Guns N' Roses Album "A Shipwreck" And "A Loud Last Gasp"

"Chinese Democracy" (Geffen) is the Titanic of rock albums: the ship, not the movie, although like the film it's a monumental studio production. It's outsize, lavish, obsessive, technologically advanced and, all too clearly, the end of an era. It's also a shipwreck, capsized by pretensions and top-heavy production. In its 14 songs there are glimpses of heartfelt ferocity and despair, along with bursts of remarkable musicianship. But they are overwhelmed by countless layers of studio diddling and a tone of curdled self-pity. The album concludes with five bombastic power ballads in a row.

"Chinese Democracy" sounds like a loud last gasp from the reign of the indulged pop star: the kind of musician whose blockbuster early success could once assure loyal audiences, bountiful royalties, escalating ambitions and dangerously open-ended deadlines. The leaner, leakier 21st-century recording business is far less likely to nurture such erratic perfectionists. (Mr. Rose did manage to outpace Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine, which re-emerged on tour this year but hasn't yet released a successor to its 1991 masterpiece, "Loveless.") The new rock paradigm, a throwback to the 1950s and early 1960s, is to record faster, more cheaply and more often, then head out on tour before the next YouTube sensation distracts potential fans.

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Comments

[jpmdevildog]

Axl has turned to an ape for counsel due to the terrible reviews of his latest album.

http://www.weeklyworldnews.com/celebs/phd-ape-axes-axls-problems/

[firelord5000]

As someone who has actually listened to the CD, its very good, its no Appetite, but seriously, there has nothing close to being as good as that in last 10 years. It is good, and it works.

[3worldusa]

GUNS AND ROSES SUCKED AND STILL SUCK. HOWEVER I HAVE GROWN TO APPRECIATE SLASH AND THEIR FORMER DRUMMER,NOT THE ORIGINAL,THE ONE THAT PLAYED WITH THE OTHER OVERHYPED GROUP VELVET REVOLVER. WHATS THAT DRUMMERS NAME?ANYHOW SLASH CAN PLAY GUITAR,SOME OF HIS JAZZY ACCOUSTIC STUFF SHOWS MORE THAN JUST LOUD NOISE AND THAT DRUMMER HAS PLAYED WITH A LOT OF MUSICIANS.

[firelord5000]

Sez the guy who loves Britney Spears. I guess they must really suck seeing how their music has survived the test of time, Welcome to the Jungle is one of the most played song, as are Sweet Child o Mine, November Rain.

[DocManhattan]

Just had a listen to the album ... and, well, it's not half bad. It's just not G'n'R. (If I was still under 25, I'd probably love it, but as it is it's just not where I'm at musically any more ...)

Honestly, I think it would've been better if Axl had released it under a different brand than G'n'R. It really doesn't have much in common with that band as they were -- especially as they were on their definitive album "Appetite for Destruction". As it is, 'Chinese Democracy' is hard to evaluate on its own merits without remembering that it has taken Axl a decade and a half to put it together. That raises expectations to heights that it could never live up to.

[PSRinNJ2]

I just bought Chinese Democracy and I'm listening to it for the first time right now. My first impression: it's HUGE. The songs are so jam-packed with rhythm guitars, solos, keyboards, pianos, and samples that it's hard to distinguish what the original idea was for each song. That's not to say it's bad. Most of the songs rock. Hard. Some are so overwrought as to be laughable. It's going to take a few listens to see if these songs grow on me. That is the true test of a great album. So far, it sounds like a homage to a bygone era of extreme rock self-indulgence.

[JaneaneTheAcerbicGoblin]

Thanks for the comment. It's nice to see someone who just isn't in to dissing Axl.

What's up with all these Axl haters? I have played the album, and it's pretty damn awesome. If Axl and the original members of Guns were still together, and did an album exactly like Appetite for Destruction, the haters would all be saying "they're has-beens who are totally dated". This is similar to early Metallica fans who keep wanting them to do Kill 'em All part 10.

No matter what Axl did, people are just looking for him to fail. And many are pissed because they can't use "Chinese Democracy" as a punchline anymore. Sure, the album was in production for a ridiculously long time, but it's excellent.

[dnddays]

You know where you are? You're in the bargin bin, baby! And you're one ninety-niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine!

