The unreleased and rumoured songs thread

[Soulmonster]

In this thread we will compile everything we know about unreleased and rumoured GN'R songs from the "nuGuns" era.

The General
Other names:
First mentioned: 1999 on MTV? (Source?)
Written by:
Comments:

[GNR] was sort of just work for hire. [...] I met with Axl and he played me these songs, asked me my ideas about them, and I told him what I thought they needed. They gave me four songs to orchestrate. [...]There was [...] one called 'The General,' (Marco Beltrami, IGN, July 2003).

"Leave Me Alone," "Seven," and "The General" could also feature on the new album. These three A-listed songs were worked on by Marco Beltrami (Jeff Leeds, Sp1at website, June 2005).

One of my favorite songs is this song called 'The General', which is so... it's by far the heaviest metal tune I think I've ever heard Axl do, this slow, grinding riff with these high, piercing vocals, screaming vocals. [...] (Baz, Metal Edge, July 2007).

Quotes from band members:

Well, this comes out on the third record. It relates to [Estranged], it's a trilogy, this goes with this lyrically [Metal Edge, June 2007]

You may have heard parts of it somewhere [Axl's chat on the fan forums, 2008]

The General is a really cool song, it's got an interesting vibe to it. Kinda like an urgy [?] [Eat More Heat! Live Chat, March 2013]

Quick Song
Other names:
First mentioned: 2005 (?)
Written by:
Comments:

'Quick Song', is a rock song with a riff similar to 'Smells Like Teen Spirit (Jeff Leeds, Sp1at Website, 2005).

Zodiac
Other names:
First mentioned: 2005 (?)
Written by:
Comments:

'Zodiac', is described as an electronic, industrial song. (Jeff Leeds, Sp1at Website, 2005)

Thyme
Other names:
First mentioned: 2003 (?)
Written by:
Comments:

[GNR] was sort of just work for hire. [...] I met with Axl and he played me these songs, asked me my ideas about them, and I told him what I thought they needed. They gave me four songs to orchestrate. [...] A song called 'Seven,' which is the one [...] I actually wrote a guitar part [on]. There was one called 'Thyme,' one called 'The General,' one called 'Leave Me Alone'" (Marco Beltrami, IGN, July 2003).

"Leave Me Alone," "Seven," and "The General" could also feature on the new album. These three A-listed songs were worked on by Marco Beltrami, especially "Seven," which Marco deems as the best of the three songs. It has also been reported that Marco worked on a fourth track, "Thyme." However, this song was not worked on subsequent to Marco's work in October 2002 (Jeff Leeds, Sp1at website, June 2005).

Ides of March
Other names:
First mentioned: 2005 (?)
Written by:
Comments:

[...] 'Ides of March' was a working title of one of the songs that came from a loop name that Dizzy came up with: I think they kept the name, but it's been years so I'm sure everything has changed by now." (Dave Dominguez, Sp1at, July 2005)

Atlas Shrugged
Other names:
First mentioned: 2005 (?)

Written by:
Comments:

'We were finishing tracks [in October],' confirms Tom [Zutaut]. 'Doing overdubs with Buckethead and Robin Finck and some stuff with Tommy Stinson. I felt we had a well finished version of The Blues, Madagascar, Chinese Democracy. Atlas Shrugged was pretty good.' (Classic Rock, April 2008).

'Atlas Shrugged' is described as being somewhere between 70's glam rock and 'November Rain'. (Jeff Leeds, Sp1at Website 2005).

In addition to these leaked tracks, Classic Rock has heard versions of Rhiad And The Bedouins, Prostitute, Atlas Shrugged (another track featuring the signature guitar of Brian May) and Silkworms.(Classic Rock, July 2007).

Quotes from band members:

Song doesn't have all that much to do with the book other than trying to do what you believe in and a line about shoulders not being wide enough (Axl chats on the forums, December 2008)

Whether Brian May will be featured: Perhaps on an alternate or bits, on that track it has more to do with recording issues and getting the mix to a good level (Axl chats on the forums, December 2008)

I was going to tell a little story about that song, cause right now on my laptop I actually have the old guitar solo that I played for that song when two days before the album was going to be mastered it was like, "Let's see if we can squeeze it unto the album". And I busted out some guitar tracks for it. I just had my own studio. But because the CD could only be 74 minutes max, that's just how long a CD could be, it would have taken it past the limit of what a CD can store, we couldn't put Atlas Shrugged on Chinese Democracy. And it wasn't worth making a two CD album that would just have one song on the other CD. Hopefully on ChiDem2 it's have Atlas Shrugged on there. Interesting song [Eat More Heat! Live Chat, March 2013]

