The Chinese Democracy Nerd Thread

[VoidLykos]

Sooo i was going through Evo eariler today and looked at the comment by Axl on Soul Monster/Monsters and he said one of the working titles for it was Leave Me Alone which Marco mentioned was one of the songs he did work for. And we already have The General now and the demo of Thyme who Dizzy and Pittman played fake strings before Marco added orchestra to it So is Seven perhaps State Of Grace? cuss that song has what sounds like fake strings low in the mix thoughts? 

[maynard]

If this was 2004, I would care about this topic.

[DaddyDont]

It was supposedly titled "Seven" because all seven band members worked on it, which was apparently a novel concept in the fake-ass band that never wrote anything together

 

"State of Grace" demo from the Village Sessions was dated 3/27/2000 - lineup until Freese quit earlier that same month was Axl/Bucket/Tobias/Tommy/Freese/Dizzy/Pitman. So that would check out since there were seven members. Before Robin quit and before Bucket was hired as his replacement, there were also seven members from May 1998 to August 1999.

 

Beltrami added strings to "Seven" in July 2002

[LiarzisDead]

What the fuck are fake strings?

[Billy Little]

#5

Guns N’ Roses, ‘Chinese Democracy’

2008

In hindsight, it was slightly crazy to expect anything spectacular from Guns N’ Roses by the time Chinese Democracy hit shelves in November 2008. By this point, the band had just been Axl Rose and hired hands for over a decade. Their 1999 song “Oh My God” from the End of Days soundtrack was profoundly unexciting, and we’d all read the reports of the endless, ludicrously costly Chinese Democracy sessions. But we still hoped that Axl had spent all those years chipping away at his masterpiece and the end result would prove all the doubters wrong. That did not happen. Despite a handful of strong songs like “Better,” “There Was a Time,” and “Prostitute,” the album is ludicrously overcooked. The partially reunited band breathed new life into many of them on the reunion tour about a decade later, but Chinese Democracy itself remains a deep disappointment. And the sad fact they’ve offered up nothing new since it came out short of warmed-over Chinese Democracy outtakes is even more disappointing. 

C'mon, man!

 

The 50 Most Disappointing Albums of All Time

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/most-disappointing-albums-ever-1235111528/bruce-springsteen-human-touch-1235112325/

[Gordon Comstock]

On 9/10/2024 at 1:07 PM, DaddyDont said:

It was supposedly titled "Seven" because all seven band members worked on it, which was apparently a novel concept in the fake-ass band that never wrote anything together

 

"State of Grace" demo from the Village Sessions was dated 3/27/2000 - lineup until Freese quit earlier that same month was Axl/Bucket/Tobias/Tommy/Freese/Dizzy/Pitman. So that would check out since there were seven members. Before Robin quit and before Bucket was hired as his replacement, there were also seven members from May 1998 to August 1999.

 

Beltrami added strings to "Seven" in July 2002

 

Brain said Seven was a ballad. Was that the song that also sampled Ben-Hur? Seems like Seven was done in the same batch of songs as The General, I don't think we heard any part of it in the Village leaks.

[VoidLykos]

I wonder if State is Seven in some form or another if you listen to State you can hear a orchestra in the background not a real one but on Keyboards Could be something else aswell but seeing we are not only getting the demos that leaked I’m like 74% on believing Seven is gonna come out 

[Bill Brasky]

The rabbit hole that is Chinese Democracy. 

Are we lucky or unlucky ?

[VoidLykos]

58 minutes ago, Bill Brasky said:

The rabbit hole that is Chinese Democracy. 

Are we lucky or unlucky ?

 

It’s a gift and a curse at the same time 

[ThePurpleLightSaber]

23 hours ago, Billy Little said:

#5

Guns N’ Roses, ‘Chinese Democracy’

2008

In hindsight, it was slightly crazy to expect anything spectacular from Guns N’ Roses by the time Chinese Democracy hit shelves in November 2008. By this point, the band had just been Axl Rose and hired hands for over a decade. Their 1999 song “Oh My God” from the End of Days soundtrack was profoundly unexciting, and we’d all read the reports of the endless, ludicrously costly Chinese Democracy sessions. But we still hoped that Axl had spent all those years chipping away at his masterpiece and the end result would prove all the doubters wrong. That did not happen. Despite a handful of strong songs like “Better,” “There Was a Time,” and “Prostitute,” the album is ludicrously overcooked. The partially reunited band breathed new life into many of them on the reunion tour about a decade later, but Chinese Democracy itself remains a deep disappointment. And the sad fact they’ve offered up nothing new since it came out short of warmed-over Chinese Democracy outtakes is even more disappointing. 

C'mon, man!

 

The 50 Most Disappointing Albums of All Time

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/most-disappointing-albums-ever-1235111528/bruce-springsteen-human-touch-1235112325/

 

Seems Like The Editor Andy Greene Is In Desperate Need Of A Shit!

[MAGATRON]

On 10/16/2024 at 5:43 AM, Bill Brasky said:

The rabbit hole that is Chinese Democracy. 

Are we lucky or unlucky ?

They should do an oral history book on the making of the album with narration from all its contributors. That would almost be better than the rest of the music. 

[Sydney Fan]

2 hours ago, MAGATRON said:

They should do an oral history book on the making of the album with narration from all its contributors. That would almost be better than the rest of the music. 

