Street of Dreams/The Blues

[DaneisKing1389]

I'm sure it has been done dozens of times before, but I searched through 20 some pages and said fuck it. Feel free to reprimand me if you feel necessary. But with everything being about Axl's guitar/piano playing, the Hall of Fame, and opinions of DJ, I figured I'd take it back to Chinese Democracy, so here it goes.

I've been really digging Street of Dreams lately. It's to the point where I've listened to it literally dozens of times this week, both studio versions and countless live versions. The question is this:

Which version do you personally feel is the best?

Base it on anything... Axl's voice, the fullness of sound, the outro, the solo, the presence, etc. I don't give a shit. There are loads of amazing performances of it are out there, so what do you think?

I haven't seemed to find one that tops Boston 2002 and Dublin 2010. Both are great versions and are vastly different. I really hate the arrangement and lead of the 2002 intro, but it's damned good. And Axl sounds amazing in both to me.

Boston 2002

Dublin 2010

Edited December 27, 2011 by DaneisKing1389

[axlsalinger]

Any discussion of the various versions of this song is not complete without this performance at Rock in Rio in 2001. It's got some issues, but i've got a real soft spot for it.

Edited December 27, 2011 by axlsalinger

[TiedHands]

The Leeds '02 version was pretty great, off the top of my head. It's amazing how much that song changed over the years. I still miss the old intro with Richards little riffs, and those hip-hop whirly synths, but it's still an amazing song. I would kill to hear studio versions of the '01 and '02 versions, though....

[justynius]

I strongly prefer the 2002 versions. The song takes a bit too long to get going without the aggressive guitars in the beginning, and the background arrangements are better in the 2002 versions. And don't get me started on the "what I'd tell ya" lines they added to the ending. These changes might not seem like a big deal, but it's the minor nuances that can turn a great song into an average one. People responded in a significant way to the 2002 performances; if you came on here and said "the Pittsburgh ('02) version is better than Boston" (or vice versa), there'd immediately be a 50 post flamewar over which version was better. After they started fucking with it (I believe around summer 2006), the song really started getting treated like filler.

In terms of individual performances, Cleveland 2002 definitely stands out and Vegas 2001 would be great if we didn't have the skip. The band sounds good on Tacoma 2002, but the beginning's cut and the overall mix kind of sucks. Leeds 2002 is unique in that Axl hums at the beginning of the guitar solo, which is a perfect fit and kind of reminds me of when he hums in what would be the third verse in SCOM.

Don't think I'll get much resistance when I say the ending vocals are the key to the song and the most difficult part to pull off. IMO, this is done best in Vegas 2001, Hammerstein night 3 (May 15), Rock Am Ring, and Tacoma 2002.

[DrBrownstone]

Any discussion of the various versions of this song is not complete without this performance at Rock in Rio in 2001. It's got some issues, but i've got a real soft spot for it.

lol, I'll never forget that part, from 1:25 - 1:32 or so....that's a good example, or good insight to what Axl is like to the people who work for him...his entitlement complex. I love the guy as a performer, but I can't imagine how small that guy felt, who had to run out there to fix his shirt.

[axlsalinger]

He wants the guy to fix the vocal monitor (or whatever it's called) on his right side. Probably couldn't hear himself. It still wasn't right, he fiddles with it himself a little bit later at 2:06. He also motions for them to turn it up at 2:29.

Edited December 27, 2011 by axlsalinger

[DaneisKing1389]

I strongly prefer the 2002 versions. The song takes a bit too long to get going without the aggressive guitars in the beginning, and the background arrangements are better in the 2002 versions. And don't get me started on the "what I'd tell ya" lines they added to the ending. These changes might not seem like a big deal, but it's the minor nuances that can turn a great song into an average one. People responded in a significant way to the 2002 performances; if you came on here and said "the Pittsburgh ('02) version is better than Boston" (or vice versa), there'd immediately be a 50 post flamewar over which version was better. After they started fucking with it (I believe around summer 2006), the song really started getting treated like filler.

