Chinese Democracy

When talking about the last Guns N' Roses album, Chinese Democracy, it is hard not to criticise Axl Rose for taking so long to release the damn thing. The record was re-recorded in full multiple times, saw multiple band changes and cost a whopping $13 million to produce. It is technically the most expensive record ever produced and that is not something Axl Rose should be bragging about. However, I have to give credit where it is due. Despite taking a decade to release and the mess surrounding everything to do with its release, Axl and his pals put together an album that is actually very impressive from a technical perspective. The production and final mix is top quality avoiding compression and other nasty techniques found on modern records. Chinese Democracy quite literally sounds better than most albums that have been released since and features over an hours worth of quality music, some of which might not be to the taste of older fans but is quite enjoyable regardless. From the get go, it is clear that Chinese Democracy is not your typical Guns N' Roses album. Gone are the days of Izzy and Slash, with them goes the classic rock sounds that was all over the bands first four records. Instead we are given what was at the time, a considerably more up to date sound. The songs have these hard rock moments but are mixed up with some heavy metal riffs and produced with an industrial flair. The combination is easily the heaviest, most flavoured album of the band's career. The mix of songs styles on the record is impressive, especially considering how consistently good they are. The album title track is a satisfying start to the record and immediately proceeds through the highly enjoyable Shackler's Revenge and then into the criminally underrated song, Better. This song has a very memorable melody and devolves into some pretty heavy riffing. It is a great sounding song and is easily one of the best songs the band has produced since their debut album, Appetite For Destruction. There Was A Time starts off a little slow, it seems like a stereo typical ballad and feels like it is going nowhere. But once the song hits the half way mark, the band just explode into a selection of heavy rhythms, guitar solos and some impressively high pitch vocals from Axl Rose himself. The song that immediately follows is called, Catcher In the Rye and is a much stronger song in general. The track is consistently good, features some excellent pacing including a fiery guitar solo half way through. The band kick it back into high gear with the hard edged metal tunes, Scraped and Riad N' The Bedouins. Despite sounding nothing like the band of old, these two songs are very catchy rockers and provide the album with a much needed boost in energy, most of which dissipated with the song, Sorry. I think Sorry is one of the better songs on the record, it may be slow but the guitar riff together with metallic guitar tone just sounds excellent. The album ends on the well known Madagascar, the ballad This I Love and the song, Prostitute. The former are two good songs that hold their own in terms of the overall album quality, but the latter is just not very good at all. I enjoy listening to this record, but I do feel it is one track too long and would have ended perfectly had This I Love been the final track. Despite being a little too long over all, I will not deny that Chinese Democracy is a very good album. Some people can argue that is in fact an Axl Rose solo record, but even if Slash and co were still in the group, it would have been very unlikely that they could have produced an album of this calibre. In fact, this is a better album than anything the previous members have released since their departure. The best to enjoy Chinese Democracy is to literally forget everything that came before it. With exception of the voice, there are absolutely no similarities at all. But considering how well produced the album is, it deserves a lot of praise and I think people should definitely pick this album up, open their mind and simply enjoy the record for what it is. You'll find the album is very easy to find these days and usually it is going for only a couple of pounds. For that amount of small change, it is an absolute bargain. One that I highly recommend. Published by Steven Lornie of Demonszone

The CD version has masses of customer reviews, but how good is the vinyl? Well the answer is it is a fantastic pressing on double 180g, and sounds amazing. The CD is pretty good but this is better, something that is not always true of vinyl versions. Someone who knows what they are doing has worked on this and it shows. Somewhat surprising as G'N'R vinyl was not that great previously - the Use Your Illusion albums are for example not very good on vinyl. The sleeve is gatefold and the cover is about 100 times better than on the CD. Inside you get the wide Mao picture which is in the centre pages of the CD booklet, printed over with credits, but disappointingly no lyrics. The inner sleeves are plain back plastic lined. The music? Well, you can read plenty of petty nit picking on the CD review pages, but if you like this sort of thing (rock) there is nothing better. It's a great album, but coming out in 2008 instead of say 1978 is not going get it the recognition it deserves.

