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Retro Rock Review: Guns N' Roses, CHINESE DEMOCRACY


vaida

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The common bias of wanting AFD. But he still liked some tracks. As review it's too personal.

Good post.

I don't understand why people expect another AFD, even with Velvet Revolver. In order to recreate AFD they have to live the years of fast living that inspired the album. The only thing that can be done is move on and away from that.

Expect AFD then complain about it taking 15 years. I doubt it would take 15 years to do a AFD style record. it's just hard to get into that state and pull it off. AFD was real that's why you can't just remake it. CD is as honest as AFD. It's just not so much escapism.

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Nice of you to stop by in the mud pit. Not a bad review; to be honest, Chinese Democracy is an album that really grows on repeat listenings. There were a few that stuck with me right away (Shackler's, Scraped, and Better) and one by one the rest caught on and became some of my favorites.

Thanks for the welcome. Nice forum y'all got here.

Sad What music fans are turning into if you dont like the cd then why rwrite a reveiw these so called critics can fuck off

Yikes! Geez, nice to meet you too.

Just for the record, I don't consider myself a "critic," I'm not a professional, I'm a middle aged geek who writes these things strictly for fun. To be quite honest, I'm surprised this piece is getting as much attention (good and bad) as it has. I didn't think anyone would even notice it, since the album's been out for four years now and the hype is long over with.

Edited by FatFreddysCat
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It's interesting how the tracklisting effects people. If it's not on the first side it gets virtually ignored. As a record if you take the time it's epic in almost a Floyd way. But maybe for general listener expecting things going with leaks would have openednpeoples ears.

CD

Riad

Sod

Maddy

Better

Twat

IRS

Catcher

Shacklers

Itw

Scraped

Sorry

Prostitute

TIL

Bit that would ultimately be pandering to nostalgia of gnr and in the long isn't as great as CD tracklisting.

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CD was more confrontational than escapist. I've noticed Axl has been a lot less tense since CD came out. Like he got what he needed off his chest, but I still think there's still he needs to let out.

It's definitely his statement about the break up and industry problems. The next one might like temple of Doom meets Empire Strikes back. An Afd for the 21st century.

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If I listen to it in that order, what will happen?

To Freddie, yeah, we tend not to let any mention of Chinese Democracy go unnoticed :thumbsup:

You basically get all the GNR sounding ones up front so people on first listen would be like this is cool. Madagascar and IRS buried on side 2 reviewers don't even mention them. they hear Shacklers and Better and start whining about industrial. Also ITW doesn't remind them of leather pants. CD has some solid Illusion moments to tenderize the meat for the smooth flamenco beats later.

The next one might like temple of Doom meets Empire Strikes back. An Afd for the 21st century.

See, now I'd totally be on board for that. :thumbsup:

See I think the seeds of that could be seen on CD.

CD

Riad

Scraped

Shacklers

IRS

Better

There was a Time

Is pretty hard hitting Side 1.

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If I listen to it in that order, what will happen?

To Freddie, yeah, we tend not to let any mention of Chinese Democracy go unnoticed :thumbsup:

You basically get all the GNR sounding ones up front so people on first listen would be like this is cool. Madagascar and IRS buried on side 2 reviewers don't even mention them. they hear Shacklers and Better and start whining about industrial. Also ITW doesn't remind them of leather pants. CD has some solid Illusion moments to tenderize the meat for the smooth flamenco beats later.

The next one might like temple of Doom meets Empire Strikes back. An Afd for the 21st century.

See, now I'd totally be on board for that. :thumbsup:

See I think the seeds of that could be seen on CD.

CD

Riad

Scraped

Shacklers

IRS

Better

There was a Time

Is pretty hard hitting Side 1.

Yeah, I am surprised that Madagascar didn't get released as a single or included on the first side, I thought that song would have been a hit.

The best of Empire and Doom.

Raiders was more of a sequel to doom

Edited by BirdCatcher
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If I listen to it in that order, what will happen?

To Freddie, yeah, we tend not to let any mention of Chinese Democracy go unnoticed :thumbsup:

You basically get all the GNR sounding ones up front so people on first listen would be like this is cool. Madagascar and IRS buried on side 2 reviewers don't even mention them. they hear Shacklers and Better and start whining about industrial. Also ITW doesn't remind them of leather pants. CD has some solid Illusion moments to tenderize the meat for the smooth flamenco beats later.

The next one might like temple of Doom meets Empire Strikes back. An Afd for the 21st century.

