As I recently mused, there was a time that actual democracy in China looked more realistic than the release of Guns N' Roses' already infamous Chinese Democracy. But GnR really will release their new CD at Best Buy on Sunday. Yes, Sunday, which is strange because the normal release day is Tuesday. Must be a day-late birthday present to me.You can currently hear the album in its entirety at the GNR MySpace.
Guns N' Roses' last "effort" The Spaghetti Incident? came out in 1993, a full eight years before the iPod was introduced to the world, and at a time when cassette tapes were still on shelves and MTV still played videos.
So, it seems ironic that they're debuting the album on MySpace. It is indeed a sign of the times. I remember the days of riding my bike to buy a record album or cassette and making an event of the album purchase. I would grab headphones and listen intently to every note, poring over every liner note, lyric and image. I think I did that with the cassette of Lies (the one with the song "Patience"). That was probably the only GnR album of which I didn't have a cassette dub from a friend or family member. Those were the days Axl and the boys (mostly different boys) ruled the radio and were in major rotation on MTV.
Those days are gone. Now it's download five albums at once and sort of listen to all of them in random order on your iPod. I've fallen victim to it too. I'm listening to Chinese Democracy even as I carefully choose the words for this blog.
Anyway, as for a bit of a review? It's somewhat what I thought it would be -- a letdown. Then again, fifteen years of waiting builds up to that just about every time.
Some of the album's current-ness leaves one longing for the good old GnR of the late 80s-early 90s. The songs in that vein have guitar solos that lend themselves much more to Tom Morello than to Slash. So, some fans may be let down. Then again, fifteen years of waiting builds up to a letdown just about every time.
But songs like the excellent "Streets of Dreams" should keep fans happy. And I do believe Axl is definitely poised to make a comeback.
Over all -- and I can't believe I'm about to say this -- it really is a great album...a flawed masterpiece and well worth the trip to Best Buy.
