Chinese Democracy

The most expensive album ever! Not another political post by me :P
Chinese Democracy (CD) is the long time due album by Guns N Roses (Axl Rose and his cronies rather than the good old Guns).
Work started in 1994 and still is going on...12 years in the making...14 million dollars pumped in...But the album will definitely come out this year. I got some demo songs from torrent land, 7 to be exact. Good quality and not bootlegs. Most seems finished and though not too polished. I don't know whether it is a consious decision to make it raw.

So hows it?
Guns without the guitar work of Slash, drums of Matt Sorum/ Steven Adler, bass of Duff and rhythm guitar of Izzy.Only Dizzy Reed, the keyboardist, remains from the original group along with Axl Rose.
Not too bad I must say. I was a bit prejudiced when I listened to it. I got this about a month back and only now I am giving a serious thought on listening through without much interference. Still not the Guns I love...little too industrial but I like it much better than Velvet Revolver's Contraband. (VR is the remaining members of Guns except Izzy + Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots) I did not like it much and there was no vintage Slash guitar in it.

Lets go through the songs...
IRS: I liked this one. A sweet opening. I think it was flute or keyboard but may be a guitar stuff. A very small one, about 5 seconds. Kicks of into a industrial influenced hard rock song . Quite good. A guitar solo by Finck is sweet and one by Buckethead is quite good.

Wouldnt be the first time I've been wrong
Wouldnt be the last I'm sure I've known
All the rumours I can tell,
Some things didn't work so well

Better: An unfinished demo track. Quite good but still industrial and very queer opening.

The hardest part this troubled heart has never yet been through now
To heal the scars that got their start inside someone like you now
But had I known or I'd been shown back when I'd long you'd take me
To break the the charge that brought me home...
and all that won't erase me

Chinese Democracy: Industrial. Catchy opening. But I didnt much like it. But a good guitar solo. Still not typical Slash solo. Lyrics...I didn't bother to look in deep but still I didn't like it.

If they where missionaires
Real time visionaires
Sitting in a chinese school
To view my dis-in-fat-uation
I know that I'm a classic case
Watch my disenchanted face
Blame it on the Falun Gong
They've seen the end and you can't hold on.

There was a time: Another strange and mystey movie like opening. A pretty good song with a very good guitar work. (No lyrics was available for this song :P)

Madagaskar: A live version of the song actually. So it may sound very different on the record. I think I like it. Little less industrial and more rock. Little slow as well. The best lyrics according to me.
I like drums as well. A good bass-rhythm guitar work in the middle as well.

So many times that I've seen life before me
I searched and found the way to choose to the end
I found a way, to know, why it had to be
Mired in denial and saw all the rain

The Blues: A Guns like opening with a good keyboard work. Opens into a rhythm-lead combo followed by vocals. A slow ballad like song. Quite good but this is no great ballad songs of the calibre of Sweet Child, Patience, November Rain, Estranged etc...
Very good guitar solo in the middle. And some funky keyboard as well.

All the love in the world couldn't save you
All the innocence inside
You know I tried so hard to make you
To make you change your mind

Oh My God: I didnt like this. 'nuff said!


Oh my god
I can't deny this
I've been taught just to kill and fight this
To bury it deeper where nobody can find it
Like nobody wanted to know

All in all. A good album I think. Much much better than the atrocious Spaghetti Incident and better than Contraband. Waiting for the release? Yes sir, I am!