After 17 years of missed deadlines and more than 13 million dollars, Axl Rose is finally releasing the new Guns N' Roses CD "Chinese Democracy" Sunday November 23. And to help celebrate this occasion, Dr Pepper has promised everyone in the US a free soda. Everyone except Slash and Buckethead, that is. And also Brian May, since his solos were re-recorded. And also anyone who doesn't log in to the DrPepper.com site on Sunday to get the coupon.
Way back in March when Dr Pepper announced they would give a free soda to everyone if the CD shipped in 2008 it probably seemed pretty unlikely. After all, Chinese Democracy production and re-recording could have gone on another 17 years. (The New York Times has a great timeline diagram.) But maybe this was just the incentive Axl needed in order to get things finished. The album will be available exclusively at Best Buy for $11.99, which is a pretty good deal.
The New York Times calls "Chinese Democracy" a "the Titanic of rock albums" saying it's "a shipwreck, capsized by pretensions and top-heavy production." Not exactly a ringing endorsement. The few tracks I've heard are pretty decent and the title track is better than anything fromVelvet Revolver. Heck, they didn't give any free sodas! What do you think? Worth the wait? Or worthless? Let me know in the comments...
- Reviews: Times Online, Rolling Stone, EW, NY Times
- Guns N Roses: Official Site, MySpace, WikiPedia
Seriously, what took them so long? You think Axl really need a Dr. Pepper as an incentive to finish an album?
Maybe he was just lazy or couldn't find the right material. I don't know, sounds pretty fishy to me.
What do you think, Zack?
Posted by: Ava | November 25, 2008 at 04:45 AM
I don't think he finished it because of Dr Pepper; that was really just a PR stunt from those guys and one they likely never expected to pay off. But I think Axl thought it was funny.
Who knows what goes on in the mind of an artist like Axl Rose. Maybe the album finally converged to his vision. Maybe he wanted to get it out for Christmas. Maybe he wants to go on tour. Maybe he was just sick of it. Who knows?
But the songs I've heard are pretty good; especially the title track.
--Zack
Posted by: ZUrlocker | November 25, 2008 at 01:45 PM