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Re: Happy 10th anniversary, Chinese Democracy!
And here we are, exactly ten years after the release of the album some of us thought would never come to light.
Unless something changes, the crazy ride leading up to the album actually going on sale will stand as the most interesting, frustrating, exciting, longest-lasting, and mysterious musical experience of my life. From the moment I first heard a lo-fi mp3 demo of "I.R.S." to slipping the official CD in my car's stereo while parked outside of a Best Buy store on November 23, 2008, the treasure hunt slowly then inescapably sucked me in.
To think I'd be purchasing marked-down copies at Best Buy (to hand out to friends and family) a few years later, and then copies at the dollar store a few months after that, would have been preposterous ... yet somehow that only seems to be a weirdly fitting coda to the whole adventure.
I'd love for Axl to release a box set with outtakes and a surround-sound mix some day, in part to give the general public another chance to discover the album, although at this point hoping for anything from the man is something I've learned to avoid.
We should all give the album a spin today.
Ten years. Holy crap.
- A Private Eye
- Rep: 77
Re: Happy 10th anniversary, Chinese Democracy!
Amazing really that the post CD era is now basically as long as wait was for CD itself.
Be interesting to see which decade fans remember more fondly, 98-08 or 08-18?
Post CD certainly seems to have gone quicker but that may be more to do with me than anything GNR related. I only really picked up the CD saga in 04 but that 4 year wait felt like an eternity.
Re: Happy 10th anniversary, Chinese Democracy!
Good comment too, that TSI and Live Era are also birthday. Honestly, I highly value all the albums that were made, including covers and this one live. In one of them a good work of re-reading and in another a ''live'' with voices and also studio instrumental, which is a differential. I think it's really cool, especially for those who love to see Axl's vocal shift.
- metallex78
- Rep: 194
Re: Happy 10th anniversary, Chinese Democracy!
Happy 25th birthday to TSI!!! 
I still remember the excitement leading up to the release of that album, seeing as it was the first official new GN’R release I could look forward to since only getting into the band after UYI was already out.
Oh, and happy 10th birthday to CD too. No other album was as excruciatingly painful to wait for as this one was. And I’m glad we finally got it, even if it is very hit and miss. I still rather consider it an Axl Rose solo album, and there are definitely moments of greatness on there.
Oh, and the real big news buzzing around at the moment, is that GN’R will release something in 2019. Apparently Axl is currently sifting through CD leftovers for a new album.
Re: Happy 10th anniversary, Chinese Democracy!
Oh, and the real big news buzzing around at the moment, is that GN’R will release something in 2019. Apparently Axl is currently sifting through CD leftovers for a new album.
Does that mean another anniversary collection that is one year late? Typical GNR! 
- jimmythegent
- Rep: 30
Re: Happy 10th anniversary, Chinese Democracy!
Happy 10th Birthday CD!
Can't believe it has been that long and I had to have a listen in the car today.
A fascinating album for sure and the wait, mystery and sheer absurdity of it all was a fun ride. The old days posting at HTGTH with the endless speculation and theories was fun indeed.
As an album, its a mess but that is to be expected. There's a great album in there somewhere - the layers and layers of overdubs made it tough going as a listener but it still has a charm about it. It's a shame a more pared down version with more distinction and isolation between the instruments didn't come to bear. Theres only a few moments where you really hear the character of the bassist and drummer for instance - for the most part, it is a compressed and indistinguishable haze of mud.
The release itself with the shambolic cover art and liner notes riddled with errors was a major disservice.
Hilarious that the much maligned Paul Huge ended up as one of the key songwriters. It'd be fascinating to get an interview with him one day.
