Chinese Democracy

Many thought the day would never come, but this past Sunday November 23, 2008, Axl Rose unleashed the notorious Guns N’ Roses album “Chinese Democracy” to the masses. For the past decade, “Chinese Democracy” was one of those album titles that always made the lists of the most famous albums never released.

The last Guns N’ Roses studio album, “The Spaghetti Incident?,” was released in 1993. This also marked the last Guns N’ Roses project that any original members other than Axl would participate in. During the tour for the “Use Your Illusion” albums, Axl essentially took full control of the band and ownership of the band’s name. Once early sessions began for what would become portions of “Chinese Democracy,” Axl was on his own.

Axl wanted to move into new territories with his music. It no longer was a band effort. Axl had visions and sounds in his mind that he needed to put down on tape. He knew the direction he needed his music to go. He was captivated with mid-90’s musical forces such as Nine Inch Nails. It was clear that Guns N’ Roses’ sound was going to evolve.

As the 90’s came to an end, “Chinese Democracy” was nowhere in sight. All anyone knew was that Axl had spent the second half of the decade holed up in studios throughout the L.A. area recording and obsessing over his music. His studio bills were well into the millions (ultimately reaching up to $15 million by some accounts). Some believe over 30 tracks were recorded. The project developed legendary status each passing year.

During the past couple of years, there had been strong rumors and teases of a release date, yet nothing appeared. Once Axl aligned himself with Irving Azoff’s company in early 2008, it became clear that “Chinese Democracy” or some form of it, would finally appear.

And here we are. After 14 years in the making, this fabled album has finally arrived. I have been playing “Chinese Democracy” on and off for the past 24 hours. I wasn’t expecting much. Based on what had been described over the past decade, I thought there was a good chance the material would mostly be a sonic mess of industrial metal garbage. The unimpressive opening title track pretty much stayed true to that theory. However, the third track “Better” sets the tone for what ultimately becomes a very strong album.

“Chinese Democracy” is somewhat of a revelation. There is a lot to take in. And that shouldn’t be a surprise since Axl spent almost 15 years tweaking it over and over in the studio. The music is diverse and saturated with layers of dense, melodic instrumentation (such as searing guitars, lush orchestration, atmospheres of electronica, beautiful piano fills) and dynamic vocals. Axl is still a tormented guy - his lyrics and vocals say it all.

One wonders, is this 14 track album what Axl Rose intended “Chinese Democracy” to be a decade ago? Is this the finished product he envisioned or is it a compromise that he finally let go? It is hard to tell, but this release is a pleasant surprise to say the least. After spinning this a couple of times, it makes me grateful that a talent like Axl Rose is still out there and still making music. I hope this isn’t the last project he releases, because the music world is a better place with him in it.