BillyBlog, in the Spirit of Chinese Democracy, Finally Posts a Review

I was going to review the new Guns N' Roses album Chinese Democracy similar to the way I reviewed the latest Metallica release here. That is, type it up on my BlackBerry as I experienced it via my iPod while riding the subway.

But this release is a cultural landmark. and it deserves a little more thought.

And, for all intents and purposes, this isn't an objective review. It's a pouring on of adulation. I'm no critic. I tend to acquire the things I know I'm going to like, and ignore the things I don't. If the album sucked, I wouldn't waste time reviewing it. If you want to read a bad review, just
google "guns roses chinese democracy overwrought," substituting "overwrought" with any negative buzzword that people like to employ to make them sound important.

I am coming into this "review" as a long-time G n' R fan. I still recall the Fall day, in 1987, sitting in my corner room at Pauley Hall, Room 222, at Occidental College. My door was open, and the R.A. from the ground floor, Brent Tharp, came to my door, holding a cassette tape, and said "You gotta hear this". He was holding the debut album from the band, Appetite for Destruction, which had been released that summer, and had yet to garner any significant airplay. Even tucked away in our little corner of northeast Los Angeles, Axl Rose and Co. were still unknown.

We sat and listened and I remember my reaction. How does no one know about these guys? Nothing had ever sounded like this before, and a friend recently asked me if the new album compared to the first. "Impossible," I told him. Appetite not only raised the bar to new heights, it raised the bar to an unattainable level. It's like Bob Beamon's long jump record that stood for 33 years, and Mike Powell's new mark that has stood for 17 more. Will a band ever release an album better than Appetite for Destruction? It's possible. Is it really? I'll believe it when I hear it.

And I remember hearing "Paradise City" for the first time on the radio in December 1987 in Honolulu. And then, in the Spring of 1988, the "Sweet Child o' Mine" video was released and the band achieved mega-rock star status.

Twenty years later, there's a new G n' R album. Of course purists, discounting the fact that Axl owns the band name, will say it is not G n' R without Slash, Duff, Matt, and Izzy. Whatever. I am a firm believer that, with rare exception, the sound of the singer creates the band. Don't send
me the exceptions. I know, I know. But this is my mindset.

So, there have been two types of reviews of Chinese Democracy, raving like this one in Rolling Stone, or hypercritical like this one in the Chicago Sun Times. Okay, and mixed reviews too. My favorite is from Chuck Klosterman, who has written endlessly about the mythological nature
of the album, who I even asked at a Q and A at a book signing over five years ago, if he ever thought this would be released. He was doubtful then, although he wanted to believe that it could someday happen. Read his review here.

Here's my take. It's all in the approach. If you want to hear good, new Guns N' Roses music, you'll like this effort. If you're predisposed to haterism, then you'll surely sneer at its grandiosity.

[Several days have passed]

I have decided that there isn't a song on this album that I dislike. Sure I like others better than some, but even the songs that have been singled out by other critics as crap, I still like to some degree. Which goes to show, Axl's crap is a lot better than other artists' good stuff.

Let's take a track-by-track approach, shall we?

1) "Chinese Democracy". The title track and the album's first single. The opening bars alone are worthy of accolades. The guitars rip and rattle the speakers, or earbuds, or whatever. It sets the bar high, too high for some, who would prefer the whole album sound like this. The lead guitar on this song is astoundingly complex, and whizzes about behind the lyrics like a mosquito, buzzing away. It's a phenomenal track.

2) "Shackler's Revenge" is next, announcing itself with a whining guitar. "Don't every try to tell me/how much you care for me" Axl warns. The songs has a driving beat. It's funny, whenever I focus on one of the "lesser" songs on the album, I start to think, "Oh yeah, here's one I don't like so much." Then thirty seconds in, I'm reminded how wrong I was. But there's something about this track that doesn't seems G-n-R-ish. But then, it does.

