Chinese Democracy Leaks

[Mik 0]

The title track will be released to radio and streamed from select radio stations for the first time at 5 am tomorrow. I bet this is like Christmas morning for some of you.

 

http://idolator.com/5066816/chinese-democr...he-first-single

[BUTT 0]

I'm sure the radio edit will remove that hot ambient intro from the song. And really, that's the best part of it. "Chinese Democracy" went from a B- to an A- for me when they added that minute o' bullshit at the beginning. Every album should have a long drawn out beginning.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

I agree with his assessment.

 

I heard them play the song Chinese Democracy live back when Buckethead was still in the band...and I really liked it as a live rocker...but it wasn't until they put that cool intro into it that the song became one of my favorites of the leaks.

[UZI Suicide 0]

I can't believe this is all happening. I'm still expecting Axl to pull the plug on all of this sometime this week.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

I've had a longstanding belief that when I leave the store with the album in my hands, Axl will jump out from the bushes and steal it from me.

[Jaxxson Mayhem 0]

I've had a longstanding belief that when I leave the store with the album in my hands, Axl will jump out from the bushes and steal it from me.

 

 

I think that would still make the wait worth it.

 

 

 

I think I'm gonna have to buy the vinyl and the CD when it comes out.

[1234-5678 0]

The title track will be released to radio and streamed from select radio stations for the first time at 5 am tomorrow. I bet this is like Christmas morning for some of you.

 

http://idolator.com/5066816/chinese-democr...he-first-single

 

Actually it kind of is, lol....till I hear all the Philly DJs trash the song, cause ya know....Philly hates Axl.

 

[UZI Suicide 0]

Well, here it is..

 

http://www.q1043.com/pages/news/gunsnroses/

 

[UZI Suicide 0]

Well, here it is..

 

http://www.q1043.com/pages/news/gunsnroses/

 

[BUTT 0]

Yeah, and it rocks, IIRC.

[Use Your Illusion 0]

Just heard it live on American radio. Man, are all your stations like GTA ones or something? Christ.

 

Regardless, the new guitars are slick, that is one mean bitch of a lead single Axl's got there. Fuck yes, it's Chinese Democracy, baby!

 

It's going to be a long month...

 

Lived to see the day, JAxl.

 

UYI

[1234-5678 0]

Just barely, lol.

[Use Your Illusion 0]

Some people seem to be calling through saying his voice sounds 'shot'. I don't get that, personally.

 

They won't know what hits them, November.

[1234-5678 0]

People think they are expected to be Anti Axl, so that's what you get. This is going to get a bigger backlash then I expected, no matter how good it is.

[Use Your Illusion 0]

http://www.4shared.com/file/67924949/92fe6...le_Q_1043_.html

 

Head there if you'd rather download it.

[Use Your Illusion 0]

Yeah, JAxl, finding that. I don't know what the hell people are expecting with this, what Axl could possibly deliver that they would say 'Hey, that's an awesome tune'. Beats me man, people are crazy.

 

A friend of mine on a GNR forum has called up some places in Perth here in Australia and they have it, playing it tomorrow morning. The DJ himself said that he thought it was 'a bit shitty, but will play it anyway'.

 

Whatever, this is Jungle 2008.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

I understand why people are saying his voice sounds shot, because it kinda does. He still has a bit of the Axl squawk everyone loves (you know, "child of mi-ee-ee-i-ee-iiiiine"), but it's overdubbed with a lesser version of his Intense Axl delivery. Would have given a slightly more even split between the two vocal tracks myself, considering that this is supposed to be the big comeback track that makes people say "holy shit, GNR! Yes!"

[Black Lushus 0]

I've decided (which could change once I hear the finished Chinese Democracy) that "You Could Be Mine" is my favorite GnR track, that title once held by "Locomotive". To this day it is still a non-stop kickass tune. It almost feels out of place when you sit down and listen to the entire UYI2 album.

[Use Your Illusion 0]

The Countdown has begun...

 

http://web.gunsnroses.com/splash.jsp

 

Guess that makes it officially official.

 

Man, I need a drink.

[Use Your Illusion 0]

From the LA Times (review)

 

"Snap judgment: Guns N' Roses' 'Chinese Democracy' (single)

 

"Chinese Democracy," the first single from the ridiculously long-awaited Guns N' Roses album of the same name, is out, and can be heard below.

 

Here are some thoughts the song inspired early this morning.

