When I was in fifth grade, Guns n' Roses were the shit: "You Could Be Mine," "Live and Let Die," "Don't Cry," "November Rain," and "Welcome to the Jungle" were basically the other thing I had to bond with the other kids over. But then grunge, Britpop and "alternative" came along, and I found artists who spoke to me in a way that Axl Rose and co. did not. I paid no mind to the covers album G n' R released in 1993, while my old tapes gathered dust as I moved on to compact discs. In the 13 years that have passed since the release of The Spaghetti Incident, a lot has happened in the world of Guns n' Roses - Axl fired all his bandmates, picking up musicians here and there (notably Buckethead, who left in 2003, and ex-Replacement Tommy Stinson); he went through a number of producers, ultimately settling on himself; the fired bandmates managed to reform under troubled singer Scott Weiland as mediocre rock group Velvet Revolver and record two albums. In late 1997, I was watching an MTV Year in Review-type special, and they were previewing what was to come in 1998. Even then, people were beginning to wonder about new G n' R material. I recall hearing that Axl was getting really into Nine Inch Nails, and the new sound was going to reflect that. Yet, nothing came of this, and as the years passed, this album (dubbed Chinese Democracy in 1999) took on a life greater than itself. The major music magazines published investigative reports on Axl's studio habits, and the story became that of legend and myth. The band would pop up to play a festival, start a tour, even surprise a crowd at the MTV Music Video Awards, before disappearing into oblivion once again. I almost hope the album never sees the light of day, because the legend of Chinese Democracy is way more interesting than the album could ever be.
Axl popped up at a Korn party last month with news that the album would see the light of day later this year. Yesterday, three tracks supposedly on this album, hit the internet. The big question - has Axl been crafting the greatest album ever? or simply sitting on some mediocre tracks.
I'm afraid to say that it is the latter. It appears that, while in hiding, Axl paid no attention to music trends, and instead stayed in his own bubble known as Use Your Illusion. These tracks could have been done in 1998, which would explain why they sound so dated. "There Was A Time" builds up exactly like "November Rain," complete with piano, strings and layered vocals - and that's the most interesting one. It starts out with piano and drum loops - maybe that was the electronic influence he mentioned years ago. "The Blues" is pure power ballad - kinda reminded me of the Scorpions; and "I.R.S." sounds like Axl trying to channel his better days, unsuccessfully I should add. It doesn't even match up with Velvet Revolver.
1.5 STARS (out of 5)
::3 Related Links::
1:Guns n' Roses Make UK Return (NME)
2:New Guns n' Roses (Stereogum)
3:Do You Still Care?
