Chinese Democracy Review Thread

[RancidPunx]

The highly regarded Pitchfork gives 5.8 out of 10. Well written, worth a read.

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/node/147782

Not even.  Once Mr. Ian Cohen brought up former members, I knew this review would go nowhere.

He didn't really review the album.  He found ways to slam the album for not having the former members on it, and he had grand expectations.  How he could mention Chuck Klosterman's April Fool's review and the Hindenberg in the same paragraph is beyond me.

Moving on...

LOL@ former members. As if these were just some guys that came and went and didn't play any role in GNR selling 90 million albums. Maybe when the newer guys become more well known and carve out their own identity then reviewers will place them on a Slash/Duff level. Ask the general public what they they think when they see a picture of the new band and all you will get is that Fortus looks like Izzy. It was a fair review.

[western_chaos]

The highly regarded Pitchfork gives 5.8 out of 10. Well written, worth a read.

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/node/147782

Not even.  Once Mr. Ian Cohen brought up former members, I knew this review would go nowhere.

He didn't really review the album.  He found ways to slam the album for not having the former members on it, and he had grand expectations.  How he could mention Chuck Klosterman's April Fool's review and the Hindenberg in the same paragraph is beyond me.

Moving on...

LOL@ former members. As if these were just some guys that came and went and didn't play any role in GNR selling 90 million albums. Maybe when the newer guys become more well known and carve out their own identity then reviewers will place them on a Slash/Duff level. Ask the general public what they they think when they see a picture of the new band and all you will get is that Fortus looks like Izzy. It was a fair review.

It was not a fair review. A fair review is one that is not biased and a fair review is a review where they actually listened to the album.

[RancidPunx]

The highly regarded Pitchfork gives 5.8 out of 10. Well written, worth a read.

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/node/147782

Not even.  Once Mr. Ian Cohen brought up former members, I knew this review would go nowhere.

He didn't really review the album.  He found ways to slam the album for not having the former members on it, and he had grand expectations.  How he could mention Chuck Klosterman's April Fool's review and the Hindenberg in the same paragraph is beyond me.

Moving on...

LOL@ former members. As if these were just some guys that came and went and didn't play any role in GNR selling 90 million albums. Maybe when the newer guys become more well known and carve out their own identity then reviewers will place them on a Slash/Duff level. Ask the general public what they they think when they see a picture of the new band and all you will get is that Fortus looks like Izzy. It was a fair review.

It was not a fair review. A fair review is one that is not biased and a fair review is a review where they actually listened to the album.

Umm,he gave his thoughts on a lot of the songs. What in his review makes you think he didn't listen? Just because he doesn't worship at the altar of Axl, does not mean he didn't listen to the albums. The guy knows his stuff as he even went into detail about the Illusions. It isn't like he is a writer that thinks GnR has NR,PC,SCOM and WTTJ as their only material.

[KeVoRkIaN]

Howard Stern to do a review of Chinese Democracy in next 30 mins - cannot tape (on my way to work).  Can anyone record this??? Howard 100 Sirius Radio

[variant]

Digital Spy gave it an average review (3/5) - http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/a137005/guns-n-roses-chinese-democracy.html

Nuts magazine (UK) gave it 4/5

[mrarkadin]

The highly regarded Pitchfork gives 5.8 out of 10. Well written, worth a read.

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/node/147782

I think it's certainly a biased review--he has personal expectations for what the record should accomplish after 15 years. But, to some extent, I agree with a lot of what he says--I just take a completely different judgment. Ten years ago, though, Axl said he was taking the old fans along "slowly." This guy wants a reinvention of the wheel. Even a song like Shackler's or If the World alienates some old fans. So, when he says Axl underestimated what the fans want, I think this guy is overestimating how much they would take. I mean, Axl is no fool. This was always going to be a Guns N Roses album. The next records will probably go further, if Pitman speaks the truth. As it is, within the confines of what a GNR album could be right now, Axl does push the boundaries of style and complexity. The reviewer neglects to mention a lot of those tunes, however.

