Chinese Democracy: Through Chuck's Ears

11/19/08 6:12pm

by Jen White (CHARTattack)

It's been a long time coming, but the day is almost upon us: Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy will see the light of day on Nov. 23. Speculation about the album has been pretty comical, from "It's going to be the biggest seller EVER!" to "Will anyone even pick it up?", from "Axl is a god" to "Axl is an old, cornrowed megalomaniac."

While my boyfriend has almost wet himself upon listening to every track leak possible (minus the latest album leak which he's refrained from downloading), my reaction has mainly been the inevitable 'eihn' accompanied with a shoulder shrug. Why? No matter what the man puts to tape, the 15 year build-up has just become too much for one album to bear.

Enter Chuck Klosterman. He reviewed Chinese Democracy for the A.V. Club, and the preface to his review could not be more true: "There is no one in the world more qualified to review the exhaustingly new Guns N' Roses album than he is."

Here's an excerpt:

"Reviewing Chinese Democracy is not like reviewing music. It's more like reviewing a unicorn. Should I primarily be blown away that it exists at all? Am I supposed to compare it to conventional horses? To a rhinoceros? Does its pre-existing mythology impact its actual value, or must it be examined inside a cultural vacuum, as if this creature is no more (or less) special than the remainder of the animal kingdom?

"I've been thinking about this record for 15 years; during that span, I've thought about this record more than I've thought about China, and maybe as much as I've thought about the principles of democracy. This is a little like when that grizzly bear finally ate Timothy Treadwell: Intellectually, he always knew it was coming. He had to. His very existence was built around that conclusion. But you still can't psychologically prepare for the bear who eats you alive, particularly if the bear wears cornrows."

(I heart you, Chuck.)

Blog Image: