Chinese Democracy - The Leak
... so 9 songs from Chinese Democracy have been leaked. They've already been pulled from that site, but they can be found (cough) if you look hard enough.
Reviewing on first listen:
Chinese Democracy: Some serious guitar work (especially considering Slash left during the Clinton administration). Axl goes from scream to growl, and name-drops the Falun Gong. Me likey. Thumbs up.
This I Love: Starts with what sounds like a drum machine? Oy. Gets better with the string section about a minute in, definitely settles into mid-tempo. Axl breaks out the falsetto and the piano work (say what you will about G'n'R, they've never been shy about putting pianos in there) into the outro. Yes, I'm headbanging as I type. Once you get past the drums, thumbs way up.
There Was A Time: Choir intro? Ohhhh, boy. Definitely a Song To A Lost Love... thirty seconds in, this is already this album's attempt at November Rain (or at least Don't Cry). I'm liking this song musically, but halfway through, I'm imagining how 1991 Axl would have sounded singing it (vocally, this is the weakest so far). Long Guitar Solo into the outro (with layered Axl vocals). Again, thumbs up.
The Blues: Piano intro... you know that spot in the middle of the show where half the band sits it out and they slow down the tempo? Yup. A little too uptempo to get cell phones waving in the audience. It is what it is, that is to say I'm not too sure what the heck it is. Thumbs down... this, at absolute best, would have been a late cut left off from the Use Your Illusions.
Rhiad and the Bedouins: Definitely the most "engineered" of the batch so far... layered vocals, layered guitars, a smidge of electronica. Definitely nothing you've heard from G'n'R so far. Caught myself headbanging again. Thumbs up, with bonus points for being successfully different.
Madagascar: Strings and horns on the intro, quickly into Sad Growling Axl. Telling lyric: "It's never too late". Samples in the middle (MLK, Cool Hand Luke)... I believe we've got our Message Song here. I'm already picturing how they'd work this live. Most definitely "epic". Thumbs way up.
If The World: Flamenco guitar, pianos and violins on the intro. Another Song To A Lost Love. Definitely different. I'm personally meh, but I can see where people would get into this. Thumbs in the middle.
I.R.S.: The most-leaked song of the bunch, as versions of this have been floating around for 5 years. So far, this sounds the most like something that would have been around for Use Your Illusion... straightforward guitar and drums. I'm not terribly sold on the lyrics (Paranoid Axl, but not very focused), but the song works for me otherwise. Thumbs 2/3 up... it sounds the most like it could have been recorded back in the day, which isn't necessarily what you expect from an album that's been FIFTEEN YEARS in the making. But as a nod to their earlier sound, it works.
Better: Begins with a muted intro, which means something's going to explode. Which it doesn't? Huh. Axl over layered guitars. Saying it again... LOVE the guitars. I am very much headbanging. Love the tempo changes, love the solos in the middle. Lyrics and vocals work... back to the muted outro. Wow. Holy fuck. Thumbs way, way, WAY up.
So the final score: based on these nine songs, I'd buy it. If the last G'nR you heard was Appetite for Destruction, this is NOTHING like that... hell, Use Your Illusion was pretty far from Appetite, if only because Appetite was incredibly fucking raw.
I didn't listen hugely to the lyrics, to be honest. A few other reviewers have noted that some references are dated... um, duh? On further listens, who knows what I'll pick up... I reviewed this "live" so I'd be able to type my reactions right away.
Is this album worth a fifteen-year (and counting, until I have the CD in my grubby hands) wait? No... but name an album that would be. Masterpieces don't even take fifteen years.
Given the clusterfuck that G'n'R has been, I didn't know what to expect... what I get out of this is nothing that sucks, a few songs that I could leave, a few songs that rock and/or really rock, and one that blew me the fuck away. (And I didn't leave it until last on purpose, honest.)
Now, Axl? Buddy? RELEASE THE FUCKING ALBUM ALREADY.
Reviewing on first listen:
Chinese Democracy: Some serious guitar work (especially considering Slash left during the Clinton administration). Axl goes from scream to growl, and name-drops the Falun Gong. Me likey. Thumbs up.
This I Love: Starts with what sounds like a drum machine? Oy. Gets better with the string section about a minute in, definitely settles into mid-tempo. Axl breaks out the falsetto and the piano work (say what you will about G'n'R, they've never been shy about putting pianos in there) into the outro. Yes, I'm headbanging as I type. Once you get past the drums, thumbs way up.
There Was A Time: Choir intro? Ohhhh, boy. Definitely a Song To A Lost Love... thirty seconds in, this is already this album's attempt at November Rain (or at least Don't Cry). I'm liking this song musically, but halfway through, I'm imagining how 1991 Axl would have sounded singing it (vocally, this is the weakest so far). Long Guitar Solo into the outro (with layered Axl vocals). Again, thumbs up.
The Blues: Piano intro... you know that spot in the middle of the show where half the band sits it out and they slow down the tempo? Yup. A little too uptempo to get cell phones waving in the audience. It is what it is, that is to say I'm not too sure what the heck it is. Thumbs down... this, at absolute best, would have been a late cut left off from the Use Your Illusions.
Rhiad and the Bedouins: Definitely the most "engineered" of the batch so far... layered vocals, layered guitars, a smidge of electronica. Definitely nothing you've heard from G'n'R so far. Caught myself headbanging again. Thumbs up, with bonus points for being successfully different.
Madagascar: Strings and horns on the intro, quickly into Sad Growling Axl. Telling lyric: "It's never too late". Samples in the middle (MLK, Cool Hand Luke)... I believe we've got our Message Song here. I'm already picturing how they'd work this live. Most definitely "epic". Thumbs way up.
If The World: Flamenco guitar, pianos and violins on the intro. Another Song To A Lost Love. Definitely different. I'm personally meh, but I can see where people would get into this. Thumbs in the middle.
I.R.S.: The most-leaked song of the bunch, as versions of this have been floating around for 5 years. So far, this sounds the most like something that would have been around for Use Your Illusion... straightforward guitar and drums. I'm not terribly sold on the lyrics (Paranoid Axl, but not very focused), but the song works for me otherwise. Thumbs 2/3 up... it sounds the most like it could have been recorded back in the day, which isn't necessarily what you expect from an album that's been FIFTEEN YEARS in the making. But as a nod to their earlier sound, it works.
Better: Begins with a muted intro, which means something's going to explode. Which it doesn't? Huh. Axl over layered guitars. Saying it again... LOVE the guitars. I am very much headbanging. Love the tempo changes, love the solos in the middle. Lyrics and vocals work... back to the muted outro. Wow. Holy fuck. Thumbs way, way, WAY up.
So the final score: based on these nine songs, I'd buy it. If the last G'nR you heard was Appetite for Destruction, this is NOTHING like that... hell, Use Your Illusion was pretty far from Appetite, if only because Appetite was incredibly fucking raw.
I didn't listen hugely to the lyrics, to be honest. A few other reviewers have noted that some references are dated... um, duh? On further listens, who knows what I'll pick up... I reviewed this "live" so I'd be able to type my reactions right away.
Is this album worth a fifteen-year (and counting, until I have the CD in my grubby hands) wait? No... but name an album that would be. Masterpieces don't even take fifteen years.
Given the clusterfuck that G'n'R has been, I didn't know what to expect... what I get out of this is nothing that sucks, a few songs that I could leave, a few songs that rock and/or really rock, and one that blew me the fuck away. (And I didn't leave it until last on purpose, honest.)
Now, Axl? Buddy? RELEASE THE FUCKING ALBUM ALREADY.