Merch: December 4, 2008
Guns n’ Roses
Chinese Democracy (Black Frog/Geffen)
As Chinese Democracy is (of course) the first Axl Rose Solo Project disc and not (of course) the sixth Guns n’ Roses studio album, a slight realignment in expectations on the part of the group’s fans is necessary … and if the correct adjustment is made – that is, you’re ready to get into Axl’s ring – the record more than delivers. It’s true: Fifteen years after The Spaghetti Incident? – an album of cover tunes – Rose proves once again that he was always more than just a Sunset Strip poseur sniffing after poontang, but a writer of both perception and attitude. The most amazing thing about Chinese Democracy – considering its troubled gestation – is that it’s not some whiny, “me-me-me” statement of hardship; in fact, it sounds as if Rose is quite aware that hardly any Midwestern kid really gives two shits about a rich megastar, and he gives that dude something to believe in: a great fucking song or three. Or more.
The most notable tracks are some of Rose’s best ever. “If the World” feels like a future classic, mixing a ’70s Stones shuffle with Curtis Mayfield’s soul, as does the Alice in Chains-reminiscent grunge-groover “Scraped.” The production isn’t a hard-and-flat heavy metal roar on these tracks, as it was in the Mike Clink days (never much admired his sonics on the Use Your Illusion collections). Instead, Rose’s affection and influences have broadened: There’s Moby’s ecstatic panoramas (“There Was a Time,” the orchestral finale of “Prostitute”); the Stooges’ streetwise strut (“Chinese Democracy”); and Sabbathy megaton-weight blues (“Sorry”). And much of it – most of it, actually – rocks like nobody’s business.
Even when, late in the album, Rose turns self-pitying and begins to lash out at unknown accusers (“Sorry,” “I.R.S.”), the result is fascinating; the echo on his voice heard on “I.R.S.” makes him sound alone and feral, yet without being so enemy-specific that some unnamed youth out there can help but identify with the heartache and pain. According to the credits, an army of producers, engineers, and musicians helped Axl Rose create this long-overdue and self-indulgent opus, but it takes just a single listen to realize that even though Velvet Revolver released two records in less time than it took Rose to make half of his, there’s nothing on their albums that’s half as compelling as the music on Chinese Democracy. Sometimes even a dictator knows what he’s doing.
–Joshua Sindell
The Von Bondies
Love, Hate and Then There’s You (Majordomo)
Yep, it seems like only yesteryear when we were in the throes of a “garage rock revival” ginned-up by the critocracy the better to move high-end merch from the megabuck likes of the Strokes and the White Stripes. Never mind that the bands from this unspontaneous outpouring sounded about as much like the original garage rock of the 1960s as a William Shatner cover of “Paradise by the Dashboard Light”; it’s the lack of thought that counts. The Von Bondies were darlings of the White Stripes for a span, though many of the Stripes’ boosters in the press gagged at them. They’ll likely gag yet, even though the far-advance of their fourth full-length (and first new album in four years) is a fine and raucous noisemaker. One hesitates to use the word “maturity,” but songs about friends in rehab show a certain personal toughening that comes across in the tunes. I propose the title be changed to The Von Bondies Leave Home sometime before official release on Feb. 3– it isn’t like the band’s exactly afraid of comparisons with their (dwindling number of) betters.
–Ron Garmon
Blue Ash
No More, No Less (Collectors’ Choice)
An album that should send paroxysms of joy through the central nervous systems of power pop fans everywhere, this reissue of the 1973 debut from Youngstown, Ohio’s Blue Ash will (hopefully) go some lengths toward positioning them as threats to the Raspberries’ Buckeye State crown. While Eric Carmen and the ‘Berries were thoroughly influenced by the Who, Blue Ash absorbed the famous jangling guitars of the Byrds and proceeded to make a fine LP’s worth of tunes, complete with the mission statement of don’t-bore-us-get-to-the-chorus, and melodies on which the Beatles would have eagerly signed their names. (Clearly, the young Redd Kross were paying attention: The blueprint for their sound is all right here in these Day-Glo grooves.) Minor hit single “Abracadabra (Have You See Her?)” leads off the disc in fine form, followed by inspired covers of Dylan’s “Dusty Old Fairgrounds” and the Fabs’ “Anytime at All.” Weirdest moment arrives when they try to get inside the head of a Pete Townshend type in “Smash My Guitar,” complete with wreckage and feedback. Sadly, Blue Ash lasted for only one more album, but this one’s enough to land them a spot on the shelf next to your Jellyfish and Beach Boys artifacts.
–Joshua Sindell
Published: 12/04/2008
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