Chinese Democracy: First Review: FOUR STARS!!!

[Javery]

It finally has a release date of November 23 (yes, this year). I'll believe it when I see it though. DO you think this will be it for the band or now that it is out do you think they will be releasing new music on a more regular basis like every other year or something?

[tiredfornow]

Hopefully. I still don't understand why they're putting this album out. :(

[ninja dog]

Hopefully. I still don't understand why they're putting this album out. :(

G n' R name = instant million+ sold.

[JolietJake]

I hope so, GNR should have died years ago, let the good memories form the past live, let this crap die a fast death.

[FriskyTanuki]

They'll be dead before the next album would come out.

[bardockkun]

GNR after Slash was booted out is still relevent?

[neocisco]

http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTRE49M07D20081023

Guns N' Roses (AKA Axl Rose plus some other guys) will FINALLY release the infinitely delayed album 11/23. The catch is that Best Buy is the exclusive retailer for it.


Guns N' Roses release long-delayed album Wed Oct 22, 2008 9:46pm EDT

Guns N' Roses, the rock band whose appetite for self-destruction has left it with only one original member, will release its first album of new material in more than 17 years on November 23, its label said on Wednesday. With the group's early-'90s heyday now only a distant memory, volatile singer Axl Rose has gone through a revolving cast of musicians as work proceeded at a snail's pace on the album Chinese Democracy. Over the years, Rose has promised multiple release plans and then delays but this time, it really seems to be on its way. The group's Geffen Records label will release the album exclusively in the United States through consumer electronics chain Best Buy Co Inc, and it will be available through traditional music retailers elsewhere internationally. In the United States, tie-ups with individual chains are becoming more common. Australian hard rock band AC/DC released its new album through Wal-Mart Stores Inc on Tuesday. Paradoxically, most of the 14 tracks on Chinese Democracy have already been released in one form or another, thanks largely to Internet piracy. Earlier this week, a Los Angeles man pleaded innocent in federal court to violating copyright law by allegedly posting nine of the tracks on a Web site. The title track was officially released to U.S. radio outlets earlier on Wednesday. Additionally, the track Shackler's Revenge debuted in the Rock Band 2 videogame last month, and a portion of If The World; can be heard over the closing credits of the new film Body Of Lies. The last collection of new Guns N' Roses material came out in September 1991, when the group released a pair of albums, Use Your Illusion 1 and Use Your Illusion 2, the follow-ups to their smash 1987 debut Appetite for Destruction.The Illusion albums debuted in the top two spots on the U.S. album chart, and the band toured the world relentlessly. A year after the 1993 release of the covers album The Spaghetti Incident? -- which was notable for the controversial inclusion of a song written by mass murderer Charles Manson -- the band began tentative work on new material. However, long simmering band tensions eventually led to the departure of guitarist Slash, bass player Duff McKagan and drummer Matt Sorum. They went on to form the Grammy-winning band Velvet Revolver, which released two albums. Rose, holed up at his Malibu home, continued working on Chinese Democracy with various musicians, spending millions of dollars in the process, and launched a few tours. Over the years, the term Chinese Democracy became a byword for costly artistic indulgence, and wags joked that democracy would come to China before the album ever came out. For their part, Rose's former bandmates say the new Guns N' Roses is a mere knock-off of the real thing, the hard-living band that sold more than 90 million records worldwide. But Geffen said in a statement that it was incredibly excited about the new album, while co-manager Irving Azoff said the album's release marks a historic moment in rock 'n' roll.

[neocisco]

Does the OP look like a horrid runon paragraph to anyone else? I can't edit it for some reason.

[hiccupleftovers]

Looks bad here. Regardless, I'll believe it when I hear/see it. Also, seen any news post for Duke Nukem Forever or Zero or whatever it's being called now?

[Scorch]

Wall of text~! No! It's crushing me!

[TheRock88]

Does that mean everyone's gonna get a free can of Dr. Pepper?

[CoffeeEdge]

OP is fucked.

Also, seen any news post for Duke Nukem Forever or Zero or whatever it's being called now?
Some guy got to play it recently. A few seconds of him playing it can be seen. It's coming...

