Best, most accurate review of Chinese Democracy

[RichardNixon]

4/5 stars

http://www.allmusic.com/album/chinese-democracy-mw0000802741

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

To put Chinese Democracy in some perspective: it arrives 17 years after the twin Use Your Illusion, the last set of original music by Guns N' Roses. Consider that 17 years prior to the Illusions, it was 1974, back before the Ramonesand Sex Pistols, back before Aerosmith had Rocks and Toys in the Attic, back before Queen had A Night at the Opera -- back before almost anything that Axl Rose worships even existed. Generations have passed in these 17 years, but not for Axl. He cut himself off from the world following the trouble-ridden Use Your Illusion tour, retreating to the Hollywood Hills, swapping every original GNR member in favor of contract players culled from his mid-'90s musical obsessions -- Tommy Stinson from the Replacements, Robin Finck from Nine Inch Nails, Buckethead from guitar magazines -- as he turned into rock's Charles Foster Kane, a genius in self-imposed exile spending millions to make his own Xanadu, Chinese Democracy.

Like Xanadu, Chinese Democracy is a monument to man's might, but where Kane sought to bring the world underneath his roof, Axl labored to create an ideal version of his inner world, working endlessly on a set of songs about his heartbreak, persecution, and paranoia, topics well mined on the Illusions. Using the pompous ten-minute epics "Estranged" and "November Rain" as his foundation, Axl strips away all remnants of the old, snake-dancingGNR, shedding the black humor and blues, replacing any good times with vindictive spleen in the vein of "You Could Be Mine." All this melodrama and malevolence feels familiar and, surprisingly, so does much of Chinese Democracy, even for those listeners who didn't hear the portions of the record as leaked demos and live tracks. Despite a few surface flourishes -- all the endless, evident hours spent on Pro Tools, a hip-hop loop here, a Spanish six-string there, absurd elastic guitar effects -- this is an album unconcerned with the future of rock & roll. One listen and it's abundantly clear that Axl spent the decade-plus in the studio not reinventing but refining, obsessing over a handful of tracks, and spending an inordinate amount of time chasing the sound in his head -- that's it, no more, no less.

Such maniacal indulgence is ridiculous but strangely understandable: Rose received unlimited time and money to create this album, so why not take full advantage and obsess over every last detail? The odd thing is, he spent all this time and money on an album that is deliberately not a grand masterpiece -- a record that pushes limits or digs deep -- but merely a set of 14 songs. Compared to the chaotic Use Your Illusion, Chinese Democracy feels strangely modest, but that's because it's a single polished album, not a double album so overstuffed that it duplicates songs. Modest is an odd word for an album a decade-plus in the making, but Axl's intent is oddly simple: he sees GNR not as a gutter-rock band but as a pomp-rock vehicle for him to lash out against all those who don't trust him, whether it's failed friends, lapsed fans, ex-lovers, former managers, fired bandmates, or rock critics. Chinese Democracy is the best articulation of this megalomania as could be possible, so the only thing to quibble about is his execution, which occasionally is perplexing, particularly when Rose slides into hammy vocal inflections or encourages complicated guitar that only guitarists appreciate (it's telling that the only memorable phrases from Robin Finck, Buckethead, orBumblefoot or whoever are ones that mimic Slash's full-throated melodic growl). Even with these odd flourishes, it's hard not to marvel, either in respect or bewilderment, at the dense, immaculate wall of god knows how many guitars, synthesizers, vocals, and strings.

The production is so dense that it's hard to warm to, but it fits the music. These aren't songs that grab and hold; they're songs that unfold, so much so that Chinese Democracy may seem a little underwhelming upon its first listen. It's not just the years of pent-up anticipation, it's that Axl spent so much time creating the music -- constructing the structure and then filling out the frame -- that there's no easy way into the album. That, combined with the realization that Axl isn't trying to reinvent GNR, but just finishing what he started on the Illusions, can make Chinese Democracy seem mildly anticlimactic, but Rose spent a decade-plus working on this -- he deserves to not have it dismissed on a cursory listen. Give it time, listening like it was 1998 and not 2008, and the album does give up some terrific music -- music that is overblown but not overdone.

