O.k. so  my feelings are pretty much the same when it comes to all the leaks so I just wanted to sum it up in one thread rather than discussing individual songs.

there's obviously alot of ambition going on here and that's a good  thing but I don't think it's  stretch to think the ambition has been falsely manufatctured based on EVERYONE'S expectations and the pressure.  For me there is WAY too much gooing on in all the CD era songs except Better(which I feel is far and away the best one). There is some amazing things happening musically in these songs but alot of the time its lost in the mess of production and unnessecary additions. For example too much of the drumming sounds artificial. Drum machines? When the guys(whoever it is) kick into some killer guitar solo they're far too often accompanied by some synthesizer orchestra and it takes way from the Gn'Rness of it all. Again trying too hard to be epic when a  kickass solo is all the epic you need. Imagine the solo in SCOM being accompanied by some orchestra the way the outro solo in TWAT is? Makes you wanna puke doesn't it.  There's nothing organic to these songs.  For me they're trying too hard.

Axl voice:  now this is a sensitive issue for most so I'll try and be as nice as possible. Obvioulsy I've voiced my opinions on his live voice so hopefully I can be objective in this. Here it goes. Axl's voice alot of the times sounds produced. Yes there's always been an amazing amount of production when it comes to Axl's studio voice but on the past albums I never sat there thinking "wow they've had to tinker with this alot to get to this point". At times he sounds great even awesome but at others he sounds God awful and even worse soudns liek an Axl impersonator.  Then there are the times when ambition musically gets in the way of his voice and he becomes barely audible. Bad mixing.  Chalk it up to these being demos? It's getting hard to think that.  I'll be the asshole to ask it first(I'll get crucified but whatever). Is Axl the weak link in this thing? Vocally and with over ambition?

In the past Axl had great melodies which he carried throughout the song. In the CD era songs Axl has some killer melodies but unfortunately he himself lets them down at various points throughout the songs only to bring it back again and then lose it all over again. Does anyone else notice this? I just find at times when the melody should go "high" he brings it "low". When it should go "right" he goes "left" It's an annoying style in my opinion and it reminds me of Billy Corgen(who's ruined many of his own songs this way in my opinion)

Overall these  songs are good and even great to some of us(not me) but they aren't the stuff that makes up a  classic album or even a really great album. I don't hear one classic song. I don't  hear anything that 20 years from now will be rockin on a  jukebox in some dive pub. Maybe that's asking, wanting and expecting too much though. Something I've been thinking about lately too. Does anyone else ever think the reason we like these songs is cause they are representing a  time in our lives that we've all waited for. Regardless of the quality of the songs would we not like them anyways based on the experience? I think alot of it  has to do with that. I mean CD is a cool song but it's not great but when I hear it I get chills and in some weird way I feel like it's my song  as are all the demos cause who do I really share the experience with? Names on a  monitor. You guys. No offence But nobody else knows these songs so for me it's my songs in a  time in MY life that nobody else can share with me. they could be my own personal soundtrack and I think that contributes alot to the appeal whether it's a conscious thing or subconscious thing. Make sense?  Is it heresy to suggest that our appreciation for these songs has been manufactured rather than genuine? I mean I hate coldslaw but if I hadn't ate in a few weeks Coldslaw would taste pretty fucking good and there's a good chance I'd have an entirely new appreciation for that salad

To sum up(I could've made this post in one or two sentence ): I think there's too much going on in all CD era songs and ambition/production is simply getting in the way of the songs.  There's flashes of greatness, flashes of crap, flashes of forgetableness,  flashes of pure genius and flashes of "I have no idea what we're doing".  for me it's not enough. hopefully for others it is.

for the record of the newest leaks today I like #2 the best.  Better is still the best in my opinion followed by  Madagascar.