I don't think we ever really finished that song. That would be the kinda thing where we'd have to get into the studio and lay some more tracks and just see where it goes and what state it is in[Axl Rose Fa Clube, April 2014]

Down By The Ocean
Other names:
First mentioned: 2001
Written by: Izzy (?)
Comments:

Quotes from band members:

In '95, Duff and me recorded songs for the band. We made a tape that went nowhere. Then, a couple of months ago I have a message on my answering machine: 'Yo! It's Axl, I need a copy of the songs that you did.' There was one called 'Down by the Ocean' or 'Down by the Sea', they may have used it, I haven't come back to know nothing (Izzy, Popular Magazine, 2001).

Seven
Other names:
First mentioned:
Written by:
Comments:

"[GNR] was sort of just work for hire. [...] I met with Axl and he played me these songs, asked me my ideas about them, and I told him what I thought they needed. They gave me four songs to orchestrate. [...] A song called 'Seven,' which is the one [...] I actually wrote a guitar part [on]. There was one called 'Thyme,' one called 'The General,' one called 'Leave Me Alone.'" (Marco Beltrami, IGN, 07/20/03)

"Leave Me Alone," "Seven," and "The General" could also feature on the new album. These three A-listed songs were worked on by Marco Beltrami, especially "Seven," which Marco deems as the best of the three songs. It has also been reported that Marco worked on a fourth track, "Thyme." However, this song was not worked on subsequent to Marco's work in October 2002. (Jeff Leeds, Sp1at website, 06/05)

Quotes from band members:

Brain: ITS AN TIMELESS BALLAD WITH A BLOW YOUR FACE OFF CHORUS AND A SUCK YOUR BALL SACK BRIDGE!!!!![AFD interview, 2010]

Berlin
Other names: Oklahoma
First mentioned: 2005 (?)
Written by:
Comments:

"As the far as the songs go: 'Oklahoma' was pretty much written by the time they got to the studio. Axl wrote that with inspiration from the Oklahoma City bombing (more as a tribute to those who died, if I'm not mistaken). [...] (Dave Dominguez, Sp1at, 02/07/05).

[...] Song after song combines the edgy hard rock force and pop smarts of vintage Guns N Roses with surprisingly modern and ambitious music textures. In addition to the album's almost grungy title track, tentative song titles include 'Catcher in the Rye,' 'I.R.S,' 'The Blues', [...] 'Oklahoma' - heard tonight only as an instrumental, [...] and 'TWAT,' which he says stands for 'there was a time.'" (Rolling Stone, 01/00).

Quotes from band members:

I was sitting in my litigation with my ex-wife, and it was the day after the bombing. We had a break, and I'm sitting with my attorneys with a sort of smile on my face, more like a nervous thing - it was like, 'Forgive me, people, I'm having trouble taking this seriously.' It's just ironic that we're sitting there and this person is spewing all kinds of things and 168 people just got killed. And this person I'm sitting there with, she don't care. Obliterating me is their goal. [/i][Axl Speaks, Rolling Stone, January 2000]

Talking about Riad And The Bedouins: It’s not Oklahoma which later became Berlin and subject to change[Axl's chat on the fan forums, 2008]

Jackie Chan
Other names: Checkmate.
First mentioned:
Written by:

Silkworms
Other names:
First mentioned/played: Played live in 2001.
Written by:

Quotes by band members:

has a lot of guitars, lots of different drum the chorus is gone.[Axl's chat on the fan forums, 2008]

Soul Monster
Other names: Leave Me Alone, Elvis Presley and the Monster of Soul.
First mentioned:
Written by:
Comments:

"[GNR] was sort of just work for hire. [...] I met with Axl and he played me these songs, asked me my ideas about them, and I told him what I thought they needed. They gave me four songs to orchestrate. [...] A song called 'Seven,' which is the one [...] I actually wrote a guitar part [on]. There was one called 'Thyme,' one called 'The General,' one called 'Leave Me Alone.'" (Marco Beltrami, IGN, 07/20/03).