Apart from Monsters, I sometimes wonder if we overhype how much "quality" songs are left.

Freese and those other muscians that worked on the original CD sessions should do the narration.

I thought Axl was mentally else where during this period?. It didnt seem as if they were all recording in the multiple studios together because they were all in on the music.

[Bill Brasky]

On 10/17/2024 at 9:24 PM, MAGATRON said:

They should do an oral history book on the making of the album with narration from all its contributors. That would almost be better than the rest of the music. 

That would make war and peace look like readers digest.

 

A real in depth interview Axl by Oliver Stone would be very interesting. 

 

I don't feel your average journalist or podcaster could do it justice. 

I don't want the interview to have a preconceived narrative, a bias or a fanboy treatment.

 

[Bill Brasky]

On 10/18/2024 at 12:06 AM, Sydney Fan said:

Apart from Monsters, I sometimes wonder if we overhype how much "quality" songs are left.

Freese and those other muscians that worked on the original CD sessions should do the narration.

I thought Axl was mentally else where during this period?. It didnt seem as if they were all recording in the multiple studios together because they were all in on the music.

We've talked about this in other threads but 2000s intentions would've been a hit in 99 or 00.

 

The product we eventually got was not what was intended. 

 

[ThePurpleLightSaber]

Any latest news regarding next single release? Halloween release?

[Bill Brasky]

39 minutes ago, ThePurpleLightSaber said:

Any latest news regarding next single release? Halloween release?

I have no knowledge of any official releases. I would assume Atlas and Monsters is next.

[MAGATRON]

5 hours ago, Bill Brasky said:

We've talked about this in other threads but 2000s intentions would've been a hit in 99 or 00.

 

The product we eventually got was not what was intended. 

 

The music industry imploded during the making of Chinese Democracy. There would have been multiple albums released if downloading hadn’t made music virtually worthless. Axl saw the writing on the wall: a cocaine and caviar lifestyle funded by new album releases was no longer possible; the money now lies in touring and merchandise. Yesterday’s Axl was a rock n’ roll rebel, while The Fatman of today is low key Gene Simmons. He’d rather turn a profit with toy cars & tequila shots than risk further damage to GNR’s reputation with a new album. This whole releasing CD era singles shtick is a way for him to sneak Chinese Democracy refugees across the border without attracting attention. 

[Bushwacker DOOM]

On 10/19/2024 at 9:45 PM, Bill Brasky said:

We've talked about this in other threads but 2000s intentions would've been a hit in 99 or 00.

 

The product we eventually got was not what was intended. 

 

I could definitely imagine The Blues and Madagascar doing well as singles.

 

I think a lot if the instrumental stuff from the Locker is pretty fucking cool.

It's almost better that there's no vocals.

[DieselDaisy]

It is a thread built for Wasted

[gunsntortillas]

I don't think 2000 Intentions would have done well. I don't think it would have bombed. Anything with the GNR name was going to sell a decent amount of copies, but it would not have been a hit #1 album type mover. I do think based on what we heard it was the better album than what we eventually got. 

 

It would be too out there for the shit metal fans, and too uncool for the "nu-metal" fans. The album would have been viewed as a fine contemporary rock album, but I am not sure the market was right. With that said, the label should have let him release it because it was a can't lose situation for them. Either it does really well and they make money, or it does as they expected it to do, poorly, and Axl is politically forced to shut up and sing on a GNR reunion album, which would have been Contraband. 

 

The label half got it right by making him re-record the album with the intention of it having more of a classic rock edge. By the early 2000s, there was more nostalgia for 80s classic rock, and Guns N' Roses in general than there was in 1999. Had they released the album in the 2002-2004 ballpark, I think it would have done much better. The average music fan thought Axl was incredibly lame. They had this idea that Axl Rose was this uncool tyrant who ruined the band and didn't want to make cool shit metal. So they would still have an uphill battle marketing the album, but as we saw in 2008, the GNR name was good enough for a few hundred thousand copies sold.

 

Look at how well Contraband and the Greatest Hits albums did at roughly the same time. Even Gilby "did you know I was in Guns N' Roses?" Clarke made some grocery money by being featured on a reality TV show around that time. 

[All Things Considered]

There was a time.... when I listened to this album.

[Salsh Borski]

The whole thing lacked salami.  

[ThePurpleLightSaber]

The Band Needs To Release some New Material And Give The #MeToo era A Huge Kick In The Cunting Balls!

[wasted]

If AFD was 70s hard rock in the 80s, UYI was 80s pop rock in the 90s, then CD was 90s Alt Rock in 00s. Axl is always making songs written in one decade in the next decade. The added difficulty was making a Alt rock Nu metal album sound like GNR. It's like chasing a sonic oxymoron. A contradiction in terms, almost like a Chinese Democracy. 

[DieselDaisy]

On 11/3/2024 at 8:46 AM, wasted said:

If AFD was 70s hard rock in the 80s, UYI was 80s pop rock in the 90s, then CD was 90s Alt Rock in 00s. Axl is always making songs written in one decade in the next decade. The added difficulty was making a Alt rock Nu metal album sound like GNR. It's like chasing a sonic oxymoron. A contradiction in terms, almost like a Chinese Democracy. 

 

''Armies prepare to fight their last war, rather than their next war''