Chinese Democracy
I’m starting to think of 2008 as the year that the United States struck back. We elected a president almost everyone is proud of. It was a good year for movies, including the two (indisputably) best superhero movies ever made. And hey, how about it – even the left-for-dead Axl Rose decided to chip in to the resurgence of culture and optimism, finally releasing Chinese Democracy after nearly two decades of relative obscurity.
Now granted, those three things are nowhere near being on the same level. Barack Obama’s election is really the game-changer, while a few legitimately good blockbuster movies are just icing on the America-shaped cake. And Chinese Democracy? Maybe it’s a dab of icing. But it’s still emblematic of this country’s spirit right now, and while Democracy is not a profoundly great album, it’s quite good, and handily the best G’n'R album since Appetite For Destruction.
Chinese Democracy is not what I expected in a couple good ways. It’s not overly produced or absurdly layered – the buzzsaw guitar riff of the title track makes it clear that this is going to be an album with bite. Nor does it continue some of the bad habits of the Use Your Illusions, most notably those albums’ collective lack of quality hooks – a problem that was only exacerbated by inflated song lengths. The tracks are tighter on Chinese Democracy, and when they run long it tends to be justified. Gone, too, are some of the cheesy vocalizations, like the over-use of bass vocals (see Back Off Bitch or You Could Be Mine, just to name two) or the flat choruses of otherwise decent tunes (see Breakdown or Locomotive).
Most of the tracks have a solid hook at their center. The best of these is the third track (and second single) Better, with a driving guitar rhythm and some excellent vocal work by Axl. Better is the nucleus to a strong opening set – the first six tracks all have something appealing about them, with Better and the grinding (not to mention instrumentally diverse) If The World being my favorites. The album takes a slight step backward with the rather straightforward Catcher in the Rye, and another step back for the next two tracks. Still, I’m sure people could make their cases for these songs – they aren’t total dogs, they just aren’t my thing.
The album closes on a note somewhere between its strong opening and slight midsection lapse. Despite some inescapably bad lyrics in the next two tracks (never Axl’s strong suit), I like the ethereal guitar work in Sorry, and I.R.S. has a pretty solid hook. Madagascar lapses back into some of those Illusion bad habits, interrupting an interesting song structure with an irritating series of sound bites, even making use of a Cool Hand Luke quote as Axl did in Civil War. Mercifully, this is the only track where the spoken word interrupts the music to any significant degree. The album is closed out by the catchy and affecting This I Love (a sort of improved November Rain) and the somewhat inscrutable Prostitute (doubtless a nod to the Appetite closer Rocket Queen).
I think this album is probably better than most reviewers are giving it credit. At 71 minutes, it offers a lot of music with surprisingly little pure fluff. And the first half is a very strong and diverse set of tracks. So rejoice, music fans…Axl is back, for now anyway. Axl Rose and America…have two resurgences ever gone together better?
December 2, 2008 at 12:27 am
In 1987 Guns N’ Roses appeared on the scene and single-handedly ended the silly era of glam-metal, paving the way for a series of much more respectable hard rock acts. Now in an age where music seems intent on catering specifically to pre-teen girls and suburban white kids who think they’re from the hood, Axl Rose is back to remind us what good music really is.
When an album is 14 years in the making, it seems only appropriate that it be met with a blend of skepticism and giddy anticipation. Chinese Democracy probably set an all time record for failing to meet expected release dates. A pop culture juggernaut vanishes off the map for a decade and a half before making a heavily hyped return to the spotlight…
Does this feel like familiar territory?
Chinese Democracy is the “Episode I” of rock albums. However, when the hype and anticipation of “Episode I” became the dreary reality of “The Phantom Menace” it left most people over the age of six feeling unfulfilled. Not so this time.
Chinese Democracy serves as a wake-up call to any fan of rock music. It features a number of explosive hooks, ass-kicking riffs, and brain-melting solos. Pop will eat itself, but rock will never die. Not if Axl Rose has something to say about it. And he does. He has 14 tracks worth of material on the subject and a promise of more to come.
From the adrenaline pumping refrain of “Shackler’s Revenge”, to the cleverly spun lyrics of “Street of Dreams”, to the more dulcet tones of “Sorry” Chinese Democracy is unlikely to leave even the most skeptical fan feeling disappointed.