In terms of individual performances, Cleveland 2002 definitely stands out and Vegas 2001 would be great if we didn't have the skip. The band sounds good on Tacoma 2002, but the beginning's cut and the overall mix kind of sucks. Leeds 2002 is unique in that Axl hums at the beginning of the guitar solo, which is a perfect fit and kind of reminds me of when he hums in what would be the third verse in SCOM.

Don't think I'll get much resistance when I say the ending vocals are the key to the song and the most difficult part to pull off. IMO, this is done best in Vegas 2001, Hammerstein night 3 (May 15), Rock Am Ring, and Tacoma 2002.

First, I don't think there would be a flame war over the Boston vs Pittsburgh. It seemed pretty unanimous from what I remember. And listening to both back to back, I can't believe anybody would compare them.

Second, I don't think it's fair to compare the 2002 response to the song to the 2006/2009/2010/2011 responses. By then, the song had been heard for a minimum of around five years. It's not new anymore.

Third, can you explain where you heard the Cleveland 2002 version? It's not part of the 13 song soundboard that was released and I've only heard one shitty audio recording of the second half of the show.

I love the Rock Am Ring one. I just watched that last week I think. The Vegas show is a great recording as well. If I remember correctly, it's one of the fastest ones. It's a shame we don't have video.

I really prefer the earlier Fortus outro solos in comparison to the newer ones. I also prefer the way he sings "only memories" live as opposed to the recorded versions.

[Voodoochild]

As far as guitar playing, I really loved Fortus ending solo in Pittsburgh 2002, it was the best for me. His rhythm guitar back then was really cool too. Actually, it was Tobias work, but its best heard with Fortus on Leeds, Osaka and one of the lesser known soundboards from 2002 (I dont remember now, but it wasnt Columbus or Boston or Tacoma). It was a cool riff that got replaces by some generic power chords since 2006.

Needless to say how I much prefer Robin's own solo than Ashba's. I really loved Finck's playing on the Gibson Amphitheater 2006 and the later Tokyo 2007. I miss the wah and the last bending, which sounded better live than on studio.

Overall, I think I like Pittsburgh because of Fortus ending solo, Vegas 01 because or the drums and Axl's vocals and RIR because of Tommy bass lines at the ending.

[AGS]

Any discussion of the various versions of this song is not complete without this performance at Rock in Rio in 2001. It's got some issues, but i've got a real soft spot for it.

lol, I'll never forget that part, from 1:25 - 1:32 or so....that's a good example, or good insight to what Axl is like to the people who work for him...his entitlement complex. I love the guy as a performer, but I can't imagine how small that guy felt, who had to run out there to fix his shirt.

that guy was re-conecting the earplug nothing to do with the shirt or any complexity

Ontopic: Boston 2002 still my fav

Edited December 27, 2011 by AGS

[justynius]

First, I don't think there would be a flame war over the Boston vs Pittsburgh. It seemed pretty unanimous from what I remember. And listening to both back to back, I can't believe anybody would compare them.

Many, many "battles" over those two performances before the album came out on here and chinesedemocracy.com. I personally prefer Boston - the guitars and piano sound better, and it's a better quality recording. But you have to admit anytime the song gets fast the vocals demonstrate the early stages of what's now being referred to as Mickey Mouse syndrome. The vocals on Pittsburgh are sharp all the way through. We have video of Boston and not Pittsburgh, but he's running all over the place in the Boston video and I wouldn't be surprised if he was mostly still during Pittsburgh.

Here's a (non-professional) remaster of Pittsburgh so you can hear what the performance is like with as good of sound quality as the Boston recording....

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=CZ1EN4MM

Second, I don't think it's fair to compare the 2002 response to the song to the 2006/2009/2010/2011 responses. By then, the song had been heard for a minimum of around five years. It's not new anymore.

To a certain degree, that's true. However, some people are still shitting themselves over Better, TWAT, and to some extent Catcher. Not so much for Street of Dreams.

