"Suck on Guns N' Fuckin' Roses!"

After 17 years, 14 studios, $13 million, and countless hirings and firings by lead singer Axl Rose, Guns N' Roses is finally releasing the much anticipated and delayed "Chinese Democracy," the band's first album of new songs since 1991. CD and vinyl versions will be available exclusively at Best Buy starting Sunday.

I can't remember when it was supposed to be released (probably sometime before the core of GNR's original line-up splintered in the mid-'90s), but I know it was a long time ago. I remember driving home one day in high school and Rock 108 played a new GNR song, released as a tease for "Chinese Democracy," due to hit stores in the next year. (Keep in mind, this was in 1999 or 2000.) I turned up the volume and the Deutsch Mark rocked. I haven't heard the song since (and apparently Axl axed it from the album).

I read the reviews in the Times' (of Los Angeles and New York) and there seems to be a common consensus among critics: "Chinese Democracy" is a let down. Seriously, if it takes you the better part of two decades to make an album it should be a monolithic epic of rock; world altering, "Metalocalypse" type shit. The album has yet to be released to the general public, but the reviewers indicate it doesn't live up to the people-donating-bodily-fluids-to-get-a-copy expectation. It's not so much a Guns N' Roses album, they say, as it is a personal statement perfectly tweaked by Axl Rose. Apparently, it's a long way from the GNR I remember as a kid.

I've been hearing "November Rain," "Nighttrain," "Mr. Brownstone," "Paradise City," "Sweet Child o' Mine," "Civil War," "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," "Live and Let Die," and (especially) "Welcome to the Jungle" for as long as I can remember. Guns N' Roses was massively popular at the time when I was first becoming conscious of music and developing my own tastes. Each time I hear a GNR classic it reminds me of the late-'80s and very early-'90s; the heavy, aggressive metal is so endemic of that time. Big hair, headbands, and tattered plaid shirts tied around the waist abounded. I don't remember much from that age, but I recall a lot of anger and frustration. If you ever see a "Cops" episode taped from that era you'll see what I'm talking about. The crack epidemic was in full swing and crime was skyrocketing across the country. GNR embodies that grittiness, but times have changed and so has the band; "'Cause nothin' lasts forever / And we both know hearts can change."

I only heard a sample of the title track (it sounded pretty hard and complex), so I'm going to abstain from voicing my opinion until I hear more. I don't think I'll buy it, but the nostalgia surrounding the release has given me an "Appetite for Destruction." iTunes search: Guns N' Roses.