The more I listen, I love the lyrics, the awesome vocal melody and the spooky guitar.

If I want to find problems I would note that all of these new songs had a lot of repeats. They are all awesome song concepts that feel a touch unfinished somehow, and I think its that they all feel like they need a new 3rd verse or something of that nature.

General for instance feels like the build up part of one of Axl's epics. But it doesn't complete. Hell, Slash sounds like he's just getting warmed up to go nuts when it ends, I think it needed a huge guitar outro whole Axl kept up with those screamy bits in the background...

It's like NR if it didn't have the two slash solos or the outro, or breadown with out the outro, or locomotive if it was just 1 verse. Basically I think what is there is awesome but it feels incomplete. I wonder if Axl felt this too and that's why these songs were held over so many years - waiting for an idea that never came? Maybe not too though.

Anyways despite my bitching I do enjoy all this new music, and i'm so glad he's finally sharing things again.

Yeah i was thinking the other day, GNR songs are mostly based in real life emotions and events.

AFD = Street life, falling in love with Erin, growing up a rebel, life in 1980s LA, tragic life of people they knew and them.

UFI = Drama of the shock of fame, relationship with the media, pressures of fame/being a rock god/breakup with Erin/ Falling for Steph, trouble with the neibours / issues with izzy/slash/steph, questioning if should sacrifice life to fame.

CD = Breakup with Steph, Breakdown of relations with Slash/Duff/Izzy, Legal problems, self doubt, Rejection of fame and pressure, attempting to grow as a person, analysis of self.

Occasionally he leaves this MO and does big picture issues - like NR being partially about self but also inspired by Del's work. Or Civil War being about wider issues. Or Shackler's being about Collunbine or Catcher's being about his responce to others love of the book or whatever. But in general the albums are about his personal struggles.

These days he has 10s if not 100s of millions of dollars, even if being famous sucks he's had 40 years to get used to it,  and love life issues have been well covered. It's possible that aside from the odd project song he feels strongly about, or melody that he wants to share that becomes an ear worm for him or something, but like it's just possible he said his piece.

That's my theory - the band was grounded in drama and chaos, but they won, they made their coin and beat the world - but when your music is based around your fight with the world it doesn't give you much organic to write about.

If they do make an album, I'd expect it to talk about politics or philopsphy or whatever he still cares deeply about, as I think the dramas of their real lives have been solved at this point.

Curious, I wonder if it is to supply corrections or something like that.

I thought the Joker film the other year was a shameless remake of Taxi Driver but within a DC lense.

It's a mix with old movies, I feel the look of the movie is more realistic than modern ones in some ways, and the pacing of old films I quite like, and that they are less predictable in terms of structure. On the other hand - they start to depict a world that doesn't exist anymore - which is charming for people like us - but when they go to 1970s NYC it's hard not to notice the passage of 50 years so everything seems very nostalgic all of a sudden even things that were contemporary when the film is made.

It's amazing though to think movies like Starwars and Alien date from the late 70s. It's hard to imagine someone inventing such an important property in our current era.

If you are going to go dark for a couple of years to record a new album then a DVD at the conclusion of the tour makes sense.

It won't cannibalise live sales, and it's marketable to anyone who enjoyed the tour(s).