Hard Skool | ||||
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Released | January 28, 2022 | |||
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Length | 15:52 | |||
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"Hard Skool" on YouTube | ||||
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"Hard Skool" on YouTube |
Hard Skool is a single and the fourth extended play by the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses. The single was released on September 24,2021,with the EP following on January 28,2022. [7] The EP consists of two singles and two live tracks,and is their first EP release with guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan since they rejoined the band in 2016.
Slash and McKagan left Guns N’Roses in the late '90s,with Slash and vocalist Axl Rose having a longstanding public feud until repairing their relationship in 2015. A year later Slash and McKagan rejoined the band for the record-setting Not in This Lifetime…Tour,with the band stating they intended to make new music.
The tracks "Absurd" and "Hard Skool" were initially recorded during the Chinese Democracy sessions,although an earlier version of "Hard Skool" might have been written in 1996. [8] [9] "Absurd" (known previously as "Silkworms") was performed live four times in 2001,before two different studio recordings of it leaking online in 2018 and 2019,respectively. [10] [11] [12] A snippet of "Hard Skool" was posted online in 2006 under the title "Checkmate". In 2008,Rose mentioned that the working title of the song was "Jackie Chan". [13] The full version from the Chinese Democracy sessions,under the name "Hard School",leaked in 2019. [4] [14]
A reworked version of "Absurd" was performed live for the first time on August 3,2021. [15] It was released as a single three days later,marking the group's first release of new material since the release of Chinese Democracy in 2008. [16] [17] It was also the first new Guns N' Roses track to feature guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan since the release of 1994's "Sympathy for the Devil". [18] "Hard Skool" was first performed by members of the band at soundcheck before the last concert of the canceled -- due to the COVID-19 pandemic -- tour on March 14,2020,and then in August and September 2021. [19] [20] [21] It was then released as a single on September 24. [22] The track peaked at number 9 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Airplay chart. [23] The official lyric video of the song debuted on Good Morning Football on December 3,2021. [24]
The Hard Skool EP was announced on September 25,2021 and slated for release on February 25,2022. [25] Exclusive to the band's online store,it features live versions of "You're Crazy" and "Don't Cry",songs originally released on 1987's Appetite for Destruction and 1991's Use Your Illusion I ,respectively. [26] [27] The Hard Skool CD and cassette,as well as the 7-inch single featuring a live version of "Absurd" as B-side,eventually became available earlier than originally announced,on January 28,2022. A second 7-inch vinyl version was released June 2022 to the Nightrain fan club. It features "Hard Skool" and a new live version of "Shadow of Your Love". [28]
Classic Rock 's Stephen Hill gave "Absurd" a positive review,noting how the track makes the band "sound genuinely pumped up,aggressive and full of boisterous energy". [29] However, Loudwire noted a divide among audiences,with some "digging the track" while others "don't seem so into it". [30] "Hard Skool" was more well received,with several publications describing it as "vintage" Guns N' Roses. [4] [31] [32]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Hard Skool" | Axl Rose, Slash, Duff McKagan, Robin Finck, Josh Freese, Tommy Stinson, Paul Tobias [33] | 3:41 |
2. | "Absurd" | Rose, Dizzy Reed, Slash, McKagan | 3:23 |
3. | "Don't Cry" (live) | Rose, Izzy Stradlin | 4:24 |
4. | "You're Crazy" (live) | Guns N' Roses | 4:24 |
Total length: | 15:52 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Hard Skool" | Rose, Slash, McKagan, Finck, Freese, Stinson, Tobias | 3:41 |
2. | "Absurd" (live) | Rose, Reed, Slash, McKagan | 3:40 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Hard Skool" | Rose, Slash, McKagan, Finck, Freese, Stinson, Tobias | 3:41 |
2. | "Absurd" (live) | Rose, Reed, Slash, McKagan | 3:40 |
3. | "Shadow of Your Love" (live) | Rose, Stradlin, Tobias | 2:55 |
Chart (2021–2022) | Peak position |
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Hungary (Single Top 40) [34] | 25 |
Japan Hot Overseas ( Billboard Japan ) [35] | 13 |
Japan (Oricon) [36] | 18 |
US Mainstream Rock ( Billboard ) [37] | 9 |
Guns N' Roses
Additional credits
Saul Hudson, known professionally as Slash, is a British-American musician who serves as the lead guitarist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Slash has received critical acclaim and is considered one of the greatest guitarists in history.
W. Axl Rose is an American singer and songwriter. He is the lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, and has been the band's sole constant member since its inception in 1985. Possessing a distinctive and powerful wide-ranging voice, Rose has been named one of the greatest singers of all time by various media outlets, including Rolling Stone, NME and Billboard.
Appetite for Destruction is the debut studio album by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, released on July 21, 1987, by Geffen Records. It initially received little mainstream attention, and it was not until the following year that Appetite for Destruction became a commercial success, after the band had toured and received significant airplay with the singles "Welcome to the Jungle", "Paradise City", and "Sweet Child o' Mine". The album went on to peak at number one on the US Billboard 200, and it became the seventh best-selling album of all time in the United States, as well as the best-selling debut album in the country. With over 30 million copies sold worldwide, it is also one of the best-selling albums globally.