**Admittedly, all three of those songs were held back until the second tour. Still don't believe there'd be anywhere near the hee-hawing if SOD was left off the setlist for a show or two.

Third, can you explain where you heard the Cleveland 2002 version? It's not part of the 13 song soundboard that was released and I've only heard one shitty audio recording of the second half of the show.

There is a decent audience recording about equivalent in sound quality to MSG 2002. I believe during the first piano notes, you can hear someone in the audience moronically shout out "The Blues!" If you have trouble tracking this down and you're real eager to listen, I can probably upload. I know I have almost everything from that period burnt onto CD's.

[DaneisKing1389]

Yeah, I have the full concert on CD but I felt like the non-soundboard Cleveland part was almost not listenable. I'm not picky with audio, either. Youtube is my primary source when I'm on the computer because I really don't care that much. I wonder if your half is a different version from mine. I got it around 9 years ago on an old tape-trader site.

[vaida]

The original Rio 3 mix feat. Buckethead and Robin was as good as this song got.

It is better than the album mix, which contains extra shoehorned in layers, and unnecessary additional lyrics at the end.

The Blues is the best track on Chinese Democracy, although the Rio 3 mix is the best version.

I'm not a huge fan of Chinese Democracy. It has its moments, but all too few. The film like intros of some of tracks take too long to get going - I don't have patience for that. Chinese Democracy does not sound good in a car. It sounds like noise a lot of the time. In the home, the guitar work from Buckethead and Robin is the most impressive aspect of the album.

The subject matter (the Chinese Democracy sogns) isn't all that much fun either. Its actually quite depressing.

Appetite for Destruction is full of get up n'go! - fun, adveture - the wild side of life!

Maybe underneith it all, Chinese Democracy paints a picture of Axl's 10+ years of doom dealing with all thats on the album.

Maybe this goes some way to explaining why Axl has choosen to start adding so many cover songs during the current 2011 gigs.

Edited December 27, 2011 by vaida

[justynius]

The original Rio 3 mix feat. Buckethead and Robin was as good as this song got.

It is better than the album mix, which contains extra shoehorned in layers, and unnecessary additional lyrics at the end.

The Blues is the best track on Chinese Democracy, although the Rio 3 mix is the best version.

I'm not a huge fan of Chinese Democracy. It has its moments, but all too few. The film like intros of some of tracks take too long to get going - I don't have patience for that. Chinese Democracy does not sound good in a car. It sounds like noise a lot of the time. In the home, the guitar work from Buckethead and Robin is the most impressive aspect of the album.

The subject matter (the Chinese Democracy sogns) isn't all that much fun either. Its actually quite depressing.

Appetite for Destruction is full of up and n'go! - fun, adveture - the wild side of life!

Maybe underneith it all, Chinese Democracy paints a picture of Axl's 10+ years of doom dealing with all thats on the album.

Maybe this goes some way to explaining why Axl has choosen to start adding so many cover songs during the current 2011 gigs.

Can't say I agree with the bolded. AFD is mostly an iconoclastic social experience album about the hopeless situations in street life, and maybe America in general. This comes out directly in songs like WTTJ, My Michelle, and Out Ta Get Me. Paradise City and Rocket Queen are about a need to escape the madness, either physically leaving or mentally/inwardly.

All of the 'party' songs have some irony to them. The speaker in "It's So Easy" cannot be pleased and fades into the night. The speaker in "Nightrain" is going to crash and burn. Compare the first and last verse of "Mr. Brownstone" and consider if the speaker is better off. The hope and ideals of "Think About You" completely fade with the experience in "You're Crazy" and the perversions of "Anything Goes".

I think the main difference is the way that the ideas are expressed. AFD is angry and energetic, a battle cry to rally the troops. The mood in Chinese Democracy is mostly resentment, an individual slowly being consumed with hatred for those who've betrayed him. Both albums have gloomy subject matters, but the method of expression in Chinese Democracy is much darker.

