Chinese Democracy
| Guns N' Roses
Chinese Democracy
Chinese Democracy is the sixth studio album by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses. Released on November 23, 2008, by Geffen Records, it was the first Guns N' Roses studio album since "The Spaghetti Incident " in 1993, and their first album of original studio material since the simultaneous releases of Use Your Illusion I and II in 1991. -Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Pitchfork
It's simply a prosaic letdown, constructed by a revolving cast of misfits.
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Consequence of Sound
Actually, save yourself the time and just buy into this record… it’s friggin’ good.
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BlabberMouth.Net
That doesn't mean it isn't a pretty good album, with moments of greatness.
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AVMusic
Some people will slaughter Chinese Democracy, and for all the reasons you expect. But he did a good thing here.
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Dead End Follies
What I've heard was both mind-blowing and utterly predictable.
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The Gaurdian
Clearly not the greatest rock album ever made, but nor is it an absolute and utter failure.
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Decibel
The record is a great work of art, and as such is like a bulb waiting for a spring thaw when it will rise up to reveal the multihued wonders it held within all along.
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The Telegraph
His presence, beyond question, is phenomenal, unrivalled in contemporary rock.
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The New York Times
Every note sounds honed, polished, aimed- and then crammed into a song that's already brimming with other virtuosity.
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BBC
It's epic, preposterously overarching and all the things you'd expect from the ego that ate Sunset Strip.
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Sputnik
Comfortably the most consistent product the band has put out since Appetite For Destruction.
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All Music
Strangely, surprisingly simple: It won't change music, it won't change any lives, it's just 14 more songs about loneliness and persecution.
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Music OMH
This is balls-out rock with loads of screaming for the sheer hell of it plus an awe-inspiring example of that ‘mmmmwwuh!’ thing of Axl’s.
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Slant Magazine
Neither a musical resurrection nor the audio equivalent of Ishtar.
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Pop Matters
At least tries to match the impossibly lofty expectations it has going for it.
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Spin
Not the greatest rock album ever made. Still, Rose always possesses the potential to surprise us.
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Feedback Theater
Fans of what used to be the world’s biggest band should still find plenty to enjoy here.
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Antimusic
Axl Rose has never sounded more alive and authentic than he does on Chinese Democracy.
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Metal Music Archives
found it much more interesting than I had expected, but I won´t call it excellent either.
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Sleazeroxx
At times it is a struggle to listen to.
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MikeLadano
No. I didn’t expect more. I got what I expected. I did hope for more, but by and large I was very happy with Chinese Democracy.
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Clash Music
Not a disaster, then, but ‘Chinese Democracy’ is not the perfect product of 17 years’ hard graft.
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Digital Spy
It's endlessly silly, utterly withdrawn from reality and of course it doesn't really warrant the stupendous wait.
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Tiny Mix Tapes
Signaling perhaps that he at last understands the essence of unattainable perfection.
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Metal Force Magazine
Axl wins.
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Collider
For an album people figured would never even come out at all, Rose has good reason to be, for a change, happy.
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Moshpits and Movies
I am going to give the record 4.6 star out of five for a final grade.
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Prefix Magazine
Even if it came out in 1996, it would still be self-absorbed, turgid, over-produced and soulless.
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Uncut
However, Rose’s experimental hankerings generally give out after about 10 seconds. Oh Slash, where art thou?
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Paste Magazine
A bottomless pit dug by disposable income, a persecution complex and egomania.
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Beats Per Minute
Axl gets the last laugh.
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Adrian Dennin
Axl, by luck or by design has forged an album that sounds modern. Well, modern enough.
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Brave Words
Still, Rose always possesses the potential to surprise us
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No Rip Cord
Overall, though, forget the hype, forget the myth, forget the ego....Guns 'n' Roses are here to rock you. And they - he - has succeeded.
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Entertainment.ie
This is merely a satisfactory album by a band that truthfully, has not been relevant since the 1980s.
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News OK
He should not have spent a third of his life recording it whether it was a labor of love or obsession.
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Platypus Comix
I think you'll agree with me it was well-worth the multi-decade wait. The time and effort that went into "Chinese Democracy" is clear.
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Review Stream
Well worth a listen but don’t expect Axl Rose to change your life too dramatically, those days are over.
