TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

'Chinese Democracy' Will Rock You

ADVERTISEMENT

By CURTIS ROSS

cross@tampatrib.com

Published: November 23, 2008

Axl Rose delayed the release of "Chinese Democracy" for so long that anticipation for it likely peaked five or so years back. In the works since the mid-'90s, the first album of new material to bear the Guns n' Roses name since 1991 can't help but be anticlimactic.

The familiar band name and the presence of singer Rose are the only things connecting this to Guns n' Roses' earlier music. The original band members left or were fired one by one in order for Rose's megalomania to run free. You can rest assured that Rose called the shots on every note of "Chinese Democracy."

"Chinese Democracy" has nothing to do with the gutter-metal of 1987's "Appetite for Destruction," the Gunners' debut. It does, however, resemble the parts of 1991's "Use Your Illusion I" and "II" in which Rose let his gaudy ambition go to town, i.e. "November Rain."

"Chinese Democracy," then, is overblown, overproduced and overplayed. And quite good at that.

Good on its own terms, mind you. This is Big Rock - BIG ROCK, actually - and the Guns n' Roses that stripped commercial rock back to the basics 20 years ago is but a distant memory.

But as enormo-rock goes, "Chinese Democracy" has a lot going for it. The musicians may play too much, but they play it all extremely well. The production may be slick but it's the sort of slick that sucks you in - like it or not - rather than repels you.

Rose himself can simply never be counted out. He delivers peak performances here. His upper register is far more fluid and less grating than before. His lower and middle ranges have a new confidence and suppleness.

The melodies are stronger than ever and Rose's lyrics, if still self-absorbed, betray a sense of humor, even a little compassion. Of course it's going to raise eyebrows for the man who wrote the notorious "One in a Million" to use a sample of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., as Rose does on "Madagascar." But raising eyebrows is what Rose does best.

Released by Geffen, "Chinese Democracy" is, for the time being at least, available only at Best Buy.

Curtis Ross can be reached at (813) 259-7568.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT