CHINESE DEMOCRACY - THE SINGLE: SOME REVIEWS

Eccovi alcune recensioni pubblicate dopo l'uscita del singolo "Chinese Democracy", anticipatore dell'omonimo attesissimo album...


CHART ATTACK - JOSH VISSER

Since Jesus Christ and Satan didn't get together to jam on the title track of Guns N'
Roses' decade-plus-in-the-making Chinese Democracy, expectations won't be met for this song. But that aside, "Chinese Democracy," which hit radio today, is a pretty rad track. Once Axl Rose's patented banshee scream kicks in over a thunderous guitar riff, all the hype and bullshit go out the window. The song features dueling Axl vocals (the high-pitched one and the low growling one from "It's So Easy"), and the redheaded one goes on angrily about something vaguely political in the verses ("Blame it on the Falun Gong/They've see the end and you can't hold on now"). The song's soaring guitars seem to build towards a killer chorus that never quite happens. Instead, there's a ripping guitar solo (some combo of Robin Finck, Buckethead and Ron Thal) that almost makes up for having nothing to sing along to. The outro is classic GN'R, but on steroids — guitars blazing, multiple Axls screaming — and there's just a bit too much going on. This song ain't no "Paradise City" or "Welcome To The Jungle," but it stands tall against any other GN'R rocker, and that's not something rock radio can say very often these days.


SUNDAY MERCURY - STEVE WOLLASTON

I first started listening to Guns and Roses in 1987, my obsession with their music is just as strong now as it was when I was a teenager listening to Appetite For Destruction for the first time.

I have since 1987 trailed the band, their ups and downs, the on-going sagas and the solo projects and waited patiently for Chinese Democracy to arrive.

Some said it never would, the real fans knew different, they saw beyond the joke, I have heard the bootlegs, we all have and they are in some cases truly stunning tracks.

I have seen the raw power of the new tracks come into their own when played live, songs like Madagascaar and There Was a Time stand shoulder to shoulder with previous epics like Estranged and November Rain, If The World and Prostitute show a more poignant and thoughtful side to the music and indeed Rose's songwriting.

I write this on the back of unfinished gems that I have seen on the Internet, I don't condone people leaking tracks but they have certainly made me that little bit more eager to add this to my collection.

The release of Chinese Democracy the single has happened quite quickly and taken people by surprise, some have slated it, others are impressed - now we have heard the finished version of this track it will be interesting to see how polished the others sound.

It doesn't matter what Guns and Roses release, the reaction will be the same, many people won't see beyond the media circus surrounding the release and will wonder what all the fuss is about. Others will expect it to be the greatest album of all time - it's not, but I think people will be surprised at just how good it is.

Of course Slash, Duff, Izzy on the album would have been the dream ticket but that won't happen, didn't happen and isn't an issue... the one mistake Axl Rose made was not launching this as a solo project, he would have had less abuse - but he worked hard to build the name, he owns it, so why not?

My view is simple, listen to the album two or three times and I reckon you will be impressed, if you were a fan before I think you will be a fan now. The music is a mature progression from Use Your Illusion and has a depth and variety that certainly no other artist has tried to create in recent times, to record an album over 13 years and it not sound dated is an art in itself!

I just can't wait to hear all those b-sides and studio tracks that didn't make the grade over the 13-year selection period!


SPIN - STEVE KANDELL

Maybe it's the fact that I'm listening to it on my computer and not, say, in a car, that makes it feel less than real. After all, we've been here before: (alleged) tracks from the mythic, Sasquatch-like Chinese Democracy leaked last year, and we downloaded them, tentatively, straining to hear some sort of genetic connection to the Guns N' Roses we all remember and romanticize. It seemed as if this long story was going to come to an end with a whimper. And a shrug. And here we are again, only without the shady back-alley torrent-site-dealings or fear of RIAA reprisal.

"Chinese Democracy," the first single from the actually-existing Guns N' Roses album of the same name, was released today. Officially. Legally. (The album is available November 23, exclusively from Best Buy. Unless of course, it isn't.)

Once that weird shock wears off, there's the small matter of, you know, whether or not it's any good. Which is to say: Is it as bad as we all assume it's gonna be?

Answer: Kinda, but then again, not really!

Those fearing/expecting an overly synthesized, 1999-vintage techno-metal can rest easy-ish. Once the overture of muffled voices, ominous drums, and plinky Edge-ish guitar gives way to a thick, muscular four-chord riff and that Axl banshee wail, only the most stubbornly jaded will manage to suppress the goosebump reflex. The verses are double-tracked: half high-pitched Axl, half guttural, growly Axl. But then a funny thing happens before the song gets to the chorus: IT FUCKING ENDS.

