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Re: 1st listen to CD in awhile...
I listened to CD for the first time in a long time. I don't hate it as much as I used to, but TWAT is still the only standout song on the album in my opinion. Here is what I think is my first ever song by song review:
CD: Not a horrible song. I'm a little surprised it didn't do well as a single with less of an intro.
Shackler's: Still sucks. Doesn't belong on any album much less a GnR album.
Better: I actually like this less than I used to. I think a stripped down version could have been a big single.
SOD: A sweet song melodically, but something is missing from it. Axl sounds a little like a whiney bitch.
ITW: Not a bad song, but nothing stands out in it.
TWAT: Still a masterpiece and a top 5 GnR song ever. Get rid of Finck's garbage playing and it might be right there with Estranged and Coma.
CITR: I actually kind of like this song. Too much going on, but a stripped down version could have been good.
Scraped: WTF? Couldn't get past the first 10 seconds. Rest of the song is okay, but the intro has to go.
Riad: Another intro that serves no purpose. If I have to wait a minute to get to anything of an substance, I'm done.
Sorry: Another WTF moment. This song should have been rejected from the album. Sounds like some 90s band whose name I can't remember...because they sucked.
IRS: Song is ok musically, but the lyrics suck and Axl isn't very good on this song.
Mad: Another shitty intro. Axl's vocals are poor. No reason to include this on an album. Could have been a decent song with a slightly faster tempo and more guitar with less effects.
TIL: Beginning sounds like a gay 70s song. Axl has some moments in this song where he sounds great, but his low register is weaker. This is one I think could have been better if it was made with the UYI band.
Prostitute: Has a very 90s sound to it. Could have been a minor hit then I think. Way too dated now. I like it a lot more once the distortion kicks in.
I think the album had a lot of potential. Some of the songs are structured well and only a couple are just awful (Shackler's and Sorry). Having said that, maybe a tour now isn't the worst idea in the world. If some of the songs are starting to sound better to me, I doubt I'm the only one. This is definitely a grow on you type of album for most people.
- Mikkamakka
- Rep: 217
Re: 1st listen to CD in awhile...
Wow, we almost have the same opinion on each song. Except I can't listen If The World and Prostitute at all (the latter is more of an 80s track than a 90s) and I like Sorry, TIL and Madagascar's intro more than you do.
IMO the album suffers poor production and over-production at the same time. Sometimes the vocals are just horrible (SOD, Madagascar), sometimes less would have been more. Much more. Tori Amos once said that if you rework a song again and again, then you can kill the original feeling out of it. That happened with these songs. SOD, as raw as it was played in Rio, was a deep and catchy song. The album version is gay. It's not deep, but a syrupy song. I hope I expressed it right. Same goes for TIL (plus its solo is awful). CITR is twice as long as it should be, it's like Yesterdays would have been a 6-minute song. Axl tried too be too 'artistic' and 'relevant' with the Scraped and Rhiad intro. The result is one of the worst intros ever and a suit.
The album is full of later added, poor cut and paste parts, which don't belong to the original song. Fuckin' rerecord it as a whole, but these later recorded, coming from nowhere-going to nowhere parts kill the songs. Less orchestration, less Public enemy drum machine would have made a better result.
I feel, I know it meant to be a deep and honest album, and it could have been. But if you tear your heart out and put it to the table, then you just don't add sugar, cream and cherry to show the deepness of your feelings.
Re: 1st listen to CD in awhile...
I love it, warts n' all.
Nothing jumps out to me anymore as being out of place, or stuck on, except that choir sound at the end of TWAT.
I love the variety in sounds and places it takes you, its a trip when you actually