[helonias]

Perhaps another ten years of working on it

[helonias]

And Axl is morphing into Ritchie Cunningham

[McJeff]

I have to admit I have it in for both GnR and Metallica for that snotty, "we are gods of rock" attitude when basically they are one shot wonders and not too good at that either. I never understood the obsessive attraction fans have for either band, when it's basically the same mediocrity over and over.
Wait. Maybe that's it.

Garcia once compared the Dead to licorice..."people really like licorice, or they really hate licorice. The Dead are like that". So most deadheads must really like licorice. Still. Dylan, Warren Haynes, the Allmans, Willie Nelson, even Ozzie, are willing to take lots of chances, which is what keeps them interesting, even when they screw it up.

The thing, aside from the emotional connection that the Allman's et al cultivate, is that they aren't afraid to reinterpret old songs in a new way, and invite muscians from completely different genres to join in and add their 2 cents.
When did Metallica ever sound "different" except for the awful symphonic experiment? When did they ever open themselves up to any outside influences. When did they make an album that did not pretty much sound like the last album.
I mean, the Dead crowd has performed with everyone from Etta James to Sammy Hagar to Hall & Oates.
When did Metallica or GnR ever do that?

[McJeff]

Sorry, both Metallica and GNR are incredibly over-hyped. Their level of talent does not warrant the amount of stardom they have.
Both bands basically suck, and pretty much always have.

ACDC on the other hand are incredible.

[martinchill]

brian johnson sounds like he gargles with razor blades, and angus hasn't outgrown the schoolboy uniform in thirty years. your arguments about why g n r or metallica don't change much just got shot to sh*t.

[Mosby007]

Your credibility was lost when you threw that ACDC comment in at the end.

I happen to enjoy all of three bands you mentioned to some degree. And I feel all three have their talents. But if you complain about "the same mediocrity over and over," then I have to bring up the point that most of ACDC's songs are pretty much the same. After too much ACDC, all the songs run together. That's not to say that I feel that is a bad thing, but to talk shite about Metallica and GnR and then sing the praises of ACDC seems absurd to me.

[PolarisCountry]

Well, it's even more of a joke when you compare it against Metallica's latest, which blows this abomination out of the water. Hopefully this will be the wakeup call Axl needs to reform the original lineup. Although after watching celebrity rehab, I don't know about Steven Adler...

[dizmo4]

Yeah.. maybe use Matt Sorum instead. Adler was gone after the 2nd album anyways.

[RobinSeattle]

Just about anything Metallica did after the horrendous "St. Anger" would sound good, that record was so awful. On the new album, I give James, Lars, et all a "nice try," but they are past it now. It happens to every band.

[Big0725]

This is the end of an era?

GNR has been obsolete since 1993. Good riddance.

[Trickywoo]

I'm so glad that Robin Finck left Axl and went back to Trent. And that's the nicest thing I can think of to say about Chinese Democracy. It's not horrible, but it's not good, either. It left me kind of . . . meh.

[DuckofDeath]

It's a grower.

[DuckofDeath]

Have you heard Trent's new 20 year old drummer? He's incredible.

[massive]

I've read terrible reviews on MusicRadar, The Quietus, and now The New York Times. Rolling Stone is the only publication that liked the record.

From what I heard of the record on MySpace, it's a turkey.

[dizmo4]

Rolling Stone only liked the album because their expectations were subterranean and 'Chinese Democracy' isn't the absolute worst album ever released.

[TomCarter83]

I trust Rolling Stone's Reviews far more than any other outlet these days. Granted any review writtne is going to be flawed, but I find that RS's reviews are more subtle and nuanced than other's who seem to judge an album as the sum of its parts rather than its quality as a whole.

[DuckofDeath]

The following songs are good:
Chinese Democracy
Better
If the world
There was a Time
Riad N the Bedouins
IRS

It definitely lacks edge, but if you like 'Estranged' then a lot of these songs will appeal to you. 6 out of 14 isn't a great average but I'm surprised I like as many songs as I did.

I think those of you totally trashing this album should identify which artists you do like, cuz I suspect many of you weren't inclined to like it in the first place and you just don't like Axl Rose. I'm sensing many Fall Out Boy fans among you.

[RobinSeattle]

Fall Out Boy blows. I listen to everything from classical music to thrash metal and loved even Use Your Illusion, but this album would have made only a pretty okay single.