Question To Those Who Dislikes ChiDem, Will You Like It Better if Axl Didnt Use the GNR Name?

[ChristmasFnatic]

Is that one of the main reasons that turned you off? Axl using the GNR name, and you would have preferred that he called it AXL ROSE PROJECT or something?

[Hollywood Zombie]

Should have been Axl's solo album not a GNR album

[Mao5]

it's a bad album with too many bad songs, period.

[Nosaj Thing]

No, it's still a terrible album. Gn'R name or not.

[tinyrobot]

Crap is what you assholes dump in the toilet. And that's the farthest you will ever amount

[Crash Diet]

Is that one of the main reasons that turned you off? Axl using the GNR name, and you would have preferred that he called it AXL ROSE PROJECT or something?

First of all: i like CD, but never really considered this as a GNR album. I tried but i just CAN'T There are some good song on this album, and there are just weird songs. The overproducing kills the album's potential. Aside the whole GNR/Axl/Slash/Reunion circus, it would be better if this record came out in 2001/02, even in 2006

The momentum was already lost in 2008

Edited May 29, 2014 by Crash Diet

[WhazUp]

I dig the album but I don't care what the same says on the album, what the contracts legally say, etc. this is just a different group of guys compared to the 80's and 90's and Axl is the only real common thread between the two (I guess Dizzy too if you count him). Based on that I don't consider Chinese Democracy to be made by the same band. They may be GNR legally but musically it is a totally different entity.

I already like CD but I dunno if I would like it more if it was released under a different name - I just think that it should have been under a different name.

Edited May 29, 2014 by WhazUp

[Smokin' Cigarettes]

I liked it but I gotta say that because it had the GN'R name on the sleeve and Axl was singing was the reason. If that same album was released by a different band I wouldn't have given it a 2nd thought.

I'm about to contradict myself here but I still say there's some great musicianship on that record and you can tell it's well thought out. Unfortunately it was tweeked so much they fucked it up which for me, ruined it.

[MEXzilla]

It does matter, simply because I (I'm guessing most of us) expected a similar quality that their previous efforts displayed. Whether it be a good album or not that can be argued and I wouldn't mind it being called a solid record, but when compared to their classics, it's shit. That's basically what the name GnR brings to me, it brings a high standard.

CD to me is like Michael Jordan's Wizards days, he didn't make the playoffs but he had solid years. When compared to his Bulls days however, his Wizard years just become meaningless.

[mrandyk]

It doesn't change my opinion of the music, but it does make Axl more of a joke.

[Bono]

A mediocre album at best is a mediocre album at best regardless of what you call it or what the name of the band is. Only Zealots and sheep would change their opinion based on the name. I'm sure if it wasn't called Guns N' Roses so many who claim to love it would not.

[magisme]

There are only 2-3 songs I can sit through. Band name has nothing to do with that.

[Bobbo]

Naw. While I think it's lame and not right that he's using the name, I've long considered this the Axl Rose project (as did most others). And that's how I looked at the album anyways.

I can honestly say I wouldn't like the material any more or any less had he released it under his own name or whatever the fuck. It was just a pretty crap record. 3 great songs, 1 decent song, and the rest either had hints of potential that just never fully elevated beyond mediocre, or were complete brain farts that should have never left the drawing board.

So yeah. "I'm with the public on that one" regardless

Edited May 29, 2014 by Bobbo

[DieselDaisy]

Chinese Democracy could have had 'The Beatles' on its front cover yet it is not going to make turds like Shackler's Revenge and Scraped sound any better.

[maynard]

it's bad. for GNR standards, it's terrible. but then again, it's not really GNR.

[RussTCB]

I genuinely like the album except for CitR which I've never liked dating all the way back to the first leak.

[D-GenerationX]

Would not matter. The name on the cover does not affect the music contained within.

If it does for you, its because you have your own agenda.

[RandallFlagg]

I think it's an outstanding record but I perceive it as an Axl rose captain ahab led record in the spirit of how he always viewed GNR.

[Gackt]

I think it's an outstanding LP with some of the best musicianship in the GnR discography, but it should have been released under a different moniker to not piss off the nostalgia fans. Doesn't change how the music is perceived though, if it was released as an Axl solo album it would likely have received the same amount of attention either way.

[rockerman]

Is that one of the main reasons that turned you off? Axl using the GNR name, and you would have preferred that he called it AXL ROSE PROJECT or something?

GNR in name only in my opinion. It had its moments and its brilliance but it wasnt GNR... but naming it anything else wouldnt have helped it either... it was a nice experiment that didnt achieve its lofty goals... not total crap but certainly not worth the loss of the old band and the legacy sound momentum that made Axl and GNR superstars.. and certainly not worth 15 years of waiting for.

Think about AFD and ILLUISIONS.. that music is 25-20 years old and its timeless... a whole new generation has its head wrapped around those albums.... CD came and went ...and nothing caught on fire... it just was another album on some random day by a band holding on to former glories...in most peoples imagination. 25 years from now CD wont be played in popular culture like AFD is now... I went to a Denver Bronco game this last fall and they played Welcome to the Jungle on kickoffs... SCOM is everywhere still and it gets people moving.. even kids that were probably concieved to it.

[Apollo]

Is that one of the main reasons that turned you off? Axl using the GNR name, and you would have preferred that he called it AXL ROSE PROJECT or something?

I absolutely LOVED Chinese Democracy the album (hated the song).

And I don't really care what the name of the band was that put it out. Who cares about the name of a band? All that should matter to anybody is how the music sounds.

[username]

Is that one of the main reasons that turned you off? Axl using the GNR name, and you would have preferred that he called it AXL ROSE PROJECT or something?

No.

The two are completely unrelated. I don't like CD for a couple of reasons. The biggest one is that it's a horribly overproduced mess with 17 layers of guitar and 9 layers of vocals. It's just so all over the place. No direction, just big, bigger bloated. I think he tried to make every song into some big epic thing and I think the album just doesn't work as an album because of it. It doesn't "gel" and it's too long. I think some songs are utter shite. TIL makes me cringe every time. It's a high-pitched screaming piano whinefest. Scraped is pure filler. Really terrible song. But aside from that I think most songs are quite good. Or rather, could have been quite good anyway. I love the earliest (2000'ish) demo's of TWAT, IRS and Catcher. I also think the 2001/2002 live version of The Blues is fantastic. And I dig the more industrial feel that CD, Rhiad and OMG had in that period. Basically, I think I would absolutely love the 2000-2002 version of CD.

I think most of CD showed great potential. But all the layering, overproduction and heaven knows what else absolutely ruined it. It just has no direction and it's an album I really have to push myself to sit through. And even then the entire experience is overwhelmed by the feeling of "what might have been".