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 |  Subject: Chinese Democracy, anyone?  Thu Nov 27, 2008 11:02 am | |
| Ok, so I just emailed a buddy of mine about Chinese Democracy, and I thought I'd post my thoughts about it here, too. What do you guys think? - Quote :
Hey bro –First, lemme say right upfront that I’m a total GNR nutswinger, so I’m sure my opinion is more than a little biased.But – to start with, this album falls into the same category as stuff like Motley Crue’s 94 s/t disc… if it hadn’t been called Motley Crue, people would have loved it. And if Chinese Democracy had just been called an Axl solo album, people would love it. But since people get so damned wrapped up in names and band politics, everyone overlooks the music.Now, I love Slash. He was a huge influence on my playing, and I’ve loved him since Appetite came out. And especially on Appetite, all the band members were necessary for that sound – Duff brought the punk edge, Steven made the band swing a little (e.g. Rocket Queen), Izzy brought the Stones-ish grit that separated them from the likes of Poison, and Slash… well, what can you say? The guy is attitude incarnate. Nobody plays like Slash. At a time when everyone sounded like bland Eddie Van Halen ripoffs, Slash sounded like Jimmy Page on steroids.So, you know how I feel about the original band.BUT – The Illusions discs took us to another place altogether. Sure, there’s some Appetite-ish stuff on there (Right Next Door To Hell, Perfect Crime, etc.) and some more straight ahead rock’n’roll (Dead Horse, Dust ‘n’ Bones, Bad Apples, etc.)……… but what made those albums great were Axl’s epics: November Rain, Estranged, Coma… and those songs were pure Axl. Yes, the band brought their flavor to it… but if you know anything about GNR, you know that Axl was in full dictator mode by that point (if you haven’t read Mick Wall’s W.A.R. bio of Axl, you should), and was telling the band exactly what to play on those songs…and they had a sound all their own.Chinese Democracy is like having a whole album full of those kind of songs – and it is friggin' incredible.Anyone ragging on this album should start by listening to the song “Sorry” from start to finish. That track could clearly have been on one of the Illusions discs, and has all of the emotion, melody, heaviness, and attitude that is what made Estranged so great. And when you add in songs like “Better,” “If The World,” “I.R.S.,” and the rest, you’ve got one hell of a great album.If anyone is doubting, they should just think of it as an Axl solo album and give it a chance. I’m not condoning Axl’s antics – hell, who wouldn’t prefer to have the whole band back together? But as long as that’s not in the cards, then I’ll take what we can get – and Chinese Democracy has turned out to be so much more than that. It’s a friggin' great album.Just sayin… but then again, I’m a nutswinger, so what do I know? JIan |
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Addy
Cap'n Caveman!!!
 Number of posts : 697
Age : 49
Location : Monson, Mass.
Registration date : 2007-01-15
| | Subject: Re: Chinese Democracy, anyone? Sun Nov 30, 2008 5:44 am | |
| From what ive heard of the album I Love it! I know its not the GNR I know and Love but it's still a good album | |
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