Rolling Stone reviews Chinese Democracy

[Buddha_Master]

I am so proud of Axl. And I am, as always, proud to be a fan.

All those fools saying Axl was fucking up GN'R's legacy just got shit rubbed all over their face. Fuck all of you. Goddamnit it is good having Guns N' Roses back!

[estebanf]

I'm fascinated with this part

And there is so much going on in "There Was a Time" ? strings and Mellotron, a full-strength choir and Rose's overdubbed sour-growl harmonies, wah-wah guitar and a false ending (more choir) ? that it's easy to believe Rose spent most of the past decade on that arrangement alone. But it is never a mess, more like a loud mass of bad memories and hard lessons.

great review. This is a very good kick off.

[FunkyMonkey]

 

Chinese Democracy gets glowing review

Stuff.co.nz | Tuesday, 11 November 2008

Rolling Stone magazine has dished out four-and-a-half stars in a glowing review of Chinese Democracy - the long-awaited new album by controversial rock band Guns N' Roses.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4757650a1860.html

[Buddha_Master]

HahaAAAAA Fuck YEA!

I am loving this shit!!!

[Albert S Miller]

Very pleased to see Fricke write a respectful review (not that I would expect anything less).  Lets hope this butters Axl up enough so that he gives them an exclusive!

My thoughts exactly

[The Dog]

Glad the reviewer gave Oh My God some props, it is a really great song. It annoys me when people knock it.

That's where he lost me.  That song is pretty average at best.  It's actually quite forgettable. 

Glad the music was reviewed and not the man or the time/money it took to make CD.

[Crowebar]

This is my personal favourite part:-"Rose shows that he still holds a long-breath vowel ? part torture victim, part screaming jet ? like no other rock singer."

[ThatGuy]

And there is so much going on in "There Was a Time" ? strings and Mellotron, a full-strength choir and Rose's overdubbed sour-growl harmonies, wah-wah guitar and a false ending (more choir) ? that it's easy to believe Rose spent most of the past decade on that arrangement alone.

wow.  i cant wait to hear the finished product.  i had always hoped when i have been listening to TWAT for the past 2 years, that there was a full on orchestra and some sort of false ending with a great outro.  sounds like the finished version on the album is going to be epic.

[GNRfan2008]

And there is so much going on in "There Was a Time" ? strings and Mellotron, a full-strength choir and Rose's overdubbed sour-growl harmonies, wah-wah guitar and a false ending (more choir) ? that it's easy to believe Rose spent most of the past decade on that arrangement alone.

wow.  i cant wait to hear the finished product.  i had always hoped when i have been listening to TWAT for the past 2 years, that there was a full on orchestra and some sort of false ending with a great outro.  sounds like the finished version on the album is going to be epic.

Uhhh...2 years? That's the original leak.

[reed2009]

the fucking album will be epic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! partying up for GNR! that whole week, into the thanksgiving holiday weekend!

[bolton]

very cool review

[Rainfox]

I covered the Danish SPOT Festival (music festival for up- and coming bands) in 2003, for the site www.musikliv.dk.

David Fricke was attending and was there to listen to music, but also to hold a press conference and talk a little about how The Raveonettes literally took off, after his review in RS.

He was very humble and very, very funny.

My article from back then is in Danish, but Fricke's comments are in English. The headline reads "frickassee gets 6 [the max] chef hats".




SPOT 09: Frickassee til seks kokkehuer


- Rockpressens grand old man, David Fricke, var igen at finde p? ?rets SPOT Festival i ?rhus. Igen var amerikaneren festivalens st?rste attraktion. Fortjent.

One Year Later: How Could The Raveonettes Happen? m. David Fricke

Fredag 30/5 2003, kl. 18.00, SAS Radisson hotel, ?rhus




De var engang to.

Nu er der kun ?n tilbage.

S? at sige.

Da den autodidakte huffsnuff rockjournalist Lester Bangs tragisk d?de af en overdosis hjemme i sit lille 2-v?relses hummer i 1982, mistede rock journalistikken en af sine mest arrige og virile stemme nogensinde. Siden hen har det v?ret blodfattigt med sigende personligheder i popul?rmusik pressen, b?de herhjemme og i udlandet. F? har de reflektive egenskaber som der skal til. F? kommer ud over skrivebordet eller forbi deres egen ferske og kompromiss?gende bl?de mellemvej af hjerned?d deadline journalistik. Verden har absolut ikke brug for flere spiseseddels anmeldelser.

