Album Review: Chinese Democracy, by Guns 'N Roses

Evil

A lot can happen in 15 years. But then again, very little can happen in 15 years.

The first statement applies generally to the world around us. Clinton (Bill), George W. Bush, 9/11, Gore (almost), W. again, two wars, Clinton (Hillary)… no, it’s Obama… no, it’s Palin, actually, it’s really Obama. Hope!

The second statement applies to Axl Rose, Guns ‘n Roses, and the (finally) upcoming album, Chinese Democracy. About 15 years in the making, Democracy is GnR’s 6th studio album and the first since 1993’s The Spaghetti Incident.

When I heard that The Hose was obtaining an early preview copy of Democracy, my first reaction was to wonder, will this album even be relevant – both socially and musically? On first listen, the album did not strike me in any way. It perhaps even confused me. What is this album even about? Why was it even released? Who is the record executive who green-lighted this and when is he going to get fired? There were so many questions.

On the surface, Democracy sounds muddled, with layers of sound that you can imagine piled on during the album’s years in the studio. This is not the raw punch that is Appetite For Destruction. It is not even the overly-symphonic, overly self-indulgent, yet somewhat-coherent Use Your Illusion (I & II). Illusion’s "Civil War" and Democracy’s "Madagascar" both sample Strother Martin’s speech from Cool Hand Luke. But whereas "Civil War" lifts the dialogue basically in its raw form, Madagascar features it sliced, diced, and intertwined with samples from Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

Complexity aside, and defections of all original members not named Axl aside, Democracy does sound like a GnR album. That is, if GnR were a band of middle-aged corporate sellouts (even if they don’t know it). If there’s a single organizing principle around the tracks in this album, it’s one of “F*ck you and f*ck the world!” Democracy is an enraged outburst, but is anyone listening?