| Axl Rose finally unveils Chinese Democracy, but was it worth the wait? |
Guns N’ Roses
Chinese Democracy (Interscope/Geffen)
www.gunsnroses.com
By Thom Copher, 24 November 2008
We’ve all been hearing the pre-release title track from “the highly anticipated” Guns N’ Roses album, Chinese Democracy,
for several weeks. Given that, I was all prepared to be forgiving to William “W. Axl Rose” Bailey for having dangled this
carrot in front of our noses since the middle of Bill Clinton’s first term.
Initially, I had good reason to feel that way. “Democracy,” the song, has a venom not heard in a Gn’R tune since Tipper
Gore and the PMRC were getting’ their panties in a bunch over “It’s So Easy” and “Mr. Brownstone” back in ’88.
Unfortunately, there’s overall more bark than bite with Democracy, the album.
The major breakdown with the new material is that it incorporates a plethora of wizardry that has run its course, at least
for the liberal inclusion on a present-day "heavy-rock" outing. You’d be hard pressed to make it through the majority of
the 14 songs without encountering some form of looping or sampling and a large chunk of decent guitar work gets the ol’
compressed “dance-mix” treatment. “Shackler’s Revenge” pretty well summarizes these ill-conceived faux pas, coming off
like an overly-tripped out Rob Zombie butting heads with an equally inebriated Static-X or Nine Inch Nails.
When it comes to rekindling the past, the mid-tempo grandiosity that dominated 1991's Use Your Illusion project crosses
the line and becomes overblown. “Street of Dreams” is straight from the blueprint of “Yesterdays,” which, in itself,
reveals a sort of aimless search for a hook. “There Was a Time” and the oft-live-performed “Madagascar” are two of
many Herculean tunes which attempt to remind us of the epic greatness of “November Rain.” Both, however, are
handicapped by too much garble and over-arrangement; the inclusion on "Madagascar" of Martin Luther King's “I Have a
Dream” punctuated by a symphonic wall of strings just sounds cheesy.
"If the World" is the one song which can't be explained on any terms. If this is an attempt at some sort of homage to Soul
Train alumni, then I ain't feelin' the groove. It comes off as more of a parody with Axl sounding like The Andrea True
Connection’s redheaded stepchild.
It isn’t until mid-album with “Scraped” and “Riad N' The Bedouins” (tracks 8 and 9) that the question as to what Gn’R circa
2008 should sound like is answered. Guitarists Robin Finck and Bumblefoot provide a bit of six-string gusto which flirts
with its own Gn'R identity while not being far-removed from the Slash/Izzy Stradlin mold from yesteryear.
“I.R.S.” is another grinder in which Rose and Company kick out the jams, but the tune inexplicably leads into the disc’s
closers, “This is Love” and “Prostitute,” which leave Democracy dangling in catchy-pop la-la-land. Axl should have done
himself a favor and sold these to The Backstreet Boys. Hey, just a little street-cred crossover… just a thought.
O.K., so I was all set to let bygones be bygones and admit that maybe seventeen years between albums is an acceptable
leeway for artistic creativity. What “dub-Ax” has delivered, though, is a lukewarm smokescreen of Guns N’ Roses where
the fault lies not with the ensemble but with the leader.
Let's forget, for a moment, that the Democracy officially clocks in at fourteen years in production. The critical factor is
that all of the elements (Slash, Izzy, Duff McKagan and Steven Adler/Matt Sorum) which made Guns N' Roses the
greatest pure-rock band of the LA-era have all, one by one, been run off. Axl, by legal parameters, has carried the Gn'R
flag amidst a hodgepodge of hired hands. The inconsistency in personnel is reflected with an equally disjointed focus to the
art of songwriting. All said and done, well-enough should have been left alone. Egos and assholes can be dealt with for the
sake of rock and roll and its preservation.
Alas, it couldn't be done. Axl has sat atop his mighty throne in Nero-like fashion while the Gn’R empire crumbled, leaving
only the king, himself, to admire his own statue. With a sadistic disregard to "the band" (a term used loosely, here) and
its fans, the singer allowed a “song leak” here and toured a little there as if to say that nothing was wrong. Perhaps he
believes his own facade, in which case the line from “Sorry” sums it up best: ''You talk too much/You say I do/Difference
is nobody cares about you.''
At this point, I have to ask: Axl, are you addressing the kingdom's shambles or are you merely babbling to your own
reflection in the mirror?