True, those good moments are the songs that have kicked around the Internet for the entirety of the new millennium: the slinky, spiteful "Better," slowly building into its fury; the quite gorgeous if heavy-handed "Street of Dreams"; "There Was a Time," which overcomes its acronym and lack of chorus on its sheer drama; "Catcher in the Rye," the lightest, brightest moment here; the slow, grinding "I.R.S."; and "Madagascar," a ludicrous rueful rumination that finds space for quotations from Martin Luther King amidst its trip-hop pulse. These aren't innovations; they're extensions of "Breakdown" and "Estranged," epics that require some work to decode because Axl forces the listener to meet him on his own terms. This all-consuming artistic narcissism has become Rose's defining trait, not letting him move forward, but only to relentlessly explore the same territory over and over again. And this solipsism turns Chinese Democracyinto something strangely, surprisingly simple: it won't change music, it won't change any lives, it's just 14 more songs about loneliness and persecution. Or as Axl put it in an apology for canceled concerts in 2006, "In the end, it's just an album." And it's a good album, no less and no more.

Edited January 20, 2014 by RichardNixon

[Subtle Signs]

I really liked the Rolling Stone review especially the last lines about how "You may think no album is worth all that but the most rock&roll thing about Chi Dem is Axl doesn't care if you do"

[Estranged Reality]

erlwine is a good reviewer. he always does great write-ups for the queens of the stone age records -- i remember he was one of the only critics to give 'era vulgaris' its dues.

[Broskirose]

Pretty good review. I don't agree with everything he said, but he was fair.

[MEXzilla]

It's just a solid record but people in this forum like to go crazy and say it's a master work in the likes of GnRs past. That's a line this album didn't get near to.

[Estranged Reality]

It's just a solid record but people in this forum like to go crazy and say it's a master work in the likes of GnRs past. That's a line this album didn't get near to.

it's not a masterwork, but in some respects i think people who were along from the ride from '99 - '08 were kind of destined to enjoy it because of how much time was devoted to it.

i think if i'd been a casual fan and never heard a bootleg or a leak i would have listened to ChiDem once and felt indifferent. but because i listened over and over to live tracks like 'the blues' and 'madagascar' and heard the leaks, i grew a lot of appreciation for them even years before the final record ever came out.

i think that's why a lot of fans of the album seem to dislike scraped and sorry etc. the most -- those were the tracks we never heard until it finally came out, so they felt a bit like an afterthought.

i do really like the whole record for the most part and i'd wager it's not too far removed from the illusions in terms of consistency, but if you compiled the best of the illusions onto a single disc it'd be way above chidem.

[WhazUp]

The production is so dense that it's hard to warm to, but it fits the music.

I dunno, production wise I think some of the mixes - especially on CITR are so dense that is causes the song to lose direction a bit. The original demo has something that really helped support the vocals and important parts of the music - air and space. For the album mix they could have given it more air so the song wouldn't sound so jumbled. Because from my own personal listening experience all of the guitars going on at once just don't add to the song, they detract from what I loved about the demo which is the instruments supporting the fantastic lyrics and vocal melodies with a very airy quality to the music.

Chinese Democracy is a solid album and I like it. However I don't consider it to be anywhere near the best GNR has done and I don't think it is the most amazing thing I have heard. The songwriting could have been a little stronger and the mixing could have been a little more supportive of the innate qualities of the songs instead of piling on with the overdubs IMO but for what it is I like it.

Edited January 20, 2014 by WhazUp

[My Name is Trinity]

i prefer this review (axl's voice being really weak on cd)

[wasted]

It's very hard to separate the music from the back story.

You really need someone with no knowledge of it, maybe a cursory knowledge of UYI era.

If you try really hard to just take it as "just an album" then you'd say there's certain stand out tracks and it's of a decent quality across the album. All the old themes are there.

To me it's more the uniqueness of someone making this kind of music at all than it's actually mind blowing, it's almost like it should exist. The way it plays into the late 90s image of Axl is very hard to make sense of.

What Axl has seemed to try to communicate is that "it's just an album" but the industry, label, media, whoever spun it out so long that it took on this other life which was never an intention. So fans are meant to get the record and think "hey this is the next piece of puzzle from 1998" not the most over the top, epic most anticipated album of all time which it was kind of sold as to Best Buy or taken as by many.

[Estranged Reality]

i prefer this review (axl's voice being really weak on cd)

This guy is a complete stereotypical metalhead, imo.

Not a compliment.

[My Name is Trinity]

i prefer this review (axl's voice being really weak on cd)

This guy is a complete stereotypical metalhead, imo.

Not a compliment.

nah. if he was a stereotypical metalhead he wouldn't say that "this i love" is his favorite song.

and he's a gnr fan, he loves afd and uyi.

