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New Guns N' Roses tracks leaked
Nine tracks from their long-awaited album Chinese Democracy, including three previously unheard songs, have appeared online. So what's the verdict? Coldplay meets Aerosmith, apparently
Sean Michaels
Friday June 20, 2008
guardian.co.uk
We hope you've been practising your air guitar and hard-rock yowls - the age of Chinese Democracy may at last be upon us. An American blog has leaked nine purported "mastered, finished" tracks from Guns N' Roses long, long, long, long-awaited album, and as these songs swirl through the internet, it's hard to imagine that a release could be very far off.
The leak comes via www.Antiquiet.com, a little-known American rock website. A poster named "Skwerl" made nine songs available on Wednesday, without explaining their source. "I always said that the more that Axl and Geffen jerked around trying to figure out how to release this finally finished album that we've all been waiting over 13 years for, the greater the chances would be that it would slip out of a pressing plant or office somewhere and wind up in the hands of some asshole with a blog," Skwerl wrote. "So ... Hey, I told you so."
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The songs were removed several hours later, with a note that, "WE GOT A CALL FROM GUNS N' ROSES". Billboard reported that Antiquiet received a cease-and-desist letter from Axl Rose's lawyers. The internet being what it is, however, the songs had more than enough time to make it on to filesharing and torrent sites, as well as YouTube.
Of the nine songs, only three - Rhiad and the Bedouins, If the World, and a track with an unknown title - had not previously leaked in one form or another. But all of these recordings appear more polished, with organ, tambourine or strings alongside screaming electric guitar and flourishes of electronics.
If the World is particularly indicative of the almost 14 years that Chinese Democracy has been in development. Many musical trends have born and died since 1994, and we get to hear a number of these alongside Axl Rose's familiar shriek. There's a vague industrial chug, ambient electronics, and a bass line that recalls Red Hot Chili Peppers - but more cringeworthy is the song's recurrent flamenco guitar, like a nightingale trapped in a studded leather bag.
Rhiad and the Bedouins is at least more conventional, rushing furiously through its short running-length and rejoicing in a stuttering guitar solo. But the final new track, unnamed in this leak, returns to the unexpected. It begins as a bona fide piano ballad, Axl Rose sounding almost destitute - but still, er, yowling. The electric guitars appear before long, rest assured, and a boatload of gratuitous violins, but overall you could almost imagine it as a collaboration between Aerosmith and Coldplay. Which should not be interpreted as a recommendation.
Guns N' Roses' last studio release was 1991's Use Your Illusion. Since 1994, Axl Rose has burned through an alleged $13m (£6.5m) in recording costs and alienated every other member of the group. $13m and an estranged band mean that there are an awful lot of people who could have been responsible for leaking these tracks. And yet we're still happiest with a dream of Slash, guitar slung over his back, booting BitTorrent on his MacBook and tossing these mp3s up into the ether. How else is he to spend his Tuesday nights now that Velvet Revolver have lost their singer?
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Classic Rock...
Guns N' Roses rush to plug leaked tracks
The website Antiquiet.com was slapped with a '˜cease and desist' order from Guns N' Roses' lawyers yesterday when it leaked nine songs from the band's hyper-delayed new album Chinese Democracy.
The tracks were reportedly mastered and finished. But soon after the links were posted GN'R demanded their removal.
As Jonanthan Cohen of Billboard.com reports:
Six of the songs have already leaked in one unfinished form or another: Better, The Blues, the title track, Madagascar, IRS and There Was A Time.
But these versions appear to be much further along on the path toward completion, and feature new touches like organ and tambourine on IRS and a beefed-up chorus with multi-tracked vocals on Madagascar.
The three previously unheard songs are Rhiad & The Bedouins, If The World and a track whose title is unknown.
Rhiad'¦, which was played live by Guns N' Roses in 2001 and 2002, is a pounding rocker with a trademark down-and-dirty main guitar riff and a flashy solo.
If The World is a head-spinning blend of flamenco guitar, industrial synth tones, bluesy piano licks and Axl Rose at the top of his vocal register, while the unnamed track is an even more unusual melange of piano-led crooning, orchestral bombast and a serene instrumental outro.