Critics also focus too much on trends. Does it fit into this trend or not. Is it hip, is it dated etc. And when they know this album has been gestating and Axl was last prominent 17 years ago they take shots at how "anachronistic" the album sounds. Go slam the Killers then. Or any of these indie bands that never got beyond the Beatles or My Bloody Valentine. These GNR songs will hold up. We've been listening to some of them for 8 years and they are still exciting and compelling.

[faldor]

Howard Stern to do a review of Chinese Democracy in next 30 mins - cannot tape (on my way to work).  Can anyone record this??? Howard 100 Sirius Radio

It wasn't much of a review.  They played "Chinese Democracy" which they all said was good.  Artie said it was better than anything Velvet Revolver ever did and that it was better than anything out there today.  They played "Shackler's Revenge" for about 30 seconds, not much discussion about it.  They played "Better" for about 10 seconds and Robin said it wasn't good.  They played "Catcher In The Rye" for about 30 seconds and Howard said he liked it.  Then they played "Prostitute" for about 20 seconds and Robin again said it wasn't any good.  They made the usual jokes about how long the album took to make and how much money it cost.  Howard seemed to like it but he said that he just doesn't think he's that IN to music anymore, then Robin said that wasn't the case.  She said he wasn't IN to THIS music because it wasn't any good.  So all in all, Howard DID seem to like it but couldn't get over the time/money aspect.  Artie definitely liked it.  Robin did not and she claimed that was because of quality, nothing more, nothing less.  Of course they listened to very small snippets of 5 songs so it's hardly a legitimate review.  Nothing to see here.

[falungong69]

The highly regarded Pitchfork gives 5.8 out of 10. Well written, worth a read.

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/node/147782

Not even.  Once Mr. Ian Cohen brought up former members, I knew this review would go nowhere.

He didn't really review the album.  He found ways to slam the album for not having the former members on it, and he had grand expectations.  How he could mention Chuck Klosterman's April Fool's review and the Hindenberg in the same paragraph is beyond me.

Moving on...

LOL@ former members. As if these were just some guys that came and went and didn't play any role in GNR selling 90 million albums. Maybe when the newer guys become more well known and carve out their own identity then reviewers will place them on a Slash/Duff level. Ask the general public what they they think when they see a picture of the new band and all you will get is that Fortus looks like Izzy. It was a fair review.

i don't even understand why you're hear.  all you ever do is slag axl and defend people who abandoned him or betrayed him. 

this review is utter and complete shit.  i officially hate this reviewer and will be sending him some very strongly worded emails that let him know.  it's fucking bullshit to bring up the old band becuase THEY ARE NOT GUNS N ROSES ANYMORE!  i don't see the critics complaining about how AFD didn't have Tracii Guns on it and he was the first gnr guitarist.  they're so stuck up slash's ass it's gay.  and why?  because he's on video games and whoring himself out for anybody who will give him money?

i cry nearly every time i listen to this i love. do you know how many songs can do that?  hardly any.  therefore, it is a great one of a kind song.  period.  and there's shit that slash or gay homo pitchfork media can say about it.  they try to destroy, but they're just petty small assholes.  this album will sell tons in the long term and they'll probably write another reivew in a few years that apologizes for the first review and explains that they just weren't capable of appreciating how amazing the music is.  their subscriptions will probably decline after this review.  mark my words.

[Doc Emmett Brown]

A positive review from The Epoch Times
http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/arts-entertainment/guns-n-roses-chinese-democracy-axl-rose-7706.html

I liked what he said about Better.

The Epoch Times are the Falun Gong's newspaper. They have a reason to be biased in favor of the album, as it defends them and makes the Chinese government looks bad. 

If a single song on an album that is otherwise personal and not political can inspire him to give it more than a cursory listen and offer his own feelings about the songs, then kudos to him. 


