On the Fence?

[Drake]

Related to my post last week about pre-ordering Chinese Democracy, GnR is streaming the album on their myspace page.

http://www.myspace.com/gunsnroses

[Karlifornia]

I'm gonna listen to it in full over tonight and tomorrow...I'll probably buy the album no matter what. This is biggest musical event in a long time. Love them or hate them, if you're a rock fan, this is an event.

Give me something good, Axl.

[rowech]

God help me, I think I really like it.

[Greyroofoo]

When do I get my Dr Pepper?

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by Karlifornia

I'm gonna listen to it in full over tonight and tomorrow...I'll probably buy the album no matter what. This is biggest musical event in a long time. Love them or hate them, if you're a rock fan, this is an event.

you've got to be kidding

[rowech]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

you've got to be kidding

It's lost some of its luster and I'm not sure it's the biggest in a long time but it definitely a huge event.

[Karlifornia]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

you've got to be kidding

Absolutely not. I know you're older than I am. I'm not sure if G'N'R was in its heyday during your teenage years, but you have to know how big this band was. It would be like Led Zeppelin coming out with a new album in 1986, after years of rumors.

Name one happening in music that rivals this in the past decade.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by Karlifornia

Absolutely not. I know you're older than I am. I'm not sure if G'N'R was in its heyday during your teenage years, but you have to know how big this band was. It would be like Led Zeppelin coming out with a new album in 1986, after years of rumors.

Name one happening in music that rivals this in the past decade.

Let's not get too crazy. G-n-R basically had one album and a double album that was really worth any credibility. Yes, those two releases where huge, but Zeppelin was Zeppelin. They virtually built what is known as hard rock. They put out a number of classic albums and pretty much all of their members are ranked rather high in terms of ability. Bonham is often considered the best rock drummer ever. So much was Bonham an impact on their sound that even if they did release an album in '86, it wouldn't be the same. Nobody could touch his laid back feel like he could do it. It's also one of the reasons I find Chinese Democracy lacking. There's no Slash's soul to it. I like a number of the guitar parts, but it's still not Slash.

In the past ten years? Oh, I don't know, but Nirvana and Kurt Cobain comes to mind.

[Oilers9911]

Originally Posted by Karlifornia

Absolutely not. I know you're older than I am. I'm not sure if G'N'R was in its heyday during your teenage years, but you have to know how big this band was. It would be like Led Zeppelin coming out with a new album in 1986, after years of rumors.

Name one happening in music that rivals this in the past decade.

OMG. Please never compare GnR to Led Zep ever again.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by Matthean

Let's not get too crazy. G-n-R basically had one album and a double album that was really worth any credibility. Yes, those two releases where huge, but Zeppelin was Zeppelin. They virtually built what is known as hard rock. They put out a number of classic albums and pretty much all of their members are ranked rather high in terms of ability. Bonham is often considered the best rock drummer ever. So much was Bonham an impact on their sound that even if they did release an album in '86, it wouldn't be the same. Nobody could touch his laid back feel like he could do it. It's also one of the reasons I find Chinese Democracy lacking. There's no Slash's soul to it. I like a number of the guitar parts, but it's still not Slash.

And hence the age disparity.
While I have a deep library of Zeppelin and consider myself a real fan, their influence on my musical tastes and in the music I listen to pales in comparison to G'nF'nR'.

And while that may say more about my tastes than musical quality, it also could be said by literally damn near an entire generation.

However a better comparison, IMHO may have been Skynyrd, Joplin, or Hendrix releasing an entire new product 10 years posthumously. For all intents and purposes Roses were gone forever.

Originally Posted by Matthean

In the past ten years? Oh, I don't know, but Nirvana and Kurt Cobain comes to mind.

Id have to ask what they have done in the past 10, I must have missed it. Kobains been dead 15 years

BTW for anyone who hasnt read it and is a Roses fan, Slash's book is AWESOME!

[Drake]

My early assessment based on a half-dozen listens: this album is a beautiful mess.

And I mean that in a good way.

