Chinese Democracy

Like many people who long for the days of quality rock and roll, I've waited in nervous anticipation for the release of the Guns N' Roses illusive album, Chinese Democracy. Before I proceed, I'd like to define a few things.

By "quality rock and roll", I mean rock and roll that isn't plagued by laments of my daddy didn't hug me enough all accompanied by droning minor chords. I swear that if I have to sit through another track by that fast bastard from Staind, I'll start to cut myself. And not in that emo tormented youth way.

By "nervous anticipation, I mean that I was scared that Axl was going to completely ruin the legacy that the G N' R name stands for.

And by illusive, I mean that this album has been in the works for 14 years. There have been one or two different "Chinese Democracy world tours" in the past six years supposedly in support for the release of the album. I don't have the figures to back this up, but with the album checking in at an astonishing $14 million to make, I'm going to assume that it takes the prize for the money spent to record and release 71 minutes of music.

In November of 2002, I went to Columbus to see one of the shows on the tour of the new
G N' R. In regards to the show it was great. The music was played wonderfully by Axl's rental squad of musicians. The old songs were note perfect. If you closed your eyes you could've swore that it was a show from the Use Your Illusion tour of 1992. They did however play a few of the "new" songs. I was not impressed.

Fast forward six years later to the present day. Two weeks ago, I heard the title track from the new album, on Rock 105. They were doing "Two for Tuesday" and they played it back to back with Mr. Brownstone. Again I was not impressed. Over the next week or so I thought about the song and why it didn't sit well with me. Early one morning while I was at work, I came across a link for a rock radio station that had the track available to stream on their website. So in my 6:30 am haze I listened again. This time I loved it. I asked myself, "What was different this time?" The answer was, I didn't have Appetite for Destruction in my ears already. This is the key to this entire album. I got a copy of Chinese Democracy, released this past Sunday, and listened to it in its entirety. This is a great album. Before anyone wants to crucify me for comparing Chinese Democracy to Appetite for Destruction, read what I said again. I didn't say it was better. I said that I didn't have the sounds and ideas of Appetite in my head when I realized that Democracy was good. This album can not and should not be compared to Appetite. They are two totally different albums released 20 years apart. Honestly they shouldn't even be listed under the same band's discography. The only circumstance that these two albums should be listed together is that they depict the evolution of a songwriter. The good comparison of this evolution that I speak of is to listen to early Beatles' stuff like She Loves You and I Want to Hold Your Hand and compare it to tracks like I Am The Walrus, Helter Skelter, and the entire Sgt. Pepper album. Yes it's the same group of guys but the sound is so different, if it wasn't for the familiarity of the voices, you would think that it was an entirely different band. Axl is the only member, past and present, of G N' R to grace both albums. Had he not needed the G N' R moniker to sell the album, he may have been better off releasing it under a different name. Something like "Axl's technicolor dream record" sounds good to me.

The songwriting, production, instrumentation, and over all feel of the album is polar opposite of what Axl made his mark with. Appetite was chocked full of in your face, sunset strip, rock and roll. Five guys giving you a unified fuck you. Democracy is still a punch in the face, but it is more thought out and precise. Much like the planned out demise of the playground bully involving a Crayola drawn map and a crew of your best buddies and Appetite was the I've just lost my temper and now I'm gonna kick your ass. Both approaches can get the same results, but they are different in execution. And frankly after 14 years and $14 million, I would expect more than just the five piece rock act with the overdubbed solo.

With personnel listing of almost 20 players, Axl used a very deliberate pick and choose method when putting this album together. I feel that this method paid off. Not a single note, riff, guitar tone, or synth patch sounds out of place on this record. Each track is not simply put together. Each track is orchestrated like an intense symphony from the time of Beethoven and Mahler. From 5 and 6 guitar tracks at time to Axl's voice multi tracked upwards of 4 times, each in a different timbre mind you, nothing steps on what is going on around it. Speaking of Axl's voice, regardless of what kind of studio treatment they did to it, he sounds great. Just as clear and piercing as ever in all parts of his extensive range. I've talked to some and read from other reviews that "If it doesn't sound like Slash, it isn't Guns N' Roses." In response to that I say get over it. Slash isn't in G N' R now he is in another phenomenal group, Velvet Revolver. If you want to hear Slash and the style of rock that is conducive to his playing then go pick up VR's Contraband. That will definitely give you your Neo Appetite fix. Now I am a huge fan of Slash's playing and his tone, but even if he was in G N' R now I don't know if his style would fit the direction that Axl has taken the musical idea of G N'R.

The idea of this album being an album for/from a rock band is a stretch. This album is more of a composition instead of a run of mill rock record. I honestly don't know how much or at all for that matter, I would like to hear this stuff played live. I think that this type of album is a studio album that may not transfer well over to the live market. But I will say that I hope I'm wrong in that regard, because I'll be in line for tix the next time Axl brings the circus to town.

Do yourself a favor and head to Best Buy (hard copies of the album are exclusively available there) or go to iTunes and pick up a copy. For those who like the idea of nostalgia, Best Buy has it on vinyl.

One reviewer said that he felt that this album might raise the bar for rock albums. If he's right, I think things are going to get interesting.