This is not the best G'N'R album, in fact, some would argue you can't call this a G'N'R album full stop, as it's only Axl Rose from the much-loved original line up that's present! So I find that a bit silly really when people expect 'Appetite For Destruction Mk2.' They're not the same people, they're a different band, times are different and even Axl isn't the sleazy, skint, hedonistic scumbag he was pre-1987...well he's not skint at least. But my point is, the drive they had back then, is not the same as it is now, so you can't expect the same album or sound, and honestly, why would you want the same album twice? You may as well buy 'AFD' on CD and iTunes - it wouldn't make a difference! There are some genuinely brilliant songs here, the title track, 'Shackler's Revenge,' 'Better,' are all riffy and hook-laden in equal measure. These three and 'I.R.S,' are future classics or hidden gems depending on how history and the band treats them, but since the recent reunion tours have been playing some tracks off this album, they just might sneak into the first category. There are other greats as well, and there is no doubt there is something for mostly anyone, whether it be the epicness of 'If The World' and 'There Was a Time,' to the bonkers mish mash of styles that is 'Scraped,' with a few pop-esgue mellow numbers in between. Not all songs are brilliant though, the most common problem is that a lot of them overstay their welcome and one or two are just plain terrible, but overall, the songwriting is pretty solid and you'd have a hard time imagining any other band coming up with these songs let alone Axl's unmistakable howl and rasp! The lyrics book and artwork are also one of the best and most artsy (in a good way) I can remember, featuring all the lyrics and some great shots of that incarnation of the band as well as a cool 'Chinese' motif I guess you can call it! On a side note, big kudos to the dealer, this arrived quickly and before its scheduled date, which is a nice change!

What are all you moaning reviewers looking for? I too paid only pennies for this, just to see what it was like really; and frankly I'm not at all disappointed! I've only listened to it a couple of times and because of the negative feedback was expecting it to be one of those albums you listen to, record and then ditch to the bottom of your collection; never to be heard of again. Fortunately however, I don't think this will be the case. Yes, it is different from old guns and roses..... and so it should be. If a band were to play the same stuff they were making some 20 odd years ago then they may as well give up. All good artists mature as they get older and as a result try different directions; growing in style and in experience. If they don't, more often than not all they can do is live off their old material and consequently slowly fade into obscurity. Actually, I am quite glad I erred towards the negative comments because as my expectations weren't that high I wasn't expecting too much. However, I am quite content with my purchase...thank you all the same. To all of the positive reviewers...I am with you (I should have just ignored the other dingbats)!

this is the cd that everybody around the world was waiting for some ppl do try to ignor the fact that this is the cd that been the talk of everybody not just the mags that feed to publishing stories about AXL over the years iv seen many bootleg dvds and heard all the mp3s on the net still i didnt think that this is the best cd ever i cant stop playing it this is something didnt happen when i bought the latest metallica cd this is as classic rock had stated before the cd of the year for me its the cd of the whole 21st century AXL had spent alot of time making this one cd and i hope he do release the other two in shorter time from what i read they say that AXL has enough songs to make 3 cds so i guess this is number one :)

Ok first 3 tracks and This I love are the really memorable tracks....even with the inexplicably bad tiny pause in Shackles Revenge. I think this one musical flow stopping moment emphasises the problems Axel obviously had producing the rest of this record. The song writing talent is on show occassionly but this is the one roses album you will skip through.....even if you are a commited album listener. I look forward to new material from most the original line up hopefully over the coming year or two. Maybe they could redo some of these tracks for that record because there are some great moments....e.g...Better always brings a smile to my face.... great song.

Excellent.

I came back to this recently after a few years. I liked it first time around and listened to it for weeks, much more than I expected too. And the more I listen this time, the more I like it still. Its a great rock album, some amazing choruses, great guitar work, and some genuinely emotive moments in the slower songs. If you can drop your preconceptions and take it on its merits outside all of the history, band politics and media stories - it is a fantastic modern rock album with some belting tunes!

