BBC Entertainment Reviews Chinese Democracy - "This Does Sound Like A GUNS N' ROSES Album, But It's A Sadly Compromised One"
November 15, 2008, 16 years ago
BBC News / Entertainment reporter Mark Savage has issued a review on GUNS N' ROSES' long awaited new album, Chinese Democracy. An excerpt is available below:
Rose has already predicted the reaction to these songs. "I'm trying to do something different," he told Rolling Stone in 2006.
"Some of the arrangements are kind of like Queen. Some people are going to say it doesn't sound like Guns N' Roses."Actually, he's wrong about that. This does sound like a Guns N' Roses album, but it's a sadly compromised one.
The filthy swagger is gone - perhaps understandable now that Rose is 46. But Chinese Democracy also misses the clean, tuneful riffs that Slash and Izzy Stradlin used to provide.
Too often, guitar lines sound like technical exercises - fingers running up and down the fretboard at the expense of melody. And when several songs plump for "na na na" backing vocals, you find yourself wondering why no-one had time to finish off the lyrics.
Ultimately, however, there is nothing here that will irrevocably tarnish the Guns N' Roses name.
Go to this location for the complete review.