Does that mean everyone's gonna get a free can of Dr. Pepper?
Nah-ah-ah. This is just the song "Chinese Democracy." We don't get the Doc until the album itself drops (which is supposed to happen on Nov 23rd).

[Kendal]

Until I have the CD in hand with no intention of buying it, I won't believe it.

[Javil]

How can anyone say they don't believe it, or they'll believe it when they see it? The tracks are already spread out all over the place! That much was stated in the OP, but I don't blame anyone for not reading through that "wall of text." :lol:

[Javil]

GNR after Slash was booted out is still relevent?QFT.

Unfortunately, there is no way this will be the last album. The tie-in deals with rhythm games and movies has already made this foray profitable even before the actual CD has hit store shelves.

[mykevermin]

I thought Appetite For Destruction was their last album.

[darthbudge]

Does that mean everyone's gonna get a free can of Dr. Pepper?

Yup, on Nov 23. you can sign up and Dr. Pepper will send you a coupon for a free 20 oz. bottle of it.

[Javery]

I thought Appetite For Destruction was their last album.

If you get rid of the filler across Use Your Illusion and pare it down to one disc it could be just as good as Appetite... wait, what am I saying? OK, it would be good but not as good as Appetite...

Saw this somewhere and I might have to try it:

1. Civil War
2. Dust N’ Bones
3. Bad Obsession
4. Don’t Cry (Original)
5. Right Next Door to Hell
6. Bad Apples
7. November Rain
8. You Could Be Mine
9. Yesterdays
10. Pretty Tied Up
11. Garden of Eden
12. Estranged
(total running time: 65:37)

[benjamouth]

It's not really a GnR album is it, there's too many changes to the lineup.

Guns had their time, but that time is now past.

[johnnypark]

Some of the new songs are on Youtube. Here's 'Shackler's Revenge', which is on Rock Band 2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dos9ws2Q8j0

Honestly... it sounds about 10 years too late, and a little too industrial. The CD may not be awful (though I don't really like this song) but so far I don't think he has any right to call it Guns N' Roses. Velvet Revolver was more of a 'new' GNR record than this is, at leased based on this one song.

It would be nice if Axl could just move on and do a solo project, or another band, or anything but this. I think it's more just to have an excuse to play the old songs (which he could do anyway, I doubt anyone would care) and for marketability.

[johnnypark]

Just found the title track (Chinese Democracy) is up, too, it's an official single which launched 10/22. A little better than Shackler's Revenge, but I still don't know how to feel about it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQQ5-8ctG4c

I tried to edit my other post, but it wouldn't let me keep the embedded video for some reason, so sorry for the multi-posts!

[Sporadic]

I'm amazed that people are still saying "I won't believe it until the disc is in my hand"

11 of the 14 songs have leaked out in demo versions and they have signed a contract with Best Buy for a hard release date. The album is most likely 100% done.

[KaneRobot]

If you get rid of the filler across Use Your Illusion and pare it down to one disc it could be just as good as Appetite... wait, what am I saying? OK, it would be good but not as good as Appetite...

Saw this somewhere and I might have to try it:

1. Civil War
2. Dust N’ Bones
3. Bad Obsession
4. Don’t Cry (Original)
5. Right Next Door to Hell
6. Bad Apples
7. November Rain
8. You Could Be Mine
9. Yesterdays
10. Pretty Tied Up
11. Garden of Eden
12. Estranged
(total running time: 65:37)

Leaving out 14 Years, Perfect Crime, Get in the Ring, and especially Dead Horse is criminal. Both those albums are really good.



New album seems like it's going to be ok, but nothing I'd pick up. That's actually giving it a lot more credit I though I would be.

[MCalvert1]

I heard the Chinese Democracy single on the radio yesterday. Didn't care for it much, and I thought Axl sounded more like Ozzy than his old self.

MjC

[Javery]

Leaving out 14 Years, Perfect Crime, Get in the Ring, and especially Dead Horse is criminal. Both those albums are really good.

I really don't like Get In The Ring but I agree with the others. Also, Coma should be on there somewhere too.

