I think There Was A Time is great, the guitar work's fine and the way the song shifts gear after about 2 minutes is a cool touch. That and Catcher In The Rye are my favourites from the leaks, and there's not much I'd want different on the album versions. Catcher I suppose reminds me most of Yesterdays, and as for specific positives it's got the punchy guitar work before the choruses going for it, a bouncing offbeat rhythm throughout and some fantastic melodies. Oh and the keyboard interlude fits well.
I guess I don't particularly like the electronic bits in the intros to TWAT and IRS. I'm probably just too loyal to the raw AFD sound to be won over easily by that stuff but I generally dislike those kinds of bells and whistles in rock music anyway. I wish the IRS drums were raw throughout instead of that computerised sound that kicks in at the start and a few places during the song. It fits better in TWAT so I'm less concerned there, especially as the song really builds well from that start.
IRS and Better are both good but they almost feel... too structured? Is that a valid complaint? Better just kind of plods its way through various sections - all of which sound VERY good, don't get me wrong - and listening to the great old GNR hard rock songs and the way so many of them feel like they're on some mad adrenaline rush from start to finish driven by sheer momentum, I guess I just see myself tiring of the rockier tracks among the new songs quickly if they're all like this. Personal taste maybe, I know a lot of people have been impressed by Better in particular, so what do I know? Well I do know it isn't another Paradise City as someone earlier suggested. No freakin' way
Oh and the intro/outro thing is weak. Overall, good song though. Maybe the final version will improve and cut out some of the weaker points. It has a lot of potential and is still good as is.
IRS is a strong song, I can imagine it as a single at some point, but the lyrics in the "Gonna call the president" etc. section feel somewhat stilted, like the lines don't quite fit the music ("gonna get........... *makes coffee* .....the IRS"), and again the song doesn't carry that adrenaline rush that grabs you by the balls like, say, WTTJ or Nightrain or any of the old straight-forward rockers that just literally kicked every other band's asses back in '87.
I know, I know, 'why make more of the same?', 'the band should be moving on and not just rehashing past successes' etc.
I agree. I'm just saying what I prefer, and if they made AFD II, even if that was 'artistically less fulfilling' or something, I'd still be happier listening to it so there
Afterall, it's that sound that got me into the band and I'm not apologising for what I like and don't like. To be honest I was hoping Chinese Democracy, in whatever form it took, would come along and wipe the smiles off the faces of all those emo bands in the same way that AFD burst out of nowhere and dominated the crap out of everything, and so far I'm not convinced, so there. Maybe it still will, but I can only comment on the demos and bootlegs and I don't claim to be doing anything more. If this new stuff was good enough to win me over in the same way that AFD and the UYI material did I wouldn't have brought it up.
Final thoughts on IRS: I'll add that I really like the guitar work, especially around 3:13 when it briefly echoes Bends-era Radiohead. Maybe.
One song that's grown on me a lot's Chinese Democracy. It's hard-hitting, sounds good (unlike Silkworms or Rhiad... *shudder*) and packs a punch in a short while without overstaying its welcome. Reminds me a little of It's So Easy. And yes, I'd prefer an It's So Easy-style production sound because I'm an asshole that way who refuses to let go of his precious AFD. Sue me.
The Blues is "nice." As a closer or near-closer (e.g. track 12 before Catcher In The Rye, which could close the album quite well I guess) it could work. Like I say, a "nice" song, and I can certainly appreciate it's merits. Looking forward to the final cut.
Madagascar's alright, the sound clips work well and have a sense of rising momentum to them. Again, looking forward to hearing the final cut on the album. There's potential there. It doesn't help the only recording I've got of this isn't that great in terms of sound quality, I'll probably go get something better at the weekend seeing as there's plenty of versions just a few clicks away from this page that'll do a better job.
Overall I like the songs individually to varying degrees, I guess I just don't see it hanging together as a tight album yet. I can't quite picture all of those songs working together as a unit in the space of 13 tracks and having the album flow all that well. I'll have faith in the ones we haven't heard yet to do the job in making it happen.
The fact that I'm not really too sick of any of the demos / live bootlegs yet after fairly extensive listening is a good thing in my books. The fact that persistent listening hasn't seen them grow on me the way the old GNR stuff did when I first bought it (pretty recently compared to a lot of people here, don't mistake me for some nut who grew up on GNR and defends their old stuff to the bitter end - I was probably 4 when UYI I and II came out
) however somewhat counters that. At least I feel confident Chinese Democracy won't suck. It just might disappoint me a little at first given how long it's taken to arrive if the demos etc. are anything to go by.