3) "Better" is probably the biggest reason "Shackler's Revenge" seems so inferior. Here we get that familiar Axl voice, with a siren-like guitar. And then the chorus hits and the song soars even higher. "Better" is certainly "better". And more amazing guitar. And no one can scream as melodically as W. Axl Rose. This song started with a dream of greatness and then blossomed into full awesomeness. It's big, bold, overblown and brassy. And it works.

4) "Street of Dreams" starts with piano, and a crooning Rose that made me think of a 21st century "November Rain". But there's that Axl sound, punctuating the soaring keys and then, boom! - the song weaves between hard power pop and radio rock. I started thinking this was a disappointing song, but it grows on you the more you hear it. It probably reminds me the most
of Slash-era G n' R.

[January 22, 2009, Ben, reader and blogger over at Once Were Bachelors emails me and takes me to task for not reviewing the album, having just discovered its release. He is shocked and questions why I haven't reviewed the album. The remainder of the review is thanks to him.]

Interlude. I started reviewing this in November 2008 and it is now two months later. At the risk of sounding repetitive, I will summarize. I love this album, but can totally understand why people don't. Now, back to the track-by-track summary.

5) "If the World" has one of the most bizarre (read: interesting) intros to a Guns n' Roses song I can think of. It certainly sounds "modern," though some critics may claim it sound more like "late 90s". However, there is no mistaking this is Axl Rose singing. It's a slow-paced song, with a strange distant piece about 2 minutes in. And after multiple listenings, I am convinced it is a piece of musical brilliance, although I can't quite pinpoint why. It originally premiered in the film Body of Lies.

6) "There Was a Time" returns to a little bit of normality and sounds like a stereotypical GnR song. And it is pretty awesome. It has the guitar, the sweeping range of everything that is great about Axl's voice. And it has a strings section. Did I mention it was pretty awesome?

7) "Catcher in the Rye" starts with a piano and stays consistently interesting. It's a nice song, but is maybe the one song that takes the most getting used to. Then again, there is a pretty great guitar solo in it.

Ok, we're halfway through the album, with a few of the best songs on the album still to come.

8) "Scraped" has some crazy beginning, like some demonic barbershop quartet warming up. And then Axl has a singing battle with himself. All this laid over some pretty heavy guitar work. When you're listening to it, you think it's not so bad. But it becomes a forgettable song. Even more so, considering the next track is

9) "Riad 'N the Bedouins". Okay, strange title aside, this is one of my favorite songs on Chinese Democracy. Forget the creepy 35 seconds that start the song with some spooky sounds. But Axl's voice completely takes over once the song kicks into gear, with in-your-face lyrics that made me think of Appetite of Destruction:

Riad N' the Bedouins
Had a plan and thought they'd win
But i dont give a fuck 'bout them
Cause i am crazy

Blazing guitars, top-notch vocals. Awesome song.

10) "Sorry" is alluded to in Chuck Klosterman's review in citing the strange-sounding "but I don't want to do it" lyric. It's a slow-paced song that builds to a crescendo. I start off hating it, but find, by the end of the track, I'm enjoying it. Vocally, it's one strange tune, but ultimately, still pretty good. It probably benefits from being sandwiched between "Riad" and

11) "I.R.S.". This is all Axl's voice. Again, it starts a little weird, but then the chorus hits in that raspy Rose-ian drawl:

Gonna call the President
Gonna call a Private Eye
Gonna get the IRS
Gonna need the FBI

and he seems to be angrily addressing his critics:

I bet you think I'm doing this all for my health
I should've looked again babe at somebody else
Feelin' like I'm done way more than wrong
Feelin' like I'm livin' inside of this song
Feelin' like I'm just too tired to care
Feelin' like I done more than my share
Could it be the way that I carried on
Like a broken record for so long

And I just love this song. The vocals are great and the guitar, yet again, is jaw-droppingly awesome.

