Those who hit up the Guns N’ Roses show earlier this week at Fenway Park received quite a treat: The live debut of (kinda sorta) new song called “ABSUЯD.” Turns out, it’s not entirely a new song, but a reworking of an unreleased Chinese Democracy-era track called “Silkworms.” But it’s getting the proper release treatment today (August 6), and a recorded version has now hit streaming platforms.
The riff-mad “ABSUЯD” — complete with that backwards “R” — is Guns N’ Roses’ first new music in 13 years, and first to feature reunited members Slash and Duff McKagan since 1993 covers album The Spaghetti Incident?.
The band’s Not in This Lifetime “reunion” tour featuring Axl Rose, Slash, and McKagan continues to roll through North America. At Fenway, the band performed it tucked between a cover of The Stooges’ “I Wanna Be Your Dog” and Use Your Illusion classic “Civil War,” part of a 22-song set that was heavy on the classics.
“Some of you might have heard this under another name, but this is… it’s really kind of absurd to try this,” said Rose on Tuesday night in Boston, according to Rolling Stone. “Wasn’t that funny? And they don’t even know the joke yet. Okay, this is called ‘Absurd.'”
Listen to it below. [Above photo from Guns N’ Roses’ 2016 appearance at Gillette Stadium.]