"General Musings" " Thread for all of "Thoughts On" all GnR things in the universe.

[Gordon Comstock]

2 hours ago, Voodoochild said:

I don't think it's fair at all. I think if anything, CD had the most memorable guitar work/solos of that time. Axl's vocals and melodies were pretty great overall, and at least he was trying to come up with something new. But instead of saying the album was bold and ambitious, people often say it was just "overcooked" and nothing else. 

 

'Overcooked' is a legitimate criticism, even people who love CD will prefer [some of] the demo versions of the songs... The songs are great at their core but the unnecessary overdubs, fretless guitar, etc definitely fits that description.

The 2000~ versions of songs like IRS, The Blues, Catcher were all better than the final versions, the 2006 mixes of TWAT and Prositute were better... the album versions aren't bad but with an album like this, that took so long and has had so many leaks, it's not surprising people gravitate to 'rawer' versions of the songs.

[Voodoochild]

2 hours ago, Gordon Comstock said:

 

'Overcooked' is a legitimate criticism, even people who love CD will prefer [some of] the demo versions of the songs... The songs are great at their core but the unnecessary overdubs, fretless guitar, etc definitely fits that description.

The 2000~ versions of songs like IRS, The Blues, Catcher were all better than the final versions, the 2006 mixes of TWAT and Prositute were better... the album versions aren't bad but with an album like this, that took so long and has had so many leaks, it's not surprising people gravitate to 'rawer' versions of the songs.

I get that. I think most of the album versions are fine, but I do prefer Riad from 2006-ish. But I was talking more about the way it's the ONLY characteristic for some people. 

[SoulMonster]

Chinese Democracy is definitely...dense. There's a lot going on. There is reward in that, though, if you bother listening to it enough because you can discover something new again and again, but most people won't. Most people will listen to a song a few times and if something doesn't catch their interest - a good chorus, a nice hook, a cool solo - they will move on. And if the density of the album obscures this, if the layers and crowdedness of the songs makes it harder to hear the good stuff, then that will of course drive people away. I am not implying that all the songs on CD are great and that people don't hear it because of all the stuff happening, far from it, in my opinion the quality of the songs are highly variable. My point is more that the decision to keep on adding stuff to the songs -- whether it was Axl's insecurity that got the best of him or his desire to be inclusive and let all band members contribute, or whatever -- is a double-edged sword in that it is rewarding to those who are into such density and are able to untangle complex arrangements and see interplay between instrumental melodies and hear "hidden" stuff but it will also be exclusive to people who just want simpler songs. Sometimes you don't want fine dining and a deconstructed duck confit, but rather just a juicy cheeseburger.