SIDE 1.
CHINESE DEMOCRACY
SHACKLER'S REVENGE
BETTER
STREET OF DREAMS
SIDE 2.
IF THE WORLD
THERE WAS A TIME
CATCHER IN THE RYE
SIDE 3.
SCRAPED
RIAD N' THE BEDOIUNS
SORRY
I.R.S.
SIDE 4.
MADAGASCAR
THIS I LOVE
PROSTITUTE
The phrase 'over-produced' is thrown around a lot. This album was harshly criticized for that very problem. It certainly suffered from a bit of this, but frankly, considering the amount of people who got their hands in on the project, it turned out far better than I thought. The songs are decent and the production is tight, if perhaps a little overdone. The downfall of the album, in my opinion, was all of the talk about it and the money sunk into it. A colossal wait and reported budget of over $10 million created an unattainable expectation for the album. I believe this album could've been Sgt. Pepper's, Nevermind and Metallica's Black Album all mixed in one and people still would have been critical about it.
My harshest criticism is that the writing on some songs sounds a little 'Sports Metal' or 'try hard-core' for my liking, not coming across as authentic as early GNR stuff. I suppose one might expect that the blend of so many different performers with a large ego overseeing the project might be scatter shot, and it was. All in all, I will say I was surprised how much I liked it, but like many others, think it failed to meet the incredibly lofty goals set upon it.
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