Everything about Chinese Democracy - the track

[tim_m]

i agree that it probably is not going to be the best song on the album however i think its brilliant, maybe they released this as its the title track, and in itself will be advertising the album?

I do too and i really love it. I think it might have something to do with the title track but i think more it was a safe single, a rocker not anything too epic like some of the others. I expect the second single to be the big hit and i would bet its better or madagascar or street of dreams.

[elmir]

Announced in SA as well....5fm...this morning....but haven't played it yet....

[duga]

http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=2207&a=843233

[badobsession81]

yeah.... Silverchair released their The Greatest View single last year and released 2 b-sides, a video and a live version of TGV.

So yes.... B-sides are common. I would expect it. Oh my god is one of my fav tracks.

Cool, well here's hoping they release a physical single with bside!

[MR.BROWNSTONE]

It was nice to hear this on the radio. Also nice not to see or hear any bad press about this yet.   

[Hammy]

http://www.zimbio.com/Guns+N'+Roses/articles/223/Chinese+Democracy+Song+Review

We have heard new music from Axl Roses (all that is left of Guns N' Roses) over the years. Many leaked tracks, live recordings of the band performing songs off Chinese Democracy, etc, but never an officially sanctioned song from Chinese Democracy.
 
Chinese Democracy is an album that has taken 14 years and more money than the Gross Domestic Product of small countries to make (Source) It has been the punch line for music journalists since The Spaghetti Incident?. Dr. Pepper has used it to promote their soft drink. But now it appears Chinese Democracy's release is becoming a reality.

First the inclusive of Shackler's Revenge in Rock Band 2 (Source). Then the announcement that the album will be sold through Best Buy exclusively. Then the launch of the pre-order site on Best Buy.com. (Source) Well now the single and title track has been released to radio. (Steaming below)

Chinese Democracy - Guns N Roses

And no matter how much I wanted to hate this song, I can't.
 
The song starts out slow. There is a over a minute that is just a long intro until Axl's primal scream announcing to the world he is back and screaming once again.
 
There are two vocal tracks, both of Axl. One is the higher singing Axl (think My Michelle) and other, the lower register Axl (It's So Easy), is the one front and center. It provides a layer to the song, that I found mildly distracting. Due to the duplicate layer, Axl never mixes the vocal ranges after the primal scream. Something I wish this song had, I wanted it to go higher and grab me by the balls.
 
The lead guitarist has changed so many times, I have no idea which lead track this is. It could be any number of guitarists, Buckethead, Robin Finck, or Bumblefoot. The most likely explanation is that it is a mixture of all three guitarists. The solo still has that technology "Bleep Bleep Tweak Tweak" sound, so I'll guess that part is Buckethead. The solos in the song sound like a Bumblefoot/Slash solo. Since Slash had nothing to do with the solos, I will guess Bumblefoot on those. The solos are good, but nothing mind blowing.
 
The lyrics seem to be Axl saying fuck you to those who were impatient to the album and to those criticizing the album. But lyrics are up for interpretation, so read into them what you want. I will say this though, they don't describe a time in a China where democracy rules.
 
On Appetite for Destruction, Stephen Adler's drums were always audible. You never really had to listen for them. But these drums are in the back. Same thing with the bass. You had to do more listening for it, but take a listen to Think About You. You can hear both drums and bass working together and driving the song. The song Chinese Democracy features vocals, guitars, and drums. Where is the bass? Of course, I Heart Music, wasn't the ideal medium for the single, so I reserve judgment until I hear it on cd.
 
I actually like the song. I think it is better than some songs on Use Your Illusion I and II. However the biggest strike against it is, it took 14 years for that? If this album were released right after The Spaghetti Incident? There would be no questioning it. This is the current form of Guns N' Roses minus Izzy and Slash and people would have accepted it.
 
I think if you can put your bias aside, you will find this song isn't bad. Is it Welcome to the Jungle? Fuck no. But is it good? Shit yea. It does make me excited to hear the rest of the album.