Jeffrey Dean Isbell, best known as Izzy Stradlin, is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was a co-founder, rhythm guitarist, and backing vocalist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he recorded four studio albums and left at the height of their fame in 1991.
Live ?!★꩜ Like a Suicide is an EP by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, released on December 16, 1986, on the UZI Suicide record label. When referred to by band members, they have simply called the EP Live Like a Suicide. The record itself was reportedly limited to only 10,000 copies, released only in vinyl and cassette formats.
Darren Arthur "Dizzy" Reed is an American musician. He is best known as the keyboardist for the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he has played, toured, and recorded since 1990.
Michael Andrew "Duff" McKagan is an American musician. He was the bassist of hard rock band Guns N' Roses for twelve years, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. McKagan rejoined the band in 2016, following their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Paul Tobias is an American guitarist best known for his involvement with hard rock band Guns N' Roses, who he collaborated with from 1994 to 2002.
Richard Fortus is an American guitarist. He is a member of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he has recorded one studio album, since 2002. Fortus has also collaborated extensively with The Psychedelic Furs frontman Richard Butler and fellow Guns N' Roses bandmate Frank Ferrer. Aside from lead singer Axl Rose and keyboardist Dizzy Reed, Fortus is the longest-tenured member of Guns N' Roses, having been with the band continuously since 2002.
Steven Adler is an American musician. He was the drummer and co-songwriter of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s.
"Welcome to the Jungle" is a song by American rock band Guns N' Roses, featured as the opening track on their debut album, Appetite for Destruction (1987). It was released as the album's second single initially in the UK in September 1987 then again in October 1988 this time including the US, where it reached number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 24 on the UK Singles Chart.
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in March 1985 when local bands Hollywood Rose and L.A. Guns merged. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band's "classic lineup" consisted of vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKagan, and drummer Steven Adler. The current lineup consists of Rose, Slash, McKagan, guitarist Richard Fortus, drummer Frank Ferrer and keyboardists Dizzy Reed and Melissa Reese.
"Civil War" is a song by American rock band Guns N' Roses that originally appeared on the 1990 compilation Nobody's Child: Romanian Angel Appeal and later on the band's 1991 album Use Your Illusion II. It is a protest song on war, referring to all war as "civil war" and stating that war only "feeds the rich while it buries the poor". In the song, lead singer Axl Rose asks, "What's so civil about war, anyway?"
The discography of Guns N' Roses, an American hard rock band, consists of six studio albums, one live album, two compilation albums, four extended plays (EPs), 24 singles, nine video albums and 26 music videos. Guns N' Roses was formed in Los Angeles, California with an original recording lineup of lead vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Steven Adler. After self-releasing the EP Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide in December 1986, the band signed with Geffen Records and released its debut studio album Appetite for Destruction the following July. It topped the US Billboard 200 and went on to become one of the best-selling albums of all time, with reported sales over 30 million units worldwide, 18 million of which are in the US. Three singles – "Welcome to the Jungle", "Sweet Child o' Mine" and "Paradise City" – reached the US Billboard Hot 100 top ten, with "Sweet Child o' Mine" topping the chart.
"The Spaghetti Incident?" is the fifth studio album by the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses. The album is composed of covers of older songs mostly in the punk rock and hard rock genres. "The Spaghetti Incident?" is the only studio album to feature rhythm guitarist Gilby Clarke, who replaced original Guns N' Roses member Izzy Stradlin during the band's Use Your Illusion tour in 1991, as well as the last album to feature guitarist Slash, bassist Duff McKagan, and drummer Matt Sorum, following their departures in 1996 and 1997, respectively. It is also their final album to date featuring longtime producer Mike Clink.
"Shadow of Your Love" is a song by the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, originally released as a B-side in 1987. It was later released in an alternate take as a single in 2018, which entered at 31 on the Mainstream Rock chart in its May 12, 2018 edition, and peaked at No. 5 the week of June 23 the same year. It would later be included in the 2020 re-issue of the band's Greatest Hits album.
"Absurd" is a song by the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, released as a single on August 6, 2021. The song marks the group's first release of new material since the release of Chinese Democracy in 2008. It is also the first new track to feature guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan since the 1994 release of "Sympathy for the Devil". Originally written during the Chinese Democracy sessions, "Absurd" was first performed live in 2001 as "Silkworms". The reworked version made its live debut on August 3, 2021 in Boston.
"Perhaps" is a song by the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, released as a single on August 18, 2023. A limited edition 7-inch vinyl, with "The General" as its "R-side", was originally scheduled to be released on October 27, 2023 but the release was postponed to December 8, 2023. Like the band's previous two singles, "Absurd" and "Hard Skool", the origins of this song date back to the writing and recording process of Chinese Democracy from the late 1990s.
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