Mix

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"New Songs: Straight Analog Downloads (These Are Not Mixes)"

Prom Violence
1. Take 2
3. Take 3

Three Dollar Pyramid
3. Take 2
4. Take 4

Another one

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T.W.A.T.: Brain Drum Remix With Snare Sample From "Silkworms"

1. Ambience Down, Mono Room Off
2. Ambience down with Mono Room
3. Ambience at Original Level
4. Snare Sample during Outro Only
5. First Half with Old Snare, Second Half with Snare Sample Only

I think this is about right.

I really hope rough mixes CD 2, 3 and 4 leaks now. Would love full versions of Nothing and Quick Song with vocals (although supposedly only scratch vocals for Quick Song). Would also love to hear early versions of If The World, Sorry and Shackler's, and instrumental version of all these songs: Mustache, Tonto, Real doll.com, billionaire, dub suplex, devious bastard, dummy, circus maximus, d tune, curly shuffle and thyme.

I think Quick Song with scratch vocals is on the separate Quick Song disc that has multiple takes of it, and the version on the Rough Mixes CD #2 is probably just instrumental again.

Blackstar wrote:I think Quick Song with scratch vocals is on the separate Quick Song disc that has multiple takes of it, and the version on the Rough Mixes CD #2 is probably just instrumental again.

Duh!! Oh, hopefully it will all leak.

Also interesting that the leaker alludes to also have stuff not from Village Sessions. I suppose that would be newer demos and mixes?

This was better:

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/623975255576150028/625972981646098432/image0.jpg

Rough Mix CD #3 and The Rebel was leaked last night.

That only leaves three more CDs: Rough Mix CD #2, Rough Mix CD #4 and Quick Song.

I like that many of the new instrumentals are harder. I've seen that people compare them to AFD, I disagree, I don't see the similarities really. They aren't gritty, sleazy, blueasy...but definitely harder than most songs on Chinese Democracy. Especially Buckets songs are harder. I really, really, really hope Axl put down vocals on many of these and we will get to hear them some time. Beautiful stuff.

Another CD, leaked, this time Quick Song. It is just Quick Song with guide vocals and numerous versions of Bucket's solo.

Rough Mixes CD4 leaked. That leaves only Rough Mixes CD2 (from which we already have the song with vocals, Eye on You).

According to info on Rough Mix CD #2, it seems to me Buckethead handed in at least two CDs with song ideas to GN'R when he joined, and that the band (most likely Axl) chose Shackler's, Sorry and Real Doll.com to work on.

hi buddies, is it okay to ask for the hook up of the GNR 2009 rehearsal video that leaked 24 hrs ago? I'd love to give it a spin , I go the whole 9 yards or stay home, you know

Some random thoughts on the leaks.

Of the songs that eventually ended up on CD, only Scraped and This I Love are not featured on the locker CDs (unless some of the songs on Rough Mixes CD #2 contains either of them in an early form and with another name, although this seems unlikely). The immediate conclusion would be that these two songs are more recent than the locker room CDs, but we know This I Love predates them. What about Scraped? Not much is known about this song, and I would guess it is newer.

Then why isn't This I Love found in demo form on the locker CDs? Maybe they started working on it afterwards, or maybe they worked on it before 2000 but stopped and it wasn't found on the locker CDs because Axl didn't want to release it, at least not as part of GN'R? We know that Robin and Caram insisted that it should be included, so presumably work then happened on it after 2000, and likely quite close to 2008 when CD was released.

All the other songs from CD are found in at least one version on the locker CDs:

Chinese Democracy: Obviously an old song that got a lot of attention. There is a dedicated CD among the locker CDs dedicated to various versions of it, and it is featured on Rough Mix CD # 1.

Shackler's Revenge: Only one version of this song on the locker CDs, and presumably without vocals. A Bucket song (likely coming from Bucket CD #1), so likely recently brought in to the band. The band then worked extensively on this before release of CD in 2008.

Better: Three versions of this on the locker CDs, all instrumental and with the early name "Three Dollar Pyramid". Likely a recent song at the time, but one they saw had potential.

Street of Dreams: As for CD. Went under the early name "The Blues". On Rough Mixes CD #1.

If the World: As for Shackler's. But not a Bucket song (?). Found on Rough Mixes CD #2.

There was a Time: As for CD. On Rough Mixes CD #1.

Catcher in the Rye: Now it gets interesting. Only one version on the locker CDs, on Rough Mixes CD #1. This suggests this is a song the band had worked on previously, so there would be numerous versions dating form early recording sessions. Maybe the band found it finished and that they didn't need to work more on it when the locker CDs were made?

Riad N' The Bedouins: As for CD. Rough Mixes CD #1.

