Albums/artists with a similar sound to Chinese Democracy?

[Gibson87]

28 minutes ago, mcmurray said:

Are you familiar with Buckethead's solo work?

A little. 

[appetite4illusions]

On 10/6/2018 at 2:58 AM, jekylhyde said:

Way before Chinese Democracy was released there was a soundtrack to a John Carpenter movie called Ghosts of Mars. It has songs that combine elements of industrial, metal, rock, blues and movie scores. Buckethead and Robin Finck play on some of the songs. It isn't exactly like Chinese Democracy, but some of the songs are a bit similar to Oh My God, Rhiad and the Bedouins, Scrapped and Shackler's Revenge.

Never seen the movie, but the soundtrack is really enjoyable. At least in my opinion. 

I always wondered what the connection was to John Carpenter.

It doesn't seem remotely an accident that both guitar players for the new band were recruited to play on an orchestrated industrial rock soundtrack. I don't know if John himself requested these guys because he was a fan of Guns or somebody in the industry was working on Chinese Democracy and wrangled bucket and finck because they knew it would be appropriate.

In case you're wondering, in the film Ghosts of Mars, Carpenter eventually erased almost all the lead guitar playing from all the tracks. I assume it's because he felt that with everything going onscreen, the relentless action, that all the soloing was distracting.

[Billly B]

I think that Chinese Democracy as individual songs are great. However when putting those songs together it is all over the place. I personally like it as I pick the songs that fit my current mood.  I really don't think that there is an album that can singularly describe it. Each song has many different elements and some are hidden within the mix.  But it takes on artist rather than albums. It is like a combination of Meatloaf, The Beatles, Queen, Buckethead, NIN (Minimally), and others.

[wasted]

I would say Madagascar has some sort of trip hop feel, Massive Attack  kind of sound. Reminds me of Karma Police by Radiohead instrumentally. 

Prostitute has some kind of Unfinished Sympathy by Massive Attack too. I mean it really is just the rock version. There’s also a Bittersweet Symphony by Verve vibe. 

TWAT is that Queen arrangement thing played by Pearl Jam/Radiohead

[doakes]

Top to bottom, the album Chinese Democracy is unlike anything else really. I hear direct influences much more in their older releases. (i.e. Bad Obsession/ Rock 'n' Roll Doctor--Black Sabbath)

TWAT kinda reminds me of "Hotel California" in structure and sentiment.

Catcher is airy and carefree, appropriately Beatles-esque in concept. White album.

Pitman's "Lusk-- Free Mars" earwormy type sonics are sprinkled throughout the album, as previously mentioned. Bucket, Robin & Ron all have exemplary parts throughout.

Queen magnitude and dynamics, but none of it comes across as obvious. The tracks vary enough to keep you guessing.

The album defines it's own unique personification & sounds like the strange combination of incredible musicians & time, that it is.

[wasted]

I could see an acoustic Catcher on Lies, the May demo on Illusions but the album version has this Disney Prog Rock thing that’s hard to define. 

[appetite4illusions]

On 10/10/2018 at 2:34 AM, wasted said:

I would say Madagascar has some sort of trip hop feel, Massive Attack  kind of sound. Reminds me of Karma Police by Radiohead instrumentally. 

Prostitute has some kind of Unfinished Sympathy by Massive Attack too. I mean it really is just the rock version. There’s also a Bittersweet Symphony by Verve vibe. 

TWAT is that Queen arrangement thing played by Pearl Jam/Radiohead

Wasted, you're right on with the Massive Attack.

When I first heard If The World, I felt it was Massive Attack with heavy guitars.

 

[wasted]

2 hours ago, appetite4illusions said:

Wasted, you're right on with the Massive Attack.

When I first heard If The World, I felt it was Massive Attack with heavy guitars.

 

There’s some Massive feel. But it also sounds like a Faith No More tracks like Evidence or Crack Hitler meets a James Bond theme. It also reminds me of All My Love by Zepp too. There’s hip hop/Eminem thing too maybe. 

Safe From Harm by Massive has a similar feel to ITW but has Zepp rock theatrics. 

ITW is kind of Live N Let Die meets Heaven’s Door lyrically/theme. 

 

Edited October 13, 2018 by wasted

[Azifwekare]

14 hours ago, wasted said:

There’s some Massive feel. But it also sounds like a Faith No More tracks like Evidence or Crack Hitler meets a James Bond theme. It also reminds me of All My Love by Zepp too. There’s hip hop/Eminem thing too maybe. 

Safe From Harm by Massive has a similar feel to ITW but has Zepp rock theatrics. 

ITW is kind of Live N Let Die meets Heaven’s Door lyrically/theme. 

 

ITW is definitely the oddest thing we've heard from Guns so far. It's a fusion of hard rock, flamenco, hip hop, funk, reggae, electronica and orchestras, all inspired by 'bad Bond songs', and it sounds like at least 3 different songs all playing at the same time. It's completely mental and should not work.

Which is exactly why I love it 

Edited October 13, 2018 by Azifwekare

[Gibson87]

Just now, Azifwekare said:

ITW is definitely the oddest thing we've heard from Guns so far. It's a fusion of hard rock, flamenco, hip hop, funk, reggae, electronica and orchestras, all inspired by 'bad Bond songs'. It's completely mental and should not work.

Which is exactly why I love it 

That's Guns in a nutshell. It shouldn't work but it does

[uzi your illusion]

I love this subject so much I stared a very similar thread back in 2011 with some excellent responses from other posters. Could be fun to compare those answers to the ones given now 7 years later.

 

 

[wasted]

5 hours ago, Azifwekare said:

ITW is definitely the oddest thing we've heard from Guns so far. It's a fusion of hard rock, flamenco, hip hop, funk, reggae, electronica and orchestras, all inspired by 'bad Bond songs', and it sounds like at least 3 different songs all playing at the same time. It's completely mental and should not work.

Which is exactly why I love it 

To me it was the most immediate song on CD. Clear lyrics and vocals that were memorable from the first listen. 

It was the first single off CD, on Body of Lies. This is where whoever dropped the ball, it shoulda had more of a video movie tie and at least release as a single to buy. Best Buy were playing Chi dem, ITW and TWAT at the release party. Those are the singles. But Better and TIL could also be. Shackler’s, Sorry and Catcher also. 

[Gackt]

I've always seen Enter the Chicken as an album of song ideas that Bucket was ready to bring to the table for Guns, but never came to be.  Quite a few could fit onto Chinese.

 

[killuridols]

I've always thought that Alanis Morissette album 'Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie' sounded similar to CD, in terms of lots of layers and 'farts'.

 

 

And she released it in 1998, so she didnt copy Axl

 

[Tom2112]

On 10/6/2018 at 7:49 AM, Towelie said:

I think some of the nu-metal influences on songs like Shacklers, Riad, Scraped, Better and the title track remind me of early Drowning Pool.

 

 

A song like Shacklers is a hybrid of Hard rock and industrial similar to something like 'The hand that feeds' by NIN. Don't really hear the nu-metal influence, beyond some downtuned guitars in places or the use of loops or hip hop style beats. Although, I could maybe concede If the world at a stretch.

Later day NIN has some similarities to some of the material on Chinese. But the influences on that album are all over the place from Beatles / Queen (Catcher), Zeppelin (madagascar), to Black Sabbath / Floyd (sorry). And then there's some stuff that sounds totally unique to me

[wasted]

3 hours ago, Tom2112 said:

A song like Shacklers is a hybrid of Hard rock and industrial similar to something like 'The hand that feeds' by NIN. Don't really hear the nu-metal influence, beyond some downtuned guitars in places or the use of loops or hip hop style beats. Although, I could maybe concede If the world at a stretch.

Later day NIN has some similarities to some of the material on Chinese. But the influences on that album are all over the place from Beatles / Queen (Catcher), Zeppelin (madagascar), to Black Sabbath / Floyd (sorry). And then there's some stuff that sounds totally unique to me

Shackler’s is like Rob Zombie’s Three Lane Black Top meets Got the Life by Korn meets YCBM/DTJ. 

Better is the more NIN meets SCOM. 

Scraped is more like RATM meets Prodigy meets MJ’s Bad and My Michelle. 

If the World like someone once said is Phil Collins In the Air Tonight meets Tupac. It’s 90s rap meets 80s pop rock. 

Riad is like Immigrant song meets Evil Empire. 

The whole thing is Beavan meets Roy Thomas Baker meets Costanzo

Nine Queens Against the Machine. 

[Bailey15]

I always thought Poe's 2000 album, Haunted, was VERY similar to the musical journey Axl wanted to take . Actually the more I think about it...I'd call it a direct influence for Chinese Democracy.

Josh Freese also played  on this album. A drummer that Axl also used to work out his ideas at the  SAME time as this album was being worked on (1997-2000) so I hear those similarities also.