For those who have the strange desire to read reviews slanted to the negative, here's one from the LA Weekly:
http://www.laweekly.com/2008-11-27/music/amuse-your-delusion/

"a lost cause taken to delirious extremes, a fascinating catastrophe inspiring equal parts awe and pity."

[SLCPUNK]

A positive review from The Epoch Times
http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/arts-entertainment/guns-n-roses-chinese-democracy-axl-rose-7706.html

I liked what he said about Better.

The Epoch Times are the Falun Gong's newspaper. They have a reason to be biased in favor of the album, as it defends them and makes the Chinese government looks bad. 

If a single song on an album that is otherwise personal and not political can inspire him to give it more than a cursory listen and offer his own feelings about the songs, then kudos to him. 


For those who have the strange desire to read reviews slanted to the negative, here's one from the LA Weekly:
http://www.laweekly.com/2008-11-27/music/amuse-your-delusion/

"a lost cause taken to delirious extremes, a fascinating catastrophe inspiring equal parts awe and pity."

"This is the mythical burrito microwaved by God, which is so hot, God himself cannot eat it."

 

[SLCPUNK]

Just a general observation: Can't GnR fans disagree with "Negative" reviews without acting like angry children?

No need to insult people are act like a group of loons.

[Cake]

The only thing that annoys me about any of the negative press that I have seen is inaccuracies and flat out Axl-bashing. If people take time to listen to it and don't like the songs, then fair enough - The music cannot be to everyone's tastes. That's just a fact of life!

[SLCPUNK]

Yes, but giving a nasty reply is pretty much what they want, and makes the GnR community look like a group of buffoons.

[KeVoRkIaN]

Howard Stern to do a review of Chinese Democracy in next 30 mins - cannot tape (on my way to work).  Can anyone record this??? Howard 100 Sirius Radio

It wasn't much of a review.  They played "Chinese Democracy" which they all said was good.  Artie said it was better than anything Velvet Revolver ever did and that it was better than anything out there today.  They played "Shackler's Revenge" for about 30 seconds, not much discussion about it.  They played "Better" for about 10 seconds and Robin said it wasn't good.  They played "Catcher In The Rye" for about 30 seconds and Howard said he liked it.  Then they played "Prostitute" for about 20 seconds and Robin again said it wasn't any good.  They made the usual jokes about how long the album took to make and how much money it cost.  Howard seemed to like it but he said that he just doesn't think he's that IN to music anymore, then Robin said that wasn't the case.  She said he wasn't IN to THIS music because it wasn't any good.  So all in all, Howard DID seem to like it but couldn't get over the time/money aspect.  Artie definitely liked it.  Robin did not and she claimed that was because of quality, nothing more, nothing less.  Of course they listened to very small snippets of 5 songs so it's hardly a legitimate review.  Nothing to see here.

Thanks - I caught it on the replay.  Not a great review...not a fair review.  Hey at least Stern fans heard a bunch of tracks and they would value Artie's opinion over any of them.  Robin hardly counts in this....

[Cake]

Yes, but giving a nasty reply is pretty much what they want, and makes the GnR community look like a group of buffoons.

That's true. For example, I thought the Pitchfork review was fair and balanced. Unfortunately unless this configuration of Guns tour heavily next year, release another album in late 2009/ early 2010, the name will always be attributed to the original lineup. Which seems to be the problem that irks most of the people who post on here. Not a criticism, just an observation.

