Everything about Chinese Democracy - the track

[whiny]

For example, im in palm springs on vacation and i have yet to hear chinese on their rock station. I called in to ask about it and its not even in their rotation.  Either who ever is in charge of the rotation has a problem with Axl, or they don't think the song is good enough.  Either way, maybe another song sooner or later might change things.  

Palm Springs has radio??!?!?  

And for people bitching about CD being the first single...just STOP.

Do you all realize It's So Easy was the first single off of AFD?

Thank you, that will be all.

who's bitching? by the way, to avoid any misunderstanding of my intentions i changed my username... 

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

For example, im in palm springs on vacation and i have yet to hear chinese on their rock station. I called in to ask about it and its not even in their rotation.  Either who ever is in charge of the rotation has a problem with Axl, or they don't think the song is good enough.  Either way, maybe another song sooner or later might change things.  

Palm Springs has radio??!?!?  

And for people bitching about CD being the first single...just STOP.

Do you all realize It's So Easy was the first single off of AFD?

Thank you, that will be all.

who's bitching? by the way, to avoid any misunderstanding of my intentions i changed my username...

Not you that's for sure, the other people who keep saying that CD was a bad choice.

They should leave the decision making to the people that are involved in the project and KNOW BETTER.

[Olorin]

Any news regarding a date when we can buy the single?

[younggunner]

nope but I have one!

[Mobenrad]

This song is alright.

"Better" is...well...better.

[GNR4L]

This song is alright.

"Better" is...well...better.

Better is a Better song in my opinion.  I can't say that it should of been the first single cause I know nothing about the music business. Its a great song im sure it will be a single down the road.  Chinese Democracy is a real tight track that is good and im happy with it.

[xj220]

Finally heard it on the radio today, C101.3 here in Corpus Christi, TX.  I'll admit, it's starting to grow on me more and I like it more now than I did before.

[14 Yrs Of Silence]

I don't listen to too much radio, especially not top 40, but are any hard rock bands played in top 40 anymore?  Looking at the Billboard top 50 I see Nickelback, Gavin Rossdale, Kid Rock and Daughtry.  Thats pathetic!!!  Would be nice if a top 40 station decided to shake things up a bit and play more rock and a little less rap/r&b.  They might be surprised what kind of audience is out there.  Kids today grow up listening to horseshit because they don't know any better.  We're reaching a turning point again in culturally given the depressed political economic environement and pop culture often follows that.  I'm waiting for radio to reflect this, start playing Chinese Democracy, and watch this thing blow up beyond the typical rock audience and into a new generation of kids desensitized to shitty music.

[GypsySoul]

RollingStone (mag) >> Issue 1065 >> November 13, 2008

HOT LIST
GUNS N' ROSES
"Chinese Democracy"
Yes!  Giving hope to procrastinators everywhere, Axl comes through with a single that's worthy of the Guns name.  Thanks, bro - but please don't abandon us like that again.

[SkeletorSerpent]

Man, I was just listening and watching "Madagascar" and "The Blues" from RIR III in 2000; it gave me chills. Simply blown away. It seems like just yesterday when I first heard those demos on a burned Cd that a friend gave me. I fell in love immediately and haven't stopped waiting everyday for Chinese Democracy. I remember thinking to myself "this is exactly what I wanted and was hoping Axl's new music would sound like!! He's actually picking up right where I remember him leaving off with Estranged, Locomotive, NR, Don't Cry, etc." Anyway, as I watched RIR III again, I truly forgot how amazing those songs originally sounded when I first heard them over 8 years ago. They still sound fresh and exciting today, almost a decade later. I really hope the final studio cuts of Madagascar and The Blues are as close as possible to the RIR III sound, Axl really sounded great on those songs even though I thought the rest of his singing was at its weakest from everything after that show to about 2002. For some reason, only those two songs/performances seemed to really knock the ball out of the park. When he returned in 06-07 he was back to his A game with the raspy, scratchy soulful sound, and he used all of his vocal varieties (deep, bass, smooth, scratchy, screechy, etc.) whereas in 2000 - 2002 he seemed to always use his "new" really high smooth sound without any variety.

