It’s actually happening. Guns n’ Roses’ Chinese Democracy is actually probably potentially coming out maybe. The title track has been released to radio today and you can listen to it and read my reaction after the jump.
It’s fucking awesome. It really really is. It has a long slow intro which is almost identical to the leak from this past year. The difference is they added some insane timpany/bass hits which really sound cool. Then the main riff hits us, which Roy astutely observed when the leak came out “sounds like that Darkness song”. It’s in a different key, Roy, and The Darkness were far from the first to use said riff. Axl makes his first appearance at 1:24 with a very intense “Axl Scream” a’la “Welcome to the Jungle” at the top of Appetite for Destruction. “Chinese Democracy”, Like “Welcome” is, according to this link, the lead track as well.
Anyway, the verses are totally sick with new snarling guitars added between lines of vocals. In my first interview with Bumblefoot in 2006 he mentioned he was using a fretless on the track, which you can hear on the said snarling licks. I strongly feel his influence will make this album more rocking than any of the leaks indicated and he will be heard more.
Axl sounds angry as hell throughout the track and the lyrics really seam to be about the album – an observation made on the message board this stupid fan-boy is a member of. His vocal layering is also a welcome change from the leak. Though I liked the aesthetic the vocals had on the leak (very sterile and clean), I like the multiple Axls from every angle approach of the official single.
I believe the guitar solo to be very clearly still Buckethead. I’ve never known Bumblefoot to use a whammy pedal, or a killswitch and it’s the same solo that was on the leak AND it just sounds like Buckethead. This is also a relief. I think (and hope) Bumblefoot will have more space to shine on other tracks, but I’m glad Buckethead’s still on this track. Though I frequently slam his albums, I think he’s a monster player and listening to bootleg live performances with Guns n’ Roses makes very clear the fact that, in the context of a band, this guy is an absolute genius.
All in all, I think anyone expecting Appetite for Destruction II will be disappointed, but if you can get over that and embrace the new band for what they are – a completely new band, we’re all in for a treat. This song points to the fact that there will be a lot of new sounds in combination with the badass-ness of the old stuff.
UPDATE: It’s true… Irving Azoff and Andy Gould, the band’s new management team announced today that Chinese Democracy IS coming out November 23rd as CD, Vinyl and digital download. I have already placed my preorder. I got vinyl because it comes with a free digital download and I have no more use for a CD than I do for a vinyl.
What does everyone think?
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o shit, u get the whole cd digital for free by buying the vinyl? i might have to do that as well… i think buckethead is playing on “there was a time” also.. dont forget to get ur free dr. pepper coupon
check out what pitchfork had to say:
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/147782-guns-n-roses-chinese-democracy