When all is said and done, Axl Rose (and a cast of dozens) put forth a high quality effort. Chinese Democracy does not sound dated or lackluster or unrecognizable — all concerns put forth by the media during the interminable production of the disc. What it sounds like mostly is really good rock music — or in other words: what Guns N’ Roses became famous for. Sure, Axl is the only member of the original band left and that may cheapen the experience for some. For most, this new incarnation of Guns N’ Roses may not have hit a grand slam, but at the very least it’s a blistering bases-clearing double off the wall.
Also:
Lyrics have never been Axl’s strong suit? What a totally baseless criticism! The lyrics of Coma, Breakdown, Estranged, Locomotive, Don’t Damn Me, and Bad Apples are all pretty considerably above average. And you can easily make the case the lyrics to most of Appetite for Destruction are vastly superior 99.5% of all other rock albums.
December 2, 2008 at 1:17 am
Axl’s lyrics are, at best, typical rock fare. There’s very little subtlety to be found. Coma is full of trite imagery and simple poetry (”a world that’s full of shit,” “wreckage of twisted dreams,” some stuff about suicide). Breakdown? The chorus is just “Breakdown! (let me hear it now!)” Let me hear it now? Uh…I guess. The lyrics to a lot of the Illusion songs, including Breakdown, ramble without any real cohesive vision. One of the casualties of 7 minute run times.
Axl is a pretty childish individual, and it shows in the lyrics. There’s a lot of stupid anger, and emotional catharsis is often no better than a shouted obscenity. There are no interesting metaphors, few interesting song concepts. Paranoia and some kind of hopeless, all-consuming megalomania run rampant.
GOOD lyrics are not easy to find, but I would start with Born To Run, which has unquestionably the best lyrics of any album I’ve ever heard. It is probably the most complete album, musically and lyrically, ever made. Most Springsteen albums are excellent lyrically – Nebraska is another great one. I think the Counting Crows have notably above-average lyrical talents. The great Dylan albums are at the very least challenging and evocative. I think Van Morrison is somewhat overrated as a lyricist, but he does have his moments of greatness (I’m partial to the song Astral Weeks). If you can tolerate dadaism, the works of Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa are interesting. Everyone should own Trout Mask Replica, anyway.
December 2, 2008 at 1:53 am
So your whole argument is, “not enough subtlety”. Brilliant. It’s hard rock music. Subtlety is kind of the opposite of what they’re going for? Lyrics are more about delivery than about subtlety or their face-value meaning, anyway. Regardless, it’s supposed to be largely angry and primal.
The lyrics to “Welcome to the Jungle” are pretty excellent.
I’ve always felt that-
We are the people that you find
Whatever you may need
You can taste the bright lights
But you won’t get them for free
-is a particularly good knock against Hollywood. And how can anyone not get behind:
You gotta hunger for what you see
You’ll take it eventually
You can have anything you want
But you better not take it from me!
All of the verses to Paradise City are great, too.
Just a’ urchin
livin’ under the street
I’m a hard case
that’s tough to beat
I’m your charity case
So buy me somethin’ to eat
I’ll pay you at another time
Take it to the end of the line
Rags to riches or so they say
Ya gotta-keep pushin’
for the fortune and fame
You know it’s-it’s all a gamble
When it’s just a game
Ya treat it like a capital crime
Everybody’s doin’ their time
Strapped in the chair
of the city’s gas chamber
Why I’m here I can’t quite remember
The surgeon general says
it’s hazardous to breathe
I’d have another cigarette
but I can’t see
Tell me who you’re gonna believe
Captain America’s been torn apart
Now he’s a court jester
with a broken heart
He said-
Turn me around and
take me back to the start
I must be losin’ my mind-
“Are you blind?”
I’ve seen it all a million times
All pretty funny, and all delivered particularly well within the context of the song itself. It seems to me that you’re looking for everything to be cut from the same cloth as “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” which is not only a ridiculous expectation, but wholly unnecessary as well.
A book doesn’t have to be Shakespeare or Melville in order to be considered literature, but that seems to be the requirement you’re placing upon song lyrics. And this from a guy who thinks “Jagged Little Pill” and “Oops!… I Did It Again” are good albums.
I’m just saying it’s a pretty unfair criticism.
December 2, 2008 at 1:56 am
Ah, I messed up those “Jungle” lyrics.
We are the people that you find
Whatever you may need
If you got no money, honey
We got your disease
and then later…
You’re a very sexy girl
That’s very hard to please
You can taste the bright lights
But you won’t get them for free
December 2, 2008 at 10:42 am
While I have yet to sample “Chinese Democracy” in its entirety, with what few songs I have heard, including the now-ubiquitous-on-Sirius title track, it does seem to me to be heavily overproduced, despite what Jay has to say, especially when compared to the blazing rawness of “Appetite.” Not that this is such a bad thing, but ProTools fingerprints are all over it.