"Leave Me Alone," "Seven," and "The General" could also feature on the new album. These three A-listed songs were worked on by Marco Beltrami, especially "Seven," which Marco deems as the best of the three songs. It has also been reported that Marco worked on a fourth track, "Thyme." However, this song was not worked on subsequent to Marco's work in October 2002. (Jeff Leeds, Sp1at website, 06/05)

Quotes from band members:

The bridge in "Elvis Presley and the Monster of Soul aka The Soul Monster (working title Leave Me Alone)" which will no doubt end up "Soul Monster" [is my favorite song from an unreleased album]. I think it's r most Black Sabbath moment. Sang it on a Christmas eve. Imo the meanest section of anything I've sung to date. Which having said that I'm sure when it's heard others may disagree but we felt it was a Christmas card of unadulterated venom so to speak. I felt a lot better afterward.[Axl's chat on the fan forums, 2008]

Blood In The Water
Other names:
First mentioned:
Written by:

Quotes from band members:

Yeah, I don't know what Blood In The Water is, I don't think that is real. I think that is just people fucking with tracks and sounds and faking stuff. I don't remember playing on that one or even hearing that one. I think that one is a fake to be honest[Eat More Heat! Live Chat, March 2013]

Better Gone
Other names:
First mentioned:
Written by:

Quotes from band members:

Better Gone? I think that is just some mashup thing [Eat More Heat! Live Chat, March 2013]

Goin' Down
Other names:
First mentioned:
Written by:

Quotes from band members:

Going Down is Chi Dem era, kinda earthy, but let Axwell talk about it when he's ready [Live chat with Bumblefoot, 2012]

As far as Goin' Down, it's more of a slower, medium-paced, acoustic-y kind of...how would I describe that song? It almost reminds me of something that like Bob Dylan could have done in a way. Yeah [Eat More Heat! Live Chat, March 2013]

Not real songs or old titles: Closing In On You, Cock-A-Roach Soup, Friend Or Foe, Hearts Get Killed, No Love Remains, Something Always, Suckerpunched, Zip It, Motormouth and We Were Lying.

[Soulmonster]

Richard being asked about his favourite unreleased song from the next album:

There's some really good stuff. My favourite one is a track, I don't know if it has a title, but it is one that Robin Finck wrote, and it's fantastic. [Being asked if it is Soulmonster]. No, this one hasn't leaked at all. There's a lot that hasn't leaked. Thank god [Intimate workshop with Richard, November 2014].

[Soulmonster]

A worker at Hard Rock Hotel Las Vegas has alluded to a possibly new song (not listed above):

[Axl] told us that he would return again soon for more shows. He has a new song he said he will perform for the first time. He sang it for us all one night and said it was written about his mothers passing. The song was very beautiful and heartfelt. It reminded me of how I felt when my own mother passed away, and I had tears in my eyes once again.

Source: http://www.mygnrforum.com/index.php?/topic/210497-hard-rock-employee-allegedly-says-axl-will-debut-new-song-on-next-residency/

[Soulmonster]

I made this list of confirmed songs from the Chinese Democracy sessions. Those with yellow background have been officially released. The dates correspond to when we know these songs existed for the first time. I have also indicated years when songs were known under different names.

[Soulmonster]

It is absolutely possible that a song like Ides of March is found under a different name in the Locker leaks (dating back to 2000) and that The General, Soul Monster and Seven, which we know from 2002, already existed under different names in the Locker leaks. For instance, it is conceivable that the song Me & My Elvis from the locker leaks morphed into Elvis Prestley and the Monster of Soul which would eventually be renamed to Soul Monster. It is also possible that these songs originated after the locker leaks, like Scraped did.

[Blackstar]

The first mention of This I Love was in 1992 (that was when the Hit Parader interview was conducted, although published in 1993) and there's further evidence that it was written and demoed during that year.

I also think that Oh My God should date back to 1996-97 (because of the Sid Riggs writing credit - it was also written when Duff and Matt were still in the band.

[Blackstar]

And Down By The Ocean was first mentioned by Izzy in 2001.

[Soulmonster]

The first mention of This I Love was in 1992 (that was when the Hit Parader interview was conducted, although published in 1993) and there's further evidence that it was written and demoed during that year.

I also think that Oh My God should date back to 1996-97 (because of the Sid Riggs writing credit - it was also written when Duff and Matt were still in the band.

Yeah, most of the songs date back to earlier years, but I only put them on the first year when we have a source on them existing.

