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It’s hard to believe that since, lone original member Axl Rose has been working on “Chinese Democracy”, which reached mythic status as the album many thought would never materialize. Guns N' Roses has seen the grunge and techno and boy band trends all pass, there have been two president Bush’s in control of the United States and millions of dollars had been spent on an album I never thought would see the light of day! The album that's been referred to as a "white whale" more times than Melville's own Moby Dick has been stabbed through with a spear and brought to ground. Fourteen tracks, no blubber, and to make up for lost time, the set is front-loaded with huge-sounding, heavily produced rockers coated in a modern sheen that contrasts starkly with the stripped-down aesthetic of GNR's glory days. “Chinese Democracy”, it isn't exactly an accessible album, though many hooks and bombastic rock moments surface within its layers. Contrary to early reports, Rose didn't plunge into the nu-metal style industrial rock that he'd embraced a decade ago with the lone track "Oh My God." Instead, making this album has transformed Rose from a hungry contrarian to a full-blown desert prophet, howling mightily in protest against a pop industry that encourages its stars to innovate only within the realm of what sells best. At the same time, he's resisted the nostalgia that would have sent him after a purer time or sound, preferring to invest in a foggy future. "Chinese Democracy" is a test for contemporary ears, an album that turns in upon itself instead of reaching out to instantly nothing on it immediately reveals its essence. Even the songs with hooks, such as the sing-song rant “Better” and the ballad “Street of Dreams”, derail themselves in subtle ways, requiring the listener to reconsider your first judgment. “Appetite for Destruction” or "Use Your Illusion I” and “II” were albums that made a huge impact on the rock world, at the height of Guns N Roses career, the band would play to 80,000 seat arena’s nightly and to date album sales have topped 90 million. After so many years of waiting if you are hoping that “Chinese Democracy” is going to sound anything like “Appetite for Destruction” or anything that followed in their catalogue you are seriously mistaken! It would be somewhat unfair to try and compare it to such groundbreaking albums, let’s face it... Axl is the only remaining original member and his screwed up direction was never going to assure us that this would be like any other album they had made. “Chinese Democracy” is not an album that you will fall in love with immediately, it is one of those albums you will absorb as time goes on, an album you will enjoy the more you listen to it. There are some great songs on “Chinese Democracy” like “Riad n the Bedouins”, “I.R.S.”, and the title track “Chinese Democracy”. The song I found myself listening to more was the slow building “Madagascar” which has become my favorite song of the album. It has bursts of remarkable musicianship especially from the three main guitarists on this album, Buckethead, Ron Thal and Robin Finck. “Chinese Democracy” will no doubt have its critics and its fans. Overall, I really enjoyed the album but I am more interested to see if it becomes a 13 million dollar flop or if all the time and money that has been thrown into this album actually pays off. There is no doubt that the chart success to date has been great for Axl and clan, but will it live on as one of the greatest albums of all-time? I doubt it! Let’s just hope we don’t have to wait another seventeen years for the next Guns N Roses album!
Chinese Democracy
Shackler's Revenge
Better
Street of Dreams
If the World
There Was a Time
Catcher in the Rye
Scraped
Riad n' the Bedouins
Sorry
I.R.S
Madagascar
This I Love
Prostitute
Rating: 75
Reviewed By: Cameron Edney - http://www.myspace.com/insideout666ints