Chinese Democracy (Interscope/Geffen)
www.gunsnroses.com
By Thom Copher, 24 November 2008
We’ve all been hearing the pre-release title track from “the highly anticipated” Guns N’ Roses album, Chinese Democracy,
for several weeks. Given that, I was all prepared to be forgiving to William “W. Axl Rose” Bailey for having dangled this
carrot in front of our noses since the middle of Bill Clinton’s first term.
Initially, I had good reason to feel that way. “Democracy,” the song, has a venom not heard in a Gn’R tune since Tipper
Gore and the PMRC were getting’ their panties in a bunch over “It’s So Easy” and “Mr. Brownstone” back in ’88.
Unfortunately, there’s overall more bark than bite with Democracy, the album.
The major breakdown with the new material is that it incorporates a plethora of wizardry that has run its course, at least
for the liberal inclusion on a present-day "heavy-rock" outing. You’d be hard pressed to make it through the majority of
the 14 songs without encountering some form of looping or sampling and a large chunk of decent guitar work gets the ol’
compressed “dance-mix” treatment. “Shackler’s Revenge” pretty well summarizes these ill-conceived faux pas, coming off
like an overly-tripped out Rob Zombie butting heads with an equally inebriated Static-X or Nine Inch Nails.
When it comes to rekindling the past, the mid-tempo grandiosity that dominated 1991's Use Your Illusion project crosses
the line and becomes overblown. “Street of Dreams” is straight from the blueprint of “Yesterdays,” which, in itself,
reveals a sort of aimless search for a hook. “There Was a Time” and the oft-live-performed “Madagascar” are two of
many Herculean tunes which attempt to remind us of the epic greatness of “November Rain.” Both, however, are
handicapped by too much garble and over-arrangement; the inclusion on "Madagascar" of Martin Luther King's “I Have a
Dream” punctuated by a symphonic wall of strings just sounds cheesy.
"If the World" is the one song which can't be explained on any terms. If this is an attempt at some sort of homage to Soul
Train alumni, then I ain't feelin' the groove. It comes off as more of a parody with Axl sounding like The Andrea True
Connection’s redheaded stepchild.
It isn’t until mid-album with “Scraped” and “Riad N' The Bedouins” (tracks 8 and 9) that the question as to what Gn’R circa
2008 should sound like is answered. Guitarists Robin Finck and Bumblefoot provide a bit of six-string gusto which flirts
with its own Gn'R identity while not being far-removed from the Slash/Izzy Stradlin mold from yesteryear.
“I.R.S.” is another grinder in which Rose and Company kick out the jams, but the tune inexplicably leads into the disc’s
closers, “This is Love” and “Prostitute,” which leave Democracy dangling in catchy-pop la-la-land. Axl should have done
himself a favor and sold these to The Backstreet Boys. Hey, just a little street-cred crossover… just a thought.
O.K., so I was all set to let bygones be bygones and admit that maybe seventeen years between albums is an acceptable
leeway for artistic creativity. What “dub-Ax” has delivered, though, is a lukewarm smokescreen of Guns N’ Roses where
the fault lies not with the ensemble but with the leader.
Let's forget, for a moment, that the Democracy officially clocks in at fourteen years in production. The critical factor is
that all of the elements (Slash, Izzy, Duff McKagan and Steven Adler/Matt Sorum) which made Guns N' Roses the
greatest pure-rock band of the LA-era have all, one by one, been run off. Axl, by legal parameters, has carried the Gn'R
flag amidst a hodgepodge of hired hands. The inconsistency in personnel is reflected with an equally disjointed focus to the
art of songwriting. All said and done, well-enough should have been left alone. Egos and assholes can be dealt with for the
sake of rock and roll and its preservation.
Alas, it couldn't be done. Axl has sat atop his mighty throne in Nero-like fashion while the Gn’R empire crumbled, leaving
only the king, himself, to admire his own statue. With a sadistic disregard to "the band" (a term used loosely, here) and
its fans, the singer allowed a “song leak” here and toured a little there as if to say that nothing was wrong. Perhaps he
believes his own facade, in which case the line from “Sorry” sums it up best: ''You talk too much/You say I do/Difference
is nobody cares about you.''
At this point, I have to ask: Axl, are you addressing the kingdom's shambles or are you merely babbling to your own
reflection in the mirror?