12) "Madagascar". What can I say? When I first heard this, as a live bootleg from "Rock in Rio 3" seven or eight years ago, I couldn't get enough of it. So, it's really an "old" G n' R song at this point. It has the sweeping grandeur of the monster songs like "Civil War" and "November Rain". A lot has been made of the looped-in speeches by MLK and dialogue from Cool Hand Luke. Whatever. People who had heard this from Rock in Rio would find a gaping hole in the song had these bits not been included. It remains one of my favorite songs by the band. And Slash had nothing to do with it.

13) "This I Love" is the penultimate track and has a tough act to follow, but it holds its own. Again, you hear it begin and think, "What the hell was Axl thinking?" It's him and a piano. And then some strings. And about a minute in, he starts really wailing and you can feel the emotion in his voice. If you can handle the syrupy music until 2 minutes 10 seconds in, then you detect the faint whiff of guitar. Twenty-five seconds later, it pops to the forefront of the song and takes command. And it carries it through the end of the track. It sounds like a perfect album-ender. But there's still

14) "Prostitute". At this point, I'm usually thinking, we don't need a fourteenth song. And then after a minute of slow build-up, the song picks up and Axl does his thing. But then he pulls back again, teasing. Then crescendo:

I told you when I found you
If there were doubts you
Should be careful and unafraid
Now they surround you
And all that amounts to
Is love that you fed by
Perversion and pain

And then back again. And then a tease of guitar halfway into the song. And more lyrics, and then, with 2 minutes to go, more fierce guitar work. And then a slow fade. And perhaps, this song could have been left off the album. Or perhaps not.

So, there you have it.

People will likely disagree with some, if not all of my assessment. I approached the album with a fan's ear and I still enjoy it, months later, after the novelty wore off.

It's tough to judge a band that recorded what by many is considered the greatest hard rock album of all time.

Still, I will go on record and say this is a pretty damn good effort, and one that I would recommend. But don't come back to me and say you thought it was overwrought, overproduced, overhyped, and overrated. I'm so over that.

Fishbone: Still Stuck in Your Throat

I'm not in the habit of doing full-on reviews of albums, but I thought I'd give this a try. If anything, to give a reference and a glimmer of hope to Fishbone fans in the United States.

I'm guessing I'm not the only American to wander over the cyberpond and snag the new Fishbone album, Still Stuck in Your Throat from Amazon.uk. If you can't wait, go there to get it. If you're a cheapie, wait until April 24, and pre-order it here. In the end, the new CD's European incarnation, with a just-recently-specified release date in the U.S. of March 27, just-recently-pushed-back release date of April 24, is worth the extra pounds that it costs, considering we're getting it months ahead of an American market.

I will spare everyone the band history, which can be gleaned from their extensive wikipedia entry. I first remember hearing about Fishbone in the Spring of 1987, when they played the Greek Bowl at Occidental College. Or, should I say, the Remsen-Bird Hillside Theater.

I missed that show. I think I had a Shakespeare paper due that weekend. I still regret missing that performance.

I saw them again at the Roxy on the Sunset Strip in late 1990/early 1991.

The "official" Fishbone chronology site fishbonelive.net, doesn't list either show, but there are big gaps in the band's concert history there, in part due to their tireless touring and never quite hitting it "big". I know when the Roxy show was, approximately, because it was there that both the future Mrs. and I heard

"Everyday Sunshine" for the first time, touted as a song on their "soon-to-be-released" album, The Reality of My Surroundings.

It wasn't until July 8, 2000, when I saw them again, free in Central Park, at Summerstage. You can read the New York Times review here.

Jumping ahead, regular readers will know, I have since caught Fishbone twice, once at CBGB's and once at The Knitting Factory. It was at the CBGB show that Angelo Moore aka Dr. Madd Vibe announced that the band had a new album coming out, called Still Stuck in Your Throat. The disc dropped in Europe in the Fall, and I snagged it through Amazon.uk. So, I've had a chance to listen to it, and will hereby review it. Bear with me, I'm a tad rusty at record reviews...

