Say you’re a spoiled rock star who has spent $13 million on recording and producing a record that took over a decade to release. Say you’ve finally released the album, and, by and large, it sucks. You may sit around and sulk, pout, throw things, and scream at the wall saying no one understands your genius. Or maybe you just assemble a band, go out on tour, and presume you’re going to make oodles of money — and to hell with your critics.
If you’re Axl Rose, you do both. But what is it about Chinese Democracy that’s so hard to stomach — beside the fact that that songs aren’t any good. In Friday’s NY Times (I know … Friday, that’s an eternity in Internet time), they had this to say about the album:
The craziness on “Chinese Democracy” isn’t the wild, brawling arrogance that the young Mr. Rose and his rowdy ’80s band mates gave the fledgling Guns N’ Roses. It’s the maniacal attention to detail that’s possible in the era of Pro Tools: the infinitude of tiny tweaks available for every instant of a track, the chance to reshape every sound and reshuffle every setting, to test every guitar solo ever played on a song — or all of them at once — and then throw on a string arrangement for good measure. That microscopic focus is obvious throughout “Chinese Democracy”; every note sounds honed, polished, aimed — and then crammed into a song that’s already brimming with other virtuosity. At points where the mix goes truly haywire, like the end of “Catcher in the Rye,” a Meat Loaf song title sums things up: “Everything Louder Than Everything Else.”
Cherry
November 25, 2008 at 8:44 amWell if that review doesn’t make me just want to run out and BUY IT!
Poor Mr. Rose. Sounds like he put a little too much brilliance into his music.
Ted
November 25, 2008 at 9:29 amI’ve heard a few tracks, and while I’m not a G N’ R fan, it sounded unimpressive.
J
November 25, 2008 at 9:51 amFunny review. Sounds sucky. 🙂
John Smulo
November 25, 2008 at 11:35 amI was a total GNR fan back in the day. I still like most of their past stuff a lot, but everything surrounding them including Chinese Democracy sucks. Sigh.
lalunas
November 26, 2008 at 10:32 amHummm, it sounds like a pressure thing and he did not write it from his soul, but more because of the $$$$ issues on his record contract.