After watching those two songs, I'm really, really, pumped for November 23. I won't sleep tonight.

[Rainfox]

Find out for yourself


Rating: **** (4 of 5)

Track: Chinese Democracy

Artist: Guns N' Roses
Album: Chinese Democracy, 2008
Source: Radio airplay


A flurry of (computerized) animal and human sounds fill the air. A mellow but determined string-instrument joins in. It all intensifies like a buzzing moth to a flame only to be broken by the sound of a megaton bass drum that wallops countless times like someone slamming a prison door repeatedly. Jailbreak!

The guitar picking heightens to a frenzy and a flaming, four-chord riff hits like an exploding fist leaving all else in silence - the tone echoing in the stillness. A familiar banshee wail from the bowels of hell beckons the arrival - or is that return - of Guns N' Roses as their new and first album single in 15 years fires ahead relentlessly.

"It don't really matter, you'll find out for yourself," advocates Axl Rose as if prophecising what all the fuss is about with that illustrious album. Because, hey, here he is and here it is. The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. And all he's got left is "precious time."

If this is the first single then there's an actual release date too? Yes. Are pigs flying? Almost. Chinese Democracy - the album - will be released (yes, it will) on November 23rd exclusively to the BestBuy chain (yes, it will). This single is the first official peep from the album alongside the tracks Shackler's Revenge (released for the Rock Band 2 videogame; see review on MLSep08) and If The World (from the Ridley Scott movie Body of Lies).

This is where it gets really interesting. Unlike those two tracks this both feels and sounds like Guns N' Roses. Asked in 2002 by Kurt Loder (after a surprise performance at the MTV VMAs) whether the album would be out soon, Rose quipped: "I don't know if soon is the word." He went on to state that he was building something slowly with these particular players, and that they were building it in to something that once was. Whatever sense that made.

In a strange fashion, it makes some sense now.

The chugging riff, determination and melodicism in this track is all vintage Guns and the reluctance to have an actual chorus here - is all nu-GNR. Rose and his cohorts kindda make it all gel. I've read some reviews that have focused on the time gap between albums (their last album came out in 1993) and all of them basically concluded with a straight face: "Axl took so long.. for this?"

As if Rose, due to his seclusiveness or whatever else floats his boat, should either have made Appetite For Destruction 2 or come up with something the human ear has never before been subjected to. If he is to survive artistically. It's moronic.

Ultimately, it's also a comical situation. The music business and music journalism in general is at an all time low and Guns N' Roses have an impossible task ahead of them. Just securing a day in court with this album will be impossible. They're already walking in shackles down death row as the album hits in time for Black Friday. So, they should let the music do the talking for them.

Speaking of shackles: Shackler's Revenge had more oomph in my book and the killer chorus of that song is simply irresistible. In comparison, Democracy is more classic rooted Guns, full of swagger as it rocks and rolls. While it never - really - takes off, it's loaded with great sounding guitar. I have no idea who's playing apart from Robin Finck; his stuttery yet emotional signature sound spells his name during parts of the solo. Let it be noted that Axl teaming up with Finck back in 1997 was the best choice he ever made post-Slash (even if Trent Reznor wants to play tug of war).

The bopping beat in Democracy sounds as fresh as a sunrise and there's layers to shelve as Rose sings of "our baby" that got "to rule the nation.. even with an iron fist". Sarcasm or not, the song has bite and Rose's vocal snarl has It's So Easy punk written all over it. Credit should be given to the punchy production. As a lot of the album material has been played live over the years there has been plenty of speculation over whether the new stuff would be overproduced, compressed or sound too industrialized. Rumors have run rampant and producers Sean Beavan, Roy Thomas Baker and Mike Clink have all been through the gates at the studio the past ten years.

Not the case.