[Blackstar]

Yeah, most of the songs date back to earlier years, but I only put them on the first year when we have a source on them existing.

In that case, regarding Oklahoma, the first time fans heard about its existence was in January 2000 (Axl's interview with Rolling Stone). Then came the information from Dominguez that the song already existed before the new band entered the studio in 1998.

[Blackstar]

I suppose same goes for TWAT, Catcher, The Blues and I.R.S. (also first mentioned in Axl's Rolling Stone interview that was released in January 2000, although took place in November 1999). Not sure when Prostitute was first mentioned, but definitely not as early as in 1999.

Ides Of March was first mentioned in 2005.

[Blackstar]

Not sure when Prostitute was first mentioned, but definitely not as early as in 1999.

Well, that's wrong. It was in fact first mentioned in 1999 (in the Spin article)

[Soulmonster]

I suppose same goes for TWAT, Catcher, The Blues and I.R.S. (also first mentioned in Axl's Rolling Stone interview that was released in January 2000, although took place in November 1999). Not sure when Prostitute was first mentioned, but definitely not as early as in 1999.

Ides Of March was first mentioned in 2005.

Yes, it was Dave Dominguez talking about the songs being almost finished when he worked with the band back in 1998. I consider that proof that the song existed back then.

[Blackstar]

Yes, it was Dave Dominguez talking about the songs being almost finished when he worked with the band back in 1998. I consider that proof that the song existed back then.

I agree.

But then, regarding Oh My God, shouldn't Axl's quote about it being rejected by Duff and Matt, as well as the Sid Riggs writing credit, consist enough proof that it existed in 1996-97?

[Soulmonster]

Yes, it was Dave Dominguez talking about the songs being almost finished when he worked with the band back in 1998. I consider that proof that the song existed back then.

I agree.

But then, regarding Oh My God, shouldn't Axl's quote about it being rejected by Duff and Matt, as well as the Sid Riggs writing credit, consist enough proof that it existed in 1996-97?

Yeah, I agree.

Anyway, I made a new version of the list where I also try to indicate periods when the songs were worked on (grey gradient) prior to the first guaranteed date when we know they existed, at least for those songs where we have such information:



But now I hate this because if my intention is to indicate when a song was worked on, it isn't enough to just indicate this up to the point where it was first mentioned - we know many of these songs when worked on repeatedly over many years, like Absurd which was worked on during Covid-19, too.

I gonna think more about what I actually want to display and maybe work on the list again tomorrow. I will probably make some changes.

[Twinaleblood]

I gonna think more about what I actually want to display and maybe work on the list again tomorrow. I will probably make some changes.

According to what Tommy supposedly said to Rick Dunsford, the real title for "Tommy Demo #1" is supposed to be "Ten Percenter". Did you not include that on purpose, because we don't have a direct quote from Tommy? I guess the title is probably legit, after all.

[Soulmonster]

A new version. The names are when the song was first mentioned publicly. Then for some songs it is also indicated when we know the song was worked on. So for Oh My God, although we heard about it first in 1999, it is indicated that work started on it at least back in 1996. Similarly, for Berlin, although we heard about it first in 1998 (as Oklahoma), we know its origins went back to the Oklahoma bombing in 1995. And so on.

I have also indicated when we first heard that a song had changed its name. And finally, dates of official release is indicated in yellow.

[Soulmonster]

I gonna think more about what I actually want to display and maybe work on the list again tomorrow. I will probably make some changes.

According to what Tommy supposedly said to Rick Dunsford, the real title for "Tommy Demo #1" is supposed to be "Ten Percenter". Did you not include that on purpose, because we don't have a direct quote from Tommy? I guess the title is probably legit, after all.

You know, I actually thought about that but forgot to include it, mostly because I haven't researched that time period yet so it wasn't readily available to me. That being said, I will not include information from leakers and hoarders and "insiders", only from people in the band, news media, or people connected to the band or recordings.

[Blackstar]

"Ten Percenter" has been registered by Tommy on ASCAP (as "10%ER") along with Going Down, so that's confirmation and evidence.

[Twinaleblood]

"Ten Percenter" has been registered by Tommy on ASCAP (as "10%ER") along with Going Down, so that's confirmation and evidence.

Oh, I didn't know that, great catch!

