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Post by MattyJam on Oct 30, 2017 16:31:20 GMT
Half of my initial thoughts on the album have disappeared?? Lol, not to worry. Yeah, sorry bout that. lol I meant to quote what you wrote and I accidentally clicked on "edit" and replaced your thoughts with my reply. By the time I realised it was too late, your post was gone forever, so I just deleted the whole thing. #hackmod #neverhappenatmjjc Glad you dig it so much Aazzaabb. Axl's live vocals are hit and miss and have been for a while, but he always gives 100%. Sometimes he knocks it out of the park and other times he sounds like a dying cat, but you're right, the GNR catalogue are not easy songs to sing and the Chinese songs are perhaps the most challenging of all, so I think he can be afforded some slack. Least he never did a HIStory tour, not that any self-respecting rock band ever would, but you know what I mean. I'd be intrigued to know your favourite tracks once you've gotten to know the album a bit better.
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Post by aazzaabb on Oct 30, 2017 17:02:36 GMT
Half of my initial thoughts on the album have disappeared?? Lol, not to worry. Yeah, sorry bout that. lol I meant to quote what you wrote and I accidentally clicked on "edit" and replaced your thoughts with my reply. By the time I realised it was too late, your post was gone forever, so I just deleted the whole thing. #hackmod #neverhappenatmjjc Glad you dig it so much Aazzaabb. Axl's live vocals are hit and miss and have been for a while, but he always gives 100%. Sometimes he knocks it out of the park and other times he sounds like a dying cat, but you're right, the GNR catalogue are not easy songs to sing and the Chinese songs are perhaps the most challenging of all, so I think he can be afforded some slack. Least he never did a HIStory tour, not that any self-respecting rock band ever would, but you know what I mean. I'd be intrigued to know your favourite tracks once you've gotten to know the album a bit better. It's wholly unprofessional! Down with this sort of thing! *Lots of booing* ๐ First thoughts are that quality runs throughout the entire album and it's very consistent. The musicianship, the song writing, the sheer quality is awesome. Can't believe I let this pass me by. The sheer craftsmanship Matthew!! Why it's beautiful! I hear Queen, The Beatles, MJ, Elton John! It's so melodic yet maintains a hard rock outer shell. Nearly a decade later I get around to listening to it! Shoot me now! I deserve it!
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TonyR
The Legend Continues
Posts: 8,413
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Post by TonyR on Oct 30, 2017 17:11:59 GMT
What did I say?? Love reading your initial thoughts Aazzaabb. To me, the album just got better and better with subsequent listens. It's such a dense, layered and intricate record with such a storied history, there really is nothing else out there quite like it. The mix of players on the album are incredible. I love original GNR as much as the next fan, but there's no way Slash/Duff/Izzy could've made an album like Chinese Democracy with Axl. Buckethead is incredible on the album, but for me, Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal is the star player of the album. I may be getting my geek on a little bit here (as someone who openly confesses to having a major boner for OTT guitar shredding etc), but I just love it when an instrumentalist creates something completely unique and almost impossible to replicate. Listen to Ron's guitar solo in the middle of Shacklers Revenge... some fans refer to this as the "elephant solo" and give Ron shit for it, but I just love how wild and utterly crazy it sounds. Slash couldn't play that. Buckethead couldn't play that. No other guitarist in the world would be able to replicate that solo note for note, because it is so unique, even Ron himself had to sit down and study it to attempt it live. There's a reason why they dropped Shacklers Revenge from the live setlists once Ron left the band. This is part of why I love Chinese Democracy so much, because it saw Axl push himself into areas that he just wouldn't have discovered if he was still playing with the old guys Half of my initial thoughts on the album have disappeared?? Lol, not to worry. But yeah, I totally agree. This Ron Bumblefoot guy is just an incredible musican and all these guys helped Axl evolve musically. As you say, there's just no way Slash and the boys would have been able to reach these levels. And that's no disrespect towards them, it's just be honest. It's been an age since I've listened to a record thats soooo satisfying to the ears. That solo on Shackler's Revenge -theres also some stunning guitar playing towards the end of the album- is simply art. You guys also used a key word that escaped me; LAYERED!! This album is incredibly multi-layered and dense. I don't really know what I was expecting from this but it exceeded all expectations and then some. I'm not sure I would have believed Axl had this in him but I way underestimated him. Perhaps I was a little put off by his live vocals which at times struck me as a little shook and beat up, but alot of his material is far from easy to perform live and touring tends to do that. I'm going to give it another listen later at some point and we should all revisit the catalogue also and discuss. Where's TonyR I need your thoughts on this. Actually being that Dangerous is your fave MJ album, Chinese Democracy was made for you! I did promise Matty that I would listen to it one day, and he blatantly didn't believe me!! And he's right, I've never listened.