Both albums were very emotional releases for Poe and Axl, for different reasons,  but there are definitely musical similarities with both fusing ideas and concepts among the number of overworked layers.

Another similarity...Poe has yet to release another album. Remind anyone of another lead singer we all follow?

Enjoy!

 

 

[Azifwekare]

The interesting thing about this thread is that everyone who's replied has given examples of completely different styles of music, but surprisingly they all apply, and that's what I love about this album. It's a melting pot of so many vastly different influences that somehow gel together. 

On a side note, despite the kitchen sink approach where there is so much buried and packed into the mix, there's still so much dynamic range and everything is crystal clear, unlike other albums released around the same time *gives side eye to Rick Rubin*.

[Azifwekare]

On 07/10/2018 at 6:14 PM, Sosso said:

Yes, sir. It's also my favourite album from the late 90's.

Interesting. Having now listened to it, to my ears it has the same vibe as the old fake leaks that floated around Limewire and Youtube back in the day. Wouldn't it be funny if it turns out stuff like 'I Declare' and the like are actually old tapes of Pitman dicking around during CD sessions.

[wasted]

On 14/11/2018 at 9:31 AM, Azifwekare said:

The interesting thing about this thread is that everyone who's replied has given examples of completely different styles of music, but surprisingly they all apply, and that's what I love about this album. It's a melting pot of so many vastly different influences that somehow gel together. 

On a side note, despite the kitchen sink approach where there is so much buried and packed into the mix, there's still so much dynamic range and everything is crystal clear, unlike other albums released around the same time *gives side eye to Rick Rubin*.

It is really a classic rock album played by a 90s Alt rock supergroup. It has the dynamics of a 70s rock album but it’s also a headphone album. It’s like I have to listen to Holy Wood and Amnesiac simultaneously to get the same experience. 

 

[UsedYourIllusion]

Chinese Democracy is the only album I can say that to me, it feels like, the album is beautifully layered and yet overproduced simultaneously. Even most of the leaks from the early 2000's felt over-polished. I'm not sure if it's because of the amount of variation between songs, or what. If the World feels weirdly layered but in a great package; whereas scraped has too many layers fighting each other. Personally I just think If the World just needs a different mix. Prostitute feels nearly perfect, along with Madagascar, Better and This I Love, although I wish the vocals were more stripped down.

 

To me, it's an imperfectly-perfect album. I think Slash was right in saying it was the album Axl always wanted to write. The influences were so dazzling diverse, just like the original band; just from one crazy guys head instead of 5 friends.

[Azifwekare]

7 hours ago, wasted said:

It is really a classic rock album played by a 90s Alt rock supergroup. It has the dynamics of a 70s rock album but it’s also a headphone album. It’s like I have to listen to Holy Wood and Amnesiac simultaneously to get the same experience. 

 

"A headphone album" - I like that, it's a perfect description of CD.

So much of the mix is missed and underappreciated without a closer listen. 

[wasted]

8 minutes ago, Azifwekare said:

"A headphone album" - I like that, it's a perfect description of CD.

So much of the mix is missed and underappreciated without a closer listen. 

I’m not sure what other albums are like this, for me it was Angel Dust and Mr Bungle albums, you might say they were difficult. The structures and sounds aren’t normal. Maybe CD has some Radiohead or electronica sounds too. It’s still not that difficult or weird really. But there’s things to discover on repeat plays, stuff going on. Instrumentation, inter-play, that kind of thing. 

But on another level CD is just a bunch of big rock songs too that work live. CD is dumb and complicated at the same time. So at first it could just sound like a simple record but then it’s like wait a minute what’s that going on there, I only just picked up on the crazy guitar soloy thing happening tnrough out Shackler’s. There’s a lot of Illusions era things like shivers and low talking as well. It’s kind of a mix of self referential things and homages to other songs. Like the oooh in Chi dem is from Fight Song by Manson. It’s really a kaleidoscopic retro 90s album made in the 00s. That retro element is very GNR too. 

[Blackstar]

One of Axl's favourite albums from the 70s, I think

 

[Sydney Fan]

Ive listened to this album countless times, with the players that axl had like brian may for fucks sake, CD could have been todays equivalent to brian wilsons/beach boys wall of sound album. With axl tinkering on it he fucked it up to the point the original intent of how the flow and each song sounded was gone. CD will go down in history as a mish mash or a springboard of what could have been.

Edited November 16, 2018 by Sydney Fan