Guns n Roses Chinese Democracy

Latest on how well " Chinese Democracy" is doing: This item is from Classic rock Magazine's website.



You spend 14 years working on an album and it doesn’t even top the charts. Surely this couldn’t happen to Axl after all of this time, could it?
It would appear that Guns N’ Roses Chinese Democracy is currently set to debut at No.2 on the US Billboard charts. GN’R have shifted 300,000 units of Chinese Democracy in its first week of release but this is unlikely to secure the top spot. That honour is going to go to Kanye West’s 808s And Heartbreak.
We guess there’s always the next album…
Meanwhile, over in Britain, The Killers’ third album Day & Age looks set to take the No.1 spot ahead of Chinese Democracy.

On reported first day sales, Day & Age had sold 70,000 to Chinese Democracy’s 50,000.

The good news is that Chinese Democracy looks likely to hit No.1 in Canada, New Zealand and Finland, among other territories.

The further good news is that Guns N’ Roses have topped the iTunes Rock Charts across the globe.
Chinese Democracy took the lead on the charts in US, UK, France, Germany, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. The only oddball hold out was in Norway where GN’R was No. 2 to Tim Christensen’s Superior.
GN’R are currently on top of the overall iTunes album charts in Germany, France, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Sweden, and Switzerland. In the US they are No. 4 behind releases from Kanye West, The Killers and Coldplay.
They have denied the No. 1 by The Killers in the UK, Australia, Norway, Portugal and Spain. In France they are No 2. behind Seal’s new album Soul. And it’s a battle of egos in Canada where Kanye West is keeping GN’R from topping the overall iTunes album chart.

beaten by kanye west. oh dear

(Voice of Nelson from "The Simpsons") HA ha! Tough luck Axl!

manny wrote:

Latest on how well " Chinese Democracy" is doing: This item is from Classic rock Magazine's website.



You spend 14 years working on an album and it doesn’t even top the charts. Surely this couldn’t happen to Axl after all of this time, could it?
It would appear that Guns N’ Roses Chinese Democracy is currently set to debut at No.2 on the US Billboard charts. GN’R have shifted 300,000 units of Chinese Democracy in its first week of release but this is unlikely to secure the top spot. That honour is going to go to Kanye West’s 808s And Heartbreak.
We guess there’s always the next album…
Meanwhile, over in Britain, The Killers’ third album Day & Age looks set to take the No.1 spot ahead of Chinese Democracy.

On reported first day sales, Day & Age had sold 70,000 to Chinese Democracy’s 50,000.

The good news is that Chinese Democracy looks likely to hit No.1 in Canada, New Zealand and Finland, among other territories.

The further good news is that Guns N’ Roses have topped the iTunes Rock Charts across the globe.
Chinese Democracy took the lead on the charts in US, UK, France, Germany, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. The only oddball hold out was in Norway where GN’R was No. 2 to Tim Christensen’s Superior.
GN’R are currently on top of the overall iTunes album charts in Germany, France, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Sweden, and Switzerland. In the US they are No. 4 behind releases from Kanye West, The Killers and Coldplay.
They have denied the No. 1 by The Killers in the UK, Australia, Norway, Portugal and Spain. In France they are No 2. behind Seal’s new album Soul. And it’s a battle of egos in Canada where Kanye West is keeping GN’R from topping the overall iTunes album chart.

Interesting. I don't think the Chinese Democracy will have any legs like AC/DC or Metallica's latest. Sure, the curiosity factor is there, but I don't see many people buying it after the novelty wears off. Most of the reviews, while generally positive, have overall been somewhat lukewarm. Of course with the holidays coming up, I could be way off on my assement. I've been known to talk out my a$$ from time to time.

Shoot, I just realized that I never downloaded my free Dr. Pepper coupon!!

Fat Freddy wrote:

Shoot, I just realized that I never downloaded my free Dr. Pepper coupon!!