[CaseyRyback]

Chinese Democracy is a trilogy according to Sebastian Bach. I wouldn't be shocked if he finished it.

[ninja dog]

If you get rid of the filler across Use Your Illusion and pare it down to one disc it could be just as good as Appetite... wait, what am I saying? OK, it would be good but not as good as Appetite...

Saw this somewhere and I might have to try it:

1. Civil War
2. Dust N’ Bones
3. Bad Obsession
4. Don’t Cry (Original)
5. Right Next Door to Hell
6. Bad Apples
7. November Rain
8. You Could Be Mine
9. Yesterdays
10. Pretty Tied Up
11. Garden of Eden
12. Estranged
(total running time: 65:37)


what? no "get in the ring?" :lol:

[bardockkun]

Chinese Democracy is a trilogy according to Sebastian Bach. I wouldn't be shocked if he finished it.
Didn't Sebastian Bach also tell us we're getting a new Road Rash game and that never came true?

Even if it was true, is part two going to be Chinese Anarchy or something then?

[Demolition Man]

Hopefully. I still don't understand why they're putting this album out. :(

To piss you off. :lol:

[option.iv]

I dunno, the title track Chinese Democracy sounds like ass. Then again, I'm not a GnR fan.

[niceguyshawne]

As long as this took to release, it will have to be the last one. I am still buying it on release. I feel like I need to since I have been waiting for it since I was 17.

[CaseyRyback]

Didn't Sebastian Bach also tell us we're getting a new Road Rash game and that never came true?

Even if it was true, is part two going to be Chinese Anarchy or something then?

I don't know about that, but I do know he is the one that said it was coming out this year and that was true.

[CoffeeEdge]

Leaving out 14 Years...


Haha, "14 years," indeed. What a crazy coincidence.

[Kendal]

How can anyone say they don't believe it, or they'll believe it when they see it? The tracks are already spread out all over the place! That much was stated in the OP, but I don't blame anyone for not reading through that "wall of text." :lol:

Probably because the last 15 times it was supposed be released, it got pushed back. Also, most people joke about it like Duke Nukem Forever coming out, but this one is more than likely coming out.

[Ravenlunatic]

I hope it's the last album. Judging frmo the single off their website, it's going to suck to high hell.

[jaso]

Something about "GnR" releasing a new album makes me think of how the Pumpkins can have a "reunion tour" with only half the band - and there's only four members to begin with.

Not that it already isn't, but I predict "Chinese Democracy" will become a widespread euphemism for something that fails to materialize, then finally materializes - and fails.

[Javery]

Believe it people!

Let's get right to it: The first Guns n' Roses album of new, original songs since the first Bush administration is a great, audacious, unhinged and uncompromising hard-rock record.

http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/24024297/review/24161281/chinese_democracy

[Javery]

So has anyone heard the whole thing yet? I'm curious even though I'm 99.9% convinced I'm not going to like it.

[hankmecrankme]

Believe it people!



http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/24024297/review/24161281/chinese_democracy

Rolling Stone also told me that Meg White sounded like John Bonham. :roll:

I haven't trusted their reviews in years.

[johnnypark]

From the review...

...single disc of supershred guitars, orchestral fanfares, hip-hop electronics, metallic tabernacle choirs and Axl Rose's still-virile, rusted-siren singing.
They had my interest until that. I'll still give it a listen but why in the hell does he insist on mixing electronics into the music? Remember 'My World' off of Use Your Illusion 2? A travesty of a song on an otherwise solid record. This project (I don't feel right calling it GNR) needs as much metal and soloing as it can get, and as few electonic beats as it can avoid. If I wanted that crap, I'd listen to Linkin Park (although I'd probably prefer to go deaf).

Something about "GnR" releasing a new album makes me think of how the Pumpkins can have a "reunion tour" with only half the band - and there's only four members to begin with.

Not that it already isn't, but I predict "Chinese Democracy" will become a widespread euphemism for something that fails to materialize, then finally materializes - and fails.

Yep, it's the new Daikatana.

[mykevermin]

^ :rofl:

[Javery]

Rolling Stone also told me that Meg White sounded like John Bonham. :roll:

I haven't trusted their reviews in years.