 

No pop star has built a fortress as maze-filled and iron-clad as one W. Axl Rose. Not Michael Jackson, whose retreat was forced by scandal as much as by artistic crisis, and who seems ever more weakened by his reputation's slide. Not Zack de la Rocha, who (like Rose) went down countless collaborative roads before revamping the Rage Against the Machine template with his new project, One Day As a Lion. Not Garth Brooks, who also turned hermit, but craved the crowds too much to stay inside.

 

Rose, the most ambitious hard rocker of the late 20th century -- shout-outs to your Trents and your Bonos, but Axl is the most vividly driven -- essentially quarantined the Guns N' Roses brand for 15 years -- unable, perhaps, to reconcile the sounds in his head with what is humanly possible. "Chinese Democracy," the title track from the album finally coming out in a month, hits like an offering pushed through a crack in a locked gate, hinting that those sounds, never completely apprehended, have now coalesced into something Rose can face.

 

The sound is murky, ugly and evocative of a dark cityscape; you could call it "Blade Runner rock," because like that 1982 film, it's a very dirty vision of the future. Siren-like effects kick off the track, and then a slicing guitar riff (courtesy of Robin Finck, perhaps, or Buckethead -- the credits should be clarified whenever Rose deigns to do so) punctuated by squiggling, pedal-heavy licks, sets up Rose's multiple-tracked vocal.

 

"It don't really matter," he sings. "You'll find out for yourself." As the cryptic verses unfold, it becomes clear that this is one of Rose's songs from inside the cage of fame, attacking external forces he despises but can't ignore or repel. Like "Get in the Ring" or "You Could Be Mine," this is Rose as the nastiest kind of punk.

 

On one level, it's a protest song about Chinese state oppression. More important, it's a spit back at the audience that's been waiting for what has to be a masterpiece, if Rose is to survive artistically.

 

The song builds like bile. It doesn't behave the way radio-friendly singles usually do. The chorus is just an extension of the verses, rising a little in pitch and compression. There isn't really a proper hook; the sweet release that Slash's solos always brought to the mix never comes. But the refrain sticks after several listens.

 

"It would take a lot more..." is the key phrase, the one that Rose sings in still-powerful mid-range. More hate, more time. (There's a weird reference to masturbation too, that will have critics and possibly 12-year-olds snickering for a while.) These are the points when the song sounds the most like Nine Inch Nails -- a shot of aggression that somehow contains its own alienated retreat.

 

"Chinese Democracy" also recalls "I'm Afraid of Americans," David Bowie's 1997 foray with NIN. Both songs have a suffocated quality, as if their makers are pushing through smoke to express these thoughts. It's the sound of florid, romantic rockers aiming for something cold and modern.

 

But Rose can never really be cold. He's a Heat Miser -- whatever he touches starts to melt in his clutch. That's why these paranoid rockers never quite satisfy the way his grandiose ballads can. As real as Rose's anger may be, in song it starts to feel overly put on, in need of a sweeping chorus (or Slash-like ringing solo) to relieve the tension of the pose.

 

Still, for all the pooh-poohing this song will inevitably earn because it's just been too long in coming to fulfill all hopes, "Chinese Democracy" brings back a passionate weirdness that the hard rock airwaves have lacked. However overwrought or undercooked the whole album may be, it's good to have this mad king venturing forth over his moat.

 

-- Ann Powers"

 

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog...p-star-has.html

 

[BX 0]

Just heard it live on American radio. Man, are all your stations like GTA ones or something? Christ.

 

LOL. I would love for you to elaborate on this.

 

[1234-5678 0]

From the LA Times (review)

 

"Snap judgment: Guns N' Roses' 'Chinese Democracy' (single)

 

"Chinese Democracy," the first single from the ridiculously long-awaited Guns N' Roses album of the same name, is out, and can be heard below.

 

Here are some thoughts the song inspired early this morning.

 

No pop star has built a fortress as maze-filled and iron-clad as one W. Axl Rose. Not Michael Jackson, whose retreat was forced by scandal as much as by artistic crisis, and who seems ever more weakened by his reputation's slide. Not Zack de la Rocha, who (like Rose) went down countless collaborative roads before revamping the Rage Against the Machine template with his new project, One Day As a Lion. Not Garth Brooks, who also turned hermit, but craved the crowds too much to stay inside.

 

Rose, the most ambitious hard rocker of the late 20th century -- shout-outs to your Trents and your Bonos, but Axl is the most vividly driven -- essentially quarantined the Guns N' Roses brand for 15 years -- unable, perhaps, to reconcile the sounds in his head with what is humanly possible. "Chinese Democracy," the title track from the album finally coming out in a month, hits like an offering pushed through a crack in a locked gate, hinting that those sounds, never completely apprehended, have now coalesced into something Rose can face.

