mindpollution.org

I was able to listen to the long-awaited and recently “leaked” Guns n’ Roses album yesterday, and although it took a while for it to set in that I was finally listening to the Gn’R album that’s been more than a decade in the making, once it did set in I felt a bit underwhelmed by the final product.

That’s not to say the album didn’t have some excellent tracks. “Better” and what I assume will be the title track, “Chinese Democracy,” were both really, really excellent. Axl Rose sounded as if he’d made a smooth transition from their last big hit (after this many years, i’m not sure which one it was) right into either of these two tracks. The band was tight and the guitars were satisfying despite the absence of his former bandmates. In fact, “Better” was the first track I listened to on the album, and it prompted me to pause the music and tell a friend that if the rest of the album is as good as the first track, it was worth the wait.

Unfortunately, I should have waited another song or two before rushing to any judgment on the album, as the next bunch were mediocre at best - and entirely disposable at worst.

It’s hard to make an objective assessment of the album, as I can’t help but weigh every track against the dozen-or-so years it’s been since the band last made anything resembling music, as well as all of the behind-the-scenes chaos that’s gone public during that period. With a product that’s been as teased, plagued and rebooted as much as this one, I’m simply not able to separate the album from its sordid history - and in the case of “Chinese Democracy,” I think it’s understandable.

In the end, the “leaked” version of the album I listened to had a few very good tracks surrounded by a lot of throwaway attempts to catch lightning in a bottle again. If you can track down “Better” and “Chinese Democracy,” go for it - they’re worth the hunt. Outside of those two tracks, however, I’d be perfectly content with sending the rest of the album back to the studio in the hopes that something more impressive will result - and if it takes another decade, those tracks certainly won’t be missed.