Walking down the Street Of Dreams, when There Was A Time

[BumbleBuzz]

So the other day I went for a walk with my MP3 player on shuffle, and suddenly Chinese Democracy came on. So, I decided, let's put the play function on track to track and just listen to the entire album back to front. I'm ashamed to say this is something I haven't done in about 6 months or probably longer (even since last seeing the band live perhaps?)

I'm listening to these tracks and I'm thinking that this is a great album, but it doesn't define a time and place, and that's what I like about it. This album does not say 80s, it doesn't say 90s and it doesn't tell me that it was released in 2008. But that's exactly what I like about Chinese Democracy, it's like walking around an art gallery, taking a look at various masterpieces and seeing them come together. And every time I listen to the album I swear I hear nuances and whispers of licks I've never heard before. Maybe I'm just going mad but that is my honest opinion.

I'm beginning to rate songs like 'Sorry' and 'Prostitute' above 'Sweet Child O' Mine' and 'Welcome to the Jungle' because, unlike the latter, the former are songs that don't just become associated with a time, a movement and a generation. You always hear people talk about GNR and Appetite for Destruction like it defined a generation past and the albums only remain to pay testament and let others be reminded of what things used to sound like. It's a classic, no doubt, in the same way Born in the USA, Hotel California and Dr Feelgood are all classics in their own way

But Chinese Democracy, that is an album that transcends boundaries, an album that encompasses the listener and brings them on a journey. The next time someone asks you to recommend them some GNR, I say recommend them Chinese Democracy - perhaps the greatest GNR album we've had yet

[stvyrayvhn]

I started listening to the album again in the past week or 2 after a long time as well, probably 6 months or more.  I'm looking at it differently now than when I first heard it.   

[AdZ]

And every time I listen to the album I swear I hear nuances and whispers of licks I've never heard before. Maybe I'm just going mad but that is my honest opinion.

I know exactly what you mean, I was listening to Riad yesterday and found myself hearing guitar runs that for some reason had gone by completely unnoticed before.

[sweetbreakdown]

I totally agree with all that was said at this post. Now that all the hysteria that existed behind the name ?Chinese Democracy? is over people will start gradually to listen to the record just as a regular record n? will begin to discover the beauty that?s inside. Perhaps in 10 years or so people will start to say that this is the best Guns record ever (well who knows about the future ! -).
Anyway, I see this record the way I see most Queen albums ? songs that don?t belong to a certain era or time. They?re JUST masterpieces, art in music form. Many styles, many different textures n? sounds, things that I haven?t heard before too. Many breakthroughs at this album.
Guns N? Roses in its best form!

Thank you Axl! Thank you GUNS N? ROSES!!!!!

[sweetbreakdown]

Something that some people don't do n' I always try to convince them to do it:

Listen to it everywhere you can: stereo, computer, Ipod, in the car, etc. It's gonna sound different n' sometimes you can hear things you didn't notice before. That happened a little bit with Appetite, n' it happened a lot w/ Illusions but with Chinese I think it's much more. Many surprises under the hood!

[draguns]

I have to respectfully disagree. AFD is considered one of the best albums ever recorded.  CD is good, but it's not as good as AFD.  I think with DJ in the mix, the next album will be better than CD. "Sorry" and "Prostitute" doesn't hold up to "Sweet Child" or "Rocket Queen".  "Sorry" is a good song and one of my favorites on the album, but it's not a classic type of a song. 

[Buddha_Master]

Holy fuck. I have been seriously binge listening to Chinese Democracy. I somehow am like rediscovering these fucking masterpieces and it hasn't even been that long since I heard them last. I put the album on  my 3DS and playing along with it with these crazy sounds and interactive visualizers. Then putting it through its paces to and from work. Then wherever the fuck. This album is as much me as my own two feet.

It is a part of me somehow its crazy. Right before I hit the gym boom Shackler's time. After some California medicine, hello If THe World and TWAT. every mood there is a theme for somewhere on this album. Old school rock mood IRS. Modern fresh RNR Better. Tripping about a friend SOD. Feeling judged Sorry. Want something crazy RHiad. Need to be uplifted and motivated Scraped. Something deeper Beatles style CITR. Thinking about my woman's boobs, This I love. Fuck well, you get the picture.

It is weird you other's are listening to it a lot all of a sudden to. That is cool. I really can't wait for some new shit from these motherfuckers.


On a side note I was also just watching youtube videos and started watching a lot of GNR's Ritz '88 concert. That was a trip!  What a show. That GNR got me through so much fucking shit as a dumb fucking teen. Thier music helped me so much. So odd overdosing on Chinese D loving every second of it then getting smacked in the head, the memories and nostalgia, from the Classic band. And they were just so fucking magic at this show. Maybe their best ever. I love GN'R I guess that is all I am saying.

[Evita]

And every time I listen to the album I swear I hear nuances and whispers of licks I've never heard before. Maybe I'm just going mad but that is my honest opinion.

I know exactly what you mean, I was listening to Riad yesterday and found myself hearing guitar runs that for some reason had gone by completely unnoticed before.

The samething happened to me this week when for the first time, I listened to it in my MP3 player, with the headphones on.  I normally listen on my computer, or my car.  And suddenly, I heard a bunch of things I hadn't heard before.  Really cool.

Evita