[faldor]

Howard Stern to do a review of Chinese Democracy in next 30 mins - cannot tape (on my way to work).  Can anyone record this??? Howard 100 Sirius Radio

It wasn't much of a review.  They played "Chinese Democracy" which they all said was good.  Artie said it was better than anything Velvet Revolver ever did and that it was better than anything out there today.  They played "Shackler's Revenge" for about 30 seconds, not much discussion about it.  They played "Better" for about 10 seconds and Robin said it wasn't good.  They played "Catcher In The Rye" for about 30 seconds and Howard said he liked it.  Then they played "Prostitute" for about 20 seconds and Robin again said it wasn't any good.  They made the usual jokes about how long the album took to make and how much money it cost.  Howard seemed to like it but he said that he just doesn't think he's that IN to music anymore, then Robin said that wasn't the case.  She said he wasn't IN to THIS music because it wasn't any good.  So all in all, Howard DID seem to like it but couldn't get over the time/money aspect.  Artie definitely liked it.  Robin did not and she claimed that was because of quality, nothing more, nothing less.  Of course they listened to very small snippets of 5 songs so it's hardly a legitimate review.  Nothing to see here.

Thanks - I caught it on the replay.  Not a great review...not a fair review.  Hey at least Stern fans heard a bunch of tracks and they would value Artie's opinion over any of them.  Robin hardly counts in this....

Later on in the show someone called up, probably a member of some GNR message board, and told Howard to play "There Was A Time" to hear a great guitar solo from Buckethead.  So Howard fast forwarded to the solo and let it play.  He said it was good.  Robin again wasn't too fond of the Bucket solo in TWAT.  She said it sounded okay, but it was nothing new and she had heard similar solos over the years.  They talked a little about Buckethead and said he was a good guitarist.  Howard asked if he was called Buckethead because the old band had a Slash, Fred explained he wore a KFC bucket on his head, hence the name.  Artie brought up the fact that when Slash was on the show last year how he said that Bucket was a good technical guitarist but didn't play with much emotion.  The caller explained that Robin Finck was the emotional guitarist in the group but neither remained.  They then contemplated why it was so difficult to work with Axl.  The caller said Axl was bi-polar and they didn't think that was reason enough to not work with him.  Howard said it sounded like a record he could definitely dig and listen to, but he doesn't buy records anymore.

THEN, at the end of the show Howard did a live commercial for Chinese Democracy.  Robin said people should listen to it since Axl took such a long time working on it.  Howard read some quotes from Rolling Stone about it.  Artie said he digs it.  Howard said he liked what he heard but they didn't really get a chance to give it a thorough listen, just clips of 5 songs.  Robin agreed.  They were real positive, which they always are during their live commercials.  Howard can talk up just about anything, he's got a knack for that.  Hopefully they continue to push the album, I think that could help things along.  Howard still gets millions of listeners a day, so it certainly couldn't hurt.

[badobsession_r21]

Time out magazine New York

http://www.timeout.com/newyork/articles/music/69316/guns-n-roses

Rating *****

Many have grumbled that GN?R just ain?t GN?R without Slash & Co. But spinning Chinese Democracy?finally!?brings to mind a fascinating notion: What if the old Guns N? Roses was actually holding Axl back? This record lives up to the hype in one crucial sense: Dear God, is it ever weird?a schizophrenic smattering of grandly symphonic pop, sleek industrial metal and hallucinatory trip-hop, topped off by Rose?s heavily processed yet surprisingly intact yowl. And unmistakably, it?s the work of a creative dictator. No actual democracy could have wrought something this twisted and elaborate.

Or, perhaps, this entertaining. Chinese Democracy comes off as a sweet, bitter and at times knowingly funny pop epic, on which a gripping hook balances every oddball juxtaposition. Case in point: the exquisite ?Better,? which begins as fey R&B, then mutates from charging modern arena rock into brute postgrunge. Somehow, Rose and his myriad motley recruits maintain a spunky catchiness throughout.

The record is crammed with similarly WTF? episodes, like the Destiny?s Child?esque chorale of shrieking Axls that opens ?Scraped? or the collage of MLK samples in ?Madagascar.? However over-the-top the album gets, though, it never feels incoherent or silly; even the tearjerking ballad ?This I Love? hints eerily at gothic mania. Whether the long march toward Chinese Democracy has left Rose genuinely disturbed or he?s just in the throes of some particularly turbulent muse, he?s ended up with a singular, exhilarating statement.

