Chinese Democracy Leaks

[BUTT 0]

Haha, I bet he still didn't want to release it. How else to explain the awful liner notes, no video, no promotion, and apparent feud with managers?

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

Well the counter to that would be the 2 radio singles that came out and the Rock Band debut of a third song...

 

And possibly the aggressive Dr. Pepper campaign, assuming we ever find out what the deal with that all was.

[Mik 0]

http://idolator.com/5094589/what-really-le...pending-release

 

Here's a theory.

[Use Your Illusion 0]

I really dig 'This I Love', even if most don't.

 

It's sadder than twenty pandas crammed into a matchbox cage.

[UZI Suicide 0]

And gayer than a bag of dicks.

[BUTT 0]

Well the counter to that would be the 2 radio singles that came out and the Rock Band debut of a third song...

 

And possibly the aggressive Dr. Pepper campaign, assuming we ever find out what the deal with that all was.

All of that could be done without Axl's involvement.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

He's probably still in the bushes from whence he was going to ambush BPS.

[Obi Chris Kenobi 0]

How many people are doing guitar solo's in this album?

 

It bounces between someone who think's he's Tom Morello/Buckethead, Jeff Beck and a Slash clone - at times its like there's 3 different bands worth of songs on this album.

 

Hang on, I knew Buckethead was involved somewhere but didn't realise they kept his stuff in.

 

According to it's wiki entry here are the track listings and the people involved: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Democracy)

 

Track listing

 

All lyrics written by Axl Rose.

# Title Music Length

1. "Chinese Democracy" Rose, Josh Freese 4:43

2. "Shackler's Revenge" Rose, Brian Carroll (Buckethead), Caram Costanzo, Bryan Mantia, Pete Scaturro 3:36

3. "Better" Rose, Robin Finck 4:58

4. "Street of Dreams" (The Blues) Rose, Tommy Stinson, Dizzy Reed 4:46

5. "If the World" Rose, Chris Pitman 4:54

6. "There Was a Time" Rose, Paul Tobias, Reed 6:41

7. "Catcher in the Rye" Rose, Tobias 5:52

8. "Scraped" Rose, Costanzo, Carroll 3:30

9. "Riad n' the Bedouins" Rose, Stinson 4:10

10. "Sorry" Rose, Carroll, Mantia, Scaturro 6:14

11. "I.R.S." Rose, Tobias, Reed 4:28

12. "Madagascar" Rose, Pitman 5:37

13. "This I Love" Rose 5:34

14. "Prostitute" Rose, Tobias 6:15

 

Personnel

Robin Finck at the Download Festival in 2006

 

* Axl Rose – lead vocals (all tracks), backing vocals (track 7), keyboards (tracks 1, 6, 13), Producer

* Robin Finck – lead guitar (all tracks), backing vocals, keyboards (tracks 3, 5)

* Bumblefoot – lead guitar (all tracks)

* Richard Fortus – rhythm guitar (tracks 1, 3, 4, 6, 14), backing vocals

* Tommy Stinson – bass guitar (all tracks except 5), backing vocals

* Dizzy Reed – keyboards, piano, percussion, backing vocals

* Frank Ferrer – drums, percussion (tracks 1, 3, 5, 6, 11)

* Bryan Mantia – drums, percussion (all tracks except 1)

* Chris Pitman – synthesizer, programming; bass (tracks 5, 6, 12)

 

Former members who are featured

 

* Buckethead – lead guitar (all tracks except 7, 13)

* Paul Tobias – rhythm guitar (all tracks except 2, 8, 13)

 

Additional musicians

 

* Sebastian Bach – backing vocals (track 10)

* Bob Ludwig – Final CD Mastering @ Gateway Mastering Studios, Inc. in Portland, ME

* Patti Hood – harp (track 13)

* Marco Beltrami – orchestral arrangement

* Paul Buckmaster – orchestral arrangement

* Pete Scaturro – keyboards (track 10)

 

[Guest Czecherbear]

Remember how I said this cover art wasn't that bad? I failed to notice that it says "Guns n Roses" in three unique ways on it: on the title, within the picture, and then there's a GNR logo in the lower-right corner. Lots of ways to tell everyone you're Guns n Roses when you aren't really Guns n Roses.

[UZI Suicide 0]

The Guns N' Roses on that strip on the right side of the album cover was not needed. Frankly, I don't even think "Chinese Democracy" was needed. I mean, everyone knows what it is. I would have liked just a picture of the bike with "Guns N' Roses" on the wall, and then maybe the logo somewhere.

[Giuseppe Zangara 0]

Keep the logo on the back. The spray-painted name is a nice touch; the album title, if it had to appear on the cover at all, should've been reserved for a sticker on the shrink wrap. It's a strong, eye-catching photo, but what would've made it better requires a certain amount of restraint that I'm sure is completely alien to Axl.

[Giuseppe Zangara 0]

Going back to the Pitchfork discussion Kreese and I had earlier, I'm surprised they haven't run a review for this yet. Both Friday and today would've been fine times; tomorrow isn't likely, as the new Kanye West album hits stores and they're not going to run reviews for two big-name acts in one day.

 

I dunno, maybe they just haven't yet found the right YouTube video to express their feelings for it.