Production is credited to Axl Rose and Caram Costanzo (Rage Against the Machine, Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam) and Democracy sounds really crackling. It's still more Acthung Appetite than Joshua Destruction but that's a good thing.



By Peter Venkman
ROX OFF



 

[Dead N' Bloated]

Find out for yourself


Rating: **** (4 of 5)

Track: Chinese Democracy

Artist: Guns N' Roses
Album: Chinese Democracy, 2008
Source: Radio airplay


A flurry of (computerized) animal and human sounds fill the air. A mellow but determined string-instrument joins in. It all intensifies like a buzzing moth to a flame only to be broken by the sound of a megaton bass drum that wallops countless times like someone slamming a prison door repeatedly. Jailbreak!

The guitar picking heightens to a frenzy and a flaming, four-chord riff hits like an exploding fist leaving all else in silence - the tone echoing in the stillness. A familiar banshee wail from the bowels of hell beckons the arrival - or is that return - of Guns N' Roses as their new and first album single in 15 years fires ahead relentlessly.

"It don't really matter, you'll find out for yourself," advocates Axl Rose as if prophecising what all the fuss is about with that illustrious album. Because, hey, here he is and here it is. The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. And all he's got left is "precious time."

If this is the first single then there's an actual release date too? Yes. Are pigs flying? Almost. Chinese Democracy - the album - will be released (yes, it will) on November 23rd exclusively to the BestBuy chain (yes, it will). This single is the first official peep from the album alongside the tracks Shackler's Revenge (released for the Rock Band 2 videogame; see review on MLSep08) and If The World (from the Ridley Scott movie Body of Lies).

This is where it gets really interesting. Unlike those two tracks this both feels and sounds like Guns N' Roses. Asked in 2002 by Kurt Loder (after a surprise performance at the MTV VMAs) whether the album would be out soon, Rose quipped: "I don't know if soon is the word." He went on to state that he was building something slowly with these particular players, and that they were building it in to something that once was. Whatever sense that made.

In a strange fashion, it makes some sense now.

The chugging riff, determination and melodicism in this track is all vintage Guns and the reluctance to have an actual chorus here - is all nu-GNR. Rose and his cohorts kindda make it all gel. I've read some reviews that have focused on the time gap between albums (their last album came out in 1993) and all of them basically concluded with a straight face: "Axl took so long.. for this?"

As if Rose, due to his seclusiveness or whatever else floats his boat, should either have made Appetite For Destruction 2 or come up with something the human ear has never before been subjected to. If he is to survive artistically. It's moronic.

Ultimately, it's also a comical situation. The music business and music journalism in general is at an all time low and Guns N' Roses have an impossible task ahead of them. Just securing a day in court with this album will be impossible. They're already walking in shackles down death row as the album hits in time for Black Friday. So, they should let the music do the talking for them.

Speaking of shackles: Shackler's Revenge had more oomph in my book and the killer chorus of that song is simply irresistible. In comparison, Democracy is more classic rooted Guns, full of swagger as it rocks and rolls. While it never - really - takes off, it's loaded with great sounding guitar. I have no idea who's playing apart from Robin Finck; his stuttery yet emotional signature sound spells his name during parts of the solo. Let it be noted that Axl teaming up with Finck back in 1997 was the best choice he ever made post-Slash (even if Trent Reznor wants to play tug of war).

The bopping beat in Democracy sounds as fresh as a sunrise and there's layers to shelve as Rose sings of "our baby" that got "to rule the nation.. even with an iron fist". Sarcasm or not, the song has bite and Rose's vocal snarl has It's So Easy punk written all over it. Credit should be given to the punchy production. As a lot of the album material has been played live over the years there has been plenty of speculation over whether the new stuff would be overproduced, compressed or sound too industrialized. Rumors have run rampant and producers Sean Beavan, Roy Thomas Baker and Mike Clink have all been through the gates at the studio the past ten years.

Not the case.