True - Rolling Stone is awful. Most music reviews are since it is so subjective. I mean most people can agree on a great movie, book or video game but music varies so much from person to person there's almost no point in reviewing it. I think "In Rainbows" is the best CD to come out in the past 5 years but I know tons of people who hate it - I'm right of course but that's not the point....

[hankmecrankme]

True - Rolling Stone is awful. Most music reviews are since it is so subjective. I mean most people can agree on a great movie, book or video game but music varies so much from person to person there's almost no point in reviewing it. I think "In Rainbows" is the best CD to come out in the past 5 years but I know tons of people who hate it - I'm right of course but that's not the point....
Yeah, reviews are always subjective. That's why I trust myself more than any reviewer. I know what I like.

I'm finding that the things I really like get shit on by reviewers, while the things I don't like get tons of praise. That's why I take all reviews as opinion. I look for more factual things in them anyway, like "this song has 5 guitars on it", not "this song has 5 guitars on it that sound like mush."

IGN tortures me with their 5+ page reviews though. I just want the gist, so I skim. They like to spoil shit too.

[Mid Boss]

For anyone interested in listening to it free(and legally!) looks like the whole album is streaming right now on the band's MySpace page here: http://www.myspace.com/gunsnroses

It may not exactly be the old GNR sound, but it's still pretty damn good. A few songs don't really work for me, but it hits far more than it misses IMO.

[Sporadic]

Looks like the whole album is streaming right now on the band's MySpace page here: http://www.myspace.com/gunsnroses

And it's awesome (besides them butchering Catcher In The Rye and replacing the solo from Riad N' The Bedounis)

[Mid Boss]

I actually like the final version of Catcher in the Rye better than the old leak. I didn't really notice the change in Riad, but I've felt pretty indifferent to it in every version I've heard of it.

[Chase]

As a fan of Guns N' Roses, I never thought I'd see this day. I expected Axl to flip his wig, steal all copies, and bury them in a desert like the Atari 2600 E.T. game.

With Chinese Democracy's release, if Duke Nukem Forever actually sees the light of day, I'm convinced the world will end.

[Sporadic]

I actually like the final version of Catcher in the Rye better than the old leak. I didn't really notice the change in Riad, but I've felt pretty indifferent to it in every version I've heard of it.

Here's a comparsion of the solos (demo vs final)

Catcher In The Rye

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtiU-JBzmAA

Riad N' The Bedouins

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN_tVOzbwLM

[diddy310]

I can definitely hear the Ozzy comparison on the title track like someone else here said. Maybe not so much in Axl's voice, but that they are burying the vocals so far down in the mix. Out of the demos i liked Better and irs, curious to hear how the final versions came out.

[johnnypark]

Listening to the stream right now. "Better" and "Streets of Dreams" both have parts later on that *almost* sound like old GNR. Some crazy solos, some patented wailing from Axl...

"If the World" is on now, and it's pretty awful. Way too much electronic shit.

[CaseyRyback]

And it's awesome (besides them butchering Catcher In The Rye and replacing the solo from Riad N' The Bedounis)

Catcher in the Rye has grown on me, but I do agree that the older version is better. I also agree that the album is awesome.

[Mid Boss]

Here's a comparsion of the solos (demo vs final)

Catcher In The Rye

Riad N' The Bedouins


I can agree that the solo for Catcher is better in the demo, but overall I still think the final version sounds better. Part of that probably stems from the extra polish given to the final version over the demo though.

[Sporadic]

Guest reviewer Chuck Klosterman is the author of five books, including Fargo Rock City: A Heavy Metal Odyssey In Rural North Dakota and the new novel Downtown Owl. There is no one in the world more qualified to review the exhaustingly anticipated new Guns N' Roses album than he is.

