Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy Review
Availble only at Best Buy on 10/23/2008
I remember a time when Gnr ruled the musical world. Appetite for Destruction was a monster hit and Use Your Illusions 1 and 2 were friggin awesome. Seems like forever ago. Now after a rumored 13 million dollars and 6 years in the making their new album is out. Some could argue its truly not GnR without Slash in the line up. Instead the album features leads by Buckethead and Bumblefoot and rhythms by other guitarists. The good news is that Axl's vocals still sound as good as ever. It does seem like he goes into his deeper register more than previous albums. The guitars are more modern metal/rock then Slash's southern hard rock/metal sound. Heres my quick thoughts on all the tracks.

Track 1- Chinese Democracy- One of the harder rocking tunes on the album. Good selection to start the album. After a long boring intro the groove kicks in and ends up being pretty cool. Cool new school Tom Morello sounding solo. Rating: 7.5

Track 2- Shackler's Revenge- One of the better tracks. Very much Linkin Park/Hed Pe type of riffs and vibe. Cool solo and catchy choruses. Rating: 8.5

Track 3- Better- Mid tempo rocker that gets heavy during the choruses. Very catchy tune. Another great solo and another solid tune. Good use of electronic drums and sounds. Rating 9.0

Track 4- Street of Dreams- a rock piano ballad. Very strange low and high alternating verses singing. In the middle is some cool string accompaniment. Another cool solo. A solid track. Rating 7.5

Track 5- If The World- Awesome egyptian sounding opening with funky beats and strings. Very weird track but I dig it. Another mid tempo ballad that I dont think most people would like. Rating: 8.0

Track 6- There Was A Time- Another mid tempo rocker. Not a big fan of the song. Not terrible but not really any good. Rating:6.0

Track 7- Catcher In The Rye- a southern rock country type of ballad. Hit the skip button. Rating:4.0

Track 8- Scraped- Finally another rocker mixed in with the other ballads. Pretty catchy, I likey. Rating: 8.0

Track 9- Riad N' The Bedouins- Song is as crappy as the name of the song. Good solo makes it from being totally worthless. Rating: 5.0

Track 10- Sorry- Awesome ballad. One of the best tracks on the album. Awesome bluesy solo. Reminiscent of Pink Floyd. Rating: 9.0

Track 11- I.R.S.- Reminds me too much of Aerosmiths "Dream On". Boring song, boring solo. Rating: 6.5

Track 12- Madagascar- starts off with a cool laid back beat but in the middle gets bogged down by a long boring session with MLk and others talking. Totally ruins the song. Rating: 5.0

Track 13- This Love- an orchestral piano ballad. Awesome piercing guitar solo. Probably overall my favorite track. Rating: 9.5

Track 14- Prostitute- Average rocker with some more cool leads. Rating: 7.0

While not the epic album I was hoping for its still a solid rock album nonetheless. It does feature a cool assortment of different styles and electronic sounds which added to the album. There are a few duds but most of the songs are cool. Overall Rating: 7.5