[Estranged Reality]

I strongly prefer the 2002 versions. The song takes a bit too long to get going without the aggressive guitars in the beginning, and the background arrangements are better in the 2002 versions. And don't get me started on the "what I'd tell ya" lines they added to the ending. These changes might not seem like a big deal, but it's the minor nuances that can turn a great song into an average one. People responded in a significant way to the 2002 performances; if you came on here and said "the Pittsburgh ('02) version is better than Boston" (or vice versa), there'd immediately be a 50 post flamewar over which version was better. After they started fucking with it (I believe around summer 2006), the song really started getting treated like filler.

In terms of individual performances, Cleveland 2002 definitely stands out and Vegas 2001 would be great if we didn't have the skip. The band sounds good on Tacoma 2002, but the beginning's cut and the overall mix kind of sucks. Leeds 2002 is unique in that Axl hums at the beginning of the guitar solo, which is a perfect fit and kind of reminds me of when he hums in what would be the third verse in SCOM.

Don't think I'll get much resistance when I say the ending vocals are the key to the song and the most difficult part to pull off. IMO, this is done best in Vegas 2001, Hammerstein night 3 (May 15), Rock Am Ring, and Tacoma 2002.

yeah, this guy knows what he's talking about.

i remember when the demo leaked in '06: it was both awesome and heartbreaking at the same time.

i'd been listening to bootlegs since the early '00s and thought it was the best and most promising example of the "new gn'r" and what they were capable of -- the removal of the surging intro, and the reduction in the pace of the song, imo made it weaker; also, i found axl's vocals on the final cut kinda schmaltzy/tacky compared to so many of the great live performances. i've gotten used to the studio version, but i still think the '01/'02 version (rock in rio, boston, pittsburgh, in particular) were fucking amazing.

yeah, they fucked up at rio, but that was the first rendition of the song i ever heard -- and ever since then i always hear "okay, nevermind" during that part of the track -- and i actually kinda like this fact.

it amazes me that this song has been in my life for almost a decade now and i only got to hear the 'final version' three years ago. eerie.

but yeah, i love it in any form but axl kinda fucked up by changing the beginning and the pace. as well as his vocal delivery. for me rio '01 was a failure when it came to the old songs, but he sounded fucking killer on the new ones, because he clearly recorded them with that new voice. then it seemed like he retroactively tried to update the new tracks with the '06 rasp a few years later, and it just didn't work for the blues/street of dreams imo. i miss the cleaner vocals on it. just sounds better.

Edited December 27, 2011 by Estranged Reality

[bumblecool]

RIR III, Boston 2002, Reading and Dublin 2010

[drtydane]

Def boston 02. I always say that. And not just cuz I was at that show. I've seen it performed like 6 times now. Axis vocals, along with his and robins stage presence, not to mention the stripped down version of the song is what makes the video...

[Yesterdays-Civil-War]

Everybody always counts this show out.

[vaida]

The original Rio 3 mix feat. Buckethead and Robin was as good as this song got.

It is better than the album mix, which contains extra shoehorned in layers, and unnecessary additional lyrics at the end.

The Blues is the best track on Chinese Democracy, although the Rio 3 mix is the best version.

I'm not a huge fan of Chinese Democracy. It has its moments, but all too few. The film like intros of some of tracks take too long to get going - I don't have patience for that. Chinese Democracy does not sound good in a car. It sounds like noise a lot of the time. In the home, the guitar work from Buckethead and Robin is the most impressive aspect of the album.

The subject matter (the Chinese Democracy sogns) isn't all that much fun either. Its actually quite depressing.

Appetite for Destruction is full of Get up n'go! - fun, adveture - the wild side of life!

Maybe underneith it all, Chinese Democracy paints a picture of Axl's 10+ years of doom dealing with all thats on the album.

Maybe this goes some way to explaining why Axl has choosen to start adding so many cover songs during the current 2011 gigs.

