Chinese Democracy is out (Yes that is the sound of hell freezing over)

   

After 17 years, Chinese Democracy by Guns n Roses hit the shelves at Best Buy.

 

For my money this is not a Guns n Roses album. Gun n Roses broke up years ago. This is an album that Axle Rose made with a lot of side players and for commercial reasons (very smart reasons) he is calling it Guns n Roses. As you know, from my previous post, I am not a big fan of Axle Rose. I said I wouldn't be buying this CD. And I haven't. But the album was available for streaming on Myspace. So I listened to it a few times.

 

Can I be objective and just listen to the music in spite of what a crybaby I think Axle is?

 

First of all I didn't listen to the album as much as I normally do before I do a write up for this site. I also never listened to it with the lyrics since those where not available to me.

 

I probably listened to the whole thing about twice, which is how much I think most music critics who have to write tons of reviews on a weekly basis listen the music that they are assigned. Just enough times, so that they can describe what this music sounds like without venturing to far as weather of not they really liked it.

 

I can say after 2 listens that the music on Chinese Democracy is good. And that I might get to like it even more with repeat listens (My normal rule is at least 3 listens and at least one listen while following along with the lyrics....provided they are included).

 

The only thing that weighs this album down is Axle's need to make every song on this album sound like it will become an epic signature song for them. Picture if you will if Led Zeppelin tried REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, HARD to make an album where each song is Stairway to Heaven and you will get the idea. There seems to be no room for just a fun Rock'n'Roll song on this one. I also feel pretty confident that what is left of Axle's once legendary voice is now being filtered though auto tune for these recordings, but once again it doesn't that the music isn't good.

Because it is good. And it might even be great. But I am not going to take the time to find out. Ove the years Axle has been unprofessional in how he has treated his audience and his former band mates, so I have no qualms about being unproffesional in how I write about his CD. 

I know how sensitive about even the most remotely negative citicicism Axle can be (This guy has actually cancelled shows because he didn't like what that city's newspaper said about him).

So congratulations Axle. You made some good music. I still think you're overrated and spoiled little child,. And I am still not buying this CD just on a matter of principal......I am sure your crying all the way to the bank......I can hear your empire crumbling now.

 

No Stairway to Heaven

It happened last night. The dreaded question. I was playing at the Sawdust festival.  I had just finished my cover of Led Zeppelin's "Going to California". Like a radio DJ I back announced the song when someone in the audience asked; "That songs by Led Zeppelin"? "

"Yes", I replied.

"Well than that means you could play Stairway to Heaven too.....Right"?

I have never understood this leap in logic.  But there are a lot of folks out there who think that because I know how to play song "A" by such and such band, that I should then also know how to play song "B" by such and such band.

To those who have never learned how to play an instrument, let me set the record straight. Think of each song as being a different mini language unto itself. Before you can learn how to play a new song , you must learn it's language. Now it's true that many songs will have similar chord patterns and this will make learning those songs easier, but there will still be subtle and sometimes not so subtle differences that require their individual learning curves (and that's not even counting that you have to learn a different set of lyrics).

A good analogy for this is the difference between the kind of Spanish they speak in Mexico vs the kind of Spanish they speak in Spain.

It follows then, that the more songs you learn, the easier it becomes to learn more new songs. This is why if say you have an experienced guitarist who has never played Johnny Be Goode before (which is a simple song) but he's heard the song plenty of times. You can tell him, it's a a 1,4,5 chord progression in the key of "A", and he can say "OK, I can do that, so long as you can sing the lyrics".

However if you ask him to play "Mood for A Day" By Yes, it isn't going to matter how many times he's heard it, He is going to have do his homework and learn that songs individual language before attempting a performance.

But how do I explain all that to the guy who thinks that song are learned by osmosis.

I didn't.

I just said to him very seriously "I'm afraid Stairway to Heaven is against the rules".

He nodded solemnly and replied "Oh".