Freddy here is a follow up to that Dr Pepper story from our friends at Rolling Stone:

Guns n’ Roses are threatening Dr Pepper with legal action over what the band calls “a complete fiasco” of a publicity stunt. Dr Pepper promised every person in America a free can of soda if Guns n’ Roses released Chinese Democracy this year; on November 23rd, the day Democracy was released, fans were told they could get a coupon for a free can at its Website. According to Axl Rose’s lawyer, Alan S. Gutman, things went terribly wrong: Yesterday he sent a letter to Dr Pepper CEO Larry Young saying that the soda company’s Website crashed and that “the redemption scheme your company clumsily implemented for this offer was an unmitigated disaster which defrauded consumers and, in the eyes of vocal fans, ‘ruined’ the day of Chinese Democracy’s release”.
The band is seeking a public apology via ads in newspapers, plus more time for people to claim their free soda and monetary damages. In the words of the letter: “Now it’s time to clean up the mess.” The letter continues, “As we all now know, Dr Pepper created an expansive and highly-publicized advertising campaign based solely on the exploitation of my clients’ legendary reputation. In and of itself this campaign brazenly violated our clients’ rights in numerous respects. Unfortunately, Dr Pepper has now magnified the damage this campaign has caused through its appalling failure to make good on a promise it made to the American public.”
Other highlights from the letter: “Our clients are outrated at your treatment of their fans and the American public in general. After it became clear that Chinese Democracy would be released in 2008, Dr Pepper executive Tony Jacobs proudly proclaimed that Dr. Pepper would make good on its promise to give a free soda to everyone in America. It turned out that Dr Pepper did not define ‘everyone in America’ the same way as ‘everyone in America’ defined ‘everyone in America.’” It concludes, “Had you wished to engage in a commercial tie-in with our clients, you should have negotiated a legitimate arrangement instead of hijacking their rights without payment. Rest assured, this misappropriation will not be free.”

Hahahaha... so in other words, if the album tanks, then the GNR camp is going to recoup the $$ they spent making it by taking it outta Dr. Pepper's corporate ass.

Fat Freddy wrote:

Hahahaha... so in other words, if the album tanks, then the GNR camp is going to recoup the $$ they spent making it by taking it outta Dr. Pepper's corporate ass.

axl's "ace in the hole" as it were.

Much like Madonna, you have to admire Axl's business acumen.

He's going to make money of this come hell or high water.

downloaded it legally earlier on and it is no gnr album. i cant think of it as one despite the name on the package. its not a bad listen actually but no classic

Thanks for taking the time to regurgitate the general consensus.

Quote :

My Original Review
Well the album started out very strong, I love the single! The next 3 songs are pretty average, they may grow on me tho, but they diden't wow me on the first list. If The World blows, horrible song. There Was A Time is again pretty average, as is Catcher In The Rye. Scraped is decent, but not mind blowing, I enjoyed Riad N' The Bedouins. Sorry has a pretty cool slow groove, as does I.R.S.

I didn't think I was gonna like Madagascar when it started playing, but it redeemed itself. Same with This I Love, started out slow and didn't think I would like it, but that's a pretty orgasmic solo!

Well the Guns N Roses of old are dead indeed as this doesn't even measure to the albums with Slash and Co, at least not at the time of my writing here, it may take me a few listens to sink in, but I think this album tries too hard to sound pretty, which is completely opposite of say Appetite. I mean hell, the beats on some of the songs sound like they were generated by the people that make them from pop singers. The beats just don't sound very rock n roll to me.

My review is generated from the first listen, it may certainly change, but this is my first impression, but as it stands now, a pretty average album.

Chinese Democracy - 10/10
Shacklers Revenge - 6/10
Better - 5/10
Street Of Dreams - 6/10
If The World - 2/10 (wtf is this a Cher song?)
There Was A Time - 5/10
Catcher In The Rye - 5/10
Scraped - 7/10
Riad N' The Bedouins - 7/10
Sorry - 8/10
I.R.S. - 8/10
Madagascar - 7/10
This I Love - 6/10
Prostitute - 7/10

Overall 6.5/10

My original review of this was pretty lukewarm. Several things may have influenced this, one being I was on a Guns N Roses/Snakepit/Velvet Revolver kick for the last few days before the album came out. As with several albums, when I began to disconnect this album from the Guns N Roses name, I found it to be more enjoyable.

Still love the title track, very rocking song. I'm not sure why I didn't like Shackler's Revenge at first, but a few listens and it just clicked, really cool song for me now. The intro to Better was pretty weak, but once I got into the song I ended up enjoying it alot. Street Of Dreams is also really good, again not sure why I didn't like these 3 songs on my first listen. I still don't like If The World at all, infectious pop beat ugh!!! There Was A Time and Catcher In The Rye went up a point for me, but they still didn't click for me enough to get them to 8.