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Infamous Scribbler
It's still a good album though. Possibly one of the most original, interesting and rocking albums of the decade
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Reels of Rhyme
It should at least sound like something that a lot of work was put into. This doesn’t. I hate this record.
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Ultimate Guitar
That's a remarkable achievement, and one worthy of reappraisal.
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Osweg O'Neil
I wanted a rock album, not an attempt to incorporate every style of music that has come and gone over the last 15 years.
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Teen Ink
How “Chinese Democracy” ended up such a failure is a mystery when it had so much potential.
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OOcities
I'm glad that it's finally here, especially since it's much better than I expected it to be.
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MTV
You can't say it's a bad record — you just can't do it."
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Audio Eclectica
A very solid rock album. Is it overproduced and compressed to hell and back? Yes it is
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Metal Review
A random play list, Axl Rose style.
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Decibel
Nevertheless, the record is a great work of art.
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Metal Express Radio
A good standalone Hard Rock album
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Dangerdog
This is not your father's Guns N' Roses. Though hardly a disappointment thanks to the eclectic diversity
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Webwombat
Has moments of brilliance, the majority of the album tries to compensate for mediocre songs with overzealous guitar leads and overproduction
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Complex
Biggest flaw isn’t its songs, which are actually quite good, or the way they’re performed. It's really the delay.
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Pop Dose
Some things are better left unreleased.
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Stuff NZ
A man who'd make an album like this, you'd have to call Chinese Democracy a success.
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Uninterview
If you’re not a fan of Axl Rose’s unique vocals, you should buy it for the guitar playing alone, which is incendiary from start to finish, without ever skipping a beat.
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IGN
An erratic and strange trip from the mind of a troubled genius.
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Ground Report
Overall the album is nothing short of a masterpiece
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Spectrum Culture
Worse, the album sounds like the work of a man stuck in a time warp, short on an ability to self-edit and armed with a Yankees-sized budget.
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Rocksound
Here the guitars scream with purpose and Rose's vocals are even more acidic than you remember.
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Ezine Articles
Overall, I feel that Chinese Democracy is a wonderful album.
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Fensepost
And to his credit, Chinese Democracy is a beautiful paradox. It also feels like the last act in a boring play that we’ve seen time and time again.
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Alternative Addiction
It's decent, but not worth a decade wait... few things are.
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Spinditty
Rose's voice still sounds amazing, and he can still write a good song.
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Metalstorm
Overall it's not a bad album, nothing great, and certainly not worth the circumstances surrounding it, but interesting nonetheless.
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Time
The cool kids cutting class and smoking in the woods have no choice but to let me hang out now.
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Victor-li
But it's a damn good record, and one that has made Axl Rose relevant once again.
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Scene Point Blank
This is an Axl Rose solo album with special guests.
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The Screen Door
Axl Rose has never sounded more alive and authentic.
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Scotsman
Far from flawless, but riding the dragon clearly agrees with Axl Rose much more than chasing it.
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The National
At least Axl created another album to be remembered – this time more of a cautionary tale than a triumph.
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Marquee Magazine
Real fans will keep coming back to the album long after the initial shock of “it is finally here” has faded.
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Bol
Good singing,Wonderful songs,Immersive music
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Antiquiet
Two thumbs up, so glad to have you back Axl. Try not to take so long with the next one.
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Archive Daily
Chinese Democracy is well worth the wait, proving that good things take time.
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Geeks with Blogs
Out of 14 songs, 2 are good and 3 are listenable. The other 9 are filler crap
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Truth About Music
Good job Axel, you’ve outdone Slash, put out a solid album and finally silenced the critics.
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The Line of Best fit
Chinese Democracy could have been great.
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The Epoch Times
Rose’s unmatchable vocal range which hits the tape in a precise and flavorful fashion.
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Gin and Tacos
It is insufficient to declare that I do not like this album. More accurately I am offended by its existence.
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The Advocate
Whew, the new Guns-n-Roses album is officially not bad! This ambitious, interesting album is far better than the sad.
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Totally Dublin
A ridiculously-overblown commercial hard rock album, which isn’t as good as it should be, but thankfully isn’t as bad as 17 years of self-indulgence would have signaled.
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Journal Star
But Rose has made a decent record that easily links up with the band’s previous releases.
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