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What killed Chinese Democracy?


Vincent Vega

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I am of the opinion that some of the songs on CD had a lot of potential to be awesome songs, but that something was lost in translation from concept to recording to the finished product.

The question is, what killed CD? Or what kills it for you?

Does anyone here feel that the songs on CD, in theory, are great songs but the production/overproduction/mix ruins them?

I just think like, songs like Better, TWAT, and Catcher could've been classics if done differently.

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It just came out with a bunch of records like Death Magnetic, Line on the Horizon, Black Ice, Worship Music that no matter what the merits of each record it's very unlikely people are going to say that's they best shit. I personally like DM, but it's never going to be considered their best work. Same with CD, however good it is, even if it was AFD 2 with all the swaggering heroin anthems that anyone could want. No, AFD all day. CD also suffers because it's not the line up. Add to that it's in a different music style for the most part, it's not going to meet expectations, it has to find a new audience almost. I think it might or people will eventually see it has some sort of merit as great music. If not zeitgeist great, objective great. but who gives a shit if you don't like it, don't listen to it, GNR isn't a religion, it's just a way for some musicians to make a living.

Edited by wasted
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Another repeat of other Miser threads, and a million other threads.

But what killed CD are mainly these things

- The time it took to make

- The joke it became because of how long it took

- The expectations that built up because of this

- The horrible overproduction which is probably a result of Axl's search for the impossible

- No real commercial appeal / hit potential. Doesn't make it a bad record, but it does make it less commercially successful.

On top of that it's too long and too incoherent. It's trying to be everything at once and because of that it ends up not really being anything.

Edited by username
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I honestly like the album as a whole. Sure it has some songs I never listen to like Riad or Scraped, but also has great tunes (TWAT, CITR, Maddy).

What killed it were the insane expectations built over a long which turned into a majority of mixed to negative reviews in the media. I'm quite sure that the majority of the ones criticising the record haven't even given the album a fair chance from the get go.

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There's actually worse records, way worse. Music from a Dimension for example. Holy fuck they really fucked the goat on that one.

Problem with CD is it's good but in a different way, so it's like I can't crush beers to this, what is this, turn it off, turn it off!

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I am of the opinion that some of the songs on CD had a lot of potential to be awesome songs, but that something was lost in translation from concept to recording to the finished product.

The question is, what killed CD? Or what kills it for you?

Does anyone here feel that the songs on CD, in theory, are great songs but the production/overproduction/mix ruins them?

I just think like, songs like Better, TWAT, and Catcher could've been classics if done differently.

If I only focus on the songs/album/music and not the hooplah and history and post release debacle of the band etc. what killed CD was the following:-

1. Songs sound like videogames. Most songs dont have the bluesy/metal feel at all.

2. Overproduction and too many instruments being played in different ways over the same riffs makes it too much to handle.

3. Negativity towards the then lineup and overall forgotten era of GNR did not help in record sales or appreciation of the songs which are definately mediocre at best.

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I think the album actually needed less work. It sounds too overproduced. Catcher in the rye could have been awesome if it was kept simpler like the 1999 demo. Many songs have too much going on... although I wouldnt touch twat coz its a killer song.

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Another repeat of other Miser threads, and a million other threads.

But what killed CD are mainly these two things

- The time it took to make

- The joke it became because of how long it took

- The expectations that built up because of this

- The horrible overproduction which is probably a result of Axl's search for the impossible

- No real commercial appeal / hit potential. Doesn't make it a bad record, but it does make it less commercially successful.

On top of that it's too long and too incoherent. It's trying to be everything at once and because of that it ends up not really being anything.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: You said it all.

Edited by Majestic Beast
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Time killed it.

It took a fucking eternity and couldn't live up to the expectation.

Yup. It took 14 years of crying, it took 14 years of pain. It was 14 years that are gone together that we'll never have again. Well.

Even if the album was Appetite, alot of people checked out years ago.

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I think Chinese will be more respected artistically in the future.

Financially, 3 million albums is pretty good, and Axl said in that metal show (I think that was it) interview he was satisfied with the reception. Even most of the reviews I've read were positive.

With what happened with the old line up and Axl keeping the name, waiting for so long to release something, it was never going to be a huge success. Not in 2008 and the nature of Chinese and what Axl was trying to achieve creatively.

Edited by Rovim
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I think Chinese will be more respected artistically in the future.

Financially, 3 million albums is pretty good, and Axl said in that metal show (I think that was it) interview he was satisfied with the reception. Even most of the reviews I've read were positive.

With what happened with the old line up and Axl keeping the name, waiting for so long to release something, it was never going to be a huge success. Not in 2008 and the nature of Chinese and what Axl was trying to achieve creatively.

Axl said he was happy with how Universal handled the promotion and distribution worldwide, unhappy with how Iovine's people handled it domestically.

It just means GNR should be dealing more with an overseas subsidiary of Universal's that give a shit about his band.

Nothing killed it, but it went from people expecting it to fail big, to a cult classic. No one was really expecting an album without Slash to do well, and I think Axl would be the first to admit that. I think in the end it turned out better than he thought, and knows people come to see the shows for the old songs.

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Honestly for me, its like gnr's In through the out door. Unfortunatly Axl was shooting for Physical Graffiti. But I really like In through the out door, and I like CD. I agree with everyone elses comments, over produced, too many ballads, etc. If it had a tune in the vein of you could be mine, we all would be talking about what a masterpiece it is, but without that song it just feels a little flat. The only songs on it I just don't really care for are if the world, riad, and scraped. The rest of the album is pretty damn good. Maddy gets old after a while, but its still a good song. Honestly going down would of been a good replacement ;) for riad or scraped, but thats it. It's not a better song than the majority of CD. I still listen to CD quite often, as I do in through the out door. Honsetly I listen to them both back to back on vinyl.

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Guest cbgnr666

I notice alot of people over time posting about how the music, esp the vocals sound overproduced. I find for the most part the vocals on CD are much more similiar to Axl's live vocals, and the band manages to capture the albums sound.And then looking back at performances of songs from UYI albums overall by the old band,were an example of an overall sound captured in recording that never came across live vocally or musically for the most part.IMO

Edited by cbgnr666
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