Reviewing Chinese Democracy is not like reviewing music. It's more like reviewing a unicorn. Should I primarily be blown away that it exists at all? Am I supposed to compare it to conventional horses? To a rhinoceros? Does its pre-existing mythology impact its actual value, or must it be examined inside a cultural vacuum, as if this creature is no more (or less) special than the remainder of the animal kingdom? I've been thinking about this record for 15 years; during that span, I've thought about this record more than I've thought about China, and maybe as much as I've thought about the principles of democracy. This is a little like when that grizzly bear finally ate Timothy Treadwell: Intellectually, he always knew it was coming. He had to. His very existence was built around that conclusion. But you still can't psychologically prepare for the bear who eats you alive, particularly if the bear wears cornrows.

Here are the simple things about Chinese Democracy: Three of the songs are astonishing. Four or five others are very good. The vocals are brilliantly recorded, and the guitar playing is (generally) more interesting than the guitar playing on the Use Your Illusion albums. Axl Rose made some curious (and absolutely unnecessary) decisions throughout the assembly of this project, but that works to his advantage as often as it detracts from the larger experience. So: Chinese Democracy is good. Under any halfway normal circumstance, I would give it an A.

But nothing about these circumstances is normal.




For one thing, Chinese Democracy is (pretty much) the last Old Media album we'll ever contemplate in this context—it's the last album that will be marketed as a collection of autonomous-but-connected songs, the last album that will be absorbed as a static manifestation of who the band supposedly is, and the last album that will matter more as a physical object than as an Internet sound file. This is the end of that. But the more meaningful reason Chinese Democracy is abnormal is because of a) the motives of its maker, and b) how those motives embargoed what the definitive product eventually became. The explanation as to why Chinese Democracy took so long to complete is not simply because Axl Rose is an insecure perfectionist; it's because Axl Rose self-identifies as a serious, unnatural artist. He can't stop himself from anticipating every possible reaction and interpretation of his work. I suspect he cares less about the degree to which people like his music, and more about how it is taken, regardless of the listener's ultimate judgment. This is why he was so paralyzed by the construction of Chinese Democracy—he can't write or record anything without obsessing over how it will be received, both by a) the people who think he's an unadulterated genius, and b) the people who think he's little more than a richer, red-haired Stephen Pearcy. All of those disparate opinions have identical value to him. So I will take Chinese Democracy as seriously as Axl Rose would hope, and that makes it significantly less simple. At this juncture in history, rocking is not enough.

The weirdest (yet more predictable) aspect of Chinese Democracy is the way 60 percent of the lyrics seem to actively comment on the process of making the album itself. The rest of the vocal material tends to suggest some kind of abstract regret over an undefined romantic relationship punctuated by betrayal, but that might just be the way all hard-rock songs seem when the singer plays a lot of piano and only uses pronouns. The craziest track, "Sorry," resembles spooky Pink Floyd and is probably directed toward former GNR drummer Steven Adler, although I suppose it might be about Slash or Stephanie Seymour or David Geffen. It could even be about Jon Pareles, for all I fucking know—Axl's enemy list is pretty Nixonian at this point. The most uplifting songs are "Street Of Dreams" (a leaked song previously titled "The Blues") and the exceptionally satisfying "Catcher In The Rye" (a softer, more sophisticated re-working of "Yesterdays" that occupies a conceptual self-awareness in the vein of Elton John or mid-period Queen). The fragile ballad "This I Love" is sad, melodramatic, and pleasurably traditional. There are many moments where it's impossible to tell who Axl is talking to, so it feels like he's talking to himself (and inevitably about himself). There's not much cogent storytelling, but it's linear and compelling. The best description of the overall literary quality of the lyrics would probably be "effectively narcissistic."

