And Anudder Music Review: Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy

I want to tell you that this disc is pure shit.
I *want* to tell you that.
But it would be a lie.

It's been 17 years since Guns N' Roses released their last disc, the double album "Use Your Illusion 1 and 2". The discs were the follow up to one of the biggest albums of all time "Appetite For Destruction", and in my opinion, they couldn't have been more fittingly titled.

I often am stunned at the way the American public and mostly radio stations, still regard Guns N Roses as rock and roll legends. Let's break this down for a minute.
Appetite For Destruction was released in 1987....almost 22 years ago.
Anyone who was born at the time of the release, has now potentially graduated college.

The follow up double discs were mediocre at best. 30 some odd songs, and I don't need all of one hand to count the memorable tracks. Oh wait, I'm a liar because I just remembered that masterpiece "Get In The Ring" where Axl sat and challenged people to fights to a background track. That's AWESOME, right?

There were a couple of EPs in between the two major releases, but other than that....nothing.

So, Guns N Roses basically had ONE great record, almost a quarter of a century ago.
Is that fair to say?

Ok...for the last...let's say...15 years, Axl Rose, after getting rid of every other original member of the band has been in the recording studio creating the follow-up to "Use Your Illusion".
And use his illusion he did. In perhaps the greatest magic trick I have ever seen, this man has been able to get MILLIONS of dollars from a record label to create a new disc...for 15 years...because he made ONE great disc in 1987.
THAT, my friends, is fucking brilliant by ANY standard.
It is easily the greatest hustle I have ever personally seen, and I tip my hat to that gentleman.

As for the disc that the world has waited 15 years for?
It's very solid.
It's well composed...it's lyrically strong....it's got some really great elements to it.
But it's 15 years of hype, and 15 years too late.

Axl Rose has created an atmosphere around this disc that simply forbids it from being as amazing as it needs to be, to justify the wait.
Furthermore, the funniest part of this whole thing is that for me, Axl himself is the weakest link.
The musicians who play on the disc are great...there's some material that seems it would have been more up to date about 5 years ago or so, but it's still very good.
But it's Axl's voice that detracts from the whole endeavor.

What was once THE voice that defined a generation of music, now sounds like a relic of an age long since passed.
And that's the kick in the nuts of it all.
This whole time, people have been saying "It's gonna suck without Slash and Duff and those guys.", but the exact opposite is true. It only DOESN'T suck because of the new blood.
I assume Axl wrote the material, and as I've said, it's very solid that way.
But I can't imagine this disc even being close to interesting if all the players involved were from that era gone by.

At the end of the day, this disc won't be the final nail in Axl Rose's coffin...or at least it shouldn't be.
And believe me, I really didn't want to have to say that.