What is it people fail to understand about Chinese Democracy?

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

i dont think the new u2 songs get very much radio play. does that make it a bad album?

Hell no man, Line is the best album of 2009.

[russtcb]

i dont think the new u2 songs get very much radio play. does that make it a bad album?

Hell no man, Line is the best album of 2009.

I personally am not at all impressed with No Line On The Horizon.

[jarmo]

How many people do you think gave the album an honest chance?

They've been told over and over again that "this is not GN'R" by various people (so called fans, media and whoever else).


With that in mind, do you think everybody were able to take a listen and actually have an open mind about it?


An example: Let's say AC/DC releases an album and everybody says "It's boring, it's the same shit they've done for the last 30 years". Do you think it'll sell as well as if everybody says "It's cool, AC/DC rocks!"?



As Ive said, so many base their opinions on what things are not instead of what they are.

Which I find a bit odd. It's like thinking the food sucks, because you got the best steak in the world and it's not a pizza....





/jarmo

[BlowUpYourVideo]

^Well, AC/DC play a kind of music that appeals to all kinds of people. It's kind of like a point where fans of heavy metal, punk, blues or whatever can agree. What I think I'm getting at is that AC/DC are almost guaranteed to please people when they release an album. There probably will be people who complain that it 'sounds the same' as everything else they've done but their fans don't care. That's what they want.

GNR on the other hand, despite their popularity, don't exactly have the same broad appeal. The UYI albums and CD have stuff on them that not everyone is going to like. I was a tad young to remember (), but people didn't like the new direction of the UYI albums right?? They thought songs like NR and Estranged and Don't Cry were 'overblown' or 'over-produced'. But at least those songs still had Axl, Slash, Izzy and Duff on them, so they still sold well. The presence of none of the original musicians I'm sure definitely turned a lot of people off. CD does sound different to the old band in many ways, obviosuly because of different and some people just don't like that. In the end, you can't force people to like something.

Even Axl himself knew that it was unlikely the album would be greeted with mass praise and critical acclaim worldwide.

"Some people are going to say, 'It doesn't sound like Axl Rose, it doesn't sound like Guns N' Roses.' But you'll like at least a few songs on there." - from the man himself in 2006

[D]

My thing is, u can make yourself like anything.

I hated Libertad when it came out, it took me about 15 listens before i liked it

Garden of Eden took me 15 years or something to like, I had to listen to OMG like 30 times before I liked it.


I do find most of my favorite albums of all time, it took me a few listens to like.

CD is great if u can take it for what it is and not what it isn't.

Personally I can see why people don't like it. It is pretty epic and kind of a depressing album. no fun rocker tracks on there whatsoever.

So if u are in a depressed sad mood. this is your record.

If u want to party.. this isn't.

[BlowUpYourVideo]

^I agree that repeated listening can change your opinion on stuff.

But there is gonna be some things you just don't like or can't take to. I don't think that means you're not smart enough or not appreciative enough, it just means you have your own tatses, like any other human being.

Out of all the people who didn't 'get' CD, it's hard to know how many didn't like it because of the music, how many didn't like it because of the lack of ex-members. There's unlikely to be one reason.

[D]

^I agree that repeated listening can change your opinion on stuff.

But there is gonna be some things you just don't like or can't take to. I don't think that means you're not smart enough or not appreciative enough, it just means you have your own tatses, like any other human being.

Out of all the people who didn't 'get' CD, it's hard to know how many didn't like it because of the music, how many didn't like it because of the lack of ex-members. There's unlikely to be one reason.

I think I have posted this  a few times but I will again since we are on the subject. In 2002, I would be on here saying this is better than Appetite. Just how depressed and lost and suicidal I was back then. This album would've been the greatest thing ever to my ears.

Problem in 2008/2009 is, I am in a great place mentally. very happy, very content and sometimes listening to CD bums me out so I can only listen to it during certain times. Appetite and the Illusions are sort of an all occasions type albums.

CD though, and I'm sure many will disagree, but I have a hard time listening to This I Love, TWAT, Prostitute,SOD,Sorry etc when I am in a great happy mood.

[jarmo]

^Well, AC/DC play a kind of music that appeals to all kinds of people. It's kind of like a point where fans of heavy metal, punk, blues or whatever can agree. What I think I'm getting at is that AC/DC are almost guaranteed to please people when they release an album. There probably will be people who complain that it 'sounds the same' as everything else they've done but their fans don't care. That's what they want.

I'm talking about the casual listeners.

The ones who don't buy every AC/DC album.

But when an album is said to "rock!" instead of "it's just the same shit", I think more people are ready to buy it.

But at least those songs still had Axl, Slash, Izzy and Duff on them, so they still sold well.

The albums were also promoted a bit more and there were no downloading motherfuckers in every household.

The presence of none of the original musicians I'm sure definitely turned a lot of people off. CD does sound different to the old band in many ways, obviosuly because of different and some people just don't like that. In the end, you can't force people to like something.

I'm fully aware that not everybody will like it because they might hate anything with a synthesizer in it.

