Guns N’ Roses – Chinese Democracy
November 30, 2008 by Editor
Filed under 2008 Releases, Album Reviews
Guns N’ Roses
Chinese Democracy
Released: November 23, 2008
Record Label: Geffen
Review:
After hearing the title track from Chinese Democracy, I was hopeful that this album might live up to the hype. The song builds nicely into a good riff and seems like a natural evolution to Guns N’ Roses’ sound. My excitiment waned as the album played on.
However, the bulk of the album is mired in over-produced unapologetically long songs with somewhat sterile musicianship. Axl Rose’s vocal performance sounds great but fails to make-up for the constipated arrangements.
Most of the songs exhibit various traits of music that has been popular over the past 15 or so years. Rose does not do a good job of blending these influences into a cohesive offering. The album instead sounds disjointed.
The funky song “If The World” is one of the more likable tracks, though it oddly sounds a bit like Jamiroquai. I wanted to hear Appetite for Destruction, not Travelling Without Moving. The spirit of Guns N’ Roses seems dead, and it didn’t go out screaming like it should have. Instead we are left with what Matt Sorum refers to as a “toe tapper.”
Track Listing:
- “Chinese Democracy”
- “Shackler’s Revenge”
- “Better”
- “Street of Dreams”
- “If the World”
- “There Was a Time”
- “Catcher in the Rye”
- “Scraped”
- “Riad n’ the Bedouins”
- “Sorry”
- “I.R.S.”
- “Madagascar”
- “This I Love”
- “Prostitute”
Links:
http://www.gunsnroses.com
http://www.myspace.com/gunsnroses
