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Chinese Democracy Survivor - Round 2

History2010

By History2010
in GNR SURVIVOR

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Vote for your LEAST FAVORITE CD song to be evicted   

190 members have voted

  1. 1. Chinese Democracy Survivor Round 2

    • Chinese Democracy
      3
    • Shackler's Revenge
      8
    • Better
      1
    • Street of Dreams
      1
    • If the World
      45
    • There Was a Time
      1
    • Catcher in the Rye
      7
    • Riad N' the Bedouins
      96
    • Sorry
      3
    • I.R.S.
      8
    • Madagascar
      0
    • This I Love
      15
    • Prostitute
      1

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  • Poll closed on 04/20/2022 at 06:00 AM

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El Guapo GOD

El Guapo

Posted
Posted

Chinese really isn't a great album. It's definetly THE one album I really wanted to love, but never could in the end. 

The handful of songs I like suffer badly from the copy/paste approach, the over-tinkering (title track) and questionable vocals (for example, Street of dreams and Madagascar sounded way better in Rio).

 

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themadcaplaughs DEMI-GOD

themadcaplaughs

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, Jakey Styley said:

I’ve always liked Riad. The intro is ridiculous and the lyrics suck (though they’re apparently about someone really interesting, according to that note he wrote) but the song has some really great vocals including one of Axl’s highest notes near the end - “sweet salVAAAAAtion”. This song suffers a lot from the instruments being buried amongst each other. It’s hard to pick out what’s actually happening. I always felt it sounded quite modern (at the time…)

I voted Chinese Democracy. This song has never impressed me. It was cool in 2002 when it was sorta grungey, but IMO lost its identity the more it got worked on. It starts with a generic riff (rock you like a hurricane adjacent), has lackluster vocals (especially live, axl sounds like he’s trying to take a shit when singing the chorus), and also not good lyrics. I like the solos and outro, but this song doesn’t melodically grab me at all.

 

This was what I was trying to say re: the mix of "Rhiad" in yesterday's thread. I know a lot of people don't like the "layers" on Chinese Democracy, but none of them bother me on any of the other songs. This is the exception. I still think it's a B-/C+ tier song even in older mixes, but the power of the riff rings much clearer in older versions. The one that ended up on the album sounds absolutely muddy, and no instruments get a chance to shine. 

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Zeppelin OH MY GOD

Zeppelin

Posted
Posted

Riad is one of those tracks that would've benefitted from beefier production. It sounds too thin. But I'm still going with This I Love for this round.

Still love CD. I agree that Scraped had to go first. But even it looks like Appetite-era material compared to the crap we're getting now (Absurd).

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downzy LEGEND

downzy

Posted
Posted
46 minutes ago, dontdamnmeuyi2015 said:

" Street of Dreams" Love the song the moment I listened to it.

I remember staying online during the Vegas NYE shows hoping to get some sort of description of what new Guns material might sound like.

Up to that point, only Oh My God had been released or heard.  This was before any leaks.

Shortly after The Blues was played, someone on the Dust N' Bones GNR mailing list wrote that it was the next November Rain.

And that's perhaps why I've never really liked the song.  Went in with high expectations and was completely disappointed.

The song starts out well, but once Axl starts out with "So now I wander through my days..." it falls apart. 

It's a mess structurally, never really landing on a set melody line (despite the good start). 

The lyrics are beyond cringe.  "Stardust on my feet..."  Wtf?

I've always said it sounds like Axl attempting to write a song for a broadway play.  Or if GNR was suddenly influenced by Journey.  

At least This I Love has some great orchestration to listen to, even if it's a bit more broadway musical.  

I always hated that this was one of the songs Axl chose to not only debut but keep in sets from 2002 to 2007.  There were far better songs and made me wonder if CD was worth the wait.  

It was definitely the song I chose for a bathroom break during the five shows I saw in 2002.  

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Jakey Styley OH MY GOD

Jakey Styley

Posted
Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, themadcaplaughs said:

This was what I was trying to say re: the mix of "Rhiad" in yesterday's thread. I know a lot of people don't like the "layers" on Chinese Democracy, but none of them bother me on any of the other songs. This is the exception. I still think it's a B-/C+ tier song even in older mixes, but the power of the riff rings much clearer in older versions. The one that ended up on the album sounds absolutely muddy, and no instruments get a chance to shine. 

For sure. By the time the song got to the album there was no longer a discernible riff. I have to try pretty hard to hear the bass (this is a CD problem in general). The mix also doesn’t do justice to the cool drumming going on.

Edited by Jakey Styley
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Free Bird FRONTMAN

Free Bird

Posted
Posted
16 minutes ago, downzy said:

I remember staying online during the Vegas NYE shows hoping to get some sort of description of what new Guns material might sound like.

Up to that point, only Oh My God had been released or heard.  This was before any leaks.

Shortly after The Blues was played, someone on the Dust N' Bones GNR mailing list wrote that it was the next November Rain.

And that's perhaps why I've never really liked the song.  Went in with high expectations and was completely disappointed.

The song starts out well, but once Axl starts out with "So now I wander through my days..." it falls apart. 

It's a mess structurally, never really landing on a set melody line (despite the good start). 

The lyrics are beyond cringe.  "Stardust on my feet..."  Wtf?

I've always said it sounds like Axl attempting to write a song for a broadway play.  Or if GNR was suddenly influenced by Journey.  

At least This I Love has some great orchestration to listen to, even if it's a bit more broadway musical.  

I always hated that this was one of the songs Axl chose to not only debut but keep in sets from 2002 to 2007.  There were far better songs and made me wonder if CD was worth the wait.  

It was definitely the song I chose for a bathroom break during the five shows I saw in 2002.  

Never got into Street Of Dreams myself either. I always prefered This I Love.

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