As for the music—well, that's actually much better than anticipated. It doesn't sound dated or faux-industrial, and the guitar shredding that made the final version (which I'm assuming is still predominantly Buckethead) is alien and perverse. A song like "Shackler's Revenge" is initially average, until you get to the solo—then it becomes the sonic equivalent of a Russian robot wrestling a reticulating python. Whenever people lament the dissolution of the original Guns N' Roses, the person they always focus on is Slash, and that makes sense. (His unrushed blues metal was the group's musical vortex.) But it's actually better that Slash is not on this album. What's cool about Chinese Democracy is that it truly does sound like a new enterprise, and I can't imagine that being the case if Slash were dictating the sonic feel of every riff. The GNR members Rose misses more are Izzy Stradlin (who effortlessly wrote or co-wrote many of the band's most memorable tunes) and Duff McKagan, the underappreciated bassist who made Appetite For Destruction so devastating. Because McKagan worked in numerous Seattle-based bands before joining Guns N' Roses, he became the de facto arranger for many of those pre-Appetite tracks, and his philosophy was always to take the path of least resistance. He pushed the songs in whatever direction felt most organic. But Rose is the complete opposite. He takes the path of most resistance. Sometimes it seems like Axl believes every single Guns N' Roses song needs to employ every single thing that Guns N' Roses has the capacity to do—there needs to be a soft part, a hard part, a falsetto stretch, some piano plinking, some R&B bullshit, a little Judas Priest, subhuman sound effects, a few Robert Plant yowls, dolphin squeaks, wind, overt sentimentality, and a caustic modernization of the blues. When he's able to temporarily balance those qualities (which happens on the title track and on "I.R.S.," the album's two strongest rock cuts), it's sprawling and entertaining and profoundly impressive. The soaring vocals crush everything. But sometimes Chinese Democracy suffers from the same inescapable problem that paralyzed proto-epics like "Estranged" and "November Rain": It's as if Axl is desperately trying to get some unmakeable dream song from inside his skull onto the CD, and the result is an overstuffed maelstrom that makes all the punk dolts scoff. His ambition is noble, yet wildly unrealistic. It's like if Jeff Lynne tried to make Out Of The Blue sound more like Fun House, except with jazz drumming and a girl singer from Motown.

Throughout Chinese Democracy, the most compelling question is never, "What was Axl doing here?" but "What did Axl think he was doing here?" The tune "If The World" sounds like it should be the theme to a Roger Moore-era James Bond movie, all the way down to the title. On "Scraped," there's a vocal bridge that sounds strikingly similar to a vocal bridge from the 1990 Extreme song "Get The Funk Out." On the aforementioned "Sorry," Rose suddenly sings an otherwise innocuous line ("But I don't want to do it") in some bizarre, quasi-Transylvanian accent, and I cannot begin to speculate as to why. I mean, one has to assume Axl thought about all of these individual choices a minimum of a thousand times over the past 15 years. Somewhere in Los Angles, there's gotta be 400 hours of DAT tape with nothing on it except multiple versions of the "Sorry" vocal. So why is this the one we finally hear? What finally made him decide, "You know, I've weighed all my options and all their potential consequences, and I'm going with the Mexican vampire accent. This is the vision I will embrace. But only on that one line! The rest of it will just be sung like a non-dead human." Often, I don't even care if his choices work or if they fail. I just want to know what Rose hoped they would do.

On "Madagascar," he samples MLK (possible restitution for "One In A Million"?) and (for the second time in his career) the movie Cool Hand Luke. Considering that the only people who will care about Rose's preoccupation with Cool Hand Luke are those already obsessed with his iconography, the doomed messianic message of that film must deeply (and predictably) resonate with his very being. But how does that contribute to "Madagascar," a meteorological metaphor about all those unnamed people who wanted to stop him from making Chinese Democracy in the insane manner he saw fit? Sometimes listening to this album feels like watching the final five minutes of the Sopranos finale. There's no acceptable answer to these types of hypotheticals.

Still, I find myself impressed by how close Chinese Democracy comes to fulfilling the absurdly impossible expectation it self-generated, and I not-so-secretly wish this had actually been a triple album. I've maintained a decent living by making easy jokes about Axl Rose for the past 10 years, but what's the final truth? The final truth is this: He makes the best songs. They sound the way I want songs to sound. A few of them seem idiotic at the beginning, but I love the way they end. Axl Rose put so much time and effort into proving that he was super-talented that the rest of humanity forgot he always had been. And that will hurt him. This record may tank commercially. Some people will slaughter Chinese Democracy, and for all the reasons you expect. But he did a good thing here.

Grade: A-

http://www.avclub.com/content/feature/chuck_klosterman_reviews

[camoor]

The record may tank commercially? No way.

As much as I hate the record companies, even I want to buy this album.

