Go to the mobile version of this Web site.

Login | Contact Us | Site Map | Paid archives | Electronic edition | Subscription Questions | Extras

Guns N' Roses freaks out

By Mark Brown, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published November 24, 2008 at 6 p.m.

Text size  

More Music

More stories »

Guns N' Roses

Chinese Democracy

Black Frog/Geffen Records

Grade: B

If the calendar and budget estimate are accurate, the 14 songs on Chinese Democracy took a full year and a full $1 million - each - to create.

So how could this long-delayed disc that many thought we'd never see possibly live up to its already legendary history?

One can certainly see where the money and time went, as the lyrics, credits and thank-yous alone fill a 49-page Word document.

The music itself? It ranges from the near-great (even the biggest Axl Rose detractor can't fault Better) to the bizarre. Obviously, with a whole new cast of hired guns, the songs sound significantly different from the classic-era tunes such as Welcome to the Jungle and Paradise City, but it's a solid rock record on its own.

Overall the songs are strong, if some are not super-memorable. If the World is all over the place, with Spanish guitar over a weirdly Shaft-like funk bed. That vibe continues into There Was a Time, with soaring '70s-style strings pulling together the vocal and the song-ending guitar freak-out, a stand-out track.

There are lows such as the screechy Street of Dreams, and Madagascar has Rose pleading for something - not sure what - as Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech plays in the background. Sorry is a venomous, borderline delusional middle finger to former GNR guitarist Slash. Sample lyric: "You talk too much and say I do / difference is nobody cares about you." Riad N' The Bedouins is just as weird as its spelling.

In the end, fans may not know what to think. Chinese Democracy is not a home run, not a strikeout, and its release after all the years of teasing just sort of puts a weird, nearly anticlimactic finish on its convoluted journey.

Mark Brown is a music critic for the Rocky. Reach him at brownm@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2674.

The Killers

Day & Age

Island Records

Grade: B

Fans of The Killers probably aren't looking for a big departure in sound, and they're amply rewarded here. Brandon Flowers' warm voice (one of the greatest in rock, really) still soars and the band dependably pounds out upbeat melodies, the qualities that made Read My Mind such an addictive single off the last disc.

There's the occasional foray into weirdness, like the echoed, chanted voice that opens This Is Your Life - an interesting trick if they can pull it off live.

Overall, Day & Age is a catchy set of songs, delivered just a year after the band's last album.

The Killers have a good shot at staying with us a long, long time. And not in a bad way.

ALSO RELEASED THIS WEEK

* The Fireman (Paul McCartney): Electric Arguments

* Kanye West: 808s and Heartbreaks

* Tom Jones: 24 Hours

NEXT WEEK

* Neil Young: Sugar Mountain (live 1968)

* Britney Spears: Circus

* Panic! At the Disco: Live in Chicago

Comments

  • November 25, 2008

    12:09 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    LeftyDv writes:

    I think the Guns album is better than anything we've heard on KBPI in 10 years... I also think it doesn't hold a candle to the album they would have made about three lineup changes ago. I was also lost on "Madagascar," but I don't think it's as horrible as critics have said it is. "If The World" IS pretty bad though... and interestingly few nation-wide critics have hated that one. As always, thanks for the review.

  • November 25, 2008

    12:32 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    no_more_republicans writes:

    I think it's a surprisingly great album. I've got the other GNR CDs, but, never really considered myself a huge fan. I got Chinese Democracy as a gift, and have been playing it ever since. No, it's not the classic lineup, but, I'm not sure they would've done better - in fact, listening to Velvet Revolver's second album, I KNOW they couldn't have done better!

  • November 25, 2008

    2:51 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    kmeissner writes:

    Way to not even attempt to review the new Kanye album. Even though it'll outsell the 2 you did review

  • November 25, 2008

    3:46 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    arvada_mark writes:

    I'm interested in the Kind-a-G-N-R that was just released (the real G-N-R has Slash playing lead), but I won't buy it. Axl Rose single handedly ruined one of the great metal bands of all time. Anybody else at the Guns/Metallica show at old Mile High? Remember how the band came out firing? I think they led with Jungle. Then, there were some audio issues which casued Axl to put on his diaper & start crying. This was only after he left stage & sat in his limo for 45 minutes while Slash played solo for us. The crowd started booing Axl. Besides, Metallica opens for nobody. But, Axl would never get his junk on stage at a reasonable hour, so James & Lars told them to screw off, "We're playing first." Everybody thinks it's a big mystery as to why this album took so long to produce...well, blame Axl's lazy bones. The guy never shows up to rehersal until about 3am. The rest of the band sits & waits for 7-8 hours for him to show up. He is truely one of the great rock vocalists, but what an A$$ he is. And to top it all off, he has a thing for hitting women...not hitting on, but hitting with a fist.

  • November 25, 2008

    4:06 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    pete10000ft writes:

    My relative worked for GnR during the Use Your Illusion recording and tour and it was a well known fact that Axl was a huge pain in the a$$. Wouldn't go on stage until his food was prepared by his dietician and then he had to have his own massuese and vocal coach...the list went on and if any needs were not met then he wouldn't go on . then he forced the other members to sign the name over to him or he would not cut another record. Well they did sign and he cut another record AFTER he fired them all. Axl is a great voice but a total TOOL....(and he looks scary now) Oh and Chinese D is all over the place. Couple of OK tracks that could 've been made in a month...I am surprised that Ricarrdo "any music made before 1990 is lame" Bacca didn't review this one.....he would've annointed it the next "Dark Side of the Moon"

  • November 26, 2008

    1:34 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Mark Brown writes:

    kmeissner -- I didn't receive the Kanye in time to review it, and on first listen it's a pretty good album, so I didn't want to rush it. We'll get to it.