Guns n’ Roses- Better
One of the first articles I ever wrote about music was a review of Guns n’ Roses seminal 1987 masterpiece, Appetite For Destruction. Near the end of the review I wrote, “Guns’ new album, Chinese Democracy, is supposed to come out next year, but don’t hold your breath.” That was five years ago. Dozens of release dates came and went, but Axl Rose’s magnum opus remained unheard.
I never thought this day would come. Even as I was pre-ordering the album from the Best Buy website, I still didn’t completely believe it. I thought Axl would pull the plug at the last second, and I would have to wait another thirteen years. I didn’t believe it until I opened up the package and saw the disc inside.
There is only one word that can accurately describe Chinese Democracy: Bloated. Every single aspect of this record is overblown. Guitars are stacked on top of guitars, Axl’s voice is overdubbed, and there are orchestras and keyboards everywhere. It’s a hard rock “Wall of Sound.” The sound is so huge and so overpowering that the songs get lost the excess. The album is mixed so high that every instrument blends together, making it virtually impossible to pick up riffs or melodies. There are three guitarists on this album, and they are all fighting to be heard. This is easier said than done, because they have to compete with endless keyboards, soundbites and vocals. There is too much going on.
When Guns n’ Roses came out in 1987, they were seen as the antidote to the excess of hair metal. Eventually, Guns n’ Roses succumbed to the excesses of their peers. This is the fundamental problem with Chinese Democracy. There are some good songs here, but you have to really listen to find them. There are no truly memorable riffs, so you have to rely on Axl to decipher each track. Axl Rose’s trademark wail is in tact, which is a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your taste.
The guitars are the biggest problem with the album. The classic bluesy style of Slash and Izzy has been replaced with an oddly industrial tinge. Guitarists, Buckethead, Robin Finke and Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal contributed their talent to this record, but it’s impossible to tell who is playing what. The guitar solos are either pale imitations of Slash or misplaced shredding. The shredding felt completely wrong, because Guns n’ Roses is not a metal band.
All these elements distract the listener from otherwise decent songs. “Better” is a great mid-tempo rocker, “Sorry” is a good ballad in the vein of “Don’t Cry,” and “Scraped” sounds like it could have come from the Appetite sessions. There is nothing explicitly bad on Chinese Democracy, it’s just very mediocre. It’s very disappointing to hear such a middling record after all the hype and all the myth.
Perhaps things would be different if Axl hadn’t used the Guns n’ Roses name. When people think of Guns n’ Roses, they think of a down and dirty rock band. This is not the Guns n’ Roses you know and love. This is clearly the Axl Rose Project. His commitment to his artistic vision has to be admired. This all played out in Axl’s mind. Unfortunately, Axl’s vision rarely works. If you cut out all extraneous instrumentation and overproduction, you have a pretty good album. Instead, it’s Axl’s personal Pet Sounds, except not as good.