Production is credited to Axl Rose and Caram Costanzo (Rage Against the Machine, Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam) and Democracy sounds really crackling. It's still more Acthung Appetite than Joshua Destruction but that's a good thing.



By Peter Venkman
ROX OFF



 

Did Ray Stance have anything to say? 


 

[Evolution]

It's still more Acthung Appetite than Joshua Destruction but that's a good thing.

What a great line!

[Sweet Black Magic]

It's still more Acthung Appetite than Joshua Destruction but that's a good thing.

What a great line!

Agreed...and a great review overall.  I think it is very "fair and balanced"  as they say

I also agree that "Shackler's" is more of a punch in the face with a killer chorus, but I like them both pretty equally at this point.

[14 Yrs Of Silence]

Great review!  I loved this line when responding to other "critics" complaint that, "Axl took so long.. for this?"

"...As if Rose, due to his seclusiveness or whatever else floats his boat, should either have made Appetite For Destruction 2 or come up with something the human ear has never before been subjected to."

[Drew]

Finally heard "Chinese Democracy" on the radio today. Afterward, the DJ said how nice it was to finally here some new GN'R music on the radio again. 

[axl2]

Awesome. A lot of stations are just getting the song. I think once it is officially released on itunes and a video, it'll also help promote the song as well.

[younggunner]

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/content_display/reviews/singles/e3ic9655ee4528b1af4d2ccc8393b87fba8

Against all odds, Axl Rose is at last releasing "Chinese Democracy," the first album of new Guns N' Roses material since 1991 (it will be an exclusive at Best Buy). The opening track is a hard-rocking cyberpunk drama, complete with an action-movie intro, neurotic multitrack vocals and plenty of spaced-out guitar solos (Buckethead?) designed to make up for Slash's absence. Over an industrial riff with shades of the Scorpions' "Rock You Like a Hurricane," Axl wails about "Real time visionaries sitting in a Chinese stew"?and he must be the first rock star to name-check "Falun Gong" and "masturbation" in the same song. This is not a typical radio hit, as it's not built around an obvious melody or hook like so many Guns N' Roses classics. But that hasn't hindered massive early airplay at several rock formats, and fans are clearly responding favorably to their first (authorized) taste of new GNR music in nearly a decade. ?Sven Philipp


nice review

[wells]

Let it be noted that Axl teaming up with Finck back in 1997 was the best choice he ever made post-Slash (even if Trent Reznor wants to play tug of war).

  I think that is the best part of the review ... ... I am sure Finck's role on CD is Huge (not that Huge (Paul)  ) and whatever happenes in the future should stay remarked by the past ... huh 

v. ..

[FunkyMonkey]

I think this person reads this board...

"Chinese Democracy" Makes History!   

Nov 2, 2008 - 9:51:01 AM

This well-established band has a huge following, and throughout the years through thick and thin they have acquired a loyal and devoted fan base. When Axl Rose would appear from seclusion like a prophet, it was like a shimmer of hope for the masses. The fans of Guns N Roses knew that when Best Buy listed the tracks of the new album on their website, it was a day many Guns N Roses fans thought would never come. They knew, this time in their hearts, it would come to fruition. To all the non-believers, take that! Guns N Roses fans are very creative, they think of everything from radio request info to who will be the first person to interview Axl Rose.

According to Nielsen Broadcast Data systems, on October 22 and on October 23, the new single titled ?Chinese Democracy? by Guns N Roses was played 683 times on all BDS-monitored terrestrial and satellite radio stations. No doubt in anyone?s mind that the single ?Chinese Democracy? is a radio smash hit. The 14-track album is co-produced by Axl Rose and Caram Costanzo. On a personal note, I thought I would never see the light at the end of the tunnel. I?m thrilled. Let?s hope the mainstream media is fair this time around to the misunderstood Axl Rose. Stay tuned.

http://www.canyon-news.com/artman2/publish/Star_Gazing_44/Chinese_Democracy_makes_history.php