S? er det jo betryggende at vi stadig har h?derkronede Rolling Stone Magazines senior editor David Fricke. P? visit i lille Danmark s?gar.

Fricke har skrevet for RS siden 1977 og er stadig den skarpeste pen i skuffen. En ildsj?l. En kompromisl?s (og kynisk) anmelder, men ogs? v?rt for en berusende varm og intelligent gang l?sning n?r han br?nder for et stykke musik. Hans navn vil forevigt v?re k?det sammen med Stones, Zeppelin, Ramones, Jesus and Mary Chain, Guns N' Roses, Nirvana og mange flere. Senest Danmarks egne The Raveonettes.

Frickes viden, indsigt, forst?else og evne til at artikulere de f?lelser som den gode og ?gte rockmusik kan s?tte i gang i hjerne og sj?l er ganske enkelt helt unik.

Den 2-meter h?je, ranglede og denimkl?dte Fricke lister dog ind i det fine m?delokale p? SAS Radisson hotellet denne fredag p? SPOT festivalen i al ubem?rkethed. Indtil seancen g?r i gang og stilheden breder sig. Salen spidsede ?rerne som gjaldt det livet.

David Fricke snakker heldigvis meget og han snakker l?nge. Salen tog sultent imod. Han kom vidt omkring. Om The Raveonettes, hans efterf?lgende venskab med Sune Wagner (bl.a. om hvorledes Wagner vitterligt har studeret musik fra A til Z, ved at indk?be plader i alfabetisk r?kkef?lge), den nordiske musikscene generelt og sm? festivaler som SPOT her. Fricke var meget begejstret for SPOT og h?bede at den ville forts?tte mange ?r endnu; "I have no major knowledge of Danish politics, but I believe you are building a new opera house, correct? It's like, throw some of that bread over here.." kommenterede han oprigtigt.

Er branchen og k?rene nu s? h?rde indenfor musikken, at det n?rmest kr?ver en fortaler som Fricke for at f? en pladekontrakt, l?d et af sp?rgsm?lene. Det var jo kontrakten med Columbia Records alle ville h?re om.

"What I listen to is mostly under the radar," siger Fricke roligt p? klingende ay-m?r-rikainsk til det fyldte lokale, "and regarding The Raveonettes it is only fair to say that, basically, I believe I stepped on a train that was already pulling away from the station." Han ville ikke h?re tale om det - Raveonettes' millionkontrakt med Columbia Records var en af de mange ting i branchen "that just happens" som han pointerede.

"Actually, the president of Columbia called me shortly after they played CBGBS (klassisk New York rockklub)", r?vesmilte han. "Now.. this guy doesn't normally call me," fortsatte han medens salen nikkede og grinte h?jlydt.

"And he goes, 'So David, are they any good? Are they? Should I sign them?'" - Fricke l?fter sin lange arm og drejer hovedet durk mod publikum s? hans varme ?jne bag de alt for store hornbriller og ravnsorte Ramones h?r stirrer ud over hele lokalet, "Well, I said, it's your money.."

Hvorefter salen eksploderede i latter.

"The rest is just words from me," summede han op. "Good rock n' roll should move you, and what some Danish bands are doing right now is taking what you like from us - and then selling it back to us. It's what the Stones did. It's what The Beatles did. It's what Sune [Wagner] did.

I don't need any more bad Pearl Jam. I like Pearl Jam. But in most American cities you have a thousand Creed-like bands, and it's discouraging."

Tiden flyver afsted og pludselig er vi ved vejs ende. "Promise to shoot me if I ever say that a band sounds like 'this-band-meets-this-band' ever again, which is really the oldest clich? around," griner Fricke.

Slutteligt giver salen ham en (passende) st?ende ovation. Det var direkte r?rende.

Derefter kr?b den ydmyge, lange mand ned fra podiet, ned til folket, p?blen og menigmand, ned hvor han f?ler sig mest tryg og p? hjemmebane. Midt i overbuddet af branchefolk, pladeselskaber, kamera-blitz og ledninger i det lidt for p?ne konferencerum.

Der var overraskende ingen som umiddelbart turde tage ham i tale efterf?lgende, s? Deres skribent her benyttede lejligheden til at give ham h?nden og tage en kort snak.