[Hammy]

Great to hear this on Radio 1, getting some "Mainstream" attention.  Credit to the DJs as well for being positive about it, some people find it too easy to take pot shots.  The responses I have seen so far, everyone is pleasantly surprised, obviously there's still the constant, "This took 15 years?" BS but in all honesty there isn't a single song in musical history that can live up to that kind of wait/expectation IMO.

[tim_m]

Overall that was a pretty fair and good review.

[tim_m]

Exactly no song no matter who wrote it could possibly live up to 15 yrs of expectations. Even if it were the stones i think people would be saying it took 15 yrs for this?

[Hammy]

Overall that was a pretty fair and good review.

Yeah I like how he says "I wanted to hate this song, I can't".  Very honest and sums up many people's views, so many people are going into this with negative views and they want to slate it, just goes to show that the songs quality can win over people, like this guy who, well wanted to be a hater, hopefully the trend continues.

[Olorin]

The myspace site has the new song and it seems like we can download it.

Dont know if this has been posted

http://www.myspace.com/gunsnroses

*edit  - well it has a download option anyway, cant get it to work though

[tim_m]

And like he said he wants to wait and hear it on the cd itself. I'm sure it will sound even better on there.

[tim_m]

Looks like it will be on itunes and amazon.

[Olorin]

I guess its not available yet though.

[tim_m]

Yeah i clicked the amazon one and didn't see it. I don't have ITunes so i can't check that one.

[Dead N' Bloated]

its just a sample on gnrs myspace. only 1:30

Half way down the page is the full song 


 

I know you!

Yes you do. 

Jay


 

[DeN]

at the moment on OUI FM, france

http://broadcast.infomaniak.net:80/ouifm-high.mp3

 

[m_a_r_t_i_n]

Daily Telegraph - UK
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/neil_mccormick/blog/2008/10/22/guns_n_roses_democracy_at_last

It's a very slow starter, but hey, after 15 years what's another minute or so of messing about?

Clearly, Axl is not a man in a hurry. There's 45 seconds of people talking while an orchestra tunes up before the snare drums crashes down and an understated guitar arpeggio joins the warm up.The actual power chord riff that signals that the band is ready to rock doesn't kick in till the minute mark, and Axl doesn't let out his trademark scream till 1 minute thirty seconds.

The opening line is "It doesn't really matter," which you might think was a bit defeatist after all that preamble, but the song itself is surprisingly lean, mean and to the point, verging on old school power pop with extra twiddling (it sounds like they might have spent most of the last two decades mixing guitars).

Linking onanism and politics, Axl rhymes ?masturbation' with ?rule the nation', but I couldn't actually work out what the connection was, or what the song is supposed to be about, but that's par for the course in the genre. There's a lead solo at 3.15, the purpose of which seems to be to set the record for the number of notes that can be played per bar. It's sparky but not particularly memorable. Slash is unlikely to lose sleep.

The song climaxes at 4.20 but then there's another 25 seconds of fading rumble, presumably while the band catch their breath. The whole thing lasts nearly five minutes, but I only make that about three minutes of actual song, the rest is just a kind of elaborate set of bookends, lending the whole experience an air of self importance. Still, after all that time, you can forgive them for making a meal of their comeback.

The problem with taking so long to make a record, of course, is that anticipation creates added expectation, until anything less than a groundbreaking masterpiece is going to be a disappointment.

But if you can forget about the millions of dollars and thousands of man hours, Chinese Democracy actually sounds like a decent afternoon's work in the studio, which should be enough to satisfy what's left of their fan base.

[Mysteron]

Here's a larger version of that logo that came attached to Guns' 'CD' single.

http://www.dmds.com/dmds/data/upload/34481_GnRLOGO Color Cropped_big.jpg

[tim_m]

Here's a larger version of that logo that came attached to Guns' 'CD' single.

http://www.dmds.com/dmds/data/upload/34481_GnRLOGO Color Cropped_big.jpg

Thanks Mysteron