[Blackstar]

Oh, I didn't know that, great catch!

https://www.ascap.com/repertory#/ace/search/workID/917433854

[Twinaleblood]

He must have registered that only recently, because I remember looking at GNR entries on ascap a few times in the past and I never noticed that. Maybe it has to do with the fact he would like "to buy those songs back".

[Blackstar]

He must have registered that only recently, because I remember looking at GNR entries on ascap a few times in the past and I never noticed that. Maybe it has to do with the fact he would like "to buy those songs back".

Yes, it seems he has bought these songs back.

He registered them at some point last year.

[Twinaleblood]

And this raises another question: are these the only ones he registered because they have leaked or because they are the only unused songs solely written by him?

[Soulmonster]

Added 10%ER:

[Soulmonster]

Here's a summary of the work on new music after 1994 and what may remain as unreleased. For speed I have omitted citations, but naturally I have quotes for everything.

1994-1996, Axl, Dizzy, Paul, Matt, Duff and Slash
Duff would say they were working on "15 different things, some just riff, some bodies". Matt said the plan was to release an album with 10 or 12 songs. In September 1996, Duff would say they were "taking 40 songs and finding 12". Whether that was an exaggeration or if they were really working on music for 40 songs, is not known. The plan was still one album with 12 songs. It seems like they might have more or less finished 7 songs, but likely without vocals, before Slash left the band.

1996-April 1997, Axl, Dizzy, Paul, Matt and Duff
With Slash gone the band would continue working on the same material and a rumour would have it that Axl was specifically working on seven songs. When Matt left in April he would claim they had "400 hours of jams, riff and songs recorded on ADAT."

April 1997-August 1997, Axl, Dizzy, Duff, Paul Robin
A new lineup was starting to materialize and with Slash gone, the music changed. Before he left, Matt said they had recorded "4,800 hours of music" with "15 really strong songs". The music was described as a mix of Soundgarden and Nine Inch Nails. Chris Vrenna and Billy Howerdel were involved and likely influenced the music. Still, Vrenna described the album as pretty old-school rock, similar to Appetite. It seems like the band was now working on new songs and had abandoned songs from the Matt/Duff/Slash sessions. Moby would say songs were finished and sounded like rock songs with sampling technology.

1998-1999, Axl, Dizzy, Paul, Robin, Tommy, Josh, Chris Pitman
In January 1998 the band moves into Rumbo Recorders to start record songs, but they would spend studio time still working on song ideas. With Tommy joining in April 1998 it seems like things started picking up speed. No vocals were recorded in the period Jan-Aug 1998. It seems like they started recording, and adding vocals in the second half of 1998. Still, vocals were not finished, and songs were not mixed. Sean Beavan, who got involved with the project in Aug 1998, would talk about Axl recording vocals, likely in 1998 or 1999. Beavan left in 1999 and say he had done "35 songs". Robin left in Aug 1999. By then they had created "enough songs for several records". Robin would also say that "two fistfuls [of songs] are musically finished". When Josh left in March 2000, they had 16 songs on an A list and about 20 songs on a B list. This fits nicely with what Beavan said. In 1999, Axl would say they had worked on about 70 songs and that they had two album's worth of songs solidly recorded. In Nov 1999, Axl would say he was 3/4 finished with recording vocals.

2000-2001, Axl, Dizzy, Paul, Tommy, Bucket, Brain, Chris
In February 2000, Roy Thomas Baker got involved and wanted to re-record everything. Brain also joined in 2000 and Axl wanted his drums on the songs. A new period of recording took place. In October, Bob Ezrin got to hear the material and give his input, and he referred to the songs as being "painted over too many times." Ezrin also recommended they move out of Rumbo and into Village, which they did. Axl would tell Ezrin he had finished recording the album, Ezrin told him he only had 2.5 songs.

The Village leaks contained songs that seem to have been mostly recorded at Village studio in late 2000/early 2001 and contained 36 songs on five "rough mixes" discs. These 36 songs likely mostly represent the songs that were A and B listed in in 1999, plus a few new songs from Bucket. In addition, the discs contained some additional songs that had probably more recently been brought into the band. The discs likely contained the songs the band was most interested in releasing. It is not known if the leaks represent all the band worked on at the time or if any of the songs stemmed from back then Duff and Slash was still in the band. But the number (36) is too close to what had already been talked about to not think these songs represented the A and B lists from 1999 plus additional, newer songs.

