10 Reasons Why You Should Buy Chinese Democracy
(November 24, 2008)
Here we are. The Day After. And while Dr. Pepper struggles to come through on their promise, W. Axl Rose came through on his. Chinese Democracy exists and is available for purchase. Currently, it’s on my iPod, my computer, and my coffee table, yet I’m still kind of amazed to see it there, let alone hear it. I’ll leave a traditional review for the traditional press and instead list ten entirely biased reasons why you absolutely should buy this album.
10. Because the drummer from Hinder doesn’t like it. He said it “almost sounds too artsy.” He then went back to playing this song, which apparently is just artsy enough to suck.
9. Because the drummer from Hinder was asked his opinon of Chinese Democracy in the first place. You know why that is? Because there are publicists and label people out there who are desperately trying to tell us that bands like Hinder, Nickleback, Creed, Staind and 3 Doors Down are what we’re supposed to enjoy in the category of modern rock these days. Chinese Democracy is better than anything these bands will ever do. Ever. Those bands write singles. Axl wrote an album.
8. Because it sounds more like Guns N’ Roses than Velvet Revolver. I know, the math doesn’t work. Velvet has three former Gunners and Chinese only has one. And I like those two Velvet records, but at the end of the day is there anything on them that really sounds that different from Stone Temple Pilots? Sadly, no.
7. Because they’ll never get into the nickname hall of fame, but guitarists Buckethead and Bumblefoot (along with lame-names Robin Finck and Richard Fortus) are actually pretty good. The solos by Slash from his work in Guns can’t be touched. That goes without saying. But listen to the chaotic tweaky divebombs in “Shackler’s Revenge” or the smooth melodic (and “Estranged” sounding) lead in “There Was a Time.” Some cool shreddin’ going on here, Guitar Heroes.
6. Because Axl can still hit the high notes. Listen to “Riad N’ the Bedouins.” Holy crap.
5. Because the one-two punch of “There Was a Time” and “Catcher in the Rye” come at the middle of the record. Anybody with half a brain knows that what seperates a good album from a really good album is the quality of the songs after the first three or four tracks. “Paradise City” was track six on Appetite; “Sweet Child O’ Mine” was nine. Democracy has foruteen tracks and while there’s no “Sweet Child” hiding for you in the 2nd half, there’s enough good to keep you listening and excited to the end. Even when you first hear “This I love” and think “Oh my god, what is this? Musical theater?” you’ll still find yourself oddly amazed by what you’re hearing and probably end up later thinking, “I kind of want to hear that musical theater song again.” It’s okay. Nothing wrong with that…
4. Because Cool Hand Luke gets sampled again. Along with Mississippi Burning, Braveheart, Casualties of War, and Seven. All in the same song (”Madagascar”).
3. Because nobody writes about Axl like Axl. And thank goodness the lyrics are included in the liner notes. You can pick and choose at random and no doubt will find something that we can only assume is Axl answering some of those questions many of us have had regarding his sanity over this lengthy journey that has been the making of Chinese Democracy. In “Catcher in the Rye” he writes “But every time I see them makes me wish I had a gun. If I thought that I was crazy, well I guess I’d have more fun.” Intrigued, hmm? What about “Better” when he says “No one ever told me when I was alone. They just thought I’d know better.” Is he talking about us? Didn’t we all think he’d know better than to take fifteen years to make an album? Or in “I.R.S.” when he sings, “I bet you think I’m doin’ this all for my health.” Or in “Prostitute” when Axl asks “Why would they tell me to please those that laugh in my face?” That’s a good questions, isn’t it?
2. Because it’s way, way better than Phantom Menace. And you waited sixteen years for that.
1. Finally, because Axl’s already won. You can sit and stew and not buy the record or make fun of it even. You can laugh at Axl’s hair, his weight, his voice, and his decisions that make up the story behind the music. (Guilty.) You can envision some fantasy where the original lineup stayed together all these years making great album after great album that all sound like Appetite for Destruction and all those classic songs you still hear in movie trailers and at sporting events. (Guilty again.) You can somehow convince yourself that even after 20 years and the loss of 4/5 of a line up, that you know exactly how Guns N’ Roses should sound in 2008. You can tell yourself that Axl should’ve just released Chinese Democracy as a solo album. But that’s kind of missing the point. What matters at the end of the day is what the music is, not what it could’ve been, should’ve been, or anything in between. And the one thing you can take away from all of this with absolute certainty is that the music on Chinese Democracy is exactly what Axl wanted it to be. The rest is up to you (Holepuncher).
