Close to ten years in the making (not 14 as reported elsewhere - work on the album as we know it began in 1999), innumerable lineup changes, leaks and litigation, Guns N' Roses 'Chinese Democracy' has finally seen the light of day. The much-anticipated album hit the shelves, digital and physical, last week.
However, with less-than-blockbuster sales and the album failing to top the charts in either the UK or the US, the mastermind/unhinged genius behind the whole project, Axl Rose, remains as elusive as ever. No GN'R tour dates are on the horizon, his bandmates are heading out with their side-projects, and Axl himself has yet to put in a single interview, performance, or public appearance to support his opus. The star of the show's absence from proceedings has led some to assume that the album has been released without his approval.
Then again, confounding expectations and conventions is what the mercurial Rose has always done best - and therein lies the strange duality of the music world's fractious relationship with him. Axl Rose is the last of his breed - the archetypal rock star, his individual characteristics read like a checklist for success and hero-worship: charismatic, inscrutible, defiant, unfathomable, uncompromising. Yet it is these very same qualities that have led to his condemnation by the press, more than happy to scoff at a 46 year old man trying to 'do it his way'.
In 1992, when the original band (or at least most of it) was still intact and at the height of their popularity, millions of fans around the globe flocked to hear Axl's trademark shriek and to see their anti-hero, subtle as a brick to the face, running from corner to corner of the stage in a kilt and Charles Manson t-shirt, while Slash looked on from behind a wall of hair, cigarette dangling from his lip, for two and a half hours of blistering, epic rock n' roll.
In 2008, hip-hop is music's dominating force, the 'Use Your Illusion' era band are long gone, and even the majority of 'rock fans', somewhat tragically, would prefer to spend an evening in the company of Chris Martin, oddly sexless, standing stationary in a comfy sweater, bleating his environmentally conscious musings into a downturned microphone. At some point, outlandish behavior, a bizarre appearance and a take-no-prisoners attitude became outdated traits for a rock star. Could it simply be that Guns N' Roses time has passed?
Perhaps so, perhaps not. After all, in recent years 'Chinese Democracy' has been the subject of more articles than virtually any new album in that timespan, lending credence to the theory that Axl Rose doing nothing is more interesting than the released-and-quickly forgotten efforts of the majority of music's current flavors of the month. One thing is for sure: if the album is to reach the audience it deserves, Axl, with the support of his new Gunners (all stellar musicians, as the album and 2006 tour amply showed) is going to have to get out there and show the world why they used to love him (no pun intended), or at the very least, loved to hate him.
Stay tuned to Insomnia Cafe for our final verdict on 'Chinese Democracy', and further GN'R articles.
- Michael
Guns N' Roses will bring their Chinese Democracy World Tour to Canada in January 2010. The Winnipeg, Manitoba concert at the MTS Centre on January 13th is the first of thirteen Canadian concerts on the GN’R world tour, which begins in Asia on December 11th, with tour updates and announcements planned throughout 2010.