Sorry: As for Shackler's A Bucket song from Bucket CD #1.

I.R.S.: As for Catcher. So another song they felt finished with? Later on, when Bumble joined, he would add extra guitar on this track. Found on Rough Mixes CD #3.

Madagascar: As for CD. Found on Rough Mixes CD #1.

Prostitute: As for CD. Found on Rough Mixes CD #1.

It can't be a coincidence that most of what ended up on CD was found on Rough Mixes CD #1. To me, this strongly suggests that Rough Mixes CD #1 was intended as the first album. Then follows that Rough Mixes CD #2-4 were intended as future albums, at least loosely, although at the time when the CDs were created Thyme (Rough Mixes CD #4) had been decided to be fused to P.R.L. (Rough Mixes CD #2). The Rough Mixes CD #2-4 also generally contain less finished songs, most without vocals or with only guide vocals, suggesting the band focused on finishing the first batch of songs to be released.

Exceptions are Hard School (Rough Mixes CD #3), If The World (#2), and I.R.S. (#3) which all seemed pretty much finished but are found on later Rough Mixes CDs. Maybe Axl had a clear plan for the various songs and when they should be released and just felt these songs had to come later?

Then there are other songs that were heavily worked on and found on the locker CDs but didn't end up on CD:

Atlas Shrugged: Found on Rough Mixes CD #1 and presumably intended for the first release. Lots of versions on the locker CDs Almost found its way to CD.

Perhaps: Found on Rough Mixes CD #1 and presumably intended for the first release. Only one version, so an old song?

Silkworms: Found on Rough Mixes CD #1 and presumably intended for the first release. Only one version, so an old song?

Hard School: Found on Rough Mixes Cd #3. Maybe as a straight-ahead rocker Axl felt it should be on a different release? Only one version, so an old song?

Tommy demos: Obviously finished and ready for release. Maybe intended as B-sides since they deviate quite a lot from the GN'R sound?

The big question to me now is, to what extent were the other songs worked on after 2000? Those songs that at this time only consisted in early form often without vocals? Would some of them be in a finalized form with vocals later? How many of them?

About This I Love:

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Dave Dominguez: Mike Clink had called me and said, “Hey, the producers for this Robin Williams movie are coming down at some point and they want Guns to record a song for it, a song called This I Love. But we gotta find the tapes. It’s like, okay, cuz we were... I guess they had written it and recorded it during the Illusions tour. Cuz Illusions - I don’t know if you knew this; you probably do, cuz you’re a GNR podcast - Illusions wasn’t finished when they hit that tour, so Mike would fly with them and they would finish it up in different cities. So I remember getting four tapes, one from Australia, one was in England, the other was, like, somewhere in Wisconsin...

And so they come in and they were from different parts. So when they finally got there, Axl – that was Axl who was really involved with that – said, “Hey,” he called me up. “Hey, don’t you come in?” “Yeah.” So he came in and goes, “This is what I’m looking for.” And I found the... Cuz it was, then... There’s always a master tape, which has usually drums, rhythm guitars, bass and a scratch vocal; and then the rest are slaves, which have different parts. So they had, like, three different slaves. “There’s a certain part of the song that I want, that I really like, so you gotta find that, the right tape”. So I put it up, rolled, like, “yeah, that’s it.” And it was a beautiful song. I guess it ended up on Democracy, but just the title. It’s a whole different song. (...) I think I remember... I listened to it - I haven’t listened to Democracy in quite a while, but I go, “Oh, this isn’t the exact...” Because that was a piano ballad. (...) It was a ballad, it was a really cool song.

So a guy, Kenny Barra, who I mentioned earlier, who was around at the time, had become, like, my assistant during that, he would come in and he’d help me out, and... I’m sure you’ve heard the famous Axl stories about him just being out of control and being, you know, rude, just yelling... Well, I never really got any of that, personally. He always treated me great, and he treated my family great, and he was always awesome. The only time he ever did really get upset with me was during that session. At the end of that song, This I Love, he had said - he was repeating the, um, what was his girlfriend? Stephanie Seymour. It was like, “I love you Stephanie” or “This I love Stephanie” and he was, like, whispering it at the end of the song. And he heard it and he goes, “Just erase all that.” And I was like, “Do you want me to back it up?” “No, erase it!” And he yelled and walked out of the room. So Kenny there, the assistant, and I said, “We’re gonna erase something GNR fans are never ever gonna hear. Like, they’re never gonna hear this.” That to me was like, “Wow, this is crazy. This is a GNR song that no one’s ever heard and no one is ever gonna hear this again.” I looked at him, “Are you ready?” And I put the tracks in the record and I erased it. (...) It was pretty intense. That was the first time he got upset - I think the only time he ever got upset with me. And I was like... Cuz I didn’t know. I was like, “Do you wanna back it up, just in case?” You know, I was gonna lock it to the A-DAT and back it up, and so anybody could put it back. And he was like, “No.” I go, “Alright...” And I just remember, like, that was the only time I had butterflies on my stomach. I didn’t wanna erase the wrong thing. So he left the room, and I said, “I need, like, ten minutes.” I would’ve probably only needed two minutes to do it, but I wanted to verify I was erasing the right thing. And I was like, I did triple-quadruple checking, like, “this is it, here we go.” And yeah, that was pretty crazy.

