Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy
Geffen Records
Hard Rock
14 songs (71'18")
Release year: 2008
Guns N' Roses, Geffen Records
Reviewed by Adam
Major event
Guns N’ Roses. Chinese Democracy. Neither needs much of an introduction. Before I go too far, let me ask you to bear with me. This is by far the most daunting review I have done in the over 2 years I have been writing reviews for this site. I mean seriously, where to start? What to say? Well, I will spare you the extensive back story that undoubtedly the great majority of you already know. If, by chance, the tale of the near 15 year odyssey that is the recording of Chinese Democracy has eluded you, a quick Google search will net you more than enough of a recap. In a nutshell, the ever enigmatic W. Axl Rose was consistently funneled vast amounts of cash by Geffen Records to complete the follow-up album to the huge success of the Use Your Illusion albums. The missed deadlines and ridiculous amount of lineup changes that followed have become a cautionary tale to bands and labels alike. There was a time in the not too distant past that it appeared this album had about a coin flip‘s chance of ever seeing the light of day. However, after a decade and a half, here we are.

This should be obvious, but it would be nearly impossible for this album to be good enough to justify the wait. This is part and parcel of the running recording circus that Axl oversaw, so he has no one to blame but himself. I knew this, but I had basically no idea what to expect outside of the few snippets I’d heard. Let me start with the positives. Axl’s voice still sounds outstanding. If you are a fan of his vocals, you will have no issues with Chinese Democracy, at least in that department. Second, of the virtual cornucopia of guitarists, there are some standout performances, particularly by Buckethead and Robin Finck. In particular, Buckethead’s axemanship on Shackler’s Revenge is very smooth and engaging. As for the bad, there’s plenty to go around. Guns N’ Roses, by way of the exodus of all the other original members, has become Axl’s brainchild. He tries out so many different styles on Chinese Democracy that the end result is extremely disjointed and quite frankly hard to listen to in one sitting. Take the first few songs, for instance. The opening title track introduces some almost Ministry-esque riffing, before descending into a pretty bland attempt at a modern hard rock sound. The aforementioned Shackler’s Revenge is chocked full of programmed effects and Buckethead’s unique guitar stylings. Better sees a slightly more calm set of riffs and some angrier sounding vocals. Finally, Street Dreams recalls the piano driven sound of past efforts like November Rain with crooning and emotional sounding vocals from Axl. If you aren’t already worn out, the next song, If the World sounds a bit like Axl’s homage to Carlos Santana. You get the idea. There is one guest appearance, by Sebastian Bach on the bluesy number Sorry, though I honestly could not pick him out. I will say though, that it was nice to hear some blues tinged leads, which are few and far between without Slash around. Madagascar is the other instance of this that immediately comes to mind, and it also contains a rehash of the sample from Civil War for us GNR nostalgics out there.

This album is moving in a million directions, and often they work against each other and impede any real progress. It would be a nice if Axl would just pick a few and explore them on his next album, when and if it ever sees the light of day. I can appreciate that Axl's perfectionist nature drove him to constantly tweak Chinese Democracy over a period of 15 years in the hopes that it would be considered one of rock’s all time great masterworks. He simply just tried to cram in too much and killed the flow of this album for me personally. To me, this sounds more like Axl's personal anthology than a Guns N' Roses album. Perhaps that is his intent, but the end result is a mess. That’s not to say that there aren’t some good songs to be found, but they will work far better for me as part of a massive random play list than in order. Come to think of it, that’s really what Chinese Democracy is in the end: a random play list, Axl Rose style.
Killing Songs :
Shackler's Revenge, Sorry
Adam quoted 60 / 100
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