[younggunner]

I think we have a winner...possibly the best review Ive read...

ROX OFF

Roaring rampage of redemption


Chinese Democracy
Guns N' Roses
Geffen/Black Frog, 2008

 

By Peter Venkman

In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgement. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new.

The world is often unkind to new talent, new creations. The new needs friends. These past couple of days, I have experienced something new, some extraordinary music, but from a singularly "old" source. To say that both the music and the performers behind it have challenged my preconceptions about rock n' roll is a gross understatement. They have rocked me to my core.(*)

If ever there was an album that needed to win friends, it's Chinese Democracy.

To even listen to this album without the collective weight of over a decade of anticipation and hype is almost impossible, and its actual existence is universally predetermined as a letdown. That is until you hear it.

The first Guns N' Roses album of original material since 1993 is the musical equivalent of the Kill Bill movies, but Axl Rose gets to do one up on Quentin Tarantino; his sprawling epic isn't chopped up - it lands as a lean, mean killing machine of hard rock glory.

Imagine the tasty mom and pop scene in Kill Bill Volume Two fragmented by the bloodspattering swordfight centerpiece from Volume One and translate it all to music. Like Tarantinos roaring rampages of cinematic revenge, Democracy evokes genuine emotion beneath the pomp and the circumstance. It's operatic, misanthropic, celebratory, bizarre, electrifying.

The album really exists out of time. Part arty-hearty freakshow, part stylistic melting pot, part diving Hindenburg but it also - amazingly - sounds like a Guns N' Roses record. Clearly the product of a distinctive artistic vision, more compelling than coherent, it offers a roadmap lush with musical depth and originality. This is music with the richness of great fiction.

Nuances are revealed through repeated listens but unlike some of it's peers - Dark Side of the Moon, Physical Graffiti, Queen II, Achtung Baby, OK Computer, Smile and yes, GNR's own brimming Use Your Illusion discs - Democracy never goes down beaten paths but trots out across uncharted territory.

In the end, it's the sum of its parts. Those parts being what constitutes Guns N' Roses today; Paul Tobias, Tommy Stinson, Chris Pitman, Robin Finck, Dizzy Reed and Axl Rose, all of whom have contributed to the songwriting and performances as a band. Others include Buckethead, Ron 'Bumblefoot' Thal, Richard Fortus and drummers Brian 'Brain' Mantia and Frank Ferrer. Characterizing everyone is shrewd technical ability and a more or less indie background. Which is far removed from the mainstream monster that Guns N' Roses had become.

Democracy will therefore sound testy to contemporary ears and it may shock the waiting vampires and Sunset strippers who long for green grass, pretty girls and paradise cities. Not merely a blend of traditional rock sensibilities, punk expressiveness and pop bravado but a damn-the-torpedoes fusion of whatever works and is within radar, it's still experimental without being oblique. Add Rose's snake-dance danger and his penchant for piano-themed hymns and the result is a sonic landscape as far as the eye can see - and ear can hear. The band has toured twice since Rose began serious work on this album around 1997, and have displayed a rare vitality on stage all but missing from rock n' roll today.

Rest assured, the passage of time nor alleged trauma has not eroded the gingerhaired's artistic instincts or vocal capabilities. In fact, Rose sounds positively sane and clearheaded throughout, neither engulfed by rage or fueled by bitter regret. Okay, it's not like he doesn't set the record straight or has softened his attitude. No, no. This is his return, his moment and his answer to, as that old GNR song went, "14 years of silence".

Millions of dollars spent, thousands of headlines later and more than a decade underway, it's hard deciding on what's most surreal: the neverending media spun controversy and personal attacks on Rose - or the silence from the accused. The idiocy displayed by uninformed, unresearched and prejudiced journalists over the years has been mindboggling and warrants some soulsearching.

