Connecting Chinese Democracy to Past Art (Balzac)

[justynius]

I've always thought the Use Your Illusion albums derived their titles from the Honore de Balzac novel Lost Illusions.  Lost Illusions is about an aspiring country poet who moves to the big city with delusions of artistic achievement, only to have the corrupted city world slowly destroy his dreams.  The theme of both the novel and the albums seem to correspond, and the phrase is obviously similar.  GN'R even have "Lose Your Illusions" at the end of the Estranged video.

I've also read Balzac's short story The Unknown Masterpiece and think it is connected to Chinese Democracy.  The Unknown Masterpiece is about a master painter named Frenhofer who has been working on his greatest painting for over ten years.  No one has seen the painting in progress, but it has gained an almost mythic legacy from other artists.  He is met by a young painter named Poussin who has a beautiful girlfriend, and eventually agrees to let Poussin see the painting if he allows his girlfriend to pose for it to be completed.  After the painting is complete, he calls them in to see it - except the painting is nothing but a bunch of jumbled colors with layers and layers of paint on top of one another from the years of work.  They cannot make anything out of the painting except in the corner is a foot which wasn't overpainted too much, and is a masterfully painted foot better than anything they'd seen "like the torso of some Parian marble Venus rising up out of the ruins of a city that had been burned to the ground."  Frenhofer initially thinks he's achieved perfection, but their reactions give away that it is shit and for the first time he is able to see it for what it really is.  He goes crazy and burns all of his canvases, consuming himself with the same fire.

Obviously, Chinese Democracy isn't going to be a catastrophic failure like this.  We've already heard Catcher, TWAT, The Blues, and Better.... the rest of the album could be nine remixes of Anything Goes and it would still be a huge success.  However, that doesn't mean there isn't room to squirm each time they make 'improvements' to the new songs.  I seriously hope that by the time the album finally comes out, there is not a tragic irony to the words "What I thought was beautiful don't live inside of you anymore."

[Gordi]

It's still pretty cool to look at the similarities in art I reckon, cheers for that 

[god of thunder]

that is a nice comparison indeed....in the end we will have to judge ourselves in 200X!

[DuffRoze]

soooo u mean a cd with nine remixes of anything goes wouldn't sell???

hmm i guess its back to the drawing bored for Axl   

[PigeonOfSh!tMetal]

That was a cool read, and a good comparison, but I don't think it really means anythingin relation to the CD.

Did anyone else LOL at "Balzac"

[duga]

I honestly don't think Axl is as nuts as the guy you compare him too in your post.
I think he just realises he gets one chance and wants doesn't want to blow it.

But the chance shrinks with every year the album gets delayed. ?

[Mikkel]

Hey, that was really cool. I've read "The Unknown Masterpiece", too, and I like your thoughts a lot - though obviously I hope that Chinese Democracy will be better than Frenhofer's masterpiece...

Thanks for an interesting and intellectual post!

[mjp2006]

basically you are saying axl will kill himself

[charlesfosterkane]

don't forget at the end of lost illusions lucien ends up with the devil (like character) and in the first video post illusions axl is hanging out with the devil.

[crofty]

"...I'm looking at your Balzac right now"


someone had to!

[Doc Emmett Brown]

After the painting is complete, he calls them in to see it - except the painting is nothing but a bunch of jumbled colors with layers and layers of paint on top of one another from the years of work.

perhaps this painter was channeling Jackson Pollock and 20th century abstract expressionist movement through a reverse-time wormhole 

They cannot make anything out of the painting except in the corner is a foot which wasn't overpainted too much, and is a masterfully painted foot better than anything they'd seen "like the torso of some Parian marble Venus rising up out of the ruins of a city that had been burned to the ground."  Frenhofer initially thinks he's achieved perfection, but their reactions give away that it is shit and for the first time he is able to see it for what it really is.  He goes crazy and burns all of his canvases, consuming himself with the same fire.

I like this story. I hope the phrase 'overpainted too much' does not also represent CD, but we'll see someday.....

Anyway, cool post.

[Howard2k]

Great post, thanks.


And 10000000000000 times better than "It's coming out this Tuesday!!one1!!!1!"

[oneway23]

very refreshing post...some nice correlations there.

[Oh My Choking Soul]

Nice post, direct or indirect there seem to be some amazing parallels.

[Edward Rose]

Hey man,
Not sure what you are saying here but UYI was named after the artwork AXL bought off of Mark Kostabi.
Axl already had written the line "I bought me an illusion and I hung it on the wall".

I wonder if it was "named after" the Kostabi painting or is that the name of the Kostabi painting?

FWIW; The Kostabi painting is a re-do of just a small portion of a much larger painting called "The School of Athens" by Rafael. This larger work is rumored to have allot of hidden meanings and famous people in it.

Can you find find UYI?

[stvyrayvhn]

yes

[chinesedemocracy05]

The album would absolutely suck if Anything goes is on it. Always has been my least favorite Guns' original.

[GNR estranged]

cool read. my biggest fear about chinese democracy is that axl is doing too much work to it and changing too many things. hopefully that isnt the case.

[gin hotel]

[chimesedemo]

i like this now