Scraped is a cool song looking back on it now, not sure why I gave it only 7 before. I ended up liking Riad N' The Bedouins ALOT more then I did initially, again unsure why I didn't like it much before. Sorry is a pretty cool tune, very dark and enjoyable. I.R.S. almost could of been on one of the Illusion albums. Madagascar is emotional, but is infected with that annoying pop beat I hate, the samples were pretty funny tho, including the reuse of "What We Have Here..."

This I Love is a another dark sounding ballad, the solo in it is amazing, I think it would of made a better album closer the Prostitute, which is a decent song, but I would of switched these songs on the order.

Overall: The album is too long!!! Artists need to put a cap at 10 songs, although I acknowledge that with all the songs he must have in his arsenal it must of been a nightmare to track this album. Second, there's annoying pop beats throughout the entire thing that I just don't like. However, the album is much much better then I initially thought, but certainly not a masterpiece. The leadwork is pretty amazing and Axl sounds better then he did before, so theres plenty on this album to like.


Chinese Democracy - 10/10
Shacklers Revenge - 9/10
Better - 8/10
Street Of Dreams - 8/10
If The World - 2/10
There Was A Time - 7/10
Catcher In The Rye - 6/10
Scraped - 9/10
Riad N' The Bedouins - 9/10
Sorry - 8/10
I.R.S. - 8/10
Madagascar - 7/10
This I Love - 8/10
Prostitute - 8/10

Overall: 7.5/10

manny wrote:

Latest on how well " Chinese Democracy" is doing: This item is from Classic rock Magazine's website.



You spend 14 years working on an album and it doesn’t even top the charts. Surely this couldn’t happen to Axl after all of this time, could it?
It would appear that Guns N’ Roses Chinese Democracy is currently set to debut at No.2 on the US Billboard charts. GN’R have shifted 300,000 units of Chinese Democracy in its first week of release but this is unlikely to secure the top spot. That honour is going to go to Kanye West’s 808s And Heartbreak.
We guess there’s always the next album…
Meanwhile, over in Britain, The Killers’ third album Day & Age looks set to take the No.1 spot ahead of Chinese Democracy.

On reported first day sales, Day & Age had sold 70,000 to Chinese Democracy’s 50,000.

The good news is that Chinese Democracy looks likely to hit No.1 in Canada, New Zealand and Finland, among other territories.

The further good news is that Guns N’ Roses have topped the iTunes Rock Charts across the globe.
Chinese Democracy took the lead on the charts in US, UK, France, Germany, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. The only oddball hold out was in Norway where GN’R was No. 2 to Tim Christensen’s Superior.
GN’R are currently on top of the overall iTunes album charts in Germany, France, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Sweden, and Switzerland. In the US they are No. 4 behind releases from Kanye West, The Killers and Coldplay.
They have denied the No. 1 by The Killers in the UK, Australia, Norway, Portugal and Spain. In France they are No 2. behind Seal’s new album Soul. And it’s a battle of egos in Canada where Kanye West is keeping GN’R from topping the overall iTunes album chart.

It has to be taken into consideration that it was released on Sunday, 23rd. So, it hasnt even been out a week yet.

Plus, the MySpace got 50 million hits in one day. One Day! At least the interest is there.

I think the album will be behind AC/DC and Metallica, as far as sales go, that is not bad, also proves that metal will never die.

St Patrik wrote:

manny wrote:

Latest on how well " Chinese Democracy" is doing: This item is from Classic rock Magazine's website.



You spend 14 years working on an album and it doesn’t even top the charts. Surely this couldn’t happen to Axl after all of this time, could it?
It would appear that Guns N’ Roses Chinese Democracy is currently set to debut at No.2 on the US Billboard charts. GN’R have shifted 300,000 units of Chinese Democracy in its first week of release but this is unlikely to secure the top spot. That honour is going to go to Kanye West’s 808s And Heartbreak.
We guess there’s always the next album…
Meanwhile, over in Britain, The Killers’ third album Day & Age looks set to take the No.1 spot ahead of Chinese Democracy.

On reported first day sales, Day & Age had sold 70,000 to Chinese Democracy’s 50,000.

The good news is that Chinese Democracy looks likely to hit No.1 in Canada, New Zealand and Finland, among other territories.

The further good news is that Guns N’ Roses have topped the iTunes Rock Charts across the globe.
Chinese Democracy took the lead on the charts in US, UK, France, Germany, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. The only oddball hold out was in Norway where GN’R was No. 2 to Tim Christensen’s Superior.
GN’R are currently on top of the overall iTunes album charts in Germany, France, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Sweden, and Switzerland. In the US they are No. 4 behind releases from Kanye West, The Killers and Coldplay.
They have denied the No. 1 by The Killers in the UK, Australia, Norway, Portugal and Spain. In France they are No 2. behind Seal’s new album Soul. And it’s a battle of egos in Canada where Kanye West is keeping GN’R from topping the overall iTunes album chart.