2002, Axl, Dizzy, Robin, Bucket, Brain, Richard, Chris
Zutaut, who was involved in the project from June 2001 to January 2002, would say they had 50-60 songs on four or five discs of 12-14 songs each, and that he convinced Axl to choose which songs to focus on. This does not align with the Village leaks which had about half of this. In early 2002, a label representative said he went to the studio and heard 41 songs that had been chosen from the 60-70 they had first written. 41 could be aligned with the Village leaks when you add in the more unfinished songs. In March 2002, Robin would state that the first album was finished. In August 2002, Axl stated that new songs had replaced some of the old songs intended for the album. Around the same time, Axl would also say they would get 18 songs plus 10 additional songs, and then the second album would be released and by then he expected him to have finished the third album. This suggests they were more or less finished with two albums at this time. Richard joined in 2002 and from August he would start recording his part to the songs. In November/December, Tommy and Dizzy would say only a few smaller pieces were missing on the first album and that it had to be mixed.

2003-April 2006, Axl, Dizzy, Robin, Brain, Richard, Chris
Axl would talk about how he was now-co-producing the album and Tommy would mention they intended to finalize the album in September. Bucket left in 2003. In early 2004 Geffen shut down operations. The band left Village Recorder. Throughout 2004, band members would say it was very close to be finished and that legal stuff prevented it from being released. In early 2005, Brain would describe it as being 95% finished. By June 2005, Richard would say that Axl was still recording vocals. Dizzy would say they three albums of material. In February 2006, Axl was "almost finished" according to Merck. Axl would say they were working on 32 songs and that 26 are nearly done. In hindsight we know that excluding the 13 songs that would end up on Chinese Democracy, the Village leaks of songs from 2000-2001 contained 27 additional songs in various stages of completion. Many of these had obviously been discarded.

May 2006-2008, Axl, Dizzy, Robin, Frank, Richard, Chris, Bumblefoot
With Bumblefoot and Frank joining the release would again be delayed as they recorded their contributions to the album. Marc Canter and Sebastian Bach got to hear the finished album, "with vocals and everything". Bach would also say Axl got "like 30-some songs", which fits with what Axl had said. In May, Axl would say they had recorded 2.5 album worth of songs, likely corresponding to the 26 songs he had talked about in February. He specified that two record were almost completely done (majority of music and vocals), with the third being about halfway done. In late 2006, Axl would say the album would not come out this year. In early 2007, Axl recorded the final vocals. Then mixing started. In November 2007, Bach would claim Axl had four albums worth of material. In early 2008, pre-release negotiations started. The album is released in November. Axl would then say he had worked on two album and that the unreleased songs were finished "depending on how you looked at it".

2009-Today
Dizzy and Tommy would confirm they had recorded three albums of material but that some lacked vocals. In 2011, Tommy would say there are 22 unreleased tracks. This fits pretty well with the 32 songs that Axl had mentioned. What is not clear is how many of these contain vocals and are ready to go, but based on Axl statement that 26 were nearly done in Feb 2006, it is likely that the second album was more or less complete with vocals. It us not known if Axl has continued working on the rest of the 32 songs, and possibly finished up more of them. Slash and Duff added their contributions to some songs after 2016, possibly songs intended for the follow-up. In 2017, Tommy mentioned that in addition to the songs they had worked on for CD and the follow-up, there was material that had been written when Slash and Duff was in the band, possibly from the work in 1994-1996.

[Soulmonster]

I summarized the above info in an image:



When going through this it seems to me that the music they worked on in 1994-1996 was put on ice after Slash/Matt/Duff left. Still, they had at least 7 songs recorded after these sessions, without vocals.

With Robin, Josh, Tommy coming in, they sort of started from scratch, coming up with new ideas. It seems this resulted in more than 60 songs by 2002 out of which about 35 were picked to be finalized and released. This number shifted a bit and some new songs were added to the list in as the band members continued to bring in new songs, and replaced others (like Better and Scraped). Anyway, the number of songs intended to be released seemed to be fairly stable around 30-35. In 2006, Axl said they were working on 32 songs.

Taking 14 (those on CD) out of the 32 they worked on in 2006, it leaves about 18 songs. In 2011, Tommy would state there is 22 unreleased songs, plus the material from 1994-1996. It could be Tommy is referring to the number of songs from before 2006, or that they increased the number again after 2006. In either case, a total of 18-22 unreleased songs likely exist in a finished or close to finished form, with at least enough finished to go on a follow-up album.

What songs are these?

