Kaneda

Axl-lites are out of their F'ING minds! Now we can't even comment on a demo of a song, they claim that's not fair?!?!? HA HA HA. Look, demo or no demo, this is Axl's work, so I can critique it, deal. TWAT is not worth the wait and it is getting blasted, no real shock there.

It's been a few month's but now that there is actually something concrete to discuss instead of mere speculation, I thought I would drop my two cents in about the leaked material. I've listened to the material all day long and here is my initial response:

14 years and the most expensive album ever for this? These songs are good, very different from GNR of old, but nothing earth shattering here or even revolutionary. Let's break them down by song:

I.R.S.: Cool song, but what happened here? It had so much energy before but now it is all gone. I like the way the words make more sense now, but it needs more UMPH to it. When the beginning starts in, I have this image of Pokemon and Barney holding hands running through a field.

T.W.A.T. : Most disappointing of them all. I really expected so much from this song as it has been tauted for such a long time as a hit by those that have heard it, but man, it's a sporadic mess. It's too chaotic, the music is going in 5 different directions at the same time. Too much layering of music ontop of music. Listen to it again, Axl gets so lost in all of the music fighting for attention. Nothing memorable here. After hearing it 10 times, I still can't recall a memorable line or solo worthy of Guns N Roses.

Better: No pun intended, but this is much Better than the other two. It's different, but it works. Axl's voice sounds the best and the refrain at the beginning and middle is very unique and cool. Best track of the three, by far. However, so far from what GNR of old, that this can not be the first single.

After hearing all of the new material numerous times, I hate to say it, but I am worried that Chinese Democracy is not going to live up to expectations, not even close. Nothing so far has even come close to the epics from GNR's hayday. Even songs that weren't singles like Civil War, Locomotive, Breakdown, Dead Horse are better than anything Axl has been able to come up with by himself. While some of us on here will convince ourselves everything Axl does is genius, I am really worried that old GNR fans are going to HATE this new incarnation. Hate is a strong word, but when you replace all the original members of the biggest band of the 80's/90s and make people wait 14 years for a song like TWAT, there are going to be a lot of disappointed people.

My only hope is that Axl has some Jungle, some Paradise City, some ace up his sleeve that he is hiding until the album comes out. But deep down inside I feel this is it, this is the mythical album we've all built up so much and it doesn't come close to my expectations at all.

THE LAST BIGGEST PROBLEM OF THE NEW MATERIAL: GUITAR SOLOS!

To say Slash's absence is killing this new band is an understatement. None of these new solos do anything for me...They just come and go on the songs, but nothing is soulful the way Slash's solos used to be. I am very worried for Axl, very worried.