Sure, there's some suitably Slashy wankery from, oh, I don't know, Bumblefuck, the guy who plays with a honey-coated beehive on his head, or whichever other guitarist is currently under contract, but it's a bit confounding that the first (official, legal) taste of the Most Anticipated Album, Like, Ever -- and from the human who wrote "Paradise City," no less -- is utterly and completely hook-free. I've listened to it 12 times in one sitting and cannot hum a bar.

Then again, I was able to listen to it 12 times in one sitting. Maybe we should take our victories small, and wherever we can get them.

Now (Finally) Hear This: Guns N' Roses - "Chinese Democracy"


CHICAGO/McCLATCHY TRIBUNE - GREG KOT

Guns N’ Roses fans, the wait is over.

“Chinese Democracy,” the title track from the band’s first studio album since 1991, was released Wednesday to radio stations. The track was also available online, where it was streaming on various Web sites.

Was the wait worth it? Axl Rose is the only band member left from the band’s original incarnation and so this is essentially a solo project.

Rose sings in the lower end of his range, save for the introduction where his heavily processed voice sounds like a distant air-raid siren; otherwise, the wicked-witch cackle that defined his Sunset Strip bad-boy incarnation in the ’80s sits this one out.

The track indicates that Rose hasn’t gone soft. But technical prowess is no substitute for a great song.

Beneath the six-string buzz there really isn’t much of a melody, or even a memorable hook. After 17 years, this is the best tune Rose could conjure for the lead single?

Not a promising sign for an album that is supposedly going to be made available exclusively at Best Buy stores the week of Nov. 23.


IN MUSIC - ELIZABETH BROMSTEIN

This ain't no Welcome to the Jungle

The first single off of Guns N Roses' Chinese Democracy made a long awaited radio debut this week. Seventeen years! That's how long it took. So, if you have a 17-year-old kid, take a good look at him/her and think about how long it took to get this point. Then imagine that kid had cost you $13 million (the reported cost this far of producing Chinese Democracy). You'd expect that kid to be pretty awesome right? Like a psychic philanthropist with early masters degrees in Physics and English lit., and perhaps a fledgling multi-million dollar business on the side.

But OK, wait. I just got it. Maybe the album was NEVER supposed to come out. Maybe it was like, when pigs fly: this album will be released when China becomes a democratic nation. Or something like that. The National Post quotes Stephen Davies, author of Watch You Bleed, a new unauthorized biography of GNR as saying, "I think [Axl is] definitely getting bullied into releasing this record now."

Whatever the case, here we are. So, how's single?

It starts with a long build up (not unlike the wait for the album) and has a mildly catchy hook and some pretty smoking guitar work. But the lyrics aren't as inspired as I had hoped. I think he says, "It don't really matter. Guess I'll keep it to myself. I said it don't really matter. It's time I look around for somebody else," which doesn't exactly stand up when you compare it to Mr. Brownstone, Night Train, November Rain or Estranged. Also, there's no REAL hook, like a pumping chorus and the driving rhythm is plodding.

Slash himself said in his book that he didn't realize how much of a force drummer Steve Adler was behind Appetite for Destruction until years later. And it's pretty apparent now. You don't know a great rhythm section until you don't have one. Axl's voice appears to have held up pretty well though. And we're all just so happy to see him doing something right?

Is Chinese Democracy the equivalent of that amazing 17-year-old 13-million-dollar kid? In a word: no. But I'm going to reserve judgment until the whole record comes out in late November.


THE TELEGRAPH'S BLOG - NEIL McCORMICK

Confirmation that Guns N' Roses long awaited ‘Chinese Democracy' is not just a figment of Axl Rose's imagination finally arrived when radio stations began playing it today.

It's a very slow starter, but hey, after 15 years what's another minute or so of messing about?

Clearly, Axl is not a man in a hurry. There's 45 seconds of people talking while an orchestra tunes up before the snare drums crashes down and an understated guitar arpeggio joins the warm up.The actual power chord riff that signals that the band is ready to rock doesn't kick in till the minute mark, and Axl doesn't let out his trademark scream till 1 minute thirty seconds.

The opening line is "It doesn't really matter," which you might think was a bit defeatist after all that preamble, but the song itself is surprisingly lean, mean and to the point, verging on old school power pop with extra twiddling (it sounds like they might have spent most of the last two decades mixing guitars).

Linking onanism and politics, Axl rhymes ‘masturbation' with ‘rule the nation', but I couldn't actually work out what the connection was, or what the song is supposed to be about, but that's par for the course in the genre. There's a lead solo at 3.15, the purpose of which seems to be to set the record for the number of notes that can be played per bar. It's sparky but not particularly memorable. Slash is unlikely to lose sleep.

