Guns N Roses - Chinese Democracy

I am going to do something new - 'liveblog' an album and I am starting with Guns N Roses new album Chinese Democracy which came out last November following a gestation period of over a decade.

Chinese Democracy

The first song on the album is the title track. Axl Rose screams into view after a short introduction. The lyrics are short and thunderous. Lots about things not really mattering. The guitar solo sounds dangerously close to a keyboard. Axl Rose is the only member of the original band still in GnR. He is, in effect, Guns N Roses, which means that for me, this album should really have released under Rose's own name. 'You're out of time' Rose sings, as the song comes to a climactic end. 

Shackler's Revenge

This is my favourite song on the album. Very punchy opening before a grizzly voice tells us about a funny feeling he is having. Shackler appears to be someone who is about to go out on a shooting spree. The chorus for Shackler's Revenge is really simple but addictive, 'I don't believe there's a reason... I don't believe in' represents the song's nihilism perfectly. The guitar solo is again a bit techno sounding for my tastes but it leads into a great segment of the song 'No one is stopping you from doing what you want to do' shouted into the microphone just like Shackler's inner demons would.

Better

I think it is a strangled guitar that opens this song before Rose sings in a really curious high pitched voice about never being told how things could be better (I think - I am not going to rewind the ipod to check the lyrics). The myrmicat has just appeared in the room. I know what he would like better. The guitar solo is again all techno sounding. Awful. Fortunately, it is quite short. A minute later, another solo begins. I wonder if the first one was actually another instrument? This is what happens when you have no musical education. The lyrics of Better flow really well - until the end when the song ends quite suddenly.

Street of Dreams

A piano opens this song. Axl Rose doing his November Rain thing? Certainly the singing is reminiscent of that song from Use Your Illusion I. I remember when I bought Use Your Illusion I & II. I was at college and without means to listen to the tapes until I got home. A friend who had a walkman lent it to me so that I could listen to them. Very kind of her - especially since she was a bigger rock and roll fan than me. A standard guitar solo takes off. The lead guitarist on this album is called Buckethead. Can you guess why? I miss Slash, though.

If The World

A rather odd opening to this song. Some drums, vaguely sounding guitar (?) and strings going on. Here comes Axl asking what would happen if the world went away. Well, Atlas would get a rest, I suppose. Speaking of which, I wonder if anyone caught the classical reference on The Apprentice the other week, when one of the contestants was compared to Cassandra. When asked if she knew who Cassandra was, said contestant's face was a picture of blankness.

Better is a slow kind of song as suiting its reflective mode. If The World is also quite laid back. When singing the title, Rose does sound like he is saying 'if the war...' which puts me in mind of the brilliant GnR song from Use Your Illusion II 'Civil War'. 

There Was A Time

Angelic voices open this song. As with Better, the lyrics flow really well. I must try and focus on the lyrics. There is a reference to cocaine - old days for Rose. I think the song is about an old girlfriend who may now be dead ('You're sleeping like an angel'). A word on Axl Rose's voice. It hasn't changed much. He still also has the ability to change it from screechy to more rounded and muscular according to need. I strongly suspect a bit of manipulation though, for example, in Shackler's Revenge, to represent the tormented protagonist.

At work the other day I was speaking to someone about the Ptolemaic dynasty (323 BC to 31 BC) and I was saying that all the male rulers had nicknames (they were all called Ptolemy I, II, etc). For example, one of the early Ptolemies was nicknamed Thunderbolt. A later Ptolemy was called Auletes which means Flute Player. Not very hard, is it? 

Catcher In The Rye

This may be based on the J D Salinger book of the same name but, since I have not read it, I don't know. The song is a bit middling. Listening to the lyrics I think this is a reflective song, talking about how the singer might have done things differently if he had had the chance. I am beginning to think I should have the CD case in front of me for reference.

Scraped

Interesting Queen-like opening with high pitched voices talking back to each other. Then appears Axl singing 'don't try to stop us now' in the manner of a young tearaway. That's more like it. Of course, this kind of rebellious song would be more convincing if the signer wasn't nearly 50 but perhaps we just say that Mr Rose is not singing as himself. 

Riad N the Bedouins

Great opening with Rose doing a fair impression of Tarzan. 'I am f***ing crazy' says Rose. Compared to the amount of swearing on the earlier GnR albums, Chinese Democracy is very restrained. A snappy number this one. It comes, it bellows, it goes.

Sorry

Very. Slow. Opening. Melancholic all over. After a long while, we get to the chorus which is actually quite good. 'I'm sorry for you, not sorry for me...'. I imagine this song was written over a half empty bottle of Jack Daniels. The lyrics go downhill from there. Not the quality, mind, just in their mood. All very depressing.

I.R.S.

I believe the I.R.S. is the Inland Revenue Service of America. Not a likely subject for a song. Still, the lyrics are quite compulsive, 'Gonna call the President, gonna call the I.R.S'. Axl Rose meeting Barack Obama would be quite interesting. Despite the title, this appears to be some sort of love song. Oh, there goes the techno guitar again. GET RID OF IT ROSE.

And indeed, here is the IRS's website.

Madagascar

A solemn opening that is reminiscent of old Soviet parades. This solemn mood is kept for the song. Ah, but hold on, there is Martin Luther King and Strother Martin from Cool Hand Luke. Interestingly, the Martin quotation is the same one used at the beginning of Civil War. My knowledge of Madagascar isn't great, so I am not sure where it fits into the song.

This I Love

More piano work at the beginning. Amazingly, it is a rather soppy love song. 'I hope to God she hears me!' our hero bawls. Mercifully, the guitar solo is a proper one. No techno based nonsense. I suspect that's why the woman in question left Axl to begin with. Ah, a nice little touch at the end - a couple of notes from the piano sparkling and then going out.

Prostitute

The title to this song does not give one hope that it will be a terrifically happy number, however, in defiance of expectation, it seems fairly gentle. I spoke to soon. The drum has kicked in big time as has the guitar. But then, they quieten down again. Listening to the lyrics, I hear very few actual references to prostitutes. In fact, it appears this is a love song. Clearly the title is not literal. Probably to do with the singer's heart. Or something. The song fades out with the strings and piano taking centre stage. It turns out that this is probably the kind of song that the Midnight Caller would have played at the end of his show.

And that is that. So, having listened to the album a little more carefully than I would otherwise have done, I can honestly say that I have been surprised by it. Chinese Democracy is not as aggressive as Guns N Roses' earlier works. Axl Rose's voice may not have changed much but the album is more mature; reflective is a good word to describe it. That said, I do no regret not having all the lyrics to hand. Without them, I have only got a sense of what the songs (with he exception of Shackler's Revenge) are about. But, if the lyrics match the music, I doubt I would be too far out in what I have said above.

Rating: Seven out of Ten

Summary: Play this and prepare to see a new Guns N Roses