BUT the point is, do you think everybody was able to listen to the album with an open mind instead of having that "it's not GN'R" idea in the back of their mind to remind them not to like it?



/jarmo

[BlowUpYourVideo]

BUT the point is, do you think everybody was able to listen to the album with an open mind instead of having that "it's not GN'R" idea in the back of their mind to remind them not to like it?

No, I'm sure there were lots of people who felt that it "wasn't GNR" and they dismissed it because of that. To me, if it says "Guns N' Roses" on the cover, then it's GNR. It may be very different to an album that had "Guns N' Roses" on the cover in 1991 but it's still GNR. But if people have it in their minds that a band with only Axl and Dizzy from the old days isn't "true" GNR then it's hard to convince them otherwise. Maybe it's because I didn't grow up with the original band or whatever, so I don't really have a problem with the current line-up. I suppose growing up with Slash, Izzy and Duff in the band makes it harder for some people to accept anything else as "Guns N' Roses".

Thing is, had the old band stayed together, do these same people think they would have made Use Your Illusion III, IV, V etc.?? I'm sure that line-up would have explored some weird and wonderful musical ideas too.


The downloading thing hurts it too, as with most albums. People can download the album, listen to it once on computer speakers while doing other things, decide they don't like it and delete it. Damn technology.

[ppbebe]

are casual fans so concerned about who's in a band?

I think it's the 'it's not true gnr!' promotion by rock writers and gnr specialists in their neighbourhood rather than the actual changes in the sound/the line-up that makes casual fans  away from bb stores..

and for me depressing is hardly the word for cd. deep yes. depressing no.

[Limulus]

then it might have been better to release it under a different name aka "The Axl Rose-project", huh?
we've been talking about this name issue for years here.

[jarmo]

are casual fans so concerned about who's in a band?

No, of course not.

The point is, many people say "it's not GN'R" because that's the phrase that's been repeated for years, but when you ask them to name the band members they probably can't name them all!

One, two or three at the most...

then it might have been better to release it under a different name aka "The Axl Rose-project", huh?

No, because it's a Guns N' Roses album.

People just don't get that.




/jarmo

[ppbebe]

it's not an axl rose project but GNR, a damn original band. listen to the guitars, the drums the bass beats!- that's what reviewers should tell people first.

many people say "it's not GN'R" because that's the phrase that's been repeated for years, but when you ask them to name the band members they probably can't name them all!

One, two or three at the most...

media victims.

Don't they lack independent spirits?

[Limulus]

na na, its 1 original band member who is on this record only, hidden under the huge GN'R banner. so off course some people dont like that.
avoiding this goin under a different band name would have worked better on many levels, not all though.
many have checked the album but just dont like it much. there is the real possibility the songs just not being THAT good.

[ppbebe]

na na, its 1 original band member who is on this record only, hidden under the huge GN'R banner. so off course some people dont like that.

because everyone on the earth loves the banner?

has GNR ever been an everyone's band? really?

[jarmo]

na na, its 1 original band member who is on this record only, hidden under the huge GN'R banner. so off course some people dont like that.
avoiding this goin under a different band name would have worked better on many levels, not all though.

It's been explained to you.

there is the real possibility the songs just not being THAT good.

If that's the case, the same can be said about every GN'R album.

Do you love all the songs released prior to CD?

Take Use Your Illusion as an example. If you don't think all the songs are great, does it mean the songs aren't that good?

If you don't like So Fine for example, does it make the rest of the songs not that good?



I find it hard to believe there's not one song on that album that GN'R fans can like.




/jarmo

[Jim Bob]

then it might have been better to release it under a different name aka "The Axl Rose-project", huh?
we've been talking about this name issue for years here.

then how about dropping it already.

seriously, thers no need to even bring this up.  shut the fuck up.

[Limulus]

i fully agree that allready on illusions there is some weakness but you still get some songs on there being absolute classic, not only for me but accepted by the world, kinda. this doesnt seem to be the case for the songs on CD, at least for now....time will have to tell?!
what i am trying to point out in my answer to this topic is that this most likely not a monocausual source but a combination of things, most of them allready being pointed out: band name, delay, no promotion, music direction, complexity, downloading etc. and i wanted to add another possible cause:
if (some of) the songs would have been outstanding.....the world would have accepted them sooner or later, quality often wins the game, right? so could it be the songs are just good-average but not great?

edit for the intelligent Jim Bobasher:
when people are complaining about others not giving this CD a chance under the GN'R name, then the name issue is part of the problem to discuss.

[Jim Bob]

edit for the intelligent Jim Bobasher:
when people are complaining about others not giving this CD a chance under the GN'R name, then the name issue is part of the problem to discuss.

no its not.  people can either accept it or not.   its very very very stupid to dismiss something just because of a name.   this is the most tired topic on these boards theres nothing more to say about it.   Axl Rose owns the Guns N' Roses name, you do not.  He can do whatever he wants with it.  People can either get on board or fuck off..

[russtcb]

This album isn't a success because it wasn't promoted properly. What do people fail to understand about that?