After a wait of more then 16 years, Axl Rose has finally released the long-awaited album Chinese Democracy. The album, which apparently cost more than $13 million has enough history behind it to fill a small library. The original lineup of Slash, Duff McKagen, Steven Adler and Izzy Stradlin has long been gone and Guns N’ Roses has seen more then a dozen replacements come and go. The album has also suffered through numerous setbacks including changes in producers, release dates, marketing strategies, studios and a whole mess of other conflicts. The whole aura of Chinese Democracy has been all about its history and troubles up to this point. The bad thing about all of this is that the album can never live up to the hype. Even if it was the greatest album in history, it just can’t top the tale the album has become.
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Guns N’ Roses
|  Entertainment
Art
"Chinese Democracy"
(Interscope)
Released November 23, 2008
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Now that we are past the point, lets get on to the actual review of the album. It doesn’t suck. In fact its pretty damn good.
Now lets keep in mind, it won’t make an impact like 1987’s Appetite for Destruction, which took the world by storm. It might not generate the type of praise for Use Your Illusion 1 and 2, notable for the band’s turn to long ballads and elements of classical, blues and country music. But overall, Chinese Democracy sounds pretty impressive and solid.
At about 72 minutes long and over the course of 14 tracks, Chinese Democracy takes us through the familiar sounds of Axl’s great hard-rock voice and classic Guns N’ Roses grit and grumble. Axl experiments with samples, machine beats, synthesizers and other computer-assisted elements. At times some tracks sound overblown…too many elements mashed together, or a little too complicated for their own good. At most times though the album sounds fantastic, thanks to some of Chinese Democracy’s many contributors, and Axl‘s apparent perfectionism. Buckethead lays down some amazing solos and work from drummer Josh Freese, guitarist Robin Finck, bassist Tommy Stinson and a whole slew of others bring strength to much of the album. The album contains 2-3 excellent tracks, 5-7 great tracks with just 1-2 tracks that are just okay.
Some of these best tracks include:
Chinese Democracy: Starts off with snippets of Rose’s signature growl layered over an oriental-like siren and echoed drums before launching into a rough riff, bursting full-level a minute in. Sets the pace for the album.
Shackled: Rose drops down to a odd baritone at the start of this song before the song jumps into a great layered chorus accompanied by crunching riffs and a nice drums. A false ending throws you off before an impressive solo takes over.
Street of Dreams: The album’s piano piece, reminiscent of November Rain in structure but more compact. One of the best tracks of the album.
There Was a Time: The solo’s really stand out on this track, apparently Buckethead laid these ones out and they are truly impressive. The chorus and collaboration seem to be in full-effect without sounding overblown.
Better: Classic Guns N’ Roses. Power Rock, Powerful vocals, catchy riffs and great solos.
Axl Rose manages to create an album that sounds surprising modern, and great to listen to. Sure, it’s not going to be like “The good old days” most hardcore fans will talk about, much like “The good old days” of Metallica or some other band. Attitudes change, musical tastes change and bands change. Would we really want to listen to the same old sound for years and years for the sake of sustaining the feeling when we first heard the bands we adore? I hope not, but if we want it’s as easy as cracking open the album and throwing it in the CD player. But if you want to hear something new and interesting crack open Chinese Democracy, you’ll enjoy it.
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