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http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blog … cracy.aspx
Nine tracks that are supposedly slated for inclusion on Guns N' Roses long-awaited Chinese Democracy album have hit the web.
Since we here at the National Post don't encourage the illegal downloading of music, what instead follows is a track-by-track review of what should now arrive very, very soon (that's right, Dr.Pepper, get ready to shell out). It should be mentioned that since this is based on the most recent leaked version, the lineup - or titles - of songs could change. The album was gruelingly concocted over the past 14 years by Axl Rose and a rotating lineup of session musicians. And the result of all that work?
The 'album' opens with the toe-tapping groove of Better, but the disjointed and overwrought production quickly leads the song into some pretty murky territory.
The title track, Chinese Democracy follows, and with a classic four-chord structure, it is one of the strongest songs on the album. The song is probably about the political situation in China, particularly since it includes a mention of Falun Gong, but with Axl's coded lyrical style it's hard to tell for sure: There are a lot of references to 'it' and 'them' that avoid elaboration.
The album continues solidly with I.R.S., which definitely wins the catchy chorus award. In it, Axl plays the spurned lover looking for his pound of flesh, but he could just as easily relating his experience recording this album: 'Feelin' like I'm living inside of this song/Feelin' like I'm just too tired to care/Feelin' like I done more than my share/Could've been the way that I carried on/Like a broken record for so long.'
Madagascar is the November Rain of Chinese Democracy. Its haunting and repetitive keyboard line oddly recalls Coolio's Gangsta's Paradise and Axl makes liberal use of horns and strings over an industrial backdrop. It's a funny combination, but actually it works pretty well.
Riyadh & The Bedouins is almost a return to Appetite for Destruction form. Just not as good.
This I Love betrays Axl's fascination on the record with trip-hop beats, which here are entirely out of place when set against tinny, multi-tracked guitars and a riff that briefly recalls Smashing Pumpkins' Today. Has Axl been in a coma since 1997?
If the World (Would End Today) is where the album really falls off. With its porno groove, cheesy synths and misguided marriage of flamenco guitar and metal riffs, it manages in one song to encapsulate the entire contents of a music store's 99-cent remainder bin.
The Blues has Axl channeling Queen and Elton John just like of old, but sounds like it was cobbled together from a whole bunch of fragmentary ideas. On the upside, the guitar sounds like Slash sneaked back into the studio without Axl noticing.
On There Was a Time, a trip-hop opening once again falls into cacophony of piano, strings, wah-afflicted guitar solos and endless drum fills. It doesn't sound especially structured - more like an end-of-record jam. It's too cluttered. Original Guns records sounded like every note was intentional, and judging by the cost and time it took to make this record, that was certainly Axl's intention here. Unfortunately the result does not reflect that.
In general, the album feels like an unfocused patchwork of anachronistic musical styles. With all the hype and expectation built up over 14 years, it was not unreasonable to expect a masterpiece, and while there are certainly some moments on this alleged record that stand up to some of Axl's earlier output, the result is primarily a collection of incoherent false starts. Of course, the album isn't out yet, and the final product could very well be an improvement on what has been leaked so far. So for now, we'll give poor Axl the benefit of the doubt - especially since we don't want to scare him back into his rabbit hole.
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Chinese Democracy Leaks, Underwhelms
Yesterday we heard Chinese Democracy had leaked. Now we've actually heard Chinese Democracy. Or most of it. It wasn't just an urban legend -- Axl really was working on something (but "overworking something" is more accurate). It's good to hear Rose's signature yowl, but the attempt at compositional and "modern" eclecticism via added electronics and the like sink it. Guns 'N Roses were good at being epic -- hello, "November Rain" -- but they kept it wisely within the rock 'n' roll idiom (even the more pompous side of said idiom). Here, when tracks like "Better" tap into "trip-hop" it feels like some bad '90s alterna-fluff outtake, not something that hasn't even officially come out yet. On the other hand, when Axl sings that main vocal line in the same track? It's hard to deny the power or catchiness of that voice. Not the bad funky part or when the song goes on for way too long, but otherwise. Unfortunately, it gets more and more difficult to say nice things as the album progresses. That guitar solo in the title track? Oy. Judge for yourself.