From what I’ve heard so far, I do seem to like it; it’s different, but the same, if you get my meaning. Same Axl vocal ferocity backed now with layers of crunching guitars, overdubs and samples, as opposed to Slash’s scorchingly frenetic solos. Still, it’s a GN’R album, like it or not, and from what you guys say, a pretty good one. Think I’ll pick it up soon, along with my free Dr Pepper.
December 2, 2008 at 2:23 pm
I suppose I’m using the term “subtle” to mean “non-obvious.” Most lyrics, including Axl’s, are obvious…uninspired. I don’t agree with you that the Jungle and Paradise lyrics are anything special. One line on Chinese Democracy goes “I’ll kick your ass like I said that I would.” No.
Buy Nebraska and read the lyrics to it as you listen to the songs. It has developed, consistent ideas, and a sense of presence and imagery that you’re not going to find in any G’n'R song. If you want to argue that rock doesn’t need good lyrics, just a healthy swagger, I don’t disagree. I enjoy Axl for what he brings to the table. But I don’t think it’s lyrics.
December 2, 2008 at 2:27 pm
I’d say the production is pretty slick, Kyle, but I don’t think it’s overproduced, or focused more on production than hooks. It is unquestionably less raw than Appetite as you suggest.
Do they still have the Dr. Pepper offer? I heard it was only a one-day thing, and now G’n'R is suing over the inadequacy of the promotion. Which seems awfully presumptuous to me – it’s not like this was a business relationship, it was just something that Dr. Pepper offered out of the goodness of their hearts.
December 2, 2008 at 3:55 pm
I don’t know if I would go so far as to say that the album is [i]over[/i]produced but I would agree that the Pro Tools fingerprints are as clear as George Lucas’ fingerprints on Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
Someone once said that Axl was such a huge fan of Nine Inch Nails that he became hell bent on sitting at his computer and making an entire album. The price of doing this was losing the rest of the band.
The Dr Peppers offer was one day — November 24th. You had to go to the DP website to claim your free Dr Pepper and they would send you a coupon for it which had a 30-day limit to be redeemed. I read that they extended the initial deadline to get the coupon due to overwhelming demand, but I had not heard that GNR was suing them.
That seems a little crazy. As J said, it wasn’t a business deal. It was a promotion that Dr Pepper extended all on their own because the CEO is apparently a GNR fan.
December 2, 2008 at 4:07 pm
So here’s the deal with the Dr Pepper thing:
So many people tried to access the website that it crashed and the coupon was unavailable for much of the day that it was supposed to be offered.
People began blogging about it, and many are allegedly blaming… Axl Rose? This is incredibly stupid but not unexpected. What do you expect from a bunch of spineless churls cowering behind their internet-provided shroud of anonymity? If you were looking for something other than a tidal wave of incomprehensible ignorance and misdirected anger, then you were setting yourself up for disappointment.
In any event, Axl now feels that he is being unfairly targeted and that Dr Pepper should take responsibility by making amends with the fans and offering the coupon for a longer period of time.
Dr Pepper is saying that it’s a shame GNR and their lawyers are taking a fun giveaway and turning it into a lawsuit.
December 2, 2008 at 5:02 pm
The Dr Pepper comment was meant as a joke – don’t take it serious, guys.
As for the album being more polished and, in my words, “over-produced,” I was merely saying it was “over-produced” in comparison to the stripped-down early GN’R efforts everyone fondly remembers, though you could likely say the same thing about the two Illusion albums (November Rain, Estranged, et al).
By the way, I dug the comparison between Axl and George Lucas, and their digital meddling, though I doubt even Lucas has been swimming with dolphins while wearing shoes with his own name on them. I hope.
December 2, 2008 at 7:51 pm
No, Lucas definitely hasn’t been swimming with Dolphins while wearing shoes with his own name on them.
You know how I know this? Because in order to do so, he’d have to get up, leave his house, go get his monogrammed shoes, go somewhere where they have Dolphins, get in the water…
Waaaay too much effort for Lucas. Instead, he would have one of his assistants call ILM and make a digital rendering of a video of him swimming with digitally rendered dolphins while wearing digitally rendered sneakers with his name on them.
And it would all look incredibly fake.
December 2, 2008 at 8:17 pm
And the dolphin would have a Rastafarian accent. And would shoot first.
