Got a tip? Send it our way
Share your music news — big or small — with the Austin360.com team by sending us an e-mail.
Home > Austin Music Source > Archives > 2008 > November > 19 > Entry
CD review: Guns n’ Roses, ‘Chinese Democracy’
Guns N’ Roses
“Chinese Democracy” (Geffen)
So, let’s review: The United States elected an African-American president. The Phillies won a World Series. And “Chinese Democracy” is in stores.
Let’s not kid ourselves: The first two were going to happen sooner or later. The latter… well, this is an album that has been discussed, debated, anticipated and consigned to the realm of myth for 15 years.
Bill Clinton was in the middle of his first term the last time G n’R put out a studio album (the 1993 covers album “The Spaghetti Incident”).
George H.W. Bush was president the last time the last time the band released a studio album of original material (1991’s “Use Your Illusion” I and II).
Tens of millions of dollars have been spent in the past decade and a half. Eleven musicians are credited. Fourteen studios were used. The album’s been promised and delayed more than, well, the Second Coming.
So how is it?
Um … not bad.
Seriously, how good could it possibly be? It is the most anticipated album of all time. Unless it does your taxes, comes with stock options and cures cancer, folks are going to be a little disappointed.
As for the music (which does seem weirdly secondary at this late date), you can’t say ol’ Axl has been sitting on his hands the past 15 years.
Every song here seems to have about 900 tracks of sound on it. Jumbles of guitars, weird voices, drums, mechanical rhythms, piano fills and ballad butter run all over the place. Every song feels worked over and refined and added to and subtracted from. Riffs and parts collide like a freeway pile up. More often than not, the song is the victim, any sense of true forward motion is stuck in the stacks o’ tracks.
Remember the opening moments of “Welcome to the Jungle,” the wrecking ball swing that turned that song from solid hard rock to a freight train that changed the world?
There’s nothing like that here. Even the fairly solid rockers (“Shackler’s Revenge,” “I.R.S.,” the title track) can’t approach that astonishing groove.
Axl Rose seems to have spent even more time on the ballads, virtually all of which can be tagged with the prefix “power” or “epic” or “overblown.” “Street of Dreams” is Axl at his most power ballad emo (“All the love in the world couldn’t save yoooooooo”), “This I Love” is his most straightforward, “Catcher in the Rye” is, well, called “Catcher in the Rye.” And the man still seems to be able to sing just fine.
Speaking of crazy, there’s also plenty that’s just plain weird (other than Axl’s cornrows, it-must-be-Botox looks and, well, taking 15 years to finish this thing). “Madagascar” samples Martin Luther King’s “Free at last….!” and the world may never quite know why. “Sorry” sounds beamed in from Pluto. The opening 28 seconds of “Better” sound for all the world like the avant-pop of underground faves Deerhoof.
Every song has at least three or four parts fighting for attention. And Axl probably lavished his love and time on all of them, saying what he must have said to countless hot tub companions: “Girls, you’re all pretty.”
Even being sold exclusively at Best Buy, “Chinese Democracy” is going to sell through the roof; curiosity alone will drive plenty of purchases.
Which isn’t all that surprising. Rose and company have delivered a monster — misshapen, strange and sometimes very, very powerful.
Comments
Click here to report comment abuse.
By Deuce
November 20, 2008 11:38 AM | Link to this
Everyone knows the history - what does the music sound like? Not really a review of the record at all. Another critic who doesn’t understand his job. One song sounds like it was from Pluto - gee, that was helpful.
By Matt
November 21, 2008 3:00 PM | Link to this
Joe,
I think you nailed this review. I feel the same way you do. However, I would have been much harsher in my wording. They simply tried to jam too many ideas in to each song. I find myself trying to pick out the pieces that I like rather than enjoying the song as a whole. The effects on his voice were so bothersome at times, I would find myself skipping ahead.
It is clear that this is a poorly executed album from start to finish. I frankly do not understand why some GnR fans are so intent on protecting this album it’s just not good. Maybe they have to come to the realization this is the swan song.
By BigDave
November 22, 2008 11:07 PM | Link to this
Every band has a shelf life, and Axl waited way past his to release this thing. In short, it is a cross between Guns and Roses and Nine Inch Nails (one of Axl’s favorite bands). As a teenager, I loved everything on Appetite for Destruction. As an adult, I like three songs off this album - IRS, Better, and If the World.