Chinese Democracy é controverso. Para muitos, a principal questão com Chinese Democracy é a falta de uma característica fundamental do Guns N' Roses: a sinergia entre os músicos. A ausência de Slash e Duff McKagan, que foram substituídos por talentosos, mas diferentes, músicos como Buckethead e Robin Finck, transformou a sonoridade. O resultado é um trabalho mais técnico, experimental e com elementos de rock industrial, o que o torna uma entidade à parte, mais um álbum de Axl Rose do que propriamente do Guns N' Roses. A nota no entanto, se refere ao produto, então dou 5 estrelas por ter vindo em ótimas condições e uma otima qualidade da impressão da capa.

hell this album kicks that ass and of course ya aint gonna like every song but when Chinese demorcrasy kicks i ,,, aw man its killer but gotta be loud while yer riding down the road,,, back roads if ya got em, its a good one

Als der Titelsong im Internet gehört werden konnte, war ich zunächst bitter enttäuscht. Auf das erste Hörerlebnis folgte für mich die Erkenntnis, die Magie vergangener Tage ist dahin. Ich wollte auch nicht weiterforschen, um noch mehr Songs der neuen Scheibe zu hören. Gleichwohl habe ich hier bei Amazon die Kritiken verfolgt und war überrascht ob der ausführlichen positiven Kritiken, so als ob diese Rezensenten ein ganz anderes Album gehört hätten, obwohl ich ja bis dato nur den Titelsong kannte. Wie ich heute weiß, kannte ich diesen Song keineswegs, aber dazu später mehr. Bestärkt durch die positiven Rezensionen habe ich mir die CD dann doch schenken lassen. Inzwischen habe ich die Platte bis jetzt vielleicht 20 mal intensiv gehört. Es ist ein musikalisches und künstlerisches Spitzenprodukt. Ob es mal zu den ganz wichtigen Alben zählt, wird die Zeit bringen, Meisterwerke entwickeln sich oft erst noch. Entwicklung ist hier ein gutes Stichwort. Das Album braucht auf alle Fälle Zeit, bis es sich komplett entfaltet und dem Hörer erschließt. Ich bin sicher noch nicht am Ende angelangt. Man mag nun auch darüber streiten, ob diese extrem lange Phase der Entstehung nun gerechtfertigt ist oder nicht. Mir persönlich war das egal, weil ich es Ende der 90er aufgegeben hatte, diesen, nennen wir ihn ruhig Treppenwitz weiter zu verfolgen. So gesehen war die Veröffentlichung von Chinese Democracy für mich eine Überraschung. Die lange Produktionszeit hat der Musik aber definitiv nicht geschadet. Eine andere Frage ist, muss man jetzt die Musik ablehnen, weil Slash und Co. nicht mehr mitwirken? Aus meiner Sicht Blödsinn. Es gibt eine Menge Beispiele, wo zeitweilig in der ein oder anderen Band nur noch der buchstäbliche letzte Mohikaner mitwirkte: Tony Iommi, David Coverdale oder Mick Box. Trotzdem wurde immer noch tolle Musik gemacht. Gerade Mick Box ist mit der letzten Uriah Heep - Platte ein tolles Comeback gelungen. Von daher mein dringender Appell, lasst es zu, dass sich die neue Guns n'Roses in Euren Gehörgängen entwickelt. Die Platte hat es verdient. Welche Erwartungen wurden an das Album geknüpft? Für die, die Metal erwartet hatten oder ein einfach gestricktes Bass, Gitarre und Gesang (was nicht schlecht sein muss) sei gesagt, das ist es definitiv nicht. Wer so was haben möchte, ist mit dieser Platte sicher nicht gut bedient. Es ist ein bis ins letzte kleine Detail ausgefeiltes, ziemlich opulent produziertes Album geworden. Offensichtlich hat Axl Rose keine Nuance und keine noch so winzige Note dem Zufall