Chinese Democracy is everywhere and nowhere. It's finished and incomplete. The demos are final and the finals are demos. It's one album with four albums worth of material. Everyone has it, and nobody has it. It's the greatest Guns album ever, it's the worst Guns album ever. Welcome to the paranoid jungle baby, wake up, time to cry!
After listening to
Shackler's Revenge, a kick ass industrial rocker from nu-GNR, I feel bad for the virtuoso musicians behind it. Not because they haven't created arguably the only rock n roll worth discussing these days, but because the world will never judge them fairly. Every song off of Chinese Democracy is not judged as MUSIC, instead they are scrutinized like auditory elixirs that must succeed or else people (or even gods) will die. Even with so much at stake, Axl will save us.
He won't save us from High School Musical 3 or Miley Cyrus, but he will save us from the most disillusioned side of ourselves - Nostalgia. Some people want the new Guns N Roses to sound like the old Guns N Roses. Why would Axl want to write the same songs again? It's not that he can't, it's just that he already did. He wanted to take the music forward and experiment with new techniques, sounds, structures...etc. When you listen to the leaks, it sounds like Axl and Co. have had a blast experimenting with the thing they love most - music. And in return, they have produced some damn good music and should be applauded for that. Even the severe wait and chaotic journey have made the experience of listening to new GNR music memorable and monumental. When's the last time music had so much attached to it?
This album will be whatever you want it to be. To those of us that love GNR, it will be magical and mean more to us than any cavalier journalist could ever know. Love Axl or hate him, the man remains one of the most provocative and interesting figures of our time. Anything he creates will be talked about for an eternity. And much like Shackler, soon he will have his revenge.
