1847
« on: December 30, 2008, 10:06 AM »
I got Chinese Democracy for Christmas. Finally had the chance to give it a listen...
I really enjoyed the first half of the album. I've listened to the first 6 or 7 songs maybe 4 times through. The first song is solid. The second song is fantastic... my favorite of the album so far. I love the funky, industrial stuff. The third is good, but it felt like filler. Four through six are something different. These are like showcases of Axl's vocal chops, and unlike anything he's done before. He's always had a powerful voice, but it was always used as just one piece of any song. In four through six, his vocals ARE the song. And for the most part he pulls it off amazingly. In Street of Dreams he kinda fumbles it on the first and third line, drawing out "world" in particular across like six notes that just didn't work for me. But otherwise I was really surprised just how he melodically carries those songs solely by his vocals. Without his strong performances, they'd fall apart. But because of his singing the songs are just really compelling.
Catcher in the Rye is pretty lame for the first 3/4 of the song, but the ending is just fantastic enough to make it worthwhile.
The rest of the album I've only really listened through once, and I wasn't very happy with it. I.R.S. stood out as catchy, but for the most part the second half of the album was Axl being a whiny little bitch. That's my first impression, and it's disconcerting. It was all ballads moaning about women troubles. I can deal with one or two of those, but dedicating half the album to that theme is ridiculous. Maybe it'll grow on my after I listen to it a couple more times, but I don't have high hopes. I want GnR to kick ass, and the second half of the album certainly doesn't.
I need to listen to it through a few more times before I have a final opinion. But it seems like it'll be an album I'll be skipping a bunch of songs on when I listen to it. It's a pity that the great songs are tarnished by the weaker ones.