The reality is, that Democracy is worth getting for one song alone.
Check out the slowburning Sorry, the most evocative and haunting personal reply ever put to music since John Lennon wrote How Do You Sleep? about Paul McCartney. Rose literally takes ex-guitarist Slash apart piece by piece, displaying an emotional and vocal cadence that sucks you in like a tractor beam. "To hell with the pressure, I'm not caving in," recites Rose, finally going public with the cross he'll always carry by keeping the band name. As in: where's Slash?

"Nobody owes you, not one goddamn thing," he sneers to a morphine-slowed kickdrum beat, as the lazy Toni Iommi'sh guitar groove sways. "You close your eyes, all well and good, you tell them stories they'd rather believe, use and confuse them, they're numb and naive," Rose intimately tells everybody's favorite Guitar Hero. The listener is unwillingly catapulted to a state of eavesdropping. Rose then tightens the message and looks his former friend and bandmate in the eye - for a second, echoing emotional rescue - "What were you thinking? Because I don't forget."

That's the crux.

Rose figures he won this war of attrition not because he held out, but because he was always true to himself. Time is of no consequence in his world. The most daunting lyric on the album, also from Sorry, shakes off the flack that's constantly headed in his very direction: "Truth is, the truth hurts, don't you agree?" Ouch.

In that sense, everything on Democracy is counterbalanced by the pathos of Rose - a songwriter, singer and performer who, let's face it, is Jim Morrison's heir. Both were driven by inner demons and genuine spite, both were in direct conflict with their audience and fans. Rose's never-changing battle to remain an auteur in a celebrity world increasingly hostile to such individualists has become a performance in itself. Morrison fled to Paris and he unfortunately never made it back. Rose holed up in his Malibu mansion, went AWOL for seven years and "Axl-sightings" were invented. He has now returned.

So, it's time to listen to the music. And there's a lot of great music here.

The groove oriented Better is an instant classic. Dirty hard rock swagger with rollicking clout and a hook to die for. Easily the catchiest tune the band has made this side of Sweet Child O' Mine. Nobody does it better.

The pounding disco (yes, disco) of Shackler's Revenge ("Don't ever try and tell me how much you care for me,") and the stressful, scream-chorus inferno of Riad N' The Bedouins rivals the best of The Sex Pistols, ELO, Boston and The Who. Dissolved, punchy hard rock with clarity and purpose that bends but never breaks. The guzzling and schizofrenic Scraped is introed by an a-cappella vocal chorale before it runs amok ("Don't you try and stop us now!"). If The World is Miami Vice-sleaze mixed with funky blaxsploitation metal topped off with a scorching Buckethead. Remarkable stuff.

The Beatlesque and happy-go-lucky Catcher in the Rye is beatific, complete with "na-na-na's", in sharp contrast to the abrasive lyrics that encompass both the book, the John Lennon murder, the concept of mortality and what sounds like undertones of anguish, regret and maybe even child abuse. Ron Thal hits the ground running with beehive guitar while the vocals sound like they're whitewater rafting. It's a deceitful, little devil this.

"If I thought that I was crazy, well I guess I'd have more fun, it's what used to be's not there for me," croons an introspective Rose, part Mark David Chapman, part Holden Caulfield, part J.D. Salinger and part estranged rock n' roll icon.

There Was A Time is the monolithic album "halftime show". Almost seismic in its complexity, the melody is never buried, only built upon, layer after layer, "all the way from California.. and your ways around the laws", with chickenplucking guitar by Buckethead, a chanting Axl and a choir of angels to start the party. Old tales of broken relationships along the PCH and deep in to the flickering L.A. night, right down to the broken glass, the cigarettes and snorting coke in a stall. A melodic and lyrical triumph.

[younggunner]

As the album draws to a close, everything suddenly stops. Here comes the lugubrious This I Love, probably Rose's finest moment yet.