The song climaxes at 4.20 but then there's another 25 seconds of fading rumble, presumably while the band catch their breath. The whole thing lasts nearly five minutes, but I only make that about three minutes of actual song, the rest is just a kind of elaborate set of bookends, lending the whole experience an air of self importance. Still, after all that time, you can forgive them for making a meal of their comeback.

The problem with taking so long to make a record, of course, is that anticipation creates added expectation, until anything less than a groundbreaking masterpiece is going to be a disappointment.

But if you can forget about the millions of dollars and thousands of man hours, Chinese Democracy actually sounds like a decent afternoon's work in the studio, which should be enough to satisfy what's left of their fan base.


BLOGSNROSES.COM - WETTNER

No matter how much I wanted to hate this song, I can't.

The song starts out slow. There is a over a minute that is just a long intro until Axl's primal scream announcing to the world he is back and screaming once again.

There are two vocal tracks, both of Axl. One is the higher singing Axl (think My Michelle) and other, the lower register Axl (It's So Easy), is the one front and center. It provides a layer to the song, that I found mildly distracting. Due to the duplicate layer, Axl never mixes the vocal ranges after the primal scream. Something I wish this song had, I wanted it to go higher and grab me by the balls.

The lead guitarist has changed so many times, I have no idea which lead track this is. It could be any number of guitarists, Buckethead, Robin Finck, or Bumblefoot. The most likely explanation is that it is a mixture of all three guitarists. The solo still has that technology "Bleep Bleep Tweak Tweak" sound, so I'll guess that part is Buckethead. The solos in the song sound like a Bumblefoot/Slash solo. Since Slash had nothing to do with the solos, I will guess Bumblefoot on those. The solos are good, but nothing mind blowing.

The lyrics seem to be Axl saying fuck you to those who were impatient to the album and to those criticizing the album. But lyrics are up for interpretation, so read into them what you want. I will say this though, they don't describe a time in a China where democracy rules.

On Appetite for Destruction, Stephen Adler's drums were always audible. You never really had to listen for them. But these drums are in the back. Same thing with the bass. You had to do more listening for it, but take a listen to Think About You. You can hear both drums and bass working together and driving the song. The song Chinese Democracy features vocals, guitars, and drums. Where is the bass? Of course, I Heart Music, wasn't the ideal medium for the single, so I reserve judgment until I hear it on cd.

I actually like the song. I think it is better than some songs on Use Your Illusion I and II. However the biggest strike against it is, it took 14 years for that? If this album were released right after The Spaghetti Incident? There would be no questioning it. This is the current form of Guns N' Roses minus Izzy and Slash and people would have accepted it.

I think if you can put your bias aside, you will find this song isn't bad. Is it Welcome to the Jungle? Fuck no. But is it good? Shit yea. It does make me excited to hear the rest of the album.


L.A. TIMES - ANN POWERS

"Chinese Democracy," the first single from the ridiculously long-awaited Guns N' Roses album of the same name, is out, and can be heard below.

Here are some thoughts the song inspired early this morning.

No pop star has built a fortress as maze-filled and iron-clad as one W. Axl Rose. Not Michael Jackson, whose retreat was forced by scandal as much as by artistic crisis, and who seems ever more weakened by his reputation's slide. Not Zack de la Rocha, who (like Rose) went down countless collaborative roads before revamping the Rage Against the Machine template with his new project, One Day As a Lion. Not Garth Brooks, who also turned hermit, but craved the crowds too much to stay inside.

Rose, the most ambitious hard rocker of the late 20th century -- shout-outs to your Trents and your Bonos, but Axl is the most vividly driven -- essentially quarantined the Guns N' Roses brand for 15 years -- unable, perhaps, to reconcile the sounds in his head with what is humanly possible. "Chinese Democracy," the title track from the album finally coming out in a month, hits like an offering pushed through a crack in a locked gate, hinting that those sounds, never completely apprehended, have now coalesced into something Rose can face.

The sound is murky, ugly and evocative of a dark cityscape; you could call it "Blade Runner rock," because like that 1982 film, it's a very dirty vision of the future. Siren-like effects kick off the track, and then a slicing guitar riff (courtesy of Robin Finck, perhaps, or Buckethead -- the credits should be clarified whenever Rose deigns to do so) punctuated by squiggling, pedal-heavy licks, sets up Rose's multiple-tracked vocal.

"It don't really matter," he sings. "You'll find out for yourself." As the cryptic verses unfold, it becomes clear that this is one of Rose's songs from inside the cage of fame, attacking external forces he despises but can't ignore or repel. Like "Get in the Ring" or "You Could Be Mine," this is Rose as the nastiest kind of punk.