"Chinese Democracy"
"This I Love"
This is what the leaked tracklist looks like:
01 "Better"
02 "Chinese Democracy"
03 "IRS"
04 "Madagascar"
05 "Riyadh & The Bedouins"
06 "This I Love"
07 "If The World (Would End Today)"
08 "The Blues"
09 "There Was A Time"
Where's my Dr. Pepper?
Posted at 9:00 AM by brandon
Tags: Axl Rose | Guns 'N Roses
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Chinese Democracy: Track-by-track
Posted in Music by Brent DiCrescenzo on June 19th, 2008
As you read this, you might want to take cover in a lead shelter and make those last calls to loved ones, because the world may just be ending: Axl Rose's Chinese Democracy has (supposedly) hit the internet in mastered form.
Before Miley Cyrus and ER were born, Guns '˜N Roses released their last proper studio album. Since then, Axl has slowly chiseled his face to look like the antihero in V For Vendetta, while Slash left the band to become a video game character. Oh, and West Lafayette's most famous falsetto spent the GDP of Tuvalu on the follow-up. Now, apparently, the record has leaked.
Last evening, nine tracks hit the Internet, six of which are familiar from Brazilian concert bootlegs, demos and Mike Piazza radio appearances. After such a wait, I expected this to be major news. But checking the CNN.com front page I find:
Luck runs out for pigs caught in flood
6th severed foot found off the coast of Canada
Scott Baio baby's [sic] scary diagnosis
Psychic loses lawsuit over Elvis' former home
What, no headline room for the most anticipated album of all time? Is Dr. Pepper pulling some strings to quiet this down? Well, whatever. I'm here to take you through the Most Inevitable Letdown in Rock History. The leak comes unsequenced and three tracks are unlabeled, but here's the jist: Imagine Elton John fronting Linkin Park.
"Better": The best and craziest track (no coincidence) sticks out with a softly sung R&B hook over jungle breaks that sound as fresh as a 1998 Stabbing Westward record. Axl's voice still nails his three modes'”gentle croon, peregrine falcon cry and guttural belt. Goofy electronic flourishes, like the cartoony rewind effect in the bridge and the farty synth under the chorus' riff assault, don't modernize the sound as much as amuse with clashing flavors.
"The Blues": Axl's no stranger to cheesy piano, but this LIberace-like twinkling is Chester Cheetah bathing in Velveeta. John Dugan, TOC Clubs editor weighs in: "This sounds like Celine Dion fronting Jay Leno's band." Could Kevin Eubanks be the face behind the bucket?
"Chinese Democracy": The shoo-in opener, the title track could pass for Disturbed, if not for the 18 spider-tapping Buckethead solos.
"IRS": The most traditional G'N'R sounding cut, interjected with jarring Windham Hill bridges. The first kiss-off song to ever threaten an audit from the U.S. Government. Probably.
"Madagascar": Finally together in one song: French horn, Cool Hand Luke quotes, MLK's "Dream" speech and batshit finger tapping.
"New Song #1": The four minutes of funky thrash place this record firmly in the mid-'90s, like Perry Ferrell fronting Sepultura for a Mountain Dew commercial.
"New Song #2": Hip-hop beats slathered in more canned piano and synths. The strongest argument for this being another batch of unfinished demos.
"New Song #3": Hold on to your hats, "Welcome to the Jungle" junkies: FLAMENCO FUNK.
"There Was A Time": Sign that a record costs a fortune: A children's choir pops up'¦for just 14 seconds. The bombastic love song feels like a closer. Axl piles on every trick'”strings, solos, acoustic guitars, doubled vocals, synths.
Overall, the "record" captivates thanks to the unexpected schmaltz and Axl's inimitable (but fun to mimic) vocals. The novelty of the curveballs wears off, and the songs just aren't that catchy. The overwhelming amount of electric piano leads me to believe this is not the final product. Hopefully, the tacky keyboard runs are placeholders for a Steinway. Unless he ran out of money.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but these tracks need more time in the studio. Either that, Axl, or fly up to Chicago for a week and work with Steve Albini.