I can't say it's an instant classic or that it revolutionizes rock or anything, but it's a very good album. I'm enjoying it immensely, partly because it *is* so neurotically complex. It also makes clearer to me part of the sonic split that eventually killed the original lineup (or Original Lineup v2.2, depending on how you want to evaluate the personnel changes between the Appetite tour and the Illusion tour).

When I hear Velvet Revolver, I am (unsurprisingly), always reminded of Appetite for Destruction. This album reminds me much more of the Use Your Illusion set.

When I think about it that way, I'm almost happy about the split, because I liked both vibes in their own way. If Axl doesn't wait another 17 years between albums, it's possible that I can now indulge both strains.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

And hence the age disparity.
While I have a deep library of Zeppelin and consider myself a real fan, their influence on my musical tastes and in the music I listen to pales in comparison to G'nF'nR'.

And while that may say more about my tastes than musical quality, it also could be said by literally damn near an entire generation.

However a better comparison, IMHO may have been Skynyrd, Joplin, or Hendrix releasing an entire new product 10 years posthumously. For all intents and purposes Roses were gone forever.



Id have to ask what they have done in the past 10, I must have missed it. Kobains been dead 15 years

Brain farted the dates for Cobain's death. G-n-R breathed life back into hard rock. Without Zep and Black Sabbath, hard rock/heavy metal didn't exist. Period.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by Matthean

Brain farted the dates for Cobain's death. G-n-R breathed life back into hard rock. Without Zep and Black Sabbath, hard rock/heavy metal didn't exist. Period.

Sure and without the Doors and before them Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper there would be no Zeppelin.

You are missing my point.

Zep was GREAT.
Guns was GREAT.
They were different eras.

I grew up hearing Appetite, Lies and Illusions (I and II) that was my teen years. I became a Zep fan later.

Point being to me, TO ME AND MY LIFE Gun N Roses are significant and influential, part of my childhood. Hell Ill argue without Guns I wouldnt be me, much like Guns wouldnt exist without Zep, etc.

To the 28-34 year olds Guns is more significant to their formative cultural tastes than Zep.

Not more improtant to musical history.

I was just making the point that it was a valid comparison.
With Nirvana shot down I would challenge again, what is more significant in the past 10 years?

[Anthony]

Britney Spears showing her bald snatch.

[Drake]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Britney Spears showing her bald snatch.

Even realizing you meant this as a joke, it pretty much sums up my view on the relevance of the music industry for the past decade.

[Drake]

Here's a review that sums up the album nicely:

Chuck Klosterman reviews Chinese Democracy | The A.V. Club

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Drake

Here's a review that sums up the album nicely:

Chuck Klosterman reviews Chinese Democracy | The A.V. Club

Worth reading if only to get this snippet
It's like if Jeff Lynne tried to make Out Of The Blue sound more like Fun House, except with jazz drumming and a girl singer from Motown..

[Cringer]

I think the large number of posts in this thread has shown just how huge of a rock music event this is.

I never liked GnR, and I am 31 so don't try to say it's an age thing. Hell, my wife loved them and she could care less about this album coming out. I am not convinced this is a huge rock event.

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by Cringer

I think the large number of posts in this thread has shown just how huge of a rock music event this is.

19???

[Cringer]

exactly.

[Karlifornia]

Originally Posted by Cringer

exactly.

Okay.....it's not an event at all...does that satisfy you?

[Anthony]

i'm not crazy about Appetite. my favorite GnR album is Lies. that's what solidified them as a band i liked back when they first came out and i was a kid. i thought the video for Patience was so cool.

we look at Appetite with rose colored glasses. they weren't doing anything in that album that was earth shattering. i would say the big thing about that album was it was (or seemed) to be one of the first widely accepted on main street "heavy metal" albums ever.

[rowech]

Originally Posted by Anthony

i would say the big thing about that album was it was (or seemed) to be one of the first widely accepted on main street "heavy metal" albums ever.

And that's not Earth shattering? It's one of the top 10 hard rock albums of all-time.

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by Cringer

exactly.

yeah, I totally misread your post

[Greyroofoo]

Originally Posted by Greyroofoo

When do I get my Dr Pepper?

Quick, time is running out!
http://www.drpepper.com/freeDrPepper/