Well, four have already been released: Hard Skool, The General, Absurd and Perhaps.

That leaves 14-18 more unreleased songs. I believe the following 7 songs are very likely to have been completed: Monsters, Atlas Shrugged, P.R.L./Thyme, State of Grace, Quicksong, Zodiac 13, and Berlin (=Oklahoma), either because they have already leaked so we know they are finished, contained vocals early on, or had some special status.

That leaves 7-11 additional unreleased songs. There are still 14 unreleased songs on the "Rough Mixes" discs from the Village leaks, and the remaining songs could be any of these: Eye On You, Mustache, Tonto, Real doll.com, Billionaire, Dub Suplex, Devious Bastard, Dummy, Me & My Elvis, Circus Maximus, D Tune, Curly Shuffle, Nothing and As It Began. In addition comes Ides of March, but that could be an early name on any of the other songs. The remaining 7-11 songs could be any of these, or songs that came in after the Village recordings which we know nothing about. It can't be all of them, because that would bring the number of finished songs above 18-22, so some songs were abandoned at some point, and others were likely replaced with other songs.

And then we have the 7+ songs from 1994-1996.

I believe Axl intends to get them all out, all the 14-18+7. Possible as one more album and then singles and on soundtracks. I don't think he intends to abandon songs that he worked on so long.

[Soulmonster]

Slightly updated version:

1994-1996, Axl, Dizzy, Paul, Matt, Duff and Slash
Duff would say they were working on "15 different things, some just riff, some bodies". Matt said the plan was to release an album with 10 or 12 songs. In September 1996, Duff would say they were "taking 40 songs and finding 12". Whether that was an exaggeration or if they were really working on music for 40 songs, is not known. The plan was still one album with 12 songs. It seems like they might have more or less finished 7 songs, but likely without vocals, before Slash left the band in 1996.

In 1995 Duff also asked Izzy to come to Los Angeles and write songs for GN'R. They demoed 10 songs but the fate of these is unknown. Some might have ended up on later Izzy albums, or Duff albums. In 1996, Izzy sent about 18 songs to Axl, and it is possible that among these 18 were songs from the 1995 session with Duff. What happened to these 18 songs, and whether Axl worked on any of them, is also unknown.

1996-April 1997, Axl, Dizzy, Paul, Matt and Duff
With Slash gone the band would continue working on the same material and a rumor would have it that Axl was specifically working on 7 songs. When Matt left in April he would claim they had "400 hours of jams, riff and songs recorded on ADAT."

April 1997-August 1997, Axl, Dizzy, Duff, Paul Robin
A new lineup was starting to materialize and with Slash gone, the music changed. Before he left, Matt said they had recorded "4,800 hours of music" with "15 really strong songs". The music was described as a mix of Soundgarden and Nine Inch Nails. Chris Vrenna and Billy Howerdel were involved and likely influenced the music. Still, Vrenna described the album as pretty old-school rock, similar to Appetite.  It seems like the band was now working on new songs and had abandoned songs from the Matt/Duff/Slash sessions. With the new players in the band, Axl was free to work on new music more aligned with his recent interests. Moby would say songs were finished and sounded like rock songs with sampling technology.

1998-1999, Axl, Dizzy, Paul, Robin, Tommy, Josh, Chris Pitman
In January 1998 the band moves into Rumbo Recorders to start record songs, but they would spend studio time still working on song ideas. With Tommy joining in April 1998 it seems like things started picking up speed. No vocals were recorded in the period Jan-Aug 1998. It seems like they started recording, and adding vocals in the second half of 1998. Still, vocals were not finished, and songs were not mixed. Sean Beavan, who got involved with the project in August 1998, would talk about Axl recording vocals, likely in 1998 or 1999. Beavan left in 1999 and would say he had done "35 songs". Robin left in August 1999. By then they had created "enough songs for several records". Robin would also say that "two fistfuls [of songs] are musically finished". When Josh left in March 2000, they had 16 songs on an A list and about 20 songs on a B list. This fits nicely with what Beavan said, making 36 songs in total. In 1999, Axl would say they had worked on about 70 songs and that they had two album's worth of songs solidly recorded. In November 1999, Axl would say he was 3/4 finished with recording vocals.