[thehuskerfan]

:bouncy:Definitely think that the best tracks are Street of Dreams and Catcher in the Rye.

[happy]

Sadly I'll need to buy this, I just hope it's better than that Velvet revolver album. The few songs I listened to so far were good except for Axl's voice which sounded awful, but at least they know that we really do want more of the GNR sound of 15-20 years ago even if they'll never be quite as good.

I will admit that I secretly hope the album flops and Axl needs to apologize to Slash (and Duff) so I can see a live show with all of them (followed by a super bowl halftime show when they turn 70)

[Chase]

Hmm...

It would be the perfect rock’n’roll ending to what has been a very rock’n’roll ride the last 13 years for Axl Rose and crew.

Just think about it – after all this time, all that money, and all those line-up changes. The 2002 aborted tour, the rise and crumbling of former bandmates Slash and Duff’s Velvet Revolver, all those phony release dates, and Dr. Pepper’s promise to give a free drink to everyone in America except Slash and temporary guitarist Buckethead if the band finally put out the long awaited and mythical Chinese Democracy album this year. And then last month, in a marketing flurry of TV ads, listening parties, Itunes pre-orders, MySpace streamings and a 100 other smooth moves, it was announced that Chinese Democracy was truly coming – exclusively through Best Buy and Itunes on November 23rd.

It looks like after all the scorn, there was a method to Axl’s obsessive madness.

And that might not be the end of it.

According to one well placed music industry Deep Throat, there is a very good chance you’ll see GNR onstage at the American Music Awards this Sunday on ABC

“Axl wants to be the conquering hero,” says the source who has worked closely with some of the biggest acts in the world including Guns’N’Roses. “The timing of the show on the night he brings out his masterpiece is too good for him to pass up. He knows it’s a good way to get in front of old and new fans in one swoop.”

This isn’t the first time the new Guns’N’Roses have tried this kind of surprise. A bloated and out of breath Axl and his boys came out at the end of the 2002 MTV Awards to perform a melody of the band’s hits.

Maybe the appearance at the AMAs is to erase that memory.

They certainly have the management for such a coup.

Since March of this year, Axl and GNR’s manager has been Irving Azoff, one of the most feared and grudgingly admirer movers and shakers in an embattled industry. It was Azoff who bucked the downward spiral of record sales and pulled off the hugely successful comeback of The Eagles last year. Like GNR, the Eagles, who are the best selling band in the world, did an exclusive deal with one retailer to sell their comeback album, in the SoCal band’s case it was with Wal-Mart. And what else did the Eagles do? A sorta surprise performance of their comeback single “How Long” at the 2007 Country Music Awards. Needless to say the crowd of superstars like Vince Gill, who introduced the band, went crazy.

In a heavyweight line up of Christina Aguilera, the reunited New Kids on the Block (both of whom are managed by Irving Azoff), Beyonce, Coldplay, the Jonas Brothers, Alicia Keys and Kanye West, among others, Guns’N’Roses would still emerge as the champion.

The band is likely to be introduced by Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry.

“Wait and see,” says the source, “the release of the record is just the beginning for Axl. He plans to be bigger than ever.”

Wait and see.

How many times have we heard that Axl?


[Examiner (http://www.examiner.com/x-526-Pop-Culture-Examiner%7Ey2008m11d20-Is-GunsNRoses-Going-to-make-a-Surprise-Appearance-at-the-American-Music-Awards-this-Sunday)]


I guess I'm tuning into the AMAs. :oops:

[SoulReaver]

Records ok, nothing special

[Javery]

Great review.

[prmononoke]

I'm listening to this on MySpace, for the first time, and I just finished "Catcher in the Rye." So far, I'm really liking it.

Definitely better than I ever expected it to be.

[Nifty_Shark]

It's a good album. It has its moments and some awful songs in the mix but I'm not disappointed by this effort. I'll buy it when I get around to it. That means buying games cheap at Best Buy since that's the only place you can get it.

[mykevermin]

"overstuffed maelstrom" is an excellent way to describe the album. Not in a bad way, but in an observational way. A good album, but just that: good.