 

The sound is murky, ugly and evocative of a dark cityscape; you could call it "Blade Runner rock," because like that 1982 film, it's a very dirty vision of the future. Siren-like effects kick off the track, and then a slicing guitar riff (courtesy of Robin Finck, perhaps, or Buckethead -- the credits should be clarified whenever Rose deigns to do so) punctuated by squiggling, pedal-heavy licks, sets up Rose's multiple-tracked vocal.

 

"It don't really matter," he sings. "You'll find out for yourself." As the cryptic verses unfold, it becomes clear that this is one of Rose's songs from inside the cage of fame, attacking external forces he despises but can't ignore or repel. Like "Get in the Ring" or "You Could Be Mine," this is Rose as the nastiest kind of punk.

 

On one level, it's a protest song about Chinese state oppression. More important, it's a spit back at the audience that's been waiting for what has to be a masterpiece, if Rose is to survive artistically.

 

The song builds like bile. It doesn't behave the way radio-friendly singles usually do. The chorus is just an extension of the verses, rising a little in pitch and compression. There isn't really a proper hook; the sweet release that Slash's solos always brought to the mix never comes. But the refrain sticks after several listens.

 

"It would take a lot more..." is the key phrase, the one that Rose sings in still-powerful mid-range. More hate, more time. (There's a weird reference to masturbation too, that will have critics and possibly 12-year-olds snickering for a while.) These are the points when the song sounds the most like Nine Inch Nails -- a shot of aggression that somehow contains its own alienated retreat.

 

"Chinese Democracy" also recalls "I'm Afraid of Americans," David Bowie's 1997 foray with NIN. Both songs have a suffocated quality, as if their makers are pushing through smoke to express these thoughts. It's the sound of florid, romantic rockers aiming for something cold and modern.

 

But Rose can never really be cold. He's a Heat Miser -- whatever he touches starts to melt in his clutch. That's why these paranoid rockers never quite satisfy the way his grandiose ballads can. As real as Rose's anger may be, in song it starts to feel overly put on, in need of a sweeping chorus (or Slash-like ringing solo) to relieve the tension of the pose.

 

Still, for all the pooh-poohing this song will inevitably earn because it's just been too long in coming to fulfill all hopes, "Chinese Democracy" brings back a passionate weirdness that the hard rock airwaves have lacked. However overwrought or undercooked the whole album may be, it's good to have this mad king venturing forth over his moat.

 

-- Ann Powers"

 

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog...p-star-has.html

 

 

See, now that's a fantastic review....

[DMann2003 0]

It's a song that grows on you, and I liked the other ones I'd heard.

 

I forgot how much I've missed that voice, that spit curled, sneering operatic growl of Axl's.

[The Buzz 0]

I think that new single is pretty good. Looks like this cd might be worth the wait.

[1234-5678 0]

I'm actually really bothered by the criticism....were people really happy with the decade of Creed, Linkin Park and Nickleback dominating the airwaves? Seriously?

[BUTT 0]

To an outsider, this really might not seem all that different from those three bands.

 

You really weren't expecting this? You thought after all the years of "wah wah it isn't really GNR without Slash" that everyone in the music press would welcome Axl back with open arms? Whatever they released as the first single was going to get a ton of criticism because a lot of people decided they hated Chinese Democracy long before they ever heard anything from it, and those people aren't likely to have their opinions swayed.

[BUTT 0]

By the way, for those who have actually heard the song on the radio, do they play the minute-long intro? Because I really figured they would have cut that out; 4 and a half minutes is actually, ridiculous as it sounds, pretty long for a radio single these days, and I figured that when the band released it as a single, it would go straight into the riff, but it appears to have been left unedited from what I can tell.

[Steviekick 0]

By the way, for those who have actually heard the song on the radio, do they play the minute-long intro? Because I really figured they would have cut that out; 4 and a half minutes is actually, ridiculous as it sounds, pretty long for a radio single these days, and I figured that when the band released it as a single, it would go straight into the riff, but it appears to have been left unedited from what I can tell.

 

I think it all depends on the station. I could see them having the abridged one, and use the full one as a music bed before talking up to the post.

[haws bah gawd 0]

This will be the first album I've bought in over a year. I downloaded everything after getting burned too many times by albums that were just a single and a bunch of crap. I almost feel obligated to buy this just based off how long the poor guy's been working on it.

[Youth N Asia 0]

I think that new single is pretty good. Looks like this cd might be worth the wait.

 

I am very interested in hearing this cd. But worth the wait? It'll have to be about the best cd ever for that.