But now after YOU'VE said it, I'll take more notice & will take the plunge.
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Post by aazzaabb on Oct 30, 2017 17:22:29 GMT
Half of my initial thoughts on the album have disappeared?? Lol, not to worry. But yeah, I totally agree. This Ron Bumblefoot guy is just an incredible musican and all these guys helped Axl evolve musically. As you say, there's just no way Slash and the boys would have been able to reach these levels. And that's no disrespect towards them, it's just be honest. It's been an age since I've listened to a record thats soooo satisfying to the ears. That solo on Shackler's Revenge -theres also some stunning guitar playing towards the end of the album- is simply art. You guys also used a key word that escaped me; LAYERED!! This album is incredibly multi-layered and dense. I don't really know what I was expecting from this but it exceeded all expectations and then some. I'm not sure I would have believed Axl had this in him but I way underestimated him. Perhaps I was a little put off by his live vocals which at times struck me as a little shook and beat up, but alot of his material is far from easy to perform live and touring tends to do that. I'm going to give it another listen later at some point and we should all revisit the catalogue also and discuss. Where's TonyR I need your thoughts on this. Actually being that Dangerous is your fave MJ album, Chinese Democracy was made for you! I did promise Matty that I would listen to it one day, and he blatantly didn't believe me!! And he's right, I've never listened.
But now after YOU'VE said it, I'll take more notice & will take the plunge.
I can't wait for you to give it a go. I think it's possibly Axl's masterpiece. Don't just throw it on in the background, throw the family out of the livingroom or kitchen and turn it up to that nice level just before too loud or a pair of headphones whilst smiling and nodding at the misses in agreement.
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TonyR
The Legend Continues
Posts: 8,413
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Post by TonyR on Oct 30, 2017 17:26:03 GMT
I did promise Matty that I would listen to it one day, and he blatantly didn't believe me!! And he's right, I've never listened.
But now after YOU'VE said it, I'll take more notice & will take the plunge.
I can't wait for you to give it a go. I think it's possibly Axl's masterpiece. Don't just throw it on in the background, throw the family out of the livingroom or kitchen and turn it up to that nice level just before too loud or a pair of headphones whilst smiling and nodding at the misses in agreement. Okay I will, but is it on a par with Appetite?
Or is this an other example of Matty's 'Invincible is better than Bad' garbage?
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Post by SmoothGangsta on Oct 30, 2017 17:28:19 GMT
I can't wait for you to give it a go. I think it's possibly Axl's masterpiece. Don't just throw it on in the background, throw the family out of the livingroom or kitchen and turn it up to that nice level just before too loud or a pair of headphones whilst smiling and nodding at the misses in agreement.ย Okay I will, but is it on a par with Appetite?
Or is this an other example of Matty's 'Invincible is better than Bad' garbage?
It's nothing like appetite. If you go in expecting that you'll be a bit disappointed.
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Post by aazzaabb on Oct 30, 2017 17:33:57 GMT
I can't wait for you to give it a go. I think it's possibly Axl's masterpiece. Don't just throw it on in the background, throw the family out of the livingroom or kitchen and turn it up to that nice level just before too loud or a pair of headphones whilst smiling and nodding at the misses in agreement. Okay I will, but is it on a par with Appetite?
Or is this an other example of Matty's 'Invincible is better than Bad' garbage?