[DR DOOM]

Yeah hahaha coming from a guy in an Iced Earth shirt and talking about "the militia" it's pretty funny...the fact he probably praises shit like Slipknot makes me question his taste in music.

He makes some points I guess, a fair bit of wild speculation too.

The fact that the album is rather "woe is me" and lacks that attitude people associated with GNR is a fair point.

He exaggerates Axl's bad live performances too, to be fair.

[rocknroll41]

interesting review!

[IRanOutOfIdeas]

I love Tom's work. I talk to him occasionally on Facebook for music suggestions. Not trying to be a walking advertisement or anything but if you're looking for honest music reviews, Allmusic is your best site. Gotten a trove of good music from there.

I'd personally downgrade CD half a star, but hey that's just me. It's a fair review nonetheless.

[bacardimayne]

***

[Intercourse]

I think what he wrote is spot on.

CD represents too much of the good things given to a guy who cannot assign a reasonable sense of proportion to anything linked to his emotions, feelings or needs.

[wasted]

Lyrically CD is very much a close re-tread of UYI, sometimes dropping into AFD area. It's pushed one way or another but it's not like way off.

I haven't read that many bad reviews of CD.

Nothing like this for Live Era anyway.

http://www.nme.com/reviews/guns-n-roses/1648

[bran]

Yeah hahaha coming from a guy in an Iced Earth shirt and talking about "the militia" it's pretty funny...the fact he probably praises shit like Slipknot makes me question his taste in music.

He makes some points I guess, a fair bit of wild speculation too.

The fact that the album is rather "woe is me" and lacks that attitude people associated with GNR is a fair point.

He exaggerates Axl's bad live performances too, to be fair.

whoa!!!!!!! now leave iced earth out of this

[Guest Len B'stard]

Bills Quick Capsule Review: Piece o' shit

[Fin]

Good review. 4-star quality with the current playlist order. 5-star quality with a re-arranged playlist order. He should've noticed that.

[DR DOOM]

Yeah hahaha coming from a guy in an Iced Earth shirt and talking about "the militia" it's pretty funny...the fact he probably praises shit like Slipknot makes me question his taste in music.

He makes some points I guess, a fair bit of wild speculation too.

The fact that the album is rather "woe is me" and lacks that attitude people associated with GNR is a fair point.

He exaggerates Axl's bad live performances too, to be fair.

whoa!!!!!!! now leave iced earth out of this

Sorry man

[Iron MikeyJ]

I feel like you really had to understand and like songs like Estranged, November Rain, Breakdown, and Locomotive to really get CD. Which is why it may have lost the general public. This I love approaches NR, that is why it gets positive feedback in concert, but outside of concert goers, no one has heard that song.

Better, sorry, and This I love, and catcher all had crossover potential imo. But the meat and potatoes of the album are in the "epics". Which epic songs rarely ever become hits. They are usually just to long.

Choosing CD for the first single was a mistake. It is on the same level as right next door to hell imo. Good song, but not really remerable. It tries to be wttj 2, and in that reguard it fails. But if had been just an album track, then it's ok.

First single~ Better

b~ side Catcher

2nd single~ Sorry

b~side TWAT

3rd single~ This I love

B~side IRS or Shackler's

Album would have faired better. People gave after hearing the song CD. Terrible choice for first single. People wanted catchy, that song is just not catchy enough.

[DR DOOM]

One of my best mates (a drummer who years before internet always said he didn't care for GNR post Adler) reckons Better is the best rock song of the 00s.

[Iron MikeyJ]

As much as people around here bitch about sorry and this i love, they are highlights of the album. They are both classic gnr sounding, so they should have been pushed as singles. But like I said, better should have been the lead single. CD and Street of dreams were poor choices as singles. Street of dreams is closer to breakdown than it is to november rain imo. Not musically, but impact wise. Gnr fans love breakdown, but it is not a single either, just a great album track.

I just don't get it, after 17 years CD is the lead single? Awful choice. Better had the classic gnr catchyness to it, while showing Axl's desire to move foreward. They really needed to show the general public that even though band members had changed, the classic gnr sound is still there. They absolutlely failed on that front. Which is stupid, because the classic sound is on the album.

Edited January 20, 2014 by Mike420

[Guest Len B'stard]

Sorry is quite boring and This I Love is lyrically very flimsy. The money is in Street of Dreams (also lyrically dodgy but the passion and the music pulls it through), TWAT, Better, Catcher (again, dodgy lyrics).