AxlRoseCDII Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 My favorite album of all time. Can’t believe it’s been a decade without guns music. Fantastic, underrated album. 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killuridols Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 59 minutes ago, Azifwekare said: Of course, but like the guys discussed in on the AFD podcast, even people who don't like the album overall still like at least some of it, in comparison to guys who are like "No Slash? Then it must suck". That's why its a matter of personal taste and choice, even if you've not listened to it at all. I know there are certain people I will not like, or certain music type I will not like, not even if I give it one try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZoSoRose Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 Cant believe its been 10 years. I remember lurking on here a ton, going to Best Buy (lol) with 2 friends, and thinking GNR was going to take the world by storm. Instead, it flopped like a wet fart, but that doesn't make me love the album any less. Its "our" stupid record. What album has ever been argued about and discussed ad nausea like CD has? It has practically developed its own cult. Its not a perfect record, IRS, Scrapped, and Riad could have been replaced by better songs imo (not that I necessarily dislike them), but the rest of it is fantastic for me. Its a weird record. It sounds dated and modern at the same time, and as someone said, you can hear all the years of influences, fads, and music styles peel away on it. Its like a music time capsule. Its a damn shame it flopped in the sense that I think that is why Axl never bothered to release a single studio recording in the years since. I think it shattered his confidence. That, combined with losing Robin and Bucket probably killed his artistic enthusiasm. Happy birthday, Chinese Democracy 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
appetite4illusions Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 It was incredibly surreal the day I walked into Best Buy and bought it. The guy rang it up and put it in a bag and I just wanted to say "do you realize how strange it is for me to be buying this from you?" It was something mythical and I was buying it with the nonchalance of milk or eggs. It also made me very melancholy because it was never more apparent then at that point that the album was a non-event. It meant almost nothing to nobody but those of us on the forum. At that point, I could only imagine had the album come out before or on the turn of the century and I'd bought it from an actual music outlet like Sam Goody. There would have been a bundle of people lined up, each with the album and the cashiers and music snobs would have known that this was a significant and exciting moment for rock and roll. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azifwekare Posted November 23, 2018 Author Share Posted November 23, 2018 (edited) 43 minutes ago, killuridols said: That's why its a matter of personal taste and choice, even if you've not listened to it at all. I know there are certain people I will not like, or certain music type I will not like, not even if I give it one try. Obviously personal choice is personal choice, the point is when said tastes influence an assumption on something one hasn't listened to. For example, let's say I prefer Buckethead over Slash. Slash then goes to the studio, replaces all of Bucket's parts on CD2, then it gets released. If I were to say "This album sucks, Buckethead isn't on it, it's a piece of shit and I'll pretend it doesn't exist", despite not ever actually listening to it and giving it a chance, that would be just plain dumb. Alternatively, if someone says "Atlas Shrugged sucks, it didn't have Slash on it" etc etc... no one even knows what it sounds like, so no one is in the position to criticise it. I'm not arguing that people are entitled to personal tatse, the point is about people who let it make them narrow minded enough to criticise things they don't really know all that well. Some criticism I've seen of CD isn't even accurate in what they think they're complaining about. A lot of people who finally give it a chance realise it wasn't as bad as they assumed after all. Edited November 23, 2018 by Azifwekare 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadyMarian Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 Happy birthday to Chinese Democracy, by far the best album I’ve ever bought!! And the only GNR album where I don’t skip any songs. I bought it the day it was released. Couldn’t believe my eyes when I finally had it in my hands. I had it playing in the car CD player before I even left the mall parking lot. After that I actually listened to it every day until December 2010 when I was on a work trip and involuntarily missed a day. Damn work, messes up everything. Madagascar is the true uncrowned masterpiece of the album. For me it’s the other GNR song that literally saved my life. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fumardude Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 My favorite album ever, I think it literally saved my life. Someone put together a 10yr anniversary vid of CD! Lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
