Chinese Democracy, the album - General Debate Thread!

[Ruiner]

Just popped the album back on now, looking through the artwork and realising how fucking awful it is! how did this go so wrong? After all that time it deserved a lot better.

[Mires]

The album was OK at best. Axl is finished with music. If he had his way CD would still not be out. It was rushed like a mofo. I think he lost his taste for music and has tried hard as hell to get it back but I don't believe its in him anymore. He doesn't have the thing he used to.

[olivia]

The album was OK at best. Axl is finished with music. If he had his way CD would still not be out. It was rushed like a mofo. I think he lost his taste for music and has tried hard as hell to get it back but I don't believe its in him anymore. He doesn't have the thing he used to.

What do u mean by that?? The fact that he likes to experience new kinds of music and that in doin CD Axl was influenced by many musical trends, currents and approaches it doesn't mean he lost his taste of music...but on the contrary the fact that he tries new things makes him so passionate about music..
I personally think he was born to become a complete artist and music had and will always have a special place in his heart...this is what he lives for...it's not something he can have and than lose in time..it's in him all the time.
I totally love CD!! All the songs there are pure gold. I can't even say which one I like most from Street of Dreams, TIL, TWAT, Better, Sorry or Catcher. So it's definitely an A+ +++++
And Axl's voice on CD sounds as extraordinary as ever.
Keep on composing and singing such great songs, Axl. We love u!!

[Mires]

You mis-read my post. I said he lost his taste FOR music. As in I believe he struggled to come up with material like he use to. For whatever reason. Because of lack of motivation or inspiration? Or maybe because the business end got in the way of the music? I don't know what it was. It could explain the great length of time it took to get CD out. It could also explain why some of the songs have been around for years and years. Because he was trying to take whatever material he could and tweak it to his liking. But I don't think he ended up with an album he is extremely happy with which could explain why there was no promotion, or video, or interviews. Add to that and the album wasn't even finished yet. I.R.S. and Madagascar sound like bad demos.

For me there are some songs I don't like, some that do nothing for me, some are ok, then some are good. There are alot of parts I like surrounded by parts I don't like. There isn't one song to me that is great or that I love. The closest would be TWAT and Chinese Democracy.

If there is a song that turns me off when it gets to a certain part or if there is a part I'm rushing to get to than its not a song I'll listen to many times.

[zbyram]

When I first heard the 2006 leaks I was underwhelmed. But then as I listened more and more I realized I listen to them more often than any other music in my collection. Still, when Chinese Democracy came out I was amazed with the perfect sound quality and new songs that totally surprised me (Sorry, TIL).

It's been 14 months since the release of Chinese Democracy and it still blows me away every time I listen to it unlike anything released in the last decade. It's a brilliant album and thanks to the complexity just doesn't get boring. I don't care about what anyone says, in my mind it's a masterpiece.

[Phanatic]

Oh... I'm late, but I rate the album B

Theres like three songs on there that I'm gona end up hating, and everything else is gold.

Once I got over the fact that it "doesn't sound like old GnR" I took it for what it was and fell in love again.

Unlike anything I've ever heard.

Also the lyrics are amazing on Better and CITR.... And SoD.... and Maddy... also Sorry is incredible.
And TIL is surprising as fuck.

Only thing I didn't like is that the vocals sound way too perfect, overproduced or whatever they call it.

[strobogo]

I don't understand the "it's not the old GNR" points.  Did people not listen to UYI?  This album sounds like a pretty logical follow up to me.  Yesterdays, Estranged, and Don't Cry are pretty much the template for CD.  When you factor in Axl's dabbling of industrial sounds with My World and Oh My God (which I think both are bordering awful), it strikes me as something that would have been pretty much the same record if it came out a decade earlier. 

Less riff heavy, more piano driven, "epics", more political and personal.  That was the direction the band was going in when it was still the "old GNR".  I think it is excellent and about on par with AFD and better than both UYI individually.  Time should be very kind to this album.  It is under appreciated now because of the "old GNR" stuff, people generally thinking Axl is an egomaniac, lack of promotion, and 15 years of hype.  People will eventually look back and judge it on the songs themselves and not all the mess surrounding it. 

Lyrically it is Axl's best work for sure to me.