When a friend of mine with close ties to the music business told me a couple of months back that November would finally see the release of Guns N' Roses' mythical next album Chinese Democracy, I laughed it off.
Now, lo and behold, after 15 long years during which pretty much everything changed -- about music, about culture, about the band's lineup, about Axl's hair -- it's finally here, leaving critics to ponder if it was worth the wait and audiences to ponder whether they still even care.
So do you?
Decide for youself.
This is Chinese Democracy.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Listening Post
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18 comments:
Yawn. Was anyone expecting anything different?
make it stop kicking my 16 year old self in the face.
sounds like the worst of nutallica.
feh
meh.
"Tuesday night, re-live the mediocrity of the 1990s and rock out at Hallendale's Treehouse Lounge with nickel domestic beers, two for one house drink specials, a hot legs contest, and bang yer head to scorching live sets by South Florida's premiere metal cover band, Argus, with special guest opening act, Axl Rose of Guns n Roses.
Eight dollars at the door."
Meh.
A sampling of influences from the wide and slow center of today's metal, re-imagined not at all. The opening riff could be in 100 other songs. Or a Nike commercial. By the time the rest of it gets layered in, we're really knee-deep in the hoopla (in a bad way). Just a shame it wasn't finished in time to go on the Babylon AD soundtrack.
"It don't really matter... ooo! ..."
all we need is just a little (more) patience.....if i never here the new song again, i will not miss it.
I'm a huge GnR fan, and while this first single isn't groundbreaking, I think it is red meat to the classic GnR fans... I am all kinds of 10-year in the making anxious to see if he Axl has evolved his sound on the rest of the album, if not, I will probably like it anyway
...
ain't no mötley crüe!
Hey, everyone's forgetting the one good thing about "Chinese Democracy"...FREE DR. PEPPER!
Can Axl Rose be put down after this?
Age is not kind to the kind of rage fueled rock that Guns 'N Roses made. The problem with this song is that Axl is trying to do what he did in the 80s and 90s when he was young and full of energy. Impossible.
You evolve as you age or you become a self parody. Axl has refused to evolve. It's too bad. He was actually a decent balladeer, and that's something he could be doing really well as a late 40's singer whose vocal skills are still there.
This record will come out, sell a bunch of copies, make the people who just wanted some B-/C+ Guns 'N Roses material happy, and ultimately fade away. It's neither a return to form nor a total trainwreck.
What's your opinion on Appetite for Destruction, Chez?
A landmark album. Made rock and roll dangerous again.
Votar, you spelled Hallandale wrong. ;)
Hey, that new Filter track is pretty good!
Hehehe...
All joking aside, while I don't think it's anything amazing, I don't think it's that bad either. I like it better than the new Metallica album-- and didn't it take them over 15 years to release a new album? ;)
I refuse to believe that the supposed "release" of Chinese Democracy is anything more than some kind of elaborate prank -- a la Banksy and Danger Mouse's hilarious doctoring of Paris Hilton's debut album -- until I can physically hold a copy in my hand, put it into my CD player and hear the actual music being read off of the disc.
Looks like the video got pulled, which sucks because I haven't heard it yet. But apparently I'm not missing much.
Everythign I've heard on the album (three official songs, 10 songs in not-released state) is awesome. I love it. It's not "OMG THIS HAS TO BE THE GREATEST ALBUM EVER BECAUSE IT TOOK 15 YEARS TO MAKE IT" .. you can't look at it like that.
It's all good. And hopefully parts 2, 3, and 4 will come out soon.
Like Rolling Stone said, if this is the Guns n' Roses that Axl has been hearing in his head when he writes this stuff, it's no wonder he needed 5 guitarists.
hey, here's a link with the official title song, as well as a schedule of official "listening parties" before the actual release come Nov 23rd:
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=108766
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