https://www.a-4-d.com/t3701-2019-01-16-gn-r-central-interview-with-dave-dominguez-chinese-democracy-engineer-audio

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Dominguez worked with Axl in 1997-98.

A couple of notes:

1. Sean Beavan, who worked on the CD project as a producer from late 1998 to early 2000, said he had worked on all the songs that made CD, except one. The one Beavan hadn't worked on is presumably This I Love, based on what we know. He moreover said that the songs he got a credit for in the liner notes of CD are the ones Axl had recorded vocals for during his time, and that it's the same vocals. The songs on CD that Beavan isn't credited for are Shackler's Revenge, Sorry and Scraped (i.e. the Buckethead songs), Better and This I Love.
Based on the above, it can be assumed that the title track, Madagascar, Rhiad, IRS, Prostitute, TWAT and If The World existed with vocals already before the time the storage locker CDs ("The Village sessions") are from; and that Shacker's Revenge, Sorry, Scraped and Better existed as instrumentals, also before the time the storage locker CDs are from. The only one of these that isn't found on the leaked CDs either with vocals or as an instrumental is Scraped.
Beavan also said that he had worked on about 35 songs in toto. So I would guess that at least most of the tracks that can be found on the CDs existed in some form already during Beavan's time. He said that The General wasn't among those 35 songs.

Source: https://www.a-4-d.com/t2982-2018-02-20-interview-with-sean-beavan-on-gn-r-central

2. I think there were definitely songs that were written and recorded after the Village Sessions. For example, Brain confirmed in an interview with the Appetite For Distortion podcast (I think it was this one: https://www.a-4-d.com/t2960-2018-01-12-interview-with-brain-on-appetite-for-distortion) that The General was written later. We know, from the bad cell phone recording that leaked last year, that the General is a completed song with vocals.

3. I also think Axl laid vocals for some of the instrumentals found on the CDs later, in addition to the Shacker's Revenge, Sorry and Three Dollar Pyramid/Better instrumentals. He stated that he has recorded vocals for Soulmonster/Leave Me Alone, which is believed (although not confirmed) to be the same song as the "Me and My Elvis" instrumental on the storage locker CDs. It's even possible that some of the instrumentals already had vocals, but the versions with vocals aren't included in these CDs. In the case of Zodiac 13, for example, based on the "no vox" note on the Rough Mixes #2 CD, it seems that there was a version with at least scratch vocals.

I am a bit disappointed Rough Mixes CD #2 didn't leak yet.

Now, what do we think of this? (Thanks @Misfit79)

Tom Zutaut is at the Louder than Life festival where GnR is playing tonight!

Heh, I assume the band and Zutaut have been communicating quite a bit lately, of the leaks originated from him.

P.R.L from Rough Mixes CD #2 leaked yesterday. Allegedly from a different source (not from "The Chairman"). This version of the song is annotated as having no guitars, so it is mostly just a beat, an electronic song without vocals and guitar. To me it is interesting but not something I want to listen to.

It looks there might be more of these out there, but it might be a hoax, too, so we'll see.

Blackstar wrote:It looks there might be more of these out there, but it might be a hoax, too, so we'll see.

Wow! Exciting!

Soulmonster wrote:

Blackstar wrote:It looks there might be more of these out there, but it might be a hoax, too, so we'll see.

Wow! Exciting!

Well, it seems it's most likely a hoax...

Blackstar wrote:

Soulmonster wrote:

Blackstar wrote:It looks there might be more of these out there, but it might be a hoax, too, so we'll see.

Wow! Exciting!

Well, it seems it's most likely a hoax...

I saw that Rick Dunsford claimed it was fake, but someone also claimed he had posted the images (of additional Village Session CDs) on Discord, so not sure about all this.

I was thinking about this interview with Brain from 2008: https://www.a-4-d.com/t5801-2008-10-15-eqtv-brain-talks-chinese-democracy#22806

Brain says he re-recorded the drum parts of "about 30 songs". Looking at the number of unique songs/tracks with drums from the Village leaks, I count 35 songs on the four Rough Mixes CDs. This would suggest that everything they had at this point, leaked, and that there are no missing CDs not yet leaked.