Need Guns N' Roses vinyl? We've got you covered on classics like Use Your Illusion and Appetite for Destruction over in our store — shop for those and so much more!
Guns N' Roses have dropped another song. Last month, the hard-rock vets released, "ABSUЯD," their first piece of new material since 2008's Chinese Democracy. The song was actually conceived of during that alum's decade-long recording period, and now they've unloaded another one from that vault called "Hard Skool."
Just as "ABSUЯD" was originally called "Silkworms" and long-known by GN'R fans as part of a pool of unused songs from Chinese Democracy, the existence of "Hard Skool" has also been floating around for quite some time. Initially given the working title, "Jackie Chan," a snippet of the track that allegedly dates back to 1999 was leaked in 2006 under the name "Checkmate," and the full version supposedly leaked online in 2019.
However, and the iteration we're hearing today is a reworked rendition that features Slash and Duff McKagan, who were notoriously absent (along with several other GN'R OGs) from the Chinese Democracy period.
Whereas "ABSUЯD" had a bit of a wacky rap-rock feel, "Hard Skool" is down-the-middle GN'R that throws a dart in the bulls-eye of their sweet spot. Axl Rose's ascendant vocals are perfect for the song's insanely catchy hook, Slash's guitar embellishments are savory as ever and the song just has that feel-good GN'R energy that many fans thought Chinese Democracy was lacking.
Crank it above via YouTube.
