While heavy metal fans hoping for a top to bottom headbanging barrage like the title song of 'Chinese Democracy' may have been disappointed, the long awaited and forever delayed Guns 'n' Roses release may very well be the best album of the year.
Once a rock band reaches a certain level of success, they just cant win. If they try to keep growing as artists by exploring different sounds, influences or whatever they'll hear people whining about wanting things the way they used to be. A lot of purists hated it when KISS took off their makeup, but they deserved respect for doing something different and trying to forge a new artistic path. On the other hand, if a band *doesn't* do anything new and keeps playing their old stuff in the same way ad nausium they're branded as a nostalgia act. Think KISS now"Gene Simmons eventually made the calculated, slightly cynical decision that commerce trumped art. Hes now content with giving fans the best representation of the KISS that their nostalgic desires long for"to the extent of dressing a new guitarist and drummer up like Ace Frehley and Peter Criss. Hes not breaking new ground as an artist, but he is backing a Brinks truck up to the Simmons household every night.
Axl Rose could have taken the same route with Guns n Roses. Patch things up with former lead guitarist Slash and they could have toured forever playing the old songs for nostalgic fans and made a ridiculous amount of money. To some extent, Slash has chosen this route with his band Velvet Revolver. They play similar blues based hard rock to vintage GnR, and brought in former Stone Temple Pilots vocalist Scott Weiland on vocals (who sounded almost just like Axl on a number of the early STP songs)
Axl refused to play the nostalgia game. Hes a very talented guy, but he doesn't have much of a knack for self promotion or media spin. While he worked on putting together a new version of the band and recording Chinese Democracy he let a variety of interests"not the least of which were his old bandmates"control the media spin. For that reason, there are plenty of people including media and critics that have predisposed to hating this album before it was released or even having heard any of it.
In a lot of ways, 'Chinese Democracy' builds upon the variety and complexity of the two 'Use Your Illusion' albums. Like 'Illusion', the album grows and evolves with repeated listening.
On Chinese Democracy thats definitely the case"the best example being the song Better. Axl claims that he doesnt try to write hit singles and thats probably the case, but in addition to being an impressive tour de force for Robin Finck on guitar it may be the catchiest pop song since The Killers first album.
One of the real triumphs of Chinese Democracy is the difficulty that a listener has in pigeonholing the songs. There's definitely a lot of the piano based material first heard on the 'Use Your Illusion' releases but overall its evident that the band is breaking entirely new musical ground and even they don't really know where they'll end up. It's very unpredictable and can be hard for a long time fan to wrap their head around, but once that happens its a very exciting sound.
Perhaps the worst thing about 'Chinese Democracy' is that a number of the songs have clearly been overproduced--not really surprising for an album that took so long to make. The best example of this may be 'Madagascar'--the band has been playing this song live for almost a decade, but the finish product doesn't have the same 'edge' or emotion that has been on display during live performances.
Still, that's a very minor caveat about what is overall an amazing piece of work. Hopefully those who have bought in to all of the negative media hype can put their prejudices aside and give 'Chinese Democracy' about it. They'll hear the powerful sound of a great band charting new musical frontiers which is what rock music is supposed to be about.
Once a rock band reaches a certain level of success, they just cant win. If they try to keep growing as artists by exploring different sounds, influences or whatever they'll hear people whining about wanting things the way they used to be. A lot of purists hated it when KISS took off their makeup, but they deserved respect for doing something different and trying to forge a new artistic path. On the other hand, if a band *doesn't* do anything new and keeps playing their old stuff in the same way ad nausium they're branded as a nostalgia act. Think KISS now"Gene Simmons eventually made the calculated, slightly cynical decision that commerce trumped art. Hes now content with giving fans the best representation of the KISS that their nostalgic desires long for"to the extent of dressing a new guitarist and drummer up like Ace Frehley and Peter Criss. Hes not breaking new ground as an artist, but he is backing a Brinks truck up to the Simmons household every night.
Axl Rose could have taken the same route with Guns n Roses. Patch things up with former lead guitarist Slash and they could have toured forever playing the old songs for nostalgic fans and made a ridiculous amount of money. To some extent, Slash has chosen this route with his band Velvet Revolver. They play similar blues based hard rock to vintage GnR, and brought in former Stone Temple Pilots vocalist Scott Weiland on vocals (who sounded almost just like Axl on a number of the early STP songs)
Axl refused to play the nostalgia game. Hes a very talented guy, but he doesn't have much of a knack for self promotion or media spin. While he worked on putting together a new version of the band and recording Chinese Democracy he let a variety of interests"not the least of which were his old bandmates"control the media spin. For that reason, there are plenty of people including media and critics that have predisposed to hating this album before it was released or even having heard any of it.
In a lot of ways, 'Chinese Democracy' builds upon the variety and complexity of the two 'Use Your Illusion' albums. Like 'Illusion', the album grows and evolves with repeated listening.
On Chinese Democracy thats definitely the case"the best example being the song Better. Axl claims that he doesnt try to write hit singles and thats probably the case, but in addition to being an impressive tour de force for Robin Finck on guitar it may be the catchiest pop song since The Killers first album.
One of the real triumphs of Chinese Democracy is the difficulty that a listener has in pigeonholing the songs. There's definitely a lot of the piano based material first heard on the 'Use Your Illusion' releases but overall its evident that the band is breaking entirely new musical ground and even they don't really know where they'll end up. It's very unpredictable and can be hard for a long time fan to wrap their head around, but once that happens its a very exciting sound.
Perhaps the worst thing about 'Chinese Democracy' is that a number of the songs have clearly been overproduced--not really surprising for an album that took so long to make. The best example of this may be 'Madagascar'--the band has been playing this song live for almost a decade, but the finish product doesn't have the same 'edge' or emotion that has been on display during live performances.
Still, that's a very minor caveat about what is overall an amazing piece of work. Hopefully those who have bought in to all of the negative media hype can put their prejudices aside and give 'Chinese Democracy' about it. They'll hear the powerful sound of a great band charting new musical frontiers which is what rock music is supposed to be about.
About the Author:
Ross Everett is a experienced freelance writer who covers travel, poker and sports handicapping. He is a staff handicapper for Anatta Sports where he is responsible for providing daily free sports picks. In his spare time he enjoys fine dining, falconry and scuba diving. He lives in Las Vegas with four dogs and a pet coyote.
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