Let's start with a disclaimer. I am a die hard Fishbone fan, and will be as objective as possible.

Still Stuck in Your Throat, at least the European version, has 12 tracks and from the get-go, it is apparent to the casual observer that this is not a commercial band. In fact, whereas most successful bands can claim top chart positions, Fishbone has only had 4 charting studio records (out of 8 full-length releases). And even these have just skimmed the charts, 1988's Truth and Soul peaked at #153, their follow-up and most commercially-successful, The Reality of My Surroundings, released in 1991, broke the top 50, but didn't get past #49. Their next albums, Give a Monkey a Brain and He'll Swear He's the Center of the Universe (1993) and Chim Chim's Badass Revenge (1996) peaked at #99 and #158, respectively. Their last three records, two of which were live discs, didn't make the charts.

Fishbone returns to form in this new CD, for sure. It is an irreverent, politically incorrect, socially-conscious, funkfest. A fusion of hip-hop, hard rock, and ska, the first sound you hear on Still Stuck in Your Throat is lead singer Angelo braying like a donkey. The song, "Jackass Brigade," is their take on life on the road. Angelo sings about getting out at a truck stop at three in the morning to use the facilities (only he's a little more crude) and the bus leaving without him. It's all silly song making, but the driving beat launches the record into a frenzy.

The second track would be sure to garner controversy if Fishbone was a bigger band, commercially. Entitled "Let Dem Ho's Fight," I heard this first at CBGB's in the Fall, and it is politically incorrect to the nth degree. Read the lyrics here, but beware, it's not for the faint of heart, or soul. It's a nasty, thrashing, skedaddling funkfest, and it works. Talk about a guilty pleasure, the song shreds, and has a catchy hook and chorus. It's about some form of female wrestling, and Fishbone faithful will like it, but the more sensitive of us may feel guilty singing along. Best simile in the song: "Got me sweating like a convict in a telephone booth".

Listen: "Let Dem Ho's Fight" (sample) (mp3)

The third track, "Skank N' Go Nutts," actually appeared in live format on 2001's unauthorized video Critical Times - Fishbone's Hen House Sessions and 2002's Live at the Temple Bar and More. We're finally getting this concert staple in its studio form. That's not too exciting, but it's still nice to hear a crisp clean version of it. The opening line "Idiotic behavior to the beat" sums up Fishbone's concert philosophy in five words.

Listen: "Skank N' Go Nutts" (sample) (mp3)

The fourth track, "Party with Saddam" actually enjoyed some airplay last month on L.A.'s KROQ, and it may help propel this record to some moderate success. When they played it at the Knitting Factory at the end of December, two days before Hussein's execution, the news had broken earlier that evening that the former dictator's days, nay, hours were numbered. The title of the song sounds morbid standing alone, but the song hearkens back to one of their best early songs "Party at Ground Zero."

"Party with Saddam" is essential Fishbone. It's all about letting music remind us that we are all on this planet together and should enjoy life:

We won't see the end
If we party till our colors blend
Party till Saddam's your friend
Never drop a bomb again
All right
We can break the chains
If we party like our blood's the same
Party till we lose our aim
Never shoot a gun again
...
Millions of dollars are spent on a piece
Of what I don't know,
but it sure ain't peace of mind
...
Can ya imagine Arnie partying with Tookie
Smoking and drinking till they lose their cookies
Crips are cousins, Bloods are brothers
Family can love one another
We're gonna party with Pinochet
He gonna sing the karaoke
We're gonna party with Mobutu
He's a lindy hopping dancing fool
Party with Condaleeza Rice, now
She like to shake it all night y'all
Party up with Tony Blair
Throw your hands up in the air
Party with Fidel Castro
He like to do it real low and slow
Party with Vladimir Putin
He like to breakdance and headspin
Party with Kim Jong-Il
He got the North Korean down-home feel
...