2000-2001, Axl, Dizzy, Paul, Tommy, Bucket, Brain, Chris
In February 2000, Roy Thomas Baker got involved and wanted to re-record everything. Brain also joined in 2000 and Axl wanted his drums on the songs. A new period of recording took place. In October, Bob Ezrin got to hear the material and give his input, and he referred to the songs as being "painted over too many times." Ezrin also recommended they move out of Rumbo and into Village, which they did. Axl would tell Ezrin he had finished recording the album, Ezrin told him he only had 2.5 songs.

The Village leaks contained songs that seem to have been mostly recorded at Village studio in late 2000/early 2001 and contained 36 songs on five "rough mixes" discs. These 36 songs likely mostly represent the songs that were A and B listed in in 1999, plus a few new songs from Bucket. In addition, the discs contained some additional songs that had probably more recently been brought into the band. The discs likely contained the songs the band was most interested in releasing. It is not known if the leaks represent all the band worked on at the time or if any of the songs stemmed from back then Duff and Slash was still in the band. But the number (36) is too close to what had already been talked about to not think these songs represented the A and B lists from 1999 plus additional, newer songs.

2002, Axl, Dizzy, Robin, Bucket, Brain, Richard, Chris
Zutaut, who was involved in the project from June 2001 to January 2002, would say they had 50-60 songs on four or five discs of 12-14 songs each, and that he convinced Axl to choose which songs to focus on. This does not align with the Village leaks which had about half of this. In early 2002, a label representative said he went to the studio and heard 41 songs that had been chosen from the 60-70 they had first written. 41 could be aligned with the Village leaks when you add in the more unfinished songs. In March 2002, Robin would state that the first album was finished. In August 2002, Axl stated that new songs had replaced some of the old songs intended for the album. Around the same time, Axl would also say they would get 18 songs plus 10 additional songs, and then the second album would be released and by then he expected him to have finished the third album. This suggests they were more or less finished with two albums at this time. Richard joined in 2002 and from August he would start recording his part to the songs. In November/December, Tommy and Dizzy would say only a few smaller pieces were missing on the first album and that it had to be mixed.

2003-April 2006, Axl, Dizzy, Robin, Brain, Richard, Chris
Axl would talk about how he was now-co-producing the album and Tommy would mention they intended to finalize the album in September. Bucket left in 2003. In early 2004 Geffen shut down operations. The band left Village Recorder. Throughout 2004, band members would say it was very close to be finished and that legal stuff prevented it from being released. In early 2005, Brain would describe it as being 95% finished. By June 2005, Richard would say that Axl was still recording vocals. Dizzy would say they three albums of material. In February 2006, Axl was "almost finished" according to Merck. Axl would say they were working on 32 songs and that 26 are nearly done. In hindsight we know that excluding the 13 songs that would end up on Chinese Democracy, the Village leaks of songs from 2000-2001 contained 27 additional songs in various stages of completion. Many of these had obviously been discarded.

May 2006-2008, Axl, Dizzy, Robin, Frank, Richard, Chris, Bumblefoot
With Bumblefoot and Frank joining the release would again be delayed as they recorded their contributions to the album. Marc Canter and Sebastian Bach got to hear the finished album, "with vocals and everything". Bach would also say Axl got "like 30-some songs", which fits with what Axl had said. In May, Axl would say they had recorded 2.5 album worth of songs, likely corresponding to the 26 songs he had talked about in February. He specified that two record were almost completely done (majority of music and vocals), with the third being about halfway done. In late 2006, Axl would say the album would not come out this year. In early 2007, Axl recorded the final vocals. Then mixing started. In November 2007, Bach would claim Axl had four albums worth of material. In early 2008, pre-release negotiations started. The album is released in November. Axl would then say he had worked on two album and that the unreleased songs were finished "depending on how you looked at it".

2009-Today
Dizzy and Tommy would confirm they had recorded three albums of material but that some lacked vocals. In 2011, Tommy would say there are 22 unreleased tracks. This fits pretty well with the 32 songs that Axl had mentioned. What is not clear is how many of these contain vocals and are ready to go, but based on Axl statement that 26 were nearly done in Feb 2006, it is likely that the second album was more or less complete with vocals. It is not known if Axl has continued working on the rest of the 32 songs, and possibly finished up more of them. Slash and Duff added their contributions to some songs after 2016, possibly songs intended for the follow-up. In 2017, Tommy mentioned that in addition to the songs they had worked on for CD and the follow-up, there was material that had been written when Slash and Duff was in the band, possibly from the work in 1994-1996.

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