On one level, it's a protest song about Chinese state oppression. More important, it's a spit back at the audience that's been waiting for what has to be a masterpiece, if Rose is to survive artistically.

The song builds like bile. It doesn't behave the way radio-friendly singles usually do. The chorus is just an extension of the verses, rising a little in pitch and compression. There isn't really a proper hook; the sweet release that Slash's solos always brought to the mix never comes. But the refrain sticks after several listens.

"It would take a lot more..." is the key phrase, the one that Rose sings in still-powerful mid-range. More hate, more time. (There's a weird reference to masturbation too, that will have critics and possibly 12-year-olds snickering for a while.) These are the points when the song sounds the most like Nine Inch Nails -- a shot of aggression that somehow contains its own alienated retreat.

"Chinese Democracy" also recalls "I'm Afraid of Americans," David Bowie's 1997 foray with NIN. Both songs have a suffocated quality, as if their makers are pushing through smoke to express these thoughts. It's the sound of florid, romantic rockers aiming for something cold and modern.

But Rose can never really be cold. He's a Heat Miser -- whatever he touches starts to melt in his clutch. That's why these paranoid rockers never quite satisfy the way his grandiose ballads can. As real as Rose's anger may be, in song it starts to feel overly put on, in need of a sweeping chorus (or Slash-like ringing solo) to relieve the tension of the pose.

Still, for all the pooh-poohing this song will inevitably earn because it's just been too long in coming to fulfill all hopes, "Chinese Democracy" brings back a passionate weirdness that the hard rock airwaves have lacked. However overwrought or undercooked the whole album may be, it's good to have this mad king venturing forth over his moat.


GUARDIAN/THE OBSERVER - ELIZABETH DAY

It got its first radio airplay in the States last week, prompting a collective gasp of underwhelmed incredulity. 'We're confident in saying that "Chinese Democracy" is certainly one of the best songs of the year,' said one review. 'It's just a shame that the year in question is 1991.'

While everyone else has spent the past few years logging on to MySpace and downloading from iTunes, it seems as if Axl Rose has been cryogenically frozen in the early Nineties, with his fingerless gloves and his Stars and Stripes bandana.

There is something rather heartening about this refusal to evolve: a bit like one of those ubiquitous reunion tours, but without the bother of having actually to reunite.

Listening to the new single online, I am struck by its uncanny resemblance to the Crocodile Dundee soundtrack and am transported back to a simpler time when we all used to make mix tapes and listen to them on our Walkmans.

The opening bars are punctuated by exotic animal calls and a sort of electro-synthesised kettle drum. The whole thing sounds like one of those pre-recorded programmes you used to get on Casio electric keyboards, perhaps entitled 'Jungle Bossa Nova'.

Then there are Axl Rose's familiarly strangulated vocals, delivering profound lyrics that make no sense but rhyme words like 'missionaries' with 'visionaries'. (Seventeen years is enough to make even the most uninspired rock star polysyllabic.)

In spite of myself, I end up liking it. It's the musical equivalent of a Werther's Original - reassuringly evocative of a simpler age.

But some Guns N' Roses fans are distinctly unimpressed. 'Thanks for taking so long Axl,' typed one on the New York Times website. 'I hardly have any hair left to headbang to this with.'


KUNG FU RODEO - BRITT SCHRAMM

Since I’ve been the voice of dissention concerning W. Axl Rose and his multiple variation of Guns N’ Roses, I thought that the only fair and balanced thing to do would be to review the Chinese Democracy single, which was released worldwide yesterday. I have listened it at least 10 times and took some minor notes so no flying-off-the-handle here.

My initial thoughts are that it has the potential to be a really good hard rock song. The blues riffs of old are weaved around Rose’s trademark growl/high-sung duet. The groove marries well with melody lead by a syth-filtered rhythm guitar, giving the song a flavor of grunge-ish proportions. Really, there is no mistaking that this is a GnR song.

The drawbacks? It’s feels too short and too long at the same time. How can that be , you might be asking yourself? The complete song clocks in at 4:42 but is really around 3:33. There is an 46 sec intro that give an impression that this song is part of a concept CD. The same could be said for the 23 sec ending. Now, in the context of a concept CD, these parts might make more sense to remain. A more judicious hand on the production board might’ve helped in making this song a tighter (and better) track.

Overall, Chinese Democracy, the song, is a decent one and should get its fair amount of airplay. But as a single, especially one that their fans have been waiting for over a decade and half to pull their leathers out for and to rock out to, an in-your-face, immediate impact was needed and with this unneccessary padding, the might of GnR gets somewhat lost in the shuffle.