[BUTT 0]

I meant to mention the name-on-album-cover overkill. I think there's room for "Chinese Democracy" on there, but they didn't need the band name on the side strip. I'm sure most everyone knows what "Chinese Democracy" is, and if they don't, well, they're going to be purchasing it from Best Buy either in the "Guns N' Roses" section in the CD aisle or from a big cardboard display that says "GUNS N' ROSES CHINESE DEMOCRACY" in huge letters. I just don't like album covers that don't tell you what the album's called. That logo on the bottom right is just worthless, though. It's unnecessary, and I liked their old logo better.

[Giuseppe Zangara 0]

Most album covers would benefit greatly from losing the band and album name. The spray-painted "Guns N Roses" on the wall is one of those rare moments where it worked in using the band name as an integral part of the design. Everything else is overkill.

[haws bah gawd 0]

Long story short, this this was in development since my early High School years. After working on it all that time, Axl wanted to make damn sure that people knew it was the long awaited GnR album, even if it took putting the band's name all over the cover, spine, and back.

[Guest Czecherbear]

I just don't like album covers that don't tell you what the album's called.

See, I do, unless there's some creative typography involved, or it's like a Chicago II-and-beyond thing where they just render the logo/script in various ways. Take the Pink Floyd albums. Worst one is A Momentary Lapse of Reason, because it has that letterboxing evffect which wipes out valuable beds-on-beach space just to say the band name, album name, and then some stupid swishy little "PF" logo next to "Pink Floyd." Just the beds on the beach would've looked compelling enough (though it's hard to argue that there's anything terribly compelling about that particular outing), and would've been in line with other Storm Thorgerson What The Hells covers of theirs like Wish You Were Here or Atom Heart Mother. There's room for artist and title on the spine or the back. So yeah, like Inc said, "Guns n Roses: Chinese Democracy" can be effectively communicated with just the photograph without the titles or, ugh, the logo, but then again, why am I asking for tasteful restraint from a Guns n Roses album?

[Twisted Intestine 0]

So is it actually exclusive at Best Buy? There's posters advertising it in the window at HMV so I assumed they'd be selling it there?

[BUTT 0]

You must be a Canuck. We don't even have HMV over here!

[Gary Floyd 0]

"This I Love" really gets worse after repeat listens. At least it isn't a terrible as "Madagascrar" and "If The World" (though the later is at least hilariously bad.)

[Use Your Illusion 0]

'Isn't as terrible as Madagascar'.

 

You're a fucking idiot.

[Mik 0]

I personally like Madagascar but I can definitely see how people could hate it.

 

It's one of the most overproduced songs I've ever heard in my life.

[Guest Czecherbear]

'Isn't as terrible as Madagascar'.

 

You're a fucking idiot.

I can see where people who like music wouldn't like "Madagascar," give him a break.

 

CHINESE DEMOCRACY STARTS NOW

[Gary Floyd 0]

'Isn't as terrible as Madagascar'.

 

You're a fucking idiot.

Martin Luther King and Michael J. Fox-together at last!

[Guest Czecherbear]

Yeah, it's not some grand artistic statement. The whole album is just BUTT rock. The title track isn't much more than WCW entrance music with a vocal track. D-F-G riff, 15 years in the making, blow me.

[Gary Floyd 0]

It's hardly even close to the worst ablum of the year (that would be Cryptopsy's The King Beneath), but it's not worth the 13 million spent to make it. Hell, the Techno/Insustrial shit on the album sounds really dated (like 1998 dated.) In the end, I don't even think you can call it a Guns N' Roses album-it's just an Axl Rose (and his bloated ego's) solo/side project. Sure, he may have bought the rights to call it Guns N' Roses. Sure, it may be called Guns N' Roses. But it's not. It's just an overproduced, bloated mess, that has some good songs, and some really bad ones. Let's quit treating Axl with kid gloves and treating him like an misunderstood, underrated genius, because whatever good thing he had going for him went away with those terrible cornrows.

[BUTT 0]

The great thing about Chinese Democracy is that everyone has an opinion on it. If this were just some Aerosmith or Ozzy album, you'd never see the Incs and Czechs and Edwin McaPhistos of the world in here (if Czech's reading this, he can replace the two aforementioned acts with Ratt or Enuff Znuff or whoever else he sees as GNR's artistic peers). But because it's such a big deal, every music fan has to put in their two cents, from people who never liked GNR in the first place declaring that "it won't be any good without Slash" from experts like Agent of Oblivion and Black Lushus expressing the unfounded belief that "It'll come out, but when it does it won't have any of the songs that you've heard before" to JAxlMorrison and Use Your Illusion exceeding any band advocacy seen on this board since the days of Choken One's Keith Caputo obsession. If you always thought GNR was shit, yeah, you're not going to see this as anything more than WCW entrance music or BUTT rock or sounds like Nickelback or whatever. Just remember that he didn't take 15 years to make an album that would go in the canon alongside Loveless and FutureSex/LoveSounds. He took 15 years because he's really lazy and he just didn't feel like finishing the record.

[BUTT 0]

By the way the album is probably going to debut on the charts at #2 with 300K sold following Kanye's 450-500.

[Jaxxson Mayhem 0]

By the way the album is probably going to debut on the charts at #2 with 300K sold following Kanye's 450-500.

 

 

Nah. Best Buy alone will put it auto platinum.

[Kinetic 0]

The most anticipated Serious Rock Statement in recent memory doesn't even debut at #1? And it comes in behind an "experimental" hip hop album with an alarmingly crappy first single. I'd be sort of surprised.

[Gary Floyd 0]

By the way the album is probably going to debut on the charts at #2 with 300K sold following Kanye's 450-500.

Woah, 15 years and 13 million, and #02.

 

He (Axl) kinda deserves it really.