Thank god this thing's finally out

gnrfan1987-present

When looking at the liner notes for Chinese Democracy I can't help thinking it's a miracle this album is finally officially done and in stores. Reason: It seems to me 90% of these songs were more or less done back in 2002 (maybe sooner) but Axl has been continously screwing with the tracks (overdubbing) for the past 6-7 years. The primary vocals sound like they were recorded a decade ago.

The liner notes reflect an Axl Rose who marked the latest departure of a GnR band member and the arrival of a new one (ex: guitarist) by deciding to redo every track and basically start from sratch. Examples on the official CD are replacing Brain's drum track on the title song and others with Frank Ferrer. (A shame since Brain talked about how hard he worked to sound like Josh Freese!) And deleting Buckethead's solo on "Shackler's" (the guy's own composition!) with one by Bumblefoot. Considering the rate in which people leave GnR, this practice of overdubbing new parts everytime a new band member joins could have gone on until the day Axl dies.

And even though these tracks are finally done and out there for mass consumption, I get the feeling Axl is really pissed about having to finally let these 14 songs out of the vaults. If he had his way he'd probably be back in the studio, adding another half dozen overdubs to "Better" or tripling the vocal tracks on "Sorry." He's probably reading the reviews, thinking, "yeah maybe I should have dropped 'Scraped' and replaced it with 'Silkworms'." And poor Andy Wallace the guy who had to mix these songs. Imagine putting together 6 different guitar parts on "Time." The guy deserved a special Grammy for his work on CD.

My main point is the basic songs on CD are all really good. Most have great hooks and clever lyrics. And the core band from 2001-2002 was excellent. It's a shame Axl couldn't have just left well enough alone. Instead he took the piss out of classic songs like "Better," "The Blues," "There Was A Time" "Catcher In The Rye" and "IRS" with his constant remixing, unnecessary overdubbing and annoying sound effects. The final album has way too much Chris Pitman. The band should change its name to "Pitman n Rose."

I remember Slash mentioning that if we could hear the basic demos from the Use Your Illusion albums before Axl started toying with the tunes in post production we'd be blown away. Somebody should take away Axl's protools access. Like I said it's an absolute miracle Axl finally let this thing be released. I get a strong feeling it could have been put out in 2004 and the reviews would be killer (more so from the fans than critics) and that nobody would be complaining about "overkill" when it comes to ProTools and the "digital editing" that is constantly mentioned in the liner notes.

Hopefully one day someone will create a "raw" version of the album. A "Chinese Democracy Naked" deal showcasing the tracks stripped of Chris Pitman's "subbass," "subdrums" and "sub guitar." Whatever the hell those are.

Axlin16

It's just a fancy way of saying there's multi-tracks of guitar, bass, drums and keys.

In alot of ways it's truely a GN'R record, at least in the UYI-sense. People talk about how good CD is in comparison to the "bloated" Illusion albums.

Huh?

I love all the albums, and love CD, and i'll be the first to tell you CD makes UYI looked "Unplugged".

CD is the most bloated GN'R album ever. Every song is like a clusterfuck, that somehow just works with an almost manic sense.

gnrfan1987-present

Axlin08 wrote:

In alot of ways it's truely a GN'R record, at least in the UYI-sense. People talk about how good CD is in comparison to the "bloated" Illusion albums.
Huh?

People should go back and listen to the Illusions again. Honestly CD gives me a headache because there is SO much going on with each track. It's like my ears get overloaded or something. Plus the Illusions were finished in like a year while CD took 14. Not many bands can great 2 1/2 hours of "all killer, no filler" music in a year. But GnR came pretty close in 1991.

And after 14 years CD should be all killer. I mean, let's get real. In that amount time there shouldn't be a dud on the album. But there is one... "Scraped." I'm thinking that cheese would have been rejected from both Illusions by the rest of GnR.

mickronson

pity axl didnt put out all his shit in a double/treble disc then we could compare the illusions so called filler, but this is 14 songs not 30, and i expected more, i expected his BEST.
Twat would of worked better as an end track as its got the solo to back it up, which is missing badly on prostitute. Still isnt a track to beat Estranged tho.. doubt there will be

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