Chinese Democracy is finally here. It's legally available for you and I to listen to without fear of Axl on a sleigh pulled by federal agents crashing through the wall. Liner notes, artwork, the whole shebang. It exists in a finalized form.
People who wouldn't care about a Guns n Roses album in 2008 scoff at it as an exercise in self indulgence, and those of us who have waited forever to actually witness this thing have spent a decade-plus building up unmeetable expectations. But I think once you can admit to yourself that this isn't a Guns n Roses album but a cd with Axl singing some "new" material you can actually listen somewhat objectively. It took me about three listens to get there. It actually feels more like a Faith No More album with 5 guitarists hired to make Jim Martin feel like shit.
I'm glad it's here. It's not Guns n Roses. It could never deliver on its "Second coming," "going to save the record industry," "be the greatest event in Rock n Roll history." And I'm still listening to it.
Of course, according to Axl's good buddy Sebastian Bach there is enough material for 3 or 4 cds. Perhaps we will have Chinese Democracy sequels over the next few months or years and Axl can exorcise this fourteen year demon-monkey from his back. As long as we don't have to wait decades for it, I'll be in line to give it a listen. Who am I kidding? If the next album comes out 2038 I'll still get it, unless, of course, I've died from a burger related heart attack by then. I like burgers.
As for the songs, here are my thoughts on a select few:
-"Shackler's Revenge," aside from the chorus, sounds entirely like a Buckethead song. It could have been on Monsters and Robots and not sounded out of place. But after I have amputated my connection to this "needing" to sound like classic GnR, it isn't a bad song especially in the sub chorus with those upbeat hi-hat hits.
-"Better" and "Street of Dreams" are currently what I feel are the best songs on the cd. The latter particularly because it comes the closest to having the ability to pass for what I once knew as Guns n Roses, albeit the post-dangerous-gritty-barroom Guns n Roses. When the bass comes in, I can see Duff standing there for a second. Even after that amputation I haven't been able to fully not want a real GnR album in my cd player.
-If the song "If the World" had Mike Patton singing it, it could have been on Album of the Year, an album which came out around the same time this album began it's journey in the 90s.
-"Catcher in the Rye," is good for the some of the same reasons as "Street of Dreams." The "nana-nas" actually make me smile but I'm pretty sure it's for the wrong reasons. That is some enthusiastic "nana na"-ing. And maybe I read too deeply into things but when Axl sings, "makes me wish I had a gun," I assume he knows where that leads my brain. A reunion isn't what he means but after this long you know he's thought and rethought his choices of words and decided to use such an iconic word in this scenario. It helps me believe there is more to this whole Chinese Democracy thing then just an album that took forever. I'll leave it to the conspiracy theorists to deconstruct the potential meanings of everything in his words.
-And how about that Kenny Loggins-from-Caddyshack intro to "Scraped?" I haven't decided if I love it for the right reasons yet.
-About 36 seconds into "Sorry" I crack up at how Axl says, "but I don't want to do it." Go listen to it. I love it. Otherwise it's a pretty good song that feels a little Alice in Chains-y.
-I'm honestly surprised that Axl didn't get Pavarotti to duet on "This I Love." It would have worked and not made it anymore pompous than it already sounds. But I've found that song to be a guilty pleasure that I might not yet admit that I like. Don't tell anyone.
Another potential positive of Chinese Democracy is that it features both Buckethead and Brain which puts Axl and Les Claypool a red, corn-rowed hair away from collaborating.
People are going to shit on it for not being GnR, but even GnR themselves could never replicate the sound from Appetite. Steven Adler is often overlooked but he deserves as much credit for that original sound as the rest.
I'll end here, knowing I will have countless new thoughts and feelings on the album as time goes by. Since I have finally been able to hear this album, I can go back to waiting to hear what Slash puts out next. Velvet Revolver, Snake Pit, a solo album, whatever it is, it will sound like Slash. And Slash sounds more like Guns n Roses than Guns n Roses does.
I am very glad that it has finally arrived and am ready to hear what comes next from Axl's name brand band. I'm also ready to hear what comes next from the guys who helped make GnR what it was. I like Chinese food, Chinese action movies and, of course, Chinese Democracy.