31illusions Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 I listened to it off and on for a month, then it went in my CD collection where it still sits today. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killuridols Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 8 minutes ago, Azifwekare said: Obviously personal choice is personal choice, the point is when said tastes influence an assumption on something one hasn't listened to. I find it kinda hard to believe the people who say those things..... It's a gut feeling, that most who say those things have actually listened to it, at least once, and formed an opinion based solely on that. It's almost impossible that fans like us, forum people, die-hards, you know.... have not listened to one single song from it, even if it was just the leaks. Remember there's a lot of politics involved in certain statements made by fans. 17 minutes ago, Azifwekare said: For example, let's say I prefer Buckethead over Slash. Slash then goes to the studio, replaces all of Bucket's parts on CD2, then it gets released. If I were to say "This album sucks, Buckethead isn't on it, it's a piece of shit and I'll pretend it doesn't exist", despite not ever actually listening to it and giving it a chance, that would be just plain dumb. The thing is this was an established band who reached their peak of success with a whole different lineup and a different type of sound, or material. The problem isn't Buckethead or Finck. The problem was that the band everybody knew and fell in love with were no longer the band that played in 'Chinese Democracy', hence, most people cannot think of it as Guns N' Roses or get into a Guns N' Roses mood when you don't see or hear an iconic guitar player like Slash. Axl tried to deny the old band for many years; fans felt like he was trying to wipe out the history, the discography, the past, their contributions, even to the point of saying Slash should have never been in the band in the first place. For millions of fans, GN'R was more than just a group of musicians playing instruments. They were an attitude, represented a moment in time, in the life of teenagers, there's a lot of emotions involved with the history of this band and it's not easy for people to get rid of those feelings and accept a whole new thing, just like that, all of a sudden. 38 minutes ago, Azifwekare said: I'm not arguing that people are entitled to personal tatse, the point is about people who let it make them narrow minded enough to criticise things they don't really know all that well. Some criticism I've seen of CD isn't even accurate in what they think they're complaining about. A lot of people who finally give it a chance realise it wasn't as bad as they assumed after all. Like I said, I think the criticism that steems from fans is deeply connected to emotions. Other people who became fans with CD or were not that emotionally invested with the band and its history, maybe had it easier to give it a try with a clear mind, without pre-conceptions and ridden of 'ideology/politics'. It's not being narrow-minded if you believe the real Guns N' Roses was the one that formed in 1985 and finished in 1993. That is a position that should be respected, even if it sounds overly strict. The album isn't bad, in my opinion, but I can understand where die-hards who 'hate it' are coming from and I can see why most people do not care about it, or not even have an 'accurate' opinion about it. Personally, I think the band and the music are disconnected from each other because of a bunch of reasons, being the time it took to be released at the core of the problems. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MYWIFEMYLIFE Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 I'm an orthodox AFD 5 fan, but this album kicked serious butt. Critics and most fans say they hate it, but they actually dont. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChineseDemocracy2004 Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 I love the album. More on that later. Still gutted we haven't heard Robin play This I Love live. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brad_k Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 My favourite Guns album Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soon Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 I have friends who are huge Guns fans who never listened to CD but said that they hate it. One of them cos played Axl when we went to a NITL show and she wears a "Team Axl" shirt often. After the show she exclaims: "A few of those CD tracks are really good!!" Yeah, they only played a few cd tracks that night. (If she happens to read this, I think the world of you sexy!) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azifwekare Posted November 23, 2018 Author Share Posted November 23, 2018 (edited) 37 minutes ago, killuridols said: The problem isn't Buckethead or Finck. The problem was that the band everybody knew and fell in love with were no longer the band that played in 'Chinese Democracy', hence, most people cannot think of it as Guns N' Roses or get into a Guns N' Roses mood when you don't see or hear an iconic guitar player like Slash. Axl tried to deny the old band for many years; fans felt like he was trying to wipe out the history, the discography, the past, their contributions, even to the point of saying Slash should have never been in the band in the first place. ... Like I said, I think the criticism that steems from fans is deeply connected to emotions. Other people who became fans with CD or were not that emotionally invested with the band and its history, maybe had it easier to give it a try with a clear mind, without pre-conceptions and ridden of 'ideology/politics'. It's not being narrow-minded if you believe the real Guns N' Roses was the one that formed in 1985 and finished in 1993. That is a position that should be respected, even if it sounds overly strict. Like I said earlier, I've been a die-hard fan since I was a child - that's literally a lifetime of investment right there. Sure, growing up seeing Axl running around in his tighty whitey boxer shorts with Slash, Duff et al. doing their thing was so ingrained in how I saw GN'R that I must admit, a braided-haired, baggy-jersey'd Axl playing with some weird goth dude, a guy with a KFC bucket on his head and a bunch of other random guys was the most alien, fever dream-esque thing I had ever