It has to be taken into consideration that it was released on Sunday, 23rd. So, it hasnt even been out a week yet.

Plus, the MySpace got 50 million hits in one day. One Day! At least the interest is there.

they should ve sold the cd on myspace as well like Radiohead did. Sell each track for 99 cents therefore you dont have to buy the whole thing. I think this is a better way of bands getting all the money they deserve rather then just a % of the earnings..

You do realise Radiohead released their most recent album, In Rainbows entirely for free, right? The album was readily available for download on their website and you only had to pay what you wanted to. Not exactly the best tactic for money making.

Smindas wrote:

You do realise Radiohead released their most recent album, In Rainbows entirely for free, right? The album was readily available for download on their website and you only had to pay what you wanted to. Not exactly the best tactic for money making.

yes it was released for free, but did get 1.2 million downloads. I seen that only 1/3 of the people actually paid for it as well. I still think selling directly through a band is better then having a record company take over the process..

Smindas wrote:

You do realise Radiohead released their most recent album, In Rainbows entirely for free, right? The album was readily available for download on their website and you only had to pay what you wanted to. Not exactly the best tactic for money making.

I think I saw somewhere that they actually lost money on this.

sam wrote:

Smindas wrote:

You do realise Radiohead released their most recent album, In Rainbows entirely for free, right? The album was readily available for download on their website and you only had to pay what you wanted to. Not exactly the best tactic for money making.

I think I saw somewhere that they actually lost money on this.

selling it for free, i guess is saying we are all about the music we dont need money..

MetalRob331 wrote:

sam wrote:

Smindas wrote:

You do realise Radiohead released their most recent album, In Rainbows entirely for free, right? The album was readily available for download on their website and you only had to pay what you wanted to. Not exactly the best tactic for money making.

I think I saw somewhere that they actually lost money on this.

selling it for free, i guess is saying we are all about the music we dont need money..

Nah, It was just another failed hippy experiment of how "good people are." "I mean sure they can get it for free but, they'll pay knowing we have to pay for our Bentleys." - radiohead then. radiohead now - "PAY YOU F***ERS! PAY!"

im not a fan at all of radioheads

MetalRob331 wrote:

im not a fan at all of radioheads

neither am I. stupid hippy band.

Anyone pay attention to the lyrics of "Sorry"? Who could he be talking about? Scott Weiland would be a good fit.

"You talk too much
You say I do
Difference is nobody cares about you"

"Just shut up and sing..."

Here's a statement from the Dr Pepper camp:

Dr Pepper have responded to the Guns N’ Roses’ claim that the free soda stunt was “a complete fiasco,” saying in a statement, “We are disappointed that Gn’R’s lawyers are turning a fun giveaway into a legal dispute.” According to the Dr Pepper Snapple Group, it was Axl Rose’s own management company that approached the soda makers before the campaign launched and openly shared their Chinese Democracy promotional plans with them. “We simply commented on the delayed release of Chinese Democracy and openly encouraged the band to release it before the end of the year. Axl even expressed support for our efforts earlier in the year,” the statement reads.
Dr Pepper has since taken steps to make sure those who had difficulties getting the coupon for free soda, extending the deadline, adding a toll-free phone number and offering coupons well beyond the release date. “This was one of the largest responses we have ever received for a giveaway, and we’re happy we were able to satisfy the thirst of so many Dr Pepper fans,” the company said. “We wish Guns n’ Roses the best with their album.” Despite Guns n’ Roses demands for an apology, Dr Pepper’s statement came without the use of the word “Sorry.”

I got this disc yesterday and have been listening to it all day. I like it. Now it is no GNR from the old days, but the elements are there...Axl's killer pipes...the scathing snotty lyricism...the awesome solos (in Slash's style but not by Slash), but it is hampered a bit by modern production trappings...lots of electronica noodling and hip hip electrobeats. Had this come out in say 1996 or so when it should have it would have been a killer release, but now it's a bit of a frankenstein monster...with pieces and styles from various decades stitched together to create a shambling lumbering creature that swaggers and rocks but is somehow creepily emotionless.

Just my 2 cents.