Watch Guns N’ Roses Debut Unreleased Song “The General” At LA Tour Closer
Recently, Guns N’ Roses have been releasing some new songs — or, at least, songs that are new to us. A few months ago, the band followed their 2022 EP Hard Skool with “Perhaps,” another single that reportedly dates back to their Chinese Democracy sessions. When they unveiled that track, GN’R said that another unreleased joint called “The General” would serve as the B-side on a forthcoming vinyl release. “The General” still hasn’t come out, but during last night’s hometown show, the band played it live for the first time.
Guns N’ Roses are just now finishing another big US tour, and they closed it out with a two-night stand at the Hollywood Bowl, a stone’s throw from their old Sunset Strip stomping grounds. (GN’R aren’t quite done playing live shows for the year; they’ll be at the Heaven & Hell fest in Toluca, Mexico on Sunday. You could conceivably see Guns N’ Roses, Billy Idol, Gwar, and Carcass on the same day, which sounds pretty fun.) Last night, GN’R played most of the classics that you’d want to hear, as well as a bunch of covers — the expected “Live And Let Die” and “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door,” but also Glen Campbell, the Stooges, Velvet Revolver, and the Godfather score. And they unveiled “The General.”
Guns N’ Roses have had “The General” in the vault for a long time; as Ultimate Classic Rock points out, you can find Axl Rose’s buddy Sebastian Bach talking about the track in interview that go as far back as 2007. It’s hard to get too much from murky live videos, but “The General” sounds like an ominous rocker with a whole lot of synth action. Watch some fan videos below.