überlassen. Oft laufen derartige Alben auch Gefahr, extrem überproduziert zu wirken. Das ist hier aber eindeutig nicht der Fall. Auch der Einsatz von 5 (!) Gitarristen schadet der Musik nicht. Es ist im Gegenteil die Gitarrenarbeit, die mich persönlich sehr begeistert. Ob ein sehr scharf gespieltes Riff am Anfang des Titelsongs, die wohlakzentuiert platzierten Rock'n Roll-Einlagen oder auch die teilweise phantastischen Soli lassen das Album ganz langsam zu einem Kunstwerk reifen. Das Solo in This I love zählt mit zum Besten, was der Markt zu bieten hat und kann sich durchaus mit Gilmour, Clapton oder Knopfler messen. Genauso gut, aber ganz anders gespielt ist das Solo in There was a Time. Nicht einfach dahin geniedelt, sondern melodisch, wirklich zum Song passend perfekt arrangiert. Außerdem wird dieses Solo endlich mal auch ein bisschen ausufernd gespielt und nicht so'n 10 Sekunden Alibisolo, die man in der jüngeren Vergangenheit von der Musikindustrie schon mal gerne vorgesetzt bekommt. Stimmlich hat sich Axl Rose ebenfalls weiterentwickelt. Das Knarzende in der Stimme hat er nach wie vor und setzt es auch ein, wer es vor 17 Jahren mochte, kommt auch jetzt problemlos klar. In manchen Songs entdeckt Axl seinen tiefen Bass, z.B. sehr deulich in dem schrägen Rocker Shackler's Revenge. In vielen Songs schwingt er sich auch in ungeahnte Höhen, was anfänglich doch sehr gewöhnungsbedürftig ist. Ziemlich deutlich wird das in If the World, oder am Anfang und Ende von Better. Diese Songs brauchen zur Entfaltung auch am längsten. Auf Chinese Democracy finden sich gleich mehrere Songs, die das Zeug zu ganz Großem haben. This I Love ist eine Jahrhunderballade. Der Song übertrifft November Rain nicht, ist aber damit auch nicht vergleichbar, was ihn als Ballade wieder völlig eigenständig macht, nicht zu einer heimlichen Kopie verkommen lässt. Damit wäre er dann ebenso gut wie der Referenzsong von UYI 1. Zu den weiteren Spitzensongs zählen Better, Street of Dreams, There was a Time, Sorry, Madagascar und Prostitute. Sorry weist einen völlig anderen Gesang auf, erinnert ganz entfernt an Pink Floyd. Für viele hier fallen die beiden Songs Scraped und Riad n'the Bedouins etwas ab. Das mag sogar tatsächlich stimmen. Beide sind aber in der Dramaturgie der Platte unverzichtbar. Es sind zwei kürzere, manchmal etwas disharmonische Rocker, die den Hörer ein bisschen Atem holen lassen, da ihn viele Songs eine hohe Konzentration abverlangen. Ist schon ein wenig paradox, Atem holen bei den Rockern, es wirkt auf mich aber so. Wie eingangs gesagt, hatte ich beim Titelstück den Eindruck, dass die Magie weg ist. Ich bin mir inzwischen sicher, dass es am Sound aus dem Computer liegt, womit ich zu einer wichtigen Empfehlung kommen möchte. Hört Euch das Album auf einer richtigen HiFi-Anlage an, alles andere beleidigt die Ohren. Der Titelsong ist übrigens ein famoser Opener. Ich selbst bin noch nicht Ende meiner Entdeckungsreise, es gibt bei jedem Durchlauf noch was Neues. Und noch etwas wäre mir wichtig. Jedes Album der Guns n'Roses ist irgendwie genial. Aber keines ist mit dem anderen vergleichbar. Da macht auch die neue Scheibe keine Ausnahme. Ich lege mich auch nicht fest, welches ich für das Beste halte. Ich denke, das hängt von der jeweiligen Stimmung ab. Aber wenn man die Rockmusik als Kunstform betrachtet, ist Chinese Democracy ein Referenzalbum geworden.

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