[KaneRobot]

It's about what I expected so far. "What are these ridiculous over-processed guitars and vocals? What's with the drum loops!?" "These solos are shit compared to old GNR!" "Needs more piano!", but it's still (mostly) listenable.

Dr. Pepper site is getting creamed. Sigh.

[DesertFox]

I like it.
No stand-out tracks, but as a whole album, solid.

[Chase]

God damn, I flipped my TV from my HDMI input and saw Chris Martin frolicking in fluttering leaves. Gross.

While GNR would have owned the show, I'm glad they didn't share the stage with bands like Coldplay and the Jonas Brothers.

[FloodsAreUponUS]

This new album is not very good.

[Chase]

This new album is not very good.


That's true; it's great. :booty:

[Javery]

Well, I finally found the time to listen to the new album. I was 99.9% sure I was going to hate it and it would be shit but boy I was wrong. It kicks ass. I'm also pissed because Axl could have been releasing CDs for the past 15 years. I hope he's not done.

[HeadRusch]

GNR: Appetite - Good old fashioned rock and roll bar-band stuff in an age of big-hair and choreographed dance moves.

GNR: Everything else - rock cliche'..what happens when drunks and dope addicts get out of the bars and start playing stadiums and think their music is better than it actually is. GNR, a marketing wet dream.

[Trakan]

I didn't really like it the first time I listened to it, but I gave it another chance and now I really like it.

I know it's impossible, but don't compare it to old GNR. I appreciate it for what it is.

[johnnypark]

This album is mostly tolerable but I refuse to actually call it Guns N Roses. Axl is not Guns N Roses, and never will be. Seriously, it's worse than Jerry Only's use of the Misfits name. I think we should vote on what his new band should be called:

The Axl Rose Five
Axl and the Roses
The Axl Rose Experience
Rifles N Tulips
Reinvented Axl Rose (props for knowing the reference)
14 Years (both a GNR reference and how long it took for this damned album to be made)

Going with that trend...

The Estranged
Dust & Bones
The Nice Boys
Bad Obsession
_____________________

All would be infinitely better than using the GNR name when there's only 1 member of the band involved who never even played a guitar on the records they're known for.

Edit: I just saw that apparently Dizzy Reed is on board, too. Interesting.

Doesn't change my opinion on the name, though.

[hufferstl]

This is the best "rock" album I have heard in a long time.

Thank you Axl for waiting until you had a decent album to put out(and not 2 new songs on a crappy Greatest Hits album).

[Chase]

I hope people do not judge the entire album by what they hear in the tracks Shackler's Revenge and Chinese Democracy. Those two songs are probably the worst in Chinese Democracy.

Just to name a few, Street of Dreams, Riad N' The Bedouins, and I.R.S. are great tracks. My favorite, Madagascar, is amazing.

[Javery]

Shackler's Revenge is growing on me - the solo is sick and the chorus is kind of catchy.

[deszaras]

I am shocked at how good this album is. There are one or two songs I don't particularly care for, but overall I love it. Better, Riad N' The Bedouins and I.R.S are probably my favorites. Looking at the album as a whole, I like it more than both Use Your Illusions.

[Mid Boss]

Shackler's Revenge is growing on me - the solo is sick and the chorus is kind of catchy.

I had the same thing happen to me. At first I hated it and thought it was the worst song on the album, but after a couple of listens it started to sound pretty good.

Scraped on the other hand sounds worse every time I listen to it. Axl's voice absolutely ruins anything good about that song.

[Sulik2]

I really like it. I have been waiting 6 years since I first heard the blues (street of dreams) in concert for a finalized version and dang that song does not disappoint.

Strange album, the more I listen to it the more I like it. Scraped is the only song I really don't like. There Was a Time and Catcher n the Rye are my two favorites right now after street of dreams.

And the chorus in Shackler's is really hard to get out of your head.

[Trakan]

I must be in the minority, the only song on the album I dislike is Catcher in the Rye.

[deszaras]

Cather in the Rye is decent, nothing great. Sorry bores the ever living hell out of me though. The rest is great, even some that had to grow on me like Shackler's Revenge.