It's an interesting proposition.

I remember hearing at one point there were rumours of discontent amongst the elite or established 'rock royalty' - concerning how GN'R ascended to the top table so quickly. They went from a scrappy club band to a stadium headliner pretty much overnight.

That said, the glaring difference between GN'R and the likes of Faster Pussycat and their ilk is simple. Sheer talent. They were simply the perfect blend of all of the genres of rock that had proceeded them and no-one put it together anywhere near as well. Couple that with a clutch of the most memorable rock songs ever written, iconic individual members and one of the most unique voices ever heard in mainstream music.

My thoughts after some further listening including the live version.

Whilst they are serviceable, they are just not very good songs. They sound dated and the Velvet Revolver/early 2000's comparisons are a good shout. Slash's soloing is a little more inspired but still a far cry from his heyday.
I miss the old sound - but it's pretty evident that Izzy is needed for that. Ironically the Appetite/Lies sound is far more intricate/complex than these supposed 'epics'.

It was always going to be hard to live up to the hype I guess. I also have to weigh in behind those who say it is a very heavy topic to have for a song you 'enjoy'. I commend Axl for bringing it to the surface as an artist - I guess I imagined it would be presented in a more abstract/poetic way perhaps. It is very confronting and possibly the more powerful for it - but as far as a GN'R song that I can enjoy, maybe I have to be in the right frame of mind.

As I've mentioned before, I hope they both have a more distinct ending - they just seem to whimper out.

Monsters, I think is marginally better.

Coming round to the idea that it is Slash and Duff on Monsters

The General, I’m convinced that is Finck etc

I remain unconvinced these are newer versions with Slash and Duff - sounds distinctly nu-guns to me