Listen: "Party with Saddam" (sample) (mp3)

Ok, I realize, after a bit of a compositional break (I started this post in early January), that I've only addressed the first third of the album. There are still eight songs left. But fear not, as I realize that most reviews of CDs do not speak to every song. I'll try and take this down the home stretch here.

The fact is, the first quartet of songs sets the bar pretty high. After "Saddam," the tone shifts into a very mellow, melodic phase, with "We Just Lose Our Minds." Angelo's lyrics pour out of him like syrup dripping from a tree, as the rest of the band groove along, with a chunky bass line and a drowsy accompaniment from the horns. It's a nice "recovery" song after the party with Saddam.

Listen: "We Just Lose Our Minds" (sample) (mp3)

Then we're back to the hardcore skanking energy burst from "Frey'd Fuckin' Nerve Endingz". I appreciate what they're trying to do here, but this song doesn't really succeed. It bursts with energy, but it falls flat. It's just an unmemorable track that blasts about in the same range that makes it a generally uninteresting song. Next up is "The Devil Made Me Do It." Again, the song has all the Fishbone elements, but doesn't deliver the knockout punch that makes other songs on the record as catchy, or musically interesting. The next track, "Forever Moore," is another slow-paced (relatively speaking) song that showcases Angelo's vocals. Here, it succeeds a little bit Moore (sorry, couldn't help it) as a song. The melody is very nice, and features Angelo on the theremin, a fantastically cool music instrument that he relies on heavily in concert on certain tracks.

The theremin is an electronic musical instrument that operates using frequencies manipulated by the musician's hands in proximity to the antenna(e) on the device. Read more about it here.

The last third of the album launches with a terrific tune called "Behind Closed Doors," which I heard played in both gigs at the end of '06. It's abundantly clear when a band believes in a song, because they just tear it up in concert. This is a Fishbone track in the purest sense of the band's oeuvre-- it has a deep social message (homelessness), a blistering horns' intro that propels the song throughout the track, a driving ska/reggae beat, and a great vocal combo of Angelo Moore melodic background singing, and a reggae rap by keyboardist/vocalist John McKnight.

Listen: "Behind Closed Doors" (sample) (mp3)

Next is a song called "Premadawnutt," which is an interesting rock/reggae mix with the theremin. It's a bit of a mess, a chaotic track after the tightness of "Behind Closed Doors." The record ends with a potent one-two punch. It starts with "Faceplant Scorpion Backpinch," with a driving rock beat that is all about, believe it or not, snowboarding:

Backfoot flip, snowboard spine tweak
No pain without the powder, stuck four feet deep
More than a mighty wind carried on my head
Vertebraes cracking like dry french bread

Kind of an unusual subject for Fishbone, but according to a recent interview (read here for discussion of the album, the songs, why it's coming out almost six months later in the U.S. than in Europe, and snowboarding). A version of this appeared on one of Dr. Madd Vibe's solo projects, Medicine Cabinet.

The album ends with Fishbone's cover of the Sublime classic "Date Rape". Granted, it's not an original, but Fishbone has always had great success with covers (i.e. "Freddie's Dead" from Truth and Soul), and they do a phenomenal job here. The song has actually been around a while. It appeared on the 2005 Sublime tribute album Look at All the Love We Found.

It was also made into a video by Fishbone, their first in over ten years.

Before anyone thinks this is a pro-date rape song, check the original lyrics here.

Here's the original Sublime video, featuring Ron Jeremy, followed by the Fishbone interpretation.

Over all, this is a good, strong album. Fishbone faithful will not be disappointed. Whether or not this will win new fans remains to be seen. Based on the interview linked above, it is clear that Fishbone, despite being an American band, are most at home in Europe. This is a comeback album, of sorts, that succeeds, for the most part. Its strengths far outweigh its lulls, and I recommend it.