I know there's quite a few GNR fans around here, so I was wondering, do you think Axl delivered the goods with Chinese Democracy or did he fall flat on his face?

I personally think songs like Better, Shacklers Revenge, Catcher In The Rye and Street Of Dreams definately hold up to the best material from the original band.

A few tidbits that may be of interest to some fans...

The original plan was to release the album with four different covers. Whilst never officially released, some of them were pressed and are now highly collectible amongst handcore fans, often reaching +$1,000 on eBay.

[img:$uid]http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n400/XMrBrownstoneX/cdcoverc.jpg[/img:$uid]

[img:$uid]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vaqCjVyoA_c/SeZCGK2IUcI/AAAAAAAACUA/IsfCefPU9AU/s400/chinesedemocracyalternaSLHand.png[/img:$uid]

[img:$uid]http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c382/axlism/cdcoverrr.jpg[/img:$uid]

In case anyone hasn't seen it, the official video for Better leaked a few months ago. It's mainly live footage from 2006, but it's cool to see nonetheless:

[Edited 3/24/13 3:27am]

Yes, he did.

Except for the first two industrialized songs, the album is epic.

Its just as if they left off with UYI and took it to the next level.

It makes me realize just home much Axl was integral to the GnR sound. Because the production and even the guitar portions sound as if Slash is the one doing the shredding. This reminds me of when David Lee Roth made his first solo album..how it had that distinct Van Halen feel and vibe. Yeah Templeman had helped with that but still.

Better, There Was A Time, Catcher In The Rye, Prostitue, Sorry, etc are all of the grand GnR tradition. A 15 year layoff from the public, the stories, the lawsuits etc all played a hand in the disappointment of the release. I think if the album was released with the regular band lineup, it would have been a hit.

The one thing its missing is Izzys striaght ahead rock n roll sludge contirbutons so we are left with only Axl's Elton John grandness songs. Basically almost..almost..an album full of Estranged etc.

However, even in that type of situation, it may have failed as it did ayways, due to the change in the zeitgeist....things are way different from where we left off with GnR back in 92-94.

I love Chinese Democracy! to be frank NO ALBUM by any artists can live up to the hype of a 13 year wait that is just impoddible

People bitch about the album because yes it took a lifetime to make and cause Slash is not on it...

I love all the GNR members but Slash is the one people are the biggest fan of it seems.

Better, Madascar, This I Love, Street Of Dreams, Prostitute, Chinese Democracy, Shacklers Revenge & Catcher In The Rye are some of the best GNR songs imo.

I am also a fan who loves the hell out of Use Your Illusion 1 & 2 and prefer them(and the outtakes) to Appetite anyday. So that could be another reason i like CD...

It has some of the best songs he has written.

The rockers are better than most of the similar tracks on the earlier albums. I really like the three first tracks ("Better" being maybe my favourite rock track by GnR). I'm not a huge fan of the "classics" like "November Rain" (although I do like "Don't Cry"), so the absence of that type of songs from Chinese Democracy is a big plus. "Street Of Dreams" I think it's a bit more mature take on the "power ballad" idea.

I'm not so sure how I feel about some of the material on the latter part of the album ("This I Love", "Sorry"). I don't think there's a singly bad song on the album, but a few of them feel a bit awkward to listen to.

When listening to the album it's obvious that some of the songs are a lot older than some of the others. That's it's biggest downfall as well as the layered production that makes it hard to listen to the entire album on one sitting.

I really like all of it except Chinese Democracy, Shacklers Revenge and Riad And the Bedoins. I think it's a shame it took so long to release it, if you have Brian May play on your song at least release it not use an alternative version. It's definately an Axl album as was half of UYI, i guess Slash is now making truer GNR style albums than Axl, so he should've called it something else other than GNR and put that band to bed, he clearly doesn't want anything to do with older line ups.

He also should've done some promo and at least make a video or release a single, still it still sold a boat load on reputation alone but was way off in re couping what it cost Geffen, shame he hasn't released anything since as this was 1 of 3 albums ready to go 6 years ago.

The album is great. If u listen to this album with an open mind this is a versatile album with a great mix of songs and Axl's vocals are in great shape. Now the songs Chinese democracy, Madagascar, I.R.S., Better, IF The world stand out on the album and are great. Songs like shacklers revenge are just terrible but the rest of the album is pretty enjoyable.

Saw the new Guns N' Roses live in concert and they were unbelievable. Axl's voice is probably in the best shape of his life and the band kicks ass. They went on on time and rocked for 3hrs defintely would recommend them for anyone.

i saw them in 2006 and it was superb apart from the lengthy solo spots but i've seen clips from the forthcoming dvd and he doesn't sound great.

riocoolnes said:

The album is great. If u listen to this album with an open mind this is a versatile album with a great mix of songs and Axl's vocals are in great shape. Now the songs Chinese democracy, Madagascar, I.R.S., Better, IF The world stand out on the album and are great. Songs like shacklers revenge are just terrible but the rest of the album is pretty enjoyable.

Saw the new Guns N' Roses live in concert and they were unbelievable. Axl's voice is probably in the best shape of his life and the band kicks ass. They went on on time and rocked for 3hrs defintely would recommend them for anyone.

Funny, I would say Shacklers Revenge is the best track on the album, with If The World by far being the weakest cut.

The album is overall pretty good. I was rather late to the GN'R party, becoming a fan after stumbling onto footage of the 1st version of the "new" GNR at Rock in Rio 3 in 2001. Glorious concert, still love watching it to this day.

The album does have some amazing songs though:

Better

If the World (love the crazy panning effect Axl employs at one point)

There Was a Time

Catcher in the Rye

Sorry

Prostitute (the outro on this song is absolutely fantastic)

The main songs I have issues with are "Street of Dreams," which was utterly ruined after they changed it from the pop-perfection it once was in 2002, and "Madagascar," which is just really excruciating.

Also, Scraped feels like a total throwaway, especially after the triple shot of more ambitious songs that lead up to it.

I like "Shackler's Revenge" a lot, but the different sections don't sound like they belong in the same song. If that's the reason why some people dislike it, I am not surprised.

Seems like that type of songwriting was quite common sometime around 95-96 (think of "The Same December" by Prince). So my guess is the song's pretty old.