Shanghaiist: Chinese Democracy: Has it been banned?

JH69

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 17:34:32 +0800

this is going to be the hottest selling pirated cd ever to hit shanghai street corners! i wonder when the communist gov is going to realize that banning sh*t just makes it more desirable.

BBC1

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 21:22:37 +0800

Nothing special about the music and Axl is an expired artist. The publicity will help the sales of his album though. But folks like me will probably listen to the youtube clip first before buying, and I ain't buying.

AiTuDou

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 13:09:46 +0800

Coming soon to a cardboard box record shop on Fuzhou Lu.

James Creegan

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 17:32:11 +0800

where can I buy this "cuddle pop" you speak of?

EL JEFE

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 17:24:16 +0800

Raffi will braid cornrows into his hair for this album as well, like Axl did, which I hear was a gesture of solidarity with the proletariat farmers in Qingdao that work all day in the corn fields. And I heard Axl's high-pitched squeals refer to the eunuch Zheng He.

T

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 17:07:13 +0800

. . . even if this was a very buzzed about album in China, which I'm 100% sure it isn't, would anyone here actually buy a CD that gives G'NR royalties anyways? Me? I'm going to go back and listen to Appetite for Destruction. Welcome to the Jungle, baby!

Stephan_Larose

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 14:22:06 +0800

...the Global Times said unidentified Chinese Internet users had described the album as part of a plot by some in the West to "grasp and control the world using democracy as a pawn." In truth this is correct. The West will continue to foment unrest by providing Chinese and other easily impressionable youth populations in countries ripe for controlling with insidious cultural exports such as "Family Guy," cuddle pop, WWF t-shirts, "The Daily Show" (you're allowed to mock the authorities! God forbid!), Britney Spears (toxic), KFC, cheeseburgers and especially the idea of "democracy" where people control their government and not the other way around. By giving people the power to control the managers of their economic and legal systems, they will be fully under control of the dark evil forces of their own impressionable minds. The result? The CCP will be overthrown and Bjork will be elected to lead China into a glorious new age of pop materialism that will last for a thousand glorious centuries! Guns and Roses' new album is just the first step. Soon, with the release of the next Raffi album "Please, Please, Don't Push and Shove in the Subway, Please," "democracy" will totally control the entire world! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!

EL JEFE

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 13:57:08 +0800

I don't think Axl has an Economist subscription, and I seriously doubt Chinabuzz will help them sell CDs, unless they are targeting SARFT, which I highly doubt. It is coincidence. I learned from the Simpsons this is called specious reasoning. The album has some good tracks, perhaps a couple even approaching "Get in the Ring." I downloaded it this morning. The only problem getting it was iTunes stupid US-only law.

Uln

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 12:33:31 +0800

Whoops, thanks for the correction, I stopped listening to GnR little after Loose your Illusion, and I had no clue this Ch Dem started so long ago (13 years to do an album, what??) Anyway, it might have a bit to do with China being on the headlines, as Chinabuzz will definitely help them sell CDs. Probably not a coincidence that after 13 years they decide to publish it rigth now. Great timing, the first relatively calm period in China news for the whole 2008, journalists will run to fill in the void with some good old GnR polemic. My opinion, anyway.

T

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 12:18:30 +0800

mea culpa. It is Axl.

EL JEFE

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 12:14:04 +0800

It's Axl. And he still sings like a bird. The album name has been around for probably ten years and has nothing to do with China being in the headlines. In fact, I haven't seen much since the end of September... Axl and Dizzy are still in GNR. Slash, Izzy, Duff, Matt all left. This happened several years ago.

T

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 12:11:10 +0800

This album is the result of a year 2008 where not a single month has gone by wo China on the headlines. Uh, sorry, but not quite. Axel's been working on this album SINCE Use Your Illusion. And it's been named Chinese Democracy since at least 1995 or 1996.

larboard

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:47:12 +0800

Thats the way to go China. Ban those trash that hurt the feelings of the Chinese people.

EPM

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:25:51 +0800

Axel is washed up trailer trash (the braids, along with getting one punched by Hillfigger,,, weak). But you can't ignore the hype, something like 13 million spent, 14 sutdios listed in the credits, simply Amazing. Even the Dr. Pepper fiasco,, This is the 'test tube baby' of albums. If someone is simply going to cast it aside because it's calculated and contrived than they can go hang out in seedy granola hang outs with all the useless hipsters that are looking for something real. To me this album represents the epitome of excess, the small cross section where the mania and irresponsibility of rock and roll meets the greed and waste of corporate governance. If in some small way someone cannot get off on that sheer exuberance, than he or she is not human. Despite the heavenly production values, alot the album does suck. I do like track 7, Catcher in the Rye, and track track 4 sounds like the vampire rock-opera from Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which is fun to sing in the shower. /I clearly have way too much time

Uln

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:06:17 +0800

Incredible how fast China is increasing its presence in every aspect of western life. This album is the result of a year 2008 where not a single month has gone by wo China on the headlines. When I was a kid listening to "Appetite for destruction" if someone had tell me that one day there would be a GnR album about China I would have never believed it!

T

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 10:56:37 +0800

When was the last time G 'n R was relevant? Use Your Illusion I & II? November Rain? That's summer of 1991. 17 years ago. Axel's washed up, and Slash (and anyone else who made G N R aside from Axel) have long since left the band.

nanheyangrouchuan

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 10:42:58 +0800

Still flailing at air El Jeffrey?

EL JEFE

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 06:31:14 +0800

You should stick to listening to Hall and Oates' and their classic "You're Out of Touch." Slash doesn't play on this album.

nanheyangrouchuan

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 05:55:36 +0800

I just heard the title track about 2 hours ago. Slash sounds terrific, Axel's voice is a bit strained but the anger at Beijing is apparent and the ef el g is prominantly mentioned and supported