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To find out where to send hate mail: http://www.timeout.com/chicago/blog/out … ut/?p=4431
Can't believe he's telling Axl to go back in the studio!
Re: ALL Artlicles About Leaks (Post in here)
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blog … cracy.aspx
Nine tracks that are supposedly slated for inclusion on Guns N' Roses long-awaited Chinese Democracy album have hit the web.
Since we here at the National Post don't encourage the illegal downloading of music, what instead follows is a track-by-track review of what should now arrive very, very soon (that's right, Dr.Pepper, get ready to shell out). It should be mentioned that since this is based on the most recent leaked version, the lineup - or titles - of songs could change. The album was gruelingly concocted over the past 14 years by Axl Rose and a rotating lineup of session musicians. And the result of all that work?
The 'album' opens with the toe-tapping groove of Better, but the disjointed and overwrought production quickly leads the song into some pretty murky territory.
The title track, Chinese Democracy follows, and with a classic four-chord structure, it is one of the strongest songs on the album. The song is probably about the political situation in China, particularly since it includes a mention of Falun Gong, but with Axl's coded lyrical style it's hard to tell for sure: There are a lot of references to 'it' and 'them' that avoid elaboration.
The album continues solidly with I.R.S., which definitely wins the catchy chorus award. In it, Axl plays the spurned lover looking for his pound of flesh, but he could just as easily relating his experience recording this album: 'Feelin' like I'm living inside of this song/Feelin' like I'm just too tired to care/Feelin' like I done more than my share/Could've been the way that I carried on/Like a broken record for so long.'
Madagascar is the November Rain of Chinese Democracy. Its haunting and repetitive keyboard line oddly recalls Coolio's Gangsta's Paradise and Axl makes liberal use of horns and strings over an industrial backdrop. It's a funny combination, but actually it works pretty well.
Riyadh & The Bedouins is almost a return to Appetite for Destruction form. Just not as good.
This I Love betrays Axl's fascination on the record with trip-hop beats, which here are entirely out of place when set against tinny, multi-tracked guitars and a riff that briefly recalls Smashing Pumpkins' Today. Has Axl been in a coma since 1997?
If the World (Would End Today) is where the album really falls off. With its porno groove, cheesy synths and misguided marriage of flamenco guitar and metal riffs, it manages in one song to encapsulate the entire contents of a music store's 99-cent remainder bin.
The Blues has Axl channeling Queen and Elton John just like of old, but sounds like it was cobbled together from a whole bunch of fragmentary ideas. On the upside, the guitar sounds like Slash sneaked back into the studio without Axl noticing.
On There Was a Time, a trip-hop opening once again falls into cacophony of piano, strings, wah-afflicted guitar solos and endless drum fills. It doesn't sound especially structured - more like an end-of-record jam. It's too cluttered. Original Guns records sounded like every note was intentional, and judging by the cost and time it took to make this record, that was certainly Axl's intention here. Unfortunately the result does not reflect that.
In general, the album feels like an unfocused patchwork of anachronistic musical styles. With all the hype and expectation built up over 14 years, it was not unreasonable to expect a masterpiece, and while there are certainly some moments on this alleged record that stand up to some of Axl's earlier output, the result is primarily a collection of incoherent false starts. Of course, the album isn't out yet, and the final product could very well be an improvement on what has been leaked so far. So for now, we'll give poor Axl the benefit of the doubt - especially since we don't want to scare him back into his rabbit hole.
Thats probably the most honest review of this record you'll see in the media. The stuff is good, but its not blowing collective minds like promised all these years. Bigfoot has been captured, and he's just an ordinary run of the mill ape.
There's really no point in Axl getting cold feet at this point. If it was 2002 again, sure. Run back home. Its 2008 now, and even though not in its supposed finished form, the world has Chinese Democracy, minus a few songs.
Those few songs aren't going to make a bit of difference. Just release it while you're still young enough to have a decent career.
Before Miley Cyrus and ER were born, Guns '˜N Roses released their last proper studio album.
The album and this era of the band will be forever tainted as a pop culture joke. Even after its release. Every mention will always include at least one joke.
He had a good vision and built an incredible mystery over the years, but he overplayed his hand.
