More ‘Complications’ on the Way For New, Underwhelming Guns N’ Roses Album?
Guns N’ Roses takes its 15-year battle with irrelevance straight to the people today, officially releasing the title track of its long, long, long, long-delayed album Chinese Democracy after years of leaks, lawsuits and general internecine drama that left a once-great rock band in yawning disarray. We’ve tired enough of attempting to keep up that we hadn’t bothered tracking down the new single before this morning (you can hear it after the jump); it’s about as soft as Axl Rose’s cosmetically burnished features and, as presumed, won’t make us forget anything on Appetite For Destruction. And thank goodness, because despite Democracy’s Nov. 23 release date finally laid down by Interscope Records, GNR’s manager hinted to Entertainment Weekly today that even more “complications” are imminent.
Somewhat intriguingly, EW retracted this morning’s item headlined, “Guns N’ Roses manger: ‘Great art takes time’” almost as soon as it was published — right around the time the single first hit the radio and began streaming online. But why? After all, rock managers are chronically bloated with braggadocio, even if shaking up their band’s label and exclusive retail partners at Best Buy with suggestions that Nov. 23 doesn’t really mean Nov. 23:
[A]ccording to GNR’s current manager, Azoff’s Andy Gould, you can’t rush the magic of rock. “Art and commerce have always made strange bedfellows,” Gould tells EW.com. “When they asked Michelangelo to paint the Sistine Chapel, they didn’t say, ‘Can you do it in the fourth quarter?’ so they can make their numbers. Great art sometimes takes time.” [...] With less than a month to go until fans can judge the final product for themselves (pending approval of the album’s artwork, which, Gould hinted, could have its own complications), the anticipation — and pressure — is most certainly high.
The full EW item (we think — is there something we missed, tipsters?) is currently available only on GNR fan forums (we know you’re starved for Matt Pinfield’s take on the “most expensive rock record ever made”), but in any case, after hearing what we heard this morning, we strongly encourage Rose, Gould and co. to take all the time they need. We’ll gladly wait forever if that’s what Chinese Democracy requires. Listen for yourself.
- ‘Chinese Democracy’ [WJRR-FM]
- Guns N’ Roses manager: ‘Great art takes time’ [EW Insider via My GNR Forum]
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Fatso. Skinny legs. Four-eyes. Touchy words can be best left unsaid or sometimes very amusing to bring up. In any case everybody has a deep inner flame that is like a ticking time bomb, waiting to explode.
Today if you asked China’s ruling Communist Party what its most touchy word is, it would probably reply “Chinese Democracy” – the title of Guns N’ Roses’ long-awaited and controversial new album.
Days after its release Chinese state-run media published articles, accusing the band of “viciously attacking” China. Chinese bloggers responded to these articles with highly nationalistic overtones, similar to that seen when protests shrouded the Beijing Olympic Torch relay. Comments such as “bull,” “despicable” and “American trash” could be seen. Some even went so far as to criticise Westerners for their obsession with “sex, drugs, and violence.”
But let’s not forget the true intention behind the song was not to be hostile in the slightest. Anyone who has seen the music video and knows their history is likely to say that it blends footage of the Iraqi war, Tiananmen Square protests and some Falun Gong exercisers, to give hope that one day there may be a true democracy in China with more personal freedoms.
Why is the Chinese leadership so touchy about this song then? Part of the answer lies in the 17-year delay in the song’s release. Nowadays few young Chinese deeply understand both sides of the highly propagandised 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre events. Many of them also feel uncertain over the potential success of a Chinese democracy, even though many will admit they felt intrigued and even a bit excited about the US presidential debate.
China’s biggest sore point, however, was the reference to the state’s arbitrary detention and relentless thumping of exercisers practicing Falun Gong, a banned and suppressed spiritual practice resembling tai chi or yoga, based on truth, compassion and tolerance. “You [i.e. the Chinese leadership] think you got it all locked up inside, and if you beat them all up they’ll die,” the lyrics read.
Despite this, it seems that more Chinese are mustering the courage to openly criticise bungles and corruption at the hands of their own government officials. A couple of bloggers urged others to be more “open-minded” and conceded that both the Chinese government and its people are “indeed imperfect.”
Perhaps I am a bit of an idealist in how I try hard not to lose hope that people will be able to overcome their touchy side, admit people have faults and, in turn, become more accepting of others.