See, now I'd totally be on board for that. :thumbsup:

See I think the seeds of that could be seen on CD.

CD

Riad

Scraped

Shacklers

IRS

Better

There was a Time

Is pretty hard hitting Side 1.

Yeah, I am surprised that Madagascar didn't get released as a single or included on the first side, I thought that song would have been a hit.

The best of Empire and Doom.

Raiders was more of a sequel to doom

Madagascar was one of the first songs they did in the studio?

Doom is kind of the twin sister of Empire. Both seem to reflect Lucas state of mind at the time. Eat monkey balls.

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Sad What music fans are turning into if you dont like the cd then why rwrite a reveiw these so called critics can fuck off

Yes, that is right...don't write a review unless it is positive :rolleyes:

Honestly I liked the review...seemed fair. Wasn't ass kissing or overly negative.

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If I listen to it in that order, what will happen?

To Freddie, yeah, we tend not to let any mention of Chinese Democracy go unnoticed :thumbsup:

You basically get all the GNR sounding ones up front so people on first listen would be like this is cool. Madagascar and IRS buried on side 2 reviewers don't even mention them. they hear Shacklers and Better and start whining about industrial. Also ITW doesn't remind them of leather pants. CD has some solid Illusion moments to tenderize the meat for the smooth flamenco beats later.

The next one might like temple of Doom meets Empire Strikes back. An Afd for the 21st century.

See, now I'd totally be on board for that. :thumbsup:

See I think the seeds of that could be seen on CD.

CD

Riad

Scraped

Shacklers

IRS

Better

There was a Time

Is pretty hard hitting Side 1.

Yeah, I am surprised that Madagascar didn't get released as a single or included on the first side, I thought that song would have been a hit.

The best of Empire and Doom.

Raiders was more of a sequel to doom

Madagascar was one of the first songs they did in the studio?

Doom is kind of the twin sister of Empire. Both seem to reflect Lucas state of mind at the time. Eat monkey balls.

Yeah, had to be. Along with Catcher, Oh My God and Silkworms. Maddy was built up to be this masterpiece with an important message and they just buried it on the album.

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For me the reality is, Chinese Democracy doesn't sound like Guns N'Roses.

Like the reviewer said, the guitar parts were the good bits. The 2 guitarists Bucket and Robin, walked away from Axl years ago.

Madagascar is interesting. Again, the album mix features Axl with a weird voice mix, all deep n'stuff - what was that about ?

Edited by vaida
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ok i tought the price listing on "Get Yer Guns" section was a joke.

But it turns out

ChiDem Brand New: $0.89

Used: $2.00...

even Saguetti Incident is worth 3 times as much

The price for the UYI albums still remains as high as ever.

My UYI 1 CD has developed small internal black holes under the lacker. I always though they said CD's would last a lifetime.

Edited by vaida
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No... any guy that thinks "the guitar solos on Chinese Democracy are really the only place where this album truly "sounds" like GN'R," must be on crack. Everything else I'm cool with but you have to admit, that's just plain wrong.

But I guess that's just his "opinion" right? Eh whatever... <_<

That is like saying GN'R is just good for guitar solos. Like nothing else matters but the solos.

Um... true as that may be, that wasn't my point. The guy is basically saying that the solo's sound truly Gn'R because they somehow intentionally attempt to sound like Slash, which is just plain wrong. They DO NOT sound like they were in vain of Slash's style, at all!

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If I listen to it in that order, what will happen?

To Freddie, yeah, we tend not to let any mention of Chinese Democracy go unnoticed :thumbsup:

You basically get all the GNR sounding ones up front so people on first listen would be like this is cool. Madagascar and IRS buried on side 2 reviewers don't even mention them. they hear Shacklers and Better and start whining about industrial. Also ITW doesn't remind them of leather pants. CD has some solid Illusion moments to tenderize the meat for the smooth flamenco beats later.

The next one might like temple of Doom meets Empire Strikes back. An Afd for the 21st century.

See, now I'd totally be on board for that. :thumbsup:

See I think the seeds of that could be seen on CD.

CD

Riad

Scraped

Shacklers

IRS

Better

There was a Time

Is pretty hard hitting Side 1.

Yeah, I am surprised that Madagascar didn't get released as a single or included on the first side, I thought that song would have been a hit.

The best of Empire and Doom.

Raiders was more of a sequel to doom

Madagascar was one of the first songs they did in the studio?

Doom is kind of the twin sister of Empire. Both seem to reflect Lucas state of mind at the time. Eat monkey balls.