Written back in 1993, he's been sitting on this baby forever. Allegedly, it's the final chapter to the saga of Don't Cry, November Rain and Estranged, linked together in spirit and story only through their accompanying self-indulgent videos from the early 90s, two of which starred Rose's then girlfriend, Stephanie Seymour. Stripped of anything but the bare essentials, this open wound farewell to Seymour features Rose on piano, in a shattering meltdown of a ramshackle voice, and lavish string-bending sensuality from Finck. "Please God you must believe me, I searched the universe and found myself within her eyes," cries Rose like an air raid horn before B-52s carpetbomb with autographed Blood On The Tracks CDs. Yes, it's enough to make grown men cry and undeniable proof of Rose's prestige. It rubs you raw, leaves you dizzy. Fantastic.

Earlier, the symphonic Street of Dreams actually revisits the Seymour break-up in tantalizing fashion: Rose's fire-siren yelp is here underscored by a Broadway setup of Billy Joel taking a crap at the Honolulu Bar(**). This is a positive. "What I thought was beautiful, don't live inside of you," schreeches Rose before Finck's strangulated blues gothguitar once again wields in and out and all around, sometimes headbutting Stinson's staccato punk bass. The musicianship on this record is unparalleled.

"That's not stardust at my feet, it leaves a taste that's bittersweet, that's called the blues." Melodic to a fault and dramatized to perfection.

But there is not just heartbreak here, there is also a vicious clinging to love's promise and the fight-to-the-death belief in purity of truth. The slow-moving majesty of Madagascar evokes spiritual optimism and sounds like Leonard Cohen, circa The Future, fronting Led Zeppelin at Tiananman Square. A deeply personal tune ("I won' be told anymore, that I've been caught down in this storm, that I lived so far out from the shore, that I can't find my way back anymore") in light of everything the band has been through since the golden days, Madagascar transcends as a universal weltschmertz anthem that offers intellectual musings far removed from mere rock n' roll muscle and pop poetics.

An exercise in consolidation, equity and continuity ("Forgive them that tear down my soul, bless them that they might grow old") the analogy of its title goes hand in hand with ingenious movie sample choices (Braveheart, Se7en, Mississippi Burning, Casualties of War) that are mixed effortlessly with sound bites from Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. Somewhere, DJ Shadow is smiling.

Rose uses - not his illusions - but allusions as rhetorical weapons, ultimately revealing his convictions and the star by which he sails. It's Elisabeth Drewian at heart. The world is not run by thought, nor by imagination, but by opinion. And that can be a tough place for any self-contained artist that is not for sale.

Again, Rose, now 46, didn't wait this long for his own enjoyment or vanity. To him, the circumstances simply dictated or instituted the wait and/or gestation period. Whatever one might agree or disagree with in this matter - and however one views Rose personally - is of no consequence. Because the music is here and it plays like a roaring rampage of rock n' roll redemption. The best kind.

"Ask yourself, why I would choose, to prostitute myself, to live with fortune and shame," he commands on the album closer, appropriately titled Prostitute, that literally sizzles with evocative piano, fat beats by Brain and sumptuous manifest guitar by Buckethead.

That just may be Democracy's grandest achievement; Rose manages to re-direct all the venom, hatred, frustration and bile back at the instigators. He's encouraging you to find the proof in the pudding yourself. As he tells Slash; "It's harder to live with the truth about you, than to live with the lies about me." So put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Great music will never be denied, and one could therefore say that Axl Rose wins.

In overtime.

Rating: * * * * ? (4? out of 5)

By: Peter Venkman

[Axl4Prez2004]

^ Younggunner, that review was fucking amazing and spot-on!  Thank you for posting.   

might I add, the line, "Ask yourself, why I would choose, to prostitute myself, to live with fortune and shame," couldn't paint a better picture of Axl's feelings on cash-grab reunion shit. 

btw, the writer (and it seems many others) are assuming Sorry is only about Slash.  Maybe it is, but I'm not 100% sure.