seen. But neither that nor Axl's comments regarding the classic band had any influence on how I saw the new band, I just dug it for what it was, but then again that's just me. And if there were people who thought negatively on Axl or the new band/music because he said a few mean things about Slash, they were taking the whole situation perhaps a bit too seriously and placing too much value on gossipy squabbles. I didn't let my enjoyment of nuGuns get in the way of also enjoying Contraband - I could get on the bandwagon and say Libertad sucked, but then again I've never given it a proper listen . I was going to go on a whole spiel about how out the many drastic lineup changes there have been in different bands, I haven't seen one as heated or divisive among fans and critics... but then again the Guns change (from members dropping out one by one in the mid-90s until their reappearance in 2001) probably was as drastic as you could get, so there is that. Edited November 23, 2018 by Azifwekare Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killuridols Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 (edited) 10 minutes ago, Azifwekare said: And if there were people who thought negatively on Axl or the new band/music because he said a few mean things about Slash, they were taking the whole situation perhaps a bit too seriously and placing too much value on gossipy squabbles. Maybe... Each person lives their fandom in their own way. It's hard to judge. Depends so much on too many variables, life stories, age, experiences, etc. I don't think those things were merely gossipy squabbles. If they were, the band would have reunited many years ago. I think there was truly a power struggle and egos that destroyed the original band. It took a long time to arrive to this amicable point ATM and I still don't see how they will move on from this nostalgia stage, but I have hopes because I've got nothing to lose. Edited November 23, 2018 by killuridols Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratam Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 4 hours ago, Padme said: I don't know about anyone else. I got an email from GN'R with new merch celebrating the 30 years anniversary of the Lies album and Black Friday. Nothing about CD yet The UCR FB page has celebration about "Live era" and "Chinese democracy" too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratam Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 5 hours ago, DieselDaisy said: The only way to celebrate this anniversary people, And then ehh sit in it! you opinion don't is very clear... you mean it❓💩 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikosgnr Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donny Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 it should have been called "that's all folks" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Endless2404 Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 Happy birthday to this masterpiece of an album. Chinese Democracy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silent Jay Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 Thanks for reminding us Guns N' Roses haven't released one new song in ten years. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RussTCB Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 3 hours ago, ChineseDemocracy2004 said: I love the album. More on that later. Still gutted we haven't heard Robin play This I Love live. I actually mentioned that on the recent podcast. I feel the same way! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liquor & Whores Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 2008 was a great year for a GNR fan ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UsedYourIllusion Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 The thing that attached me to the album was actually Eddie Trunk. I remember the 2010 interview with Axl, but more importantly around 2009, I remember him discussing the album; saying "it takes a few listens". Never truer words have been said about it. Madagascar was the first track I heard, and I barely even recognized Axl; but after about 3 full listen throughs on road trips, I was hooked. It's the most consistent album since Appetite for Guns. The UYI albums have such great points, but they're scattered amongst broken production and bad recording. I mean honestly, Perfect Crime, Double Talkin' Jive, Dust N' Bones, they just weren't properly captured in the studio. You could say that about a few tracks maybe, TWAT was better with the '06 version, but largely the songs are still intact. Great album, albeit, difficult to introduce to other people-at least past the bigger songs like Better, CD, Street of Dreams Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhazUp Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 (edited) I don't know about anyone else but it really doesn't feel like a whole decade has passed! I remember being in high school and so stoked that the album was actually coming out that I bought 2 copies on CD - one to keep sealed and the other to play. Fond memories of that period, I remember when the album leaked a week before the release date but was heavily watermarked with clicks, skipping, and weird MSN messenger noises and all that It was a fun time to be a GNR fan between the album coming out and Axl coming here the month after that as Dexter for the first time. Whether we think the album is a "true" GNR album, or if we liked it, or think it has flaws, one thing I think we can all agree on is that it was a crazy ride to get there and those fun memories of the leaks in 05/06 and lurking on the forums reading about them is what enticed me to join the forums and be active on here ever since Edited November 23, 2018 by WhazUp 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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