CHINESE DEMOCRAZY
Monday, November 24th, 2008 at 12:00pm by Vince Neilstein
Dr. Pepper’s website is still not working, but that hasn’t stopped the world from participating in Chinese Democracy mania. I stopped by the Best Buy on 23rd St. (where door signs read “The Most Anticipated Album Release Ever!”) to buy my copy yesterday, and rumors from an unconfirmed source have it that one Axl Rosenberg was there at 9am to watch the doors open. At the moment I’m writing this sentence, Blabbermouth’s most recent 5 headlines are all GNR-centric (see screen cap, above) and TV news outlets in countries around the world are covering GNR mania.
Will the truncated, two-day first week be enough to snag the top spot on the chart? Will it outsell the other two big rock releases of late 2008, Metallica’s Death Magnetic and AC/DC’s Black Ice? Will its second week top its first week, boosted by Black Friday and a full week, and will it sustain enough steam to beat Kanye West and The Killers? Will there ever be democracy in China???
-VN
Will it all end the same way the Death Magnetic and Black Ice craze did, not with a bang, but a whimper?
LOL I think Dr. Pepper has lost its mind…or server…. i get the Service Unavailable message when i try to get my free DR!
Does anyone like the new album?
I do, but I’m young enough to have no attachment to old GnR stuff so I have nothing to compare it to.
I love the record! Though it does sound dated in the fact that it should have been released in ‘96, but I think that’s the charm and appeal. I always re-visit classics taht were released in the ’80’s and ’90’s, why should this be any different? Just because it was released yesterday instead?
I’m not impressed thus far with the album, but in the same breath I’m not really disappointed either. Having been a GnR fan since the beginning, I can definitely say it’s not the same. My conflict is whether or not the difference is something I can wrap my head around. Maybe after a few more listens I’ll decide which side of the fence I’m on.
I started up my RSS reader this morning and thought I had a virus with all the GnR crap.
Who the fuck are Guns N’ Roses?
Am I the only person who thinks it is retarded that they released it on a Sunday and Best Buy wouldn’t do any midnight openings?Maybe they did elsewhere, but there was not a single midnight opening at any of the NYC Best Buy’s.There are two in the city itself right?Open at least one of em.I realize the overtime and Sunday pay issues, but seriously, for something this huge, don’t release it on a Sunday if you’re gonna make people come in Sunday morning.That is just stupid.
For something this huge? Did I correctly read the above statement? I’m sorry if I come off as an asshole but someone please provide with a compelling argument on how this compact disc deserves a midnight opening. I still cannot fathom why so many people think Axl N’ Roses is still relevant. I mean fuck, there are no more guns and no more roses, it’s just Axl. A corn-rowed, lily white, ginger who is an average singer at best. I love Appetite For Destruction just as much as the next person but sweet Jesus.
Fuck G’N'R. What about Fergie on Slash’s solo album. Now that, is fucking awful.
There’s a song on there that reminds me of R&B. The same song only uses three cords. And Axl’s long winded annoying voice, Uggg! It use to sound cool 400 herion uses ago! Just an opinon but, I’d give it a 2 out of 10 rating.
Chinese Hipocracy
Apparantly the Chinese are up in arms about the new G’n R album, due the title being somehow offensive. In an article published yesterday headlined “American band releases album venomously attacking China”, the Chinese newspaper ‘Global Times’ said unidentified Chinese internet users had described the album as part of a plot by some in the West to “grasp and control the world using democracy as a pawn.” The governent has also banned the album and blocked relevant websites.
Now, I am not at all a G’n R fan, infact I’d go as far as to say I’ve never liked them at all. Three albums in 20 years (illusion 1 & 2 to me count as a single release – there’s more crap than credence) and people think that Axl and misc. crew are gods. I’ve got mates who love ‘em, but hate iron Maiden, so fair enough. Some of us are blessed with foresight and taste. The closest I’ve come to owning a G ‘n R album is a cassette of Illusion 2 that was left in my car by an unknown late night lift-ee. It made a poor ashtray when mine filled with water from a leak in the car roof. Cassette, like car, is long gone.
The problem I have with the Chinese governement is this: The album title has been bandied about in the media for almost 10 years. TEN YEARS for fuck’s sake! The Chinese may censor their internet stream, but there’s no way they could not have known about this. The Chinese government have had ten years to moan about the forthcoming title and then they wait until after the release to bitch about it. Sounds like democracy in action to me. “Let’s wait until the fat kid gets teased before we make a statement about bullying. That way we’ll have something to do when the biscuits in the tea room run out.” Well, that is a bad analogy, but I get my point. If they’d complained early enough, someone might have done something about it – and we can’t have that.
Anyway, it’s nice to see that a rock album’s title can still at least stir some slush around in the brains of the bureaucracy, even if it is for reasons of insanity.
I’ll side with the Chinese government and not buy the album. I won’t even download it, which is less than half of what the rest of the world (including Chinese rock fans) will do. But it’s not the title (which is not as clever as everyone thinks anyway) that puts me off. It’s that it’s a G n’ R album. I don’t like ‘em; and THAT’s democracy, my friends.
Perhaps the album title is there to make people think, maybe there’s a song on the album that broaches the subject in more depth. Maybe it’s meant to be clever. I don’t know. I don’t know if I care. Should I? Hmmm…
Imagine this though: if a Chinese rock band released an album called American Communism, most of us would either think “yeah, we already know that the USA is in the same mess the USSR was in 20 years ago”, or we would just shut the hell up and enjoy the music for what it’s worth – it’s a stupid title anyway. I’m indifferent about cryptic and ‘clever’ album titles – I just want the music. Give me “Goat’s Head Soup”, “Burn my Eyes”, “Piece of Mind” (okay, so that one’s a pun) & “Joe’s Garage” and leave me alone. If you want clever, Axl should have called the album “Sorry”
Wanga.
We’ll get our Dr. Peppers when China becomes a democracy.
I actually got it today for nostaligic reasons. They were the first show I’ve ever seen when they toured with metallica. I didn’t even have to go to Best Buy. The cd was brand new in a used cd store i randomly went to this morning.