Can't say I agree with the bolded. AFD is mostly an iconoclastic social experience album about the hopeless situations in street life, and maybe America in general. This comes out directly in songs like WTTJ, My Michelle, and Out Ta Get Me. Paradise City and Rocket Queen are about a need to escape the madness, either physically leaving or mentally/inwardly.

All of the 'party' songs have some irony to them. The speaker in "It's So Easy" cannot be pleased and fades into the night. The speaker in "Nightrain" is going to crash and burn. Compare the first and last verse of "Mr. Brownstone" and consider if the speaker is better off. The hope and ideals of "Think About You" completely fade with the experience in "You're Crazy" and the perversions of "Anything Goes".

I think the main difference is the way that the ideas are expressed. AFD is angry and energetic, a battle cry to rally the troops. The mood in Chinese Democracy is mostly resentment, an individual slowly being consumed with hatred for those who've betrayed him. Both albums have gloomy subject matters, but the method of expression in Chinese Democracy is much darker.

You summed up AFD well. GN'R summed up life through AFD. I think a lot of people relate to AFD and GN'R of that era.

Ignoring the instrumental side of Chinese Democracy how would you sum up each song (lyrics) in a single sencence ?

Chinese Democracy - Views on China - anti Chinese Government

Shacklers Revenge - Cartoony - some guy (Eddie - Iron Maiden) roaming around with a gun is up to no good

Better - Self pitty, attempting to rise above that feeling

Street Of Dreams - What was once had and now gone

If The World -

There Was A Time - Looking back - someone you would do anything for (back then)

Catcher In The Rye - ?

Scraped - Don't tell me what to do!

Riad N' The Bedouins - I had to Google *Riad* and *Bedouins*

Riad - Moroccan house

Bedouins - Nomad Arab peoples of the Middle East

So is the song about Arabs's and their houses

Sorry - Feeling sorry for someone - for whatever reason ?

IRS - Sounds like one huge rant

Madagascar - Being brought down by a deep situation

This I Love - about an Ex

Prostitute - Selling your self for the bling in life

Update:

Started a new thread here

(did not want to derail this thread)

Edited December 28, 2011 by vaida

[blake-a-mania]

i had an mp3 years ago (i think it may have been boston) that somebosy had cleaned up slightly, i assume with Logic/Pro Tools, and that is the version i always think of, because i fell in love with it. my favourite is probably the album version overall though, but Leeds 2010 was awesome!

[wasted]

I just think you can crank SOD real loud.

[Axl4Prez2004]

Def boston 02. I always say that. And not just cuz I was at that show. I've seen it performed like 6 times now. Axis vocals, along with his and robins stage presence, not to mention the stripped down version of the song is what makes the video...

I was also at the Boston, '02 show...I think it is the best Blues/SOD ever.

Rio's performance was a different version, but I liked that one as well...just not as much as Boston, '02.

I've always felt Axl's voice in '02 didn't work for every GNR song, but damn did it work well for Blues/SOD, LALD, and Madagascar. (in my opinion of course)

[DaneisKing1389]

I've always felt Axl's voice in '02 didn't work for every GNR song, but damn did it work well for Blues/SOD, LALD, and Madagascar. (in my opinion of course)

Agreed. I've been watching my 2002 dvds and he sounds much better than I remember. He also runs around a SHIT ton, way more than I've ever seen him do.

Also, the Baltimore version is good. I watch the Baltimore show a lot.

[drtydane]

I've always felt Axl's voice in '02 didn't work for every GNR song, but damn did it work well for Blues/SOD, LALD, and Madagascar. (in my opinion of course)

+1 also, I miss axls braids. He looked pretty hip in 02, but when he had it tied back, ans wore that unbuttoned leather shirt, he looked BADASS.

[Gagarin]

In any case, I really like and miss the 'synth' loops where the orchestration now is.

'eeeeww oooooh weeeeeh ooooooh weeeehhh oooh' x2

[trqster]

Everybody always counts this show out.

Indeed...vocally probably one of the best ever Axl's performances.

Love the (later) 2006 balance between clean & rasp voice. Axl was in perfect control of his voice.