Nice article.
-Mack
"Chinese Democracy Summer Tour 2009" Dates coming 'soon.'
ReplyDeletedamn i hate the word 'soon'
ReplyDeletemack,
ReplyDeletei may have mentioned this before, but is there any chance guns may be released from their contract in the coming months? i know axl has done jack shit to promote the album this far, but universal have done even less. they got their money for cd...might as well get rid of them??
then axl could begin the 'monumental' marketing campaign the way only he could?
just a thought
The best reason to buy Chinese Democracy is because it's great music plain and simple.
ReplyDeleteTo me, Chinese Democracy sounds modern at the same time harkening back to a day when artists made albums (late 60's through to the late 70's) not "catchy, disposable ditties surrounded by forgettable, often terrible filler songs.
Chinese Democracy is a complete record with every song being thoughtfully crafted. I don't like every song on the record, but there is no short of 7 masterpieces on this album! And 5 great songs and 2 songs I can take or leave. The point being is that Axl and his band created an album with the sensibilities of, and in the vein of the Beatles (Rubber Soul or Sgt. Peppers era) or Pink Floyd (Dark Side or The Wall era), Led Zep (Physical Graffiti), Queen (Day at the Races, Night at the Opera) etc…you get my point. The vast majority of “artists” (and I use that term loosely) these days do not have that approach.
Chinese Democracy is special because it exists in a time that perhaps it shouldn’t. It doesn’t sound dated, quite the opposite, it sounds fresh but at the same time there is a nod to that special time in music when everyone appeared to be creatively “mossy”.
This music on Chinese Democracy is so good that several of these songs could easily have appeared on either of the Illusion records (they are at least as good) and no one would have batted an eye.
C.T.
Great article, really.
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to comment on 2 bits:
1) "...but at the end of the day is there anything on them that really sounds that different from Stone Temple Pilots? Sadly, no."
I WISH VR could only sound as good as STP...except for "slither", not one more great song.
2) "Even when you first hear “This I love” and think “Oh my god, what is this? Musical theater?”
Thank god someone else thought that too! The good part of "This I love" is not Axl's. Lyrics are poor (for Axl standards anyway), brilliant piano...but the extra quality stuff are the guitar solos (mack, whose are they?!)
ard
That's Robin Finck on guitar (This I Love).
ReplyDeleteI have to respectfully disagree with you ard.
ReplyDeleteThe way I see This I Love is the musical equivalent of Axl stripping it all down. It's almost an acoustic number. It's a song that sounds "simple" and stripped down as do the lyrics. It's direct and to the point. It's not "flowery" song writing. He's emoting in the most basic sense. The brilliance of this song is in its simplicity even though I bet there are layers upon layers of music in it...even though, to me, it's practically like an acoustic song entirley stripped down.
C.T.
#3 is my favorite reason - Because nobody writes about Axl like Axl.
ReplyDeleteHe should have titled this album Chinese Democracy: The Making of Chinese Democracy.
GUNS N' ROSES To Play Italy In May Or June? - Feb. 12, 2009
ReplyDeleteAndrea Pieroni, head honcho at the Italian concert-promotion agency Live In Italy, has told The Rock Blog that there are plans to bring GUNS N' ROSES to Milan, Italy in May or June this year. "We are in the process of working out the exact date and location for the concert," he is quoted as saying. "If DatchForum in Assago (Milan) is available, it will be held there. Otherwise, we will have it at the Idroscalo [in Milan, where GN'R played in 2006 as the headliner of the Gods of Metal festival, which was organized by Live in Italy]. We cannot provide further details as things are constantly changing and developing."
GUNS N' ROSES' new album, "Chinese Democracy", was officially certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on February 3, 2009 for shipments in the United States in excess of one million copies. According to Nielsen SoundScan, the CD has shifted 543,000 units since it was released on November 23, 2008 as a Best Buy exclusive after a wait of more than 15 years.
C.T.
Quella รจ belle notizie!
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting the article and the positive comments. I'd probably edit a few things if I wrote it now, but I'd only had the record a grand total of a day at the time. Mostly, I'd heap much more praise on how great of a song "Sorry" is...
ReplyDeleteAgain, thanks.
hey holepuncher,
ReplyDeleteCouldn't agree more. Best song on the album in my opinion. Why Sorry wasn't selected as a single i'll never know. maybe GN'R are waiting for something to happen before they release the big songs as singles.
C.T.