Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy Review [2]

Posted by Michael Adler on 11.25.2008

It's been a long time coming...

Chinese Democracy fun facts:

-It took 14 years to produce.

-During its production, Axl fired everyone in the band, and rejected their contributions.

-Upon being discreetly escorted out of the back of the recording studio, Slash, Duff, and Matt happened upon Scott Weiland sleeping in the studio’s dumpster. This would be the beginning of Velvet Revolver and Contraband would go on to consist of the rejected material from the early Chinese Democracy sessions. Their second album, Liberdad would feature B sides and rejected material from Matt Sorum’s brief tenure with the Spin Doctors in 1993.

-Chinese Democracy cost more than 10 million dollars to make. Due to budgetary constrains, Axl could no longer afford conditioner, thus leading to his now-famous dreadlock hair style.

-Because of the complexity, time frame, and sheer number of musicians involved,
Chinese Democracy is the first album to be recorded exclusively in front of green screen. No single musician every interacted with another musician, nor did any single musician at any time interact with their instruments; they were digitally added in post-production.

-75% of the cost of the album went to resurrecting Martin Luther King Jr. to recreate parts of his “I Have a Dream Speech” for “Madagascar” While he easily could have also been green-screened in, Axl wanted to go for the authenticity of actually having him there.


Track Listing:
1. Chinese Democracy
2. Shackler's Revenge
3. Better
4. Street Of Dreams
5. If The World
6. There Was A Time
7. Catcher N' The Rye
8. Scraped
9. Riad N' The Bedouins
10. Sorry
11. I.R.S.
12. Madagascar
13. This I Love
14. Prostitute

On to the serious business of this review. I think everyone knows the legacy behind this album, so I’ll just open by saying: Holy crap, I actually held in my hands, today, Chinese Democracy. I inserted it into my Mac, imported it into iTunes, and listened to the whole album. Legally. I never thought the day would come.

And against all odds, it’s a spectacular album, worthy of many listenings. I expected overproduced drivel, and thankfully did not get that. The opening two tracks gave me a scare, as “Chinese Democracy” is a bit too slick, and rips off the opening riff of Bevery Hills 90210 for some reason, but it’s still a great opener. “Shackler’s Revenge” on the other hand is terribly generic and should’ve have been scrapped. It’s just a mess.

Regardless, any fears I had that Axl’s trademark screech was being whitewashed were put to rest with “Better”, one of the original tracks leaked a few years back. Axl is front and center, wailing away on a song about love gone wrong. I loved it when I first heard it and I still love it now. It’s perhaps a bit bittersweet though, as I came to realize, Axl’s matured a bit. I thought back to Appetite for Destruction, and remembered the days when he just wanted to bend a girl over a table. Now it seems like he’s the one getting bent over a table on “Better”.

The album just keeps getting better though, “Street of Dreams” won’t knock your socks off, but it’s a great power ballad. “If the World” and “There was a Time” make a great pair. Either could easily be a “James Bond” theme song, and while certainly not Guns N’ Rosesish, they’re still enjoyable. “If the World” in particular has a funky and expansive sound not heard too often in a lot of rock music.

I’m still not entirely sure what “Riad N’ The Bedouins” is. Either an Iraq War analogy, or just Axl’s day dreams of what life in the Middle East is like everyday, but it’s amazing nonetheless, and a standout. “Scraped” starts out sounding like something off of a Beyonce album, but quickly picks up speed, bringing back some of the swagger and don’t-give-a-shit-attitude lost with some of the love songs on the album.

Other standouts include “I.R.S.”, another early leaked song. It’s a mix of straight-forward rock, with some great bluesy interludes, as Axl threatens to bring the world down on those responsible for his broken heart. “Madagascar” is a slow burn that features sampled bits of Martin Luther King Jr. that only add to the intensity. “This I Love” might make it into the top ten songs of all time. It’s another piano driven ballad, quiet, and slow, but incredibly powerful. It shows Axl’s voice has lost nothing, and features an awesome guitar solo from Robin Finck. Buckethead should also get special mention for his awesome work on the album; one of an army of musicians brought in.

What did I hate? “Catcher in the Rye” was unnecessary. I hated the book, and I hate the song. It’s bland. “Sorry” is also unnecessary, and Axl should be sorry for including the song Finally, “Prostitute” is an absurd way to end the album. I can’t give it an honest evaluation, because “This I Love “ left me so drained emotionally. I don’t know why that didn’t get used as the final track. Other than that this is quite the album. Sure it lacks some of the old swagger, but Axl’s older. You may have noticed I’ve mentioned Axl’s name more than the Guns N’ Roses name-it feels more like an Axl solo project than anything G N’ R have done, and with the band more or less gone, I think it would’ve suited him more to have released it under his name. The album also suffers from the same affliction as U2’s Pop. It has awesome songs that sometimes get buried under overproduction and electronica. Regardless, the key is that they are awesome songs, and other than a few stinkers, which despite a decade and a half, still squeaked through, make this a listening experience that justifies the 14 year wait.

The 411: 14 years in the making, and we have quite an album. It's a visceral tour d' force complete with power ballads, some blues, and of course plenty of rock. Recoup some of your losses of waiting for 14 years and buy this album.

Final Score:  9.0   [  Amazing ]