by Derek Draven

Created on: December 16, 2008   Last Updated: March 17, 2009

It's quite difficult to put faith in a project that contains the name "Axl Rose." The Guns N' Roses lead singer has single-handedly sparked fistfights, brooding feuds and bloody riots at every turn of his career. The culmination of his musical psychosis is Chinese Democracy, an album that has been stuck in artistic purgatory since 1993. Now, 15 years and $13 million dollars later, the album has been recorded, produced, and unleashed on a worldwide population salivating over anything new from GNR. Has the magic been lost?

It's important to keep in mind that 15 years is a long, LONG time to await material from such an influential band as GNR. The hair metal of the 80s L.A. strip is long gone, and the worldwide stage has forever been altered, especially in a post 9/11 political climate. Perhaps that's what makes Chinese Democracy such an interesting album. It doesn't sound like it belongs in our decade, but the timing couldn't have been better, given increasing focus on China's role in worldwide political and economic affairs.

Socio-political assessments aside, the album is far from the disappointment that many were anticipating. This was hard to believe, following the constant setbacks, lineup changes, and a dismal performance by Axl at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards. The album doesn't sound like GNR. Well, not exactly anyways. Axl continues with the same experimental flair that fans first glimpsed with the "Use Your Illusion" series. This in itself will cause some controversy, as GNR purists regularly maintain that "Appetite For Destruction" was the most cohesive album the band ever delivered. There are a few tracks like "Shackler's Revenge" and the title track "Chinese Democracy" that are a definite throwback to the jarring metal of "Welcome To The Jungle," but all in all, the album is quieter and more concentrated than what was expected. "Street of Dreams, "Catcher In The Rye," and "Sorry" all serve to drive home the point that Axl is definitely concentrating on inner issues, and he isn't going to rock n' roll his way through them. This makes Chinese Democracy feel a bit over-produced, in an attempt to appear bombastic, grandiose, and worthy of a 15 year wait time.

Despite the decrease in intensity, it could be said that this is Axl's strongest work, period. Freed from the shackles of a band that all wanted to go in a harder direction, Axl seems to have found the opportunity to do things his way from start to finish. To hell with the consequences. A noticeable

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