Guns N' Roses have launched an official video for recent single The General, which was released in early December.
The video, which mixes live footage with an AI-powered animation picturing some crazy dystopian future, was directed by Daniel G Potter at the creativeworks.london agency. The company describe themselves as "an Emmy-winning, London based creative studio specialising in making brand-centric narrative-driven-content, motion packages, super graphics, show openers, short form animation, real time game assets, virtual sets and XR content."
creativeworks.london have previously worked with Guns N' Roses on the videos for the singles Absurd and Hard Skool, and produced several on-tour video animations, including the set-opening clip used at the Power Trip festival in California last summer. They also worked with Duff McKagan on the video for his Tenderness single, and have collaborated with Metallica, Aerosmith and the Dead Daisies.
"The video for The General intercuts 20 live vignettes with an A.I.-animated psychedelic visual trip," reads a statement accompanying the launch. "Between the concert footage, it dives into the subconscious of a young boy who stares down the monsters of dark childhood memories, blurring worlds in the process."
The General originally dates from Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy sessions, but was recorded, mixed and mastered in the summer of 2023, produced by Axl Rose and Caram Costanzo, who also played keyboards on the recording.
The line-up of musicians featured on the song includes Rose alongside original members Duff McKagan and Slash. The rest of the lineup includes current touring members guitarist Richard Fortis and keybordist Dizzy Reid, and is rounded out by Marc Haggard (guitar), Chris Pitman (keyboards) and Bryan Mantia (drums). The strings were arranged by Italian film composer Marco Beltrami.