As smooth says, it's not comparable to Appetite. It's sort of like asking if HIStory is on par with Thriller. All I can really say is that it rewards in spades. It's a stunning piece of work in my honest opinion. I went in knowing little to nothing about it and I'm shook. Get the sound right for whatever your preference is though for the best experience.
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Post by SmoothGangsta on Oct 30, 2017 20:05:45 GMT
I think There Was A Time is one of my favourite songs on the album.
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Post by aazzaabb on Oct 30, 2017 21:00:00 GMT
I think There Was A Time is one of my favourite songs on the album. It really struck me whilst listening to the album. I'm still in shock at how much I was blown away by it! Can't wait to listen to what you've shared with me.
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Post by SmoothGangsta on Oct 30, 2017 21:09:14 GMT
I think There Was A Time is one of my favourite songs on the album. It really struck me whilst listening to the album. I'm still in shock at how much I was blown away by it! Can't wait to listen to what you've shared with me.ย Also, if you're interested in the history of the album and everything that happened leading up to it's release then I'd recommend starting here. A lot of effort has gone into this. www.gnrevolution.com/viewtopic.php?id=5059I'm not gonna lie and say it's not a lot of information and a long read but it's interesting nonetheless.
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Post by aazzaabb on Oct 30, 2017 21:19:11 GMT
It really struck me whilst listening to the album. I'm still in shock at how much I was blown away by it! Can't wait to listen to what you've shared with me. Also, if you're interested in the history of the album and everything that happened leading up to it's release then I'd recommend starting here. A lot of effort has gone into this. www.gnrevolution.com/viewtopic.php?id=5059I'm not gonna lie and say it's not a lot of information and a long read but it's interesting nonetheless. Definitely interested in that! Thanks again fellah. Man this is something to really get my teeth into. Were any of the Chinese Democracy tracks played on the Not In This Lifetime tour? Im guessing not really the time or place for it?
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Post by SmoothGangsta on Oct 30, 2017 21:33:56 GMT
Yes they were! It's really weird to see slash and duff playing them haha. The This I love One is great but the others his vocals aren't the best. I think they have played catcher and there was a time as during the tour as well.ย He did a pretty decent performance of Madagascar recently as well. I'll try and find it and link it here
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Post by aazzaabb on Oct 31, 2017 0:13:10 GMT
Smooth, did you create the Chinese Whispers collection? What a labour of love that looks like! Browsing it now whilst relistening to the album. Thanks for the video links also, gonna watch them after the second listen and might dive into the demo's tomorrow evening. Seriously, this is epic.
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Post by SmoothGangsta on Oct 31, 2017 5:00:48 GMT
Smooth, did you create the Chinese Whispers collection? What a labour of love that looks like! Browsing it now whilst relistening to the album. Thanks for the video links also, gonna watch them after the second listen and might dive into the demo's tomorrow evening. Seriously, this is epic. No I didn't haha. I think it was a group of fans that gathered the information together over the years.
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Post by MattyJam on Oct 31, 2017 7:55:51 GMT
They've also been performing Prostitute a lot lately.
Smoothgangsta was right, it was a big fucking deal for a lot of us hardcore GNR fans, seeing Slash performing on these songs - a lot of which many fans assumed were written about the breakup of the original band. The line "you know where to put your 'just shut up and sing'" from Sorry is thought to be directed towards Slash, so watching them perform this song together now is beyond surreal.
There are some incredible live performances from the 2006 tour and the 2010 tour of the Chinese Democracy material, where Axl was firing on all cylinders.
My favourites on the album are Shacklers Revenge, Better and Catcher In The Rye. Aazzaabb, you mentioned in that post I deleted about JFK being the inspiration for Catcher In The Rye, but the song is actually written about Mark Chapman - the guy who shot John Lennon. Chapman was carrying a copy of Catcher In The Rye with him when he shot Lennon, and there is a theory out there that the book is a trigger for assassination attempts, as it has been linked to an oddly high number of murders and attempted murders.
I also love Shacklers Revenge, which is about school shootings and what motivates the people who carry out these atrocities ("I don't believe there's a reason" Axl sings in the chorus).
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