Tag mit ord for det: David Fricke er ikke alene ydmyg - han er rasende im?dekommende. Et unikum af rockviden og - vigtigst - meninger med resonans.

Jeg v?lger s? ikke at skyde ham selvom han vist kommer til at sige klicheen igen. Vi griner. Det bliver til et varmt kram og rygklap.

Dern?st lister han ud af det summende "branche"-bef?ngte lokale, og ud til de sm? rock scener hvor live musikken lystigt pumper l?s.

Hvor han kan ?nde i fred.

- MUSIKLIV.dk


 

[Lord Kayoss]

"If this is the Guns n' Roses that Rose kept hearing in his head all this time, it is obvious why two guitars, bass and drums were never going to be enough."


Good stuff!

It's almost time.

 

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

I've always liked David Fricke.

He's on all these VH1 Classic programs and I admire his work.  He has a calm confidence in himself, which I adore.  This good review he gave CD means a lot more to me coming from him.

[babydolls]

this review had me in goosebumps! loved the line about axl's voice being "part torture victim, part screaming jet" 

nice to see a review where it appears the journo has in fact heard the album and listened. rather than deciding what to write beforehand and letting his opinion be driven by media drivel.

I am aching for the 24th..

[wells]

one of the comments bellow the artivel on rs.com ... for those who were afraid why sorry, this i love and catcher were not mentioned 

Dante writes:

5of 5 Stars


Ok I finnaly have listened to whole record. Great review by David it was pleasure to read.
For me that album fuckin' owns. For me there are no fillers and you got that epic feeling listening to it. Best tracks in my opnion
"Catcher in the Rye" - one of the best tracks, awesome lyrics and outro section is one of the heaviest both muscially and lyrically, it sounds fantastic and stays in your head.
"I.R.S" - guitat loaded rocker with many hooks and some slower parts mixed in. Plenty of energy , guitar solo and really cool vibe.
"Sorry" - for me the best track on the album, Axl wants to exorcise his deamons, it is slow, heavy and blows you away. Every work in harmony grinding riff, Axl's deep vocals, drums.
"This I Love" - the most emotional song on the album, it is like Axl crying his love despair out, until the almost 2min long solo it is only piano, vocal and orchestra. Magical
"There Was A Time" - another song about love, but this one is pretty heavy, pretty fast paced with solos that shows that Slash isn't missed.
"Better" - bag of influences - funky chorus, industrial guitar licks, heavy metal middle section, shred solo, bluesy solo and great lyrics and all sounds so good and complex. I don't know how Axl manged to glue together so many different pieces

v. ..

[kaasupoltin]

It's a good review, not just because it's positive, but because it's fair and he made some good points there.

[IKnowWhereIAM]

While it is interesting to read, I put absolutely no stock in commercial 'reviews'...when you go to a new town, and want some grub, do you read 'Zaggats' or ask a local?  I personally check out the place with the most cars in the lot.  There is no doubt in my conspiracy filled head that certain mags know they will get snubbed for big $$$ interviews (read: Axl) and will review poorly, while those with confirmed interviews or feature articles will review more positive.

[Silverchair]

While it is interesting to read, I put absolutely no stock in commercial 'reviews'...when you go to a new town, and want some grub, do you read 'Zaggats' or ask a local?  I personally check out the place with the most cars in the lot.  There is no doubt in my conspiracy filled head that certain mags know they will get snubbed for big $$$ interviews (read: Axl) and will review poorly, while those with confirmed interviews or feature articles will review more positive.

David Fricke is probably music's best journalist. I have enjoyed and agreed with the major part of his reviews over the years. I doubt he's trying to suck Axl's ass here. The review is good... it doesn't mean it's bought or RS's way of getting exclusives.

[LunsJail]

While it is interesting to read, I put absolutely no stock in commercial 'reviews'...when you go to a new town, and want some grub, do you read 'Zaggats' or ask a local?  I personally check out the place with the most cars in the lot.  There is no doubt in my conspiracy filled head that certain mags know they will get snubbed for big $$$ interviews (read: Axl) and will review poorly, while those with confirmed interviews or feature articles will review more positive.

But too often the place with the most cars in the lot is an Applebee's.  Kind of like how Nickelback sells 7 million copies.