If only Axl Rose weren’t such a maniacal over-obsessive control freak, I would have been at the GN’R show at the MCI Center Monday night. Why was the tour cancelled? Did Axl finally realize that his voice just isn’t what it was ten years ago when he could reach the notes on Welcome to the Jungle and belt them with a sneer? That the only people who bought tickets to the show were fans from 10 years ago who were wondering what ever happened to the infamous singer who dropped from public view? That no one really cares about the new album as a Guns N’ Roses project unless it sounds like classic GN’R (which it most definitely does not)?
I think Axl probably realized that he couldn’t live up to expectations and caved. At the MTV music video awards he appeared to be winded from running around the stage after singing a five minute medley of songs, had beefed up quite a bit (his body and his hair), and his voice could not hit the high notes with the precision or the tone he used to have. Even though I was disappointed with their performance, I bought a ticket to the D.C. show based on the nostalgia evoked by the name and the music.
Madison Square Garden was the last show they played. Such a pivotal show because NYC is THE east coast city that matters. Perhaps they weren’t well received or perhaps the other band members decided they couldn’t put up with Axl’s antics any longer. That’s the reason why the old members left. Slash even tried to see a GN’R show in Nevada after he left the band, but when Axl found out about this he told security to not allow him in.
Last night I heard part of the yet to be release Chinese Democracy album. A DJ at the local college station had a friend who dropped by with an album he had burned…I guess it had leaked onto the net yesterday morning…Chinese Democracy Part 3, the song I heard, did not sound remotely like any GN’R song I had heard before. It made me wonder why Axl even keeps the name. It basically had a dialogue of voices speaking in Chinese offset by some guitar and drums and vocals (which I could not make out )in the background. Was it experimental? yes. Was it odd? yes. With the unprecedented amount of time they’ve spent recording and perfecting the album I would have expected something more instrumentally intensive with more of a dependence on the musical talent in the band. I don’t know buckethead (and find it very disturbing that this guy wears a KFC chicken bucket on head accompanied by a porcelain mask), but according to friends of mine he’s an amazing guitarist. The song played may not be representative of the album as a whole. Of course, if the album goes the way of the tour, no one’s going to hear it anytime soon. Maybe it’s for the best.
11:25:27 AM 
|
|