Yeah, had to be. Along with Catcher, Oh My God and Silkworms. Maddy was built up to be this masterpiece with an important message and they just buried it on the album.

Sometimes I think they could open the shows with Madagascar. It would awesome! somehow the lyrics and meaning of the song would really connect live then. I have a dream!

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No... any guy that thinks "the guitar solos on Chinese Democracy are really the only place where this album truly "sounds" like GN'R," must be on crack. Everything else I'm cool with but you have to admit, that's just plain wrong.

But I guess that's just his "opinion" right? Eh whatever... <_<

That is like saying GN'R is just good for guitar solos. Like nothing else matters but the solos.

Um... true as that may be, that wasn't my point. The guy is basically saying that the solo's sound truly Gn'R because they somehow intentionally attempt to sound like Slash, which is just plain wrong. They DO NOT sound like they were in vain of Slash's style, at all!

a few do, like CD, ITW, TWAT. but I remember Brain saying stuff like "This is GNR, think 70s Led Zepp" - they knew what kind of thing they were going for, in their own way as well. Like Dj says his stuff is in the ball park. I mean if you know you've got to sent Axl a cd of stuff. Do you really send him some slap bass improv you've been working on. All the solos on CD are fresh and interesting though, no autopilot stuff at all. some sound a bit like Slash if you close your eyes and pretend like you're loaded on heroin with a gibson leaning back into the wind machine.

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a few do, like CD, ITW, TWAT. but I remember Brain saying stuff like "This is GNR, think 70s Led Zepp" - they knew what kind of thing they were going for, in their own way as well. Like Dj says his stuff is in the ball park. I mean if you know you've got to sent Axl a cd of stuff. Do you really send him some slap bass improv you've been working on. All the solos on CD are fresh and interesting though, no autopilot stuff at all. some sound a bit like Slash if you close your eyes and pretend like you're loaded on heroin with a gibson leaning back into the wind machine.

Of all the songs on Chi Dem, I would say CD and TWAT sound nothing like Slash. Maybe Catcher and TIL...

Yes, some of the songs maintain that "blues-y" tone and almost lazy syle of playing (courtesy of Robin I guess), and maybe that's what Axl meant when he said that he was trying to keep it "Guns-style" but like, the solo in TWAT was so typically Bucket and Shacklers is in a style that Slash would never touch. One of the reasons I like CD is because its hoopla of so many different musicians and influences, its always interesting to listen to that album.

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a few do, like CD, ITW, TWAT. but I remember Brain saying stuff like "This is GNR, think 70s Led Zepp" - they knew what kind of thing they were going for, in their own way as well. Like Dj says his stuff is in the ball park. I mean if you know you've got to sent Axl a cd of stuff. Do you really send him some slap bass improv you've been working on. All the solos on CD are fresh and interesting though, no autopilot stuff at all. some sound a bit like Slash if you close your eyes and pretend like you're loaded on heroin with a gibson leaning back into the wind machine.

Of all the songs on Chi Dem, I would say CD and TWAT sound nothing like Slash. Maybe Catcher and TIL...

Yes, some of the songs maintain that "blues-y" tone and almost lazy syle of playing (courtesy of Robin I guess), and maybe that's what Axl meant when he said that he was trying to keep it "Guns-style" but like, the solo in TWAT was so typically Bucket and Shacklers is in a style that Slash would never touch. One of the reasons I like CD is because its hoopla of so many different musicians and influences, its always interesting to listen to that album.

I felt some of solos sounded a bit like Slash if he was robot that played with KFC bucket on his. ITW and TWAT solos I could see some non GNR fan thinking Slash sure plays these solos great. In a way they out Slashed Slash. it's a little bit more technical and cleaner but very cool bluesy GNR solos. I also like Scraped and Sorry solos.

But there's nothing as elongated or sustained as some Slash's Guns solos where he follows the melodies in a progressive way and beyond. Only TIL is really that far out.

Edited by wasted
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Any bluesy solo on Chinese Democracy can be said is attempt to sound like Slash. I can't see Slash doing Shacklers Revenge, TWAT, Prostitute and the kill switched solos of CD, Better, and I.R.S.

Oh and not Scraped, Riad and Catcher because those were fretless.

I guess you can say Robin Finck can play like Slash but more experimental. Buckets bluesy solos for ITW and Sorry were probably the closest we can get to hearing Slash on Chinese Democracy. I like how it demonstrates that Buckethead and Bumblefoot were not on the album as Shredders but as the other lead guitarist.

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