Chinese Democracy in 1988

dalethirsty

Wagszilla wrote:

I find it interesting that the intro wasn't added until circa 2006.
In 2002 we had The General open some shows which also appeared on an early track listing.
It seems Axl wanted the same idea, an extended soundscape intro, but delayed the aforementioned track's appearance until a future album.

the evolution of the song "chinese democracy" is very interesting to me. what started as axl's tribute to "smells like teen spirit" eventually morphed into new gnr's take on "welcome to the jungle."

in the beginning, the song was simply a mimicry of the loud/quiet structure that kurt made famous. once the album came out, it was tinkered with to the point of having a delayed guitar intro that built up into a huge scream... where have we heard that before? i'm not sure if this transformation was conscious, but i knew it was the song's fate when the band started opening up with the song.

while i do think it jams, i don't think the final version captures the same magic the 01/early 02 versions had. it could have been a strong album cut -- to me, it functions more as new gnr's "it's so easy" than jungle. i think it would have had a much better fate as a mid-album rocker on the 2000 intentions album, but whatever.

esoterica

Even in its peak 2001 form which is quite enjoyable, it's a relatively pedestrian song.

dalethirsty

i remember having my buddy burn me all the rock in rio 3 bootlegs to a cd because i didn't have internet at the time.

chinese democracy didn't really stand out to me. madagascar was the most interesting.... it stuck with me more than any other of the new songs.

hearing slash play cd live is something else though, i tell ya.

monkeychow

totally...Madagascar really inspired me after Rio3....it really gave me hope that even though new NGNR was going to be different to traditional GNR it would still be artistically great.

Although the production doesn't make the same choices I would I still think it's a beautiful song, one of my favourites.

As for CD, that riff with Slash's style sounds amazing on the current tour. I really like the feel he brings to the CD songs.

elevendayempire

dalethirsty wrote:

i remember having my buddy burn me all the rock in rio 3 bootlegs to a cd because i didn't have internet at the time.
chinese democracy didn't really stand out to me. madagascar was the most interesting.... it stuck with me more than any other of the new songs.
hearing slash play cd live is something else though, i tell ya.

I remember listening to the leaked version of Madagascar on my walk to work. Fucking hell, that was inspiring. I wish they'd bust it out live again (and give Fortus the solo like they did in 2006).

dalethirsty

elevendayempire wrote:

dalethirsty wrote:
i remember having my buddy burn me all the rock in rio 3 bootlegs to a cd because i didn't have internet at the time.
chinese democracy didn't really stand out to me. madagascar was the most interesting.... it stuck with me more than any other of the new songs.
hearing slash play cd live is something else though, i tell ya.
I remember listening to the leaked version of Madagascar on my walk to work. Fucking hell, that was inspiring. I wish they'd bust it out live again (and give Fortus the solo like they did in 2006).

madagascar is axl's strongest lyrical performance since coma or locomotive, imo. simple, yes, but the message of the song is incredibly powerful. this is highlighted by the simplicity of the music -- madagascar is one of the only cd songs that didn't suffer from drowning in layers of noise and nonsense.

with the lyrics, axl was taking a triumphant stance on the old band and his situation at the time.

"forgive them that tear down my soul,
bless them that they might grow old,
and free them so that they may know,
that it's never too late"

always loved this part especially. to me, it was axl letting slash, duff, izzy and the rest of the world know that there could be a reunion at some point down the line.

and look where we are now!

James

elevendayempire wrote:

I remember listening to the leaked version of Madagascar on my walk to work. Fucking hell, that was inspiring. I wish they'd bust it out live again (and give Fortus the solo like they did in 2006).

Yeah that would be great......like fingernails on a chalkboard great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxYO_l8xYsI

Re: Chinese Democracy in 1988

Re: Chinese Democracy in 1988

Re: Chinese Democracy in 1988

Re: Chinese Democracy in 1988

Re: Chinese Democracy in 1988

Re: Chinese Democracy in 1988

Re: Chinese Democracy in 1988

Board footer