my, my, my, i’ve been a bit slow to get this one done. apologies. i’ve been quite busy lately. too busy for the internets? no way.
well, was it worth the wait? … that seems to be a popular question to ask lately, but is it a relevant one? i mean, did we really think that this album would be worth the wait, that somehow the longer an artist takes to record an album, the better it turns out? of course not. well, i hope not. i think that fans of the band had hoped for the album to turn out really well, and that sentiment was definitely shared by those higher-ups who care about the album’s sales, but if this album’s gestation period has any bearing on my overall listening experience, i wouldn’t really know.
i’ve never listened to the entire g n’r discography before and i thought that today, the release date of the long-awaited (by some) chinese democracy, would be a fitting time to evaluate their catalogue and take a look back before we see what the future holds. my live-critiquing of their main albums will culminate in my review of the new album. check back often, this is “live!!!”
Appetite for Destruction (1987)
3:36pm – ‘welcome to the jungle’ – well this sounds familiar. it’s a bit strange to hear this song and the other singles in a context outside of the radio or music-television. i’m always reminded of big-hair-axl when i hear this song.
3:45 – ‘aeroplane’ rhymes with ’spacebrain.’ of course!
3:48 – ‘out ta get me’ = early signs of axl paranoia and agoraphobia?
3:52 – ‘mr. brownstone’ well so far this album has been much better than i thought it’d be.
3:54 – ‘paradise city’ – synths! i hadn’t noticed those before for some reason. so far i like how the “grit” and “sleaze” balances out the generous levels of the usual “sex, drugs, etc” of 80s rock. i also like how i’m already halfway through the album and haven’t even started looking at my watch yet. as far as pacing is concerned, this album is relentless. ‘paradise city’ is the longest cut on the album at 6:46, but because it’s sequenced properly and placed as the second track on the album, it really doesn’t diminish any of the propulsion that the rest of the album has in store.
4:08 – oooooh ’sweet child of mine’ – my inner university student goes crazy!
4:14 – i’m a bit surprised by the punk-infused ‘you’re crazy.’ didn’t see that one coming. this song is really stones-y… if the stones were fronted by a helium-filled-iggy pop.
4:18 – ‘anything goes’ ah, here’s some of that swagger i’ve been hearing so much about. in a way, i think i might be setting myself up for disapointment by listening to the g’n'r catalogue before i listen to chinese democracy… maybe i should’ve been listening to it starting with the most recent…
4:23 – ‘rocket queen’ – ah… the infamous sex noises. well that’s certainly one way to end an album… this song is a bit much for me, especially acting as the final statement of the album. it seems to be a bit of a retraction, given the gutless misogyny, aggression and viceral critiquing of soulless, urban life that i just heard a few minutes before.
between this album and metallica’s black album, you’ve got two strong arguments against 80s pop-metal, as well as two albums that anticipate the grunge explosion.
according to idolator and numerous other credible internet sources, this site is claiming to have (had) their paws on nine songs from the upcoming guns n roses album chinese democracy. i would normally label this a hoax, but apparently people were actually able to hear the leak before it was taken down. most of the songs that were leaked have been heard before though, either during recent performances, or through previous lower quality leaks. this album has been a joke for so long– something that was never actually expected to come to fruition. but this past year alone, we’ve seen a lot of activity from the guns n roses camp, most notably axl’s response to the dr.pepper challenge. is chinese democracy’s release in our near future? will america get their free dr. peppers? or is this leak a stunt to get poor saps like me to generate more buzz about a band who should have either called it quits long ago, or changed their name to “axl rose and the revolving doors?”
even though i’ve never really been a fan of guns n roses outside a few songs from appetite for destruction, i think it’s interesting to see people so wrapped up about an album that’s been in the making for basically 17 years (give or take). here’s hoping it all sounds like “my world” from use your illusion.
[UPDATE] speaking of the fervour surrounding this album, this post alone has garnered my blog 46 hits in the past 18 hours, when i normally just get three or four people wandering by a day. thanks, guns n’ roses! i still don’t like your music, but maybe i’ll tag more of my posts with “guns n’ roses chinese democracy leak” to bolster traffic.
also, while i’m at it, there’s been no news as far as whether or not the leak was legitimate, or if other people were able to rip it before the streaming audio was taken down.