December 5, 2008 at 9:36 am
My quick take:
1. Chinese Democracy is a really good album.
2. Axl can craft some really great lyrics (see Welcome to the Jungle), but some really cheesy lyrics (November Rain, Street of Dreams), and some really childish and offensive lyrics (all of Get in the Ring, One in a Million). He does all of these things. (And, on a side note, who to hell names a song “Street of Dreams” anyway? Did Andrew Lloyd-Webber ghost write this song?)
3. The album definitely got produced, a lot. Does it sound too produced? I guess not to me. Appettite was 20 years ago, and if Axl tried to replicate that rawness in his forties it would sound disingenous at best and pathetic at worse.
4. Appettite definitely did NOT kill glam metal. Here are some albums that were huge and came out after Appettite:
[i]Open Up and Say….Ahh![/i], and [i]Flesh and Blood[/i] by Poison
[i]Cherry Pie[/i] by Warrant
[i]Stick It to Ya[/i], by Slaughter
[i]Mr. Big[/i], by Mr. Big
Glam was live and well until around 1993 when Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, et al had taken the rock mantle away from glam metal.
December 5, 2008 at 12:36 pm
I can’t speak to 1980s glam, but glam rock in general produced some good music. David Bowie’s glam period was really fantastic, and I dig me some T. Rex (Electric Warrior is solid). Oh, and the New York Dolls debut.
Is there anything really worth owning from the late 80s and early 90s, though? I really have no idea.
December 5, 2008 at 3:17 pm
The point, friends, is that GNR’s emergence signaled the decline of glam-metal. Sure, it may not have immediately dropped dead, but from that point forward it was limping around on two bad legs looking for a place to lay down and expire.
If you watch any of the documentaries on heavy metal (there are some good ones — notably VH1’s 4-part series: The History of Heavy Metal) every single one of them focuses on the release of Appetite for Destruction as a turning point for music. They even interview musicians from other bands of the era like Dee Snyder who says, “When Guns N’ Roses came on the scene, the rest of us were like, oh man, the jig is up. We had always been about goofing off and having a good time, but these guys were actually good.”
December 5, 2008 at 7:38 pm
Brian, I still have to disagree. GNR didn’t change the scene at all with Appetite. It was different album and was a huge success, but it did not dent the glam metal scene at all. Poison, the glamiest band of them all, gained its popularity after Appetite came out. People certainly saw GNR as a band apart, but I don’t see any evidence (except post hoc reminiscing) that the album dealt any sort of blow to the glam metal genre at all.
December 5, 2008 at 7:57 pm
Glam Metal was more than just Poison. What about Warrant, Ratt, Night Ranger, Twisted Sister, Motley Crue, and Quiet Riot? You never heard of any of these guys after Appetite.
December 6, 2008 at 12:20 am
Dude, you are just wrong. Warrant broke AFTER Appetite (their first album came out in 1989, two years after Appetite). Motley Crue came out with one of their most popular albums, Dr. Feelgood, in 1989. Twisted Sister and Quiet Riot were done by 1987, but there is no compelling evidence that GNR had anything to do with that (QR put out two crappy albums before 1987, for example).
Why do you continue to pull out assertions that have no basis in actual and easily verifiable facts?
December 6, 2008 at 10:25 am
Will – I agree with pretty much everything you said above, except the fact that grunge didn’t break in ‘93, it was late ‘91/early ‘92 when Nevermind hit, and shortly afterward all but laid waste to Glam/Hair Metal.
December 6, 2008 at 10:39 am
Kyle – You are right that grunge was out before 93, but glam metal (and metal in general) was not dead in 91, when the Illusions came out. Perhaps 1993 is too late, but grunge didn’t instantly slay glam. I was trying to give it a few years, but you are probably right that 1993 may be a little late. The Spaghetti Incident? came out in 1993 and bombed, and Poison’s Native Tongue did the same. Maybe 1992 is the year it really changed.
December 6, 2008 at 2:49 pm
Sounds good to me. Now when can Emo be gone?
December 10, 2008 at 12:58 am
You know, At the Drive In was a great band, and I guess they would be characterized as emo. But I am off topic….
December 10, 2008 at 9:13 am
But in 10 years will as many people look back as wistfully at emo as they even do now at grunge? Doubtful. Will there be any emo bands that will be remembered in 20 years time like, say Guns N’ Roses, or Nirvana? No one’s going to care about My Chemical Romance or Fall Out Boy in 20 years.
December 13, 2008 at 1:08 am
I agree with you there, Kyle. You can throw pop music in with that as well.