First review of Guns N' Roses album

Guns N' Roses' new album, Chinese Democracy, has been reviewed by Rolling Stone writer David Fricke, who says right up front, "The first Guns N' Roses album of new, original songs since the first Bush administration is a great, audacious, unhinged and uncompromising hard rock record. In other words, it sounds a lot like the Guns N' Roses you know. At times, it's the clenched-fist five that made 1987's perfect storm, Appetite for Destruction; more often, it's the one sprawled across the maxed-out CDs of 1991's Use Your Illusion I and II, but here compressed into a convulsive single disc of supershred guitars, orchestral fanfares, hip-hop electronics, metallic tabernacle choirs and Axl Rose's still-virile, rusted-siren singing."

Fricke adds, "If Rose ever had a moment's doubt or repentance over what Chinese Democracy has cost him in time (13 years), money (14 studios are listed in the credits) and body count -- including the exit of every other founding member of the band -- he left no room for it in these 14 songs."

The review notes that as many as five guitarists are credited on some songs on the record, saying, "What (original members) Slash and Izzy Stradlin used to do with two guitars now takes a wall of 'em."

Fricke notes that of the many musicians who appear on the album, bassist Tommy Stinson plays on nearly every track. Stinson told us a while back that he did not have any idea how Chinese Democracy will be accepted: [ Click to listen if you have a backstage pass] "You never know what people are gonna like, what they really want... all I know is that, like, that we made a really powerful record that I think he's proud of, I'm very proud of, and all we can do is put it out and tour behind it and hope they accept it and hope it does what I was hoping it would do when I joined the band, which is, like, make history."

The only remaining member from the band's Use Your Illusion days is keyboardist Dizzy Reed, who was not part of the original lineup.

Chinese Democracy goes on sale exclusively at Best Buy on Sunday, November 23rd. The vinyl version of the project will include instructions for obtaining a free download of the entire album.

In other news, Kevin Cogill, the 27-year-old Los Angeles man who was arrested by federal authorities after posting nine leaked songs from Chinese Democracy on his website, has agreed to plead guilty to one federal count of copyright infringement. According to Wired.com, federal prosecutor Craig Missakian confirmed that Cogill had made a deal. Terms of the arrangement were not disclosed, but Cogill will enter his plea on December 8th.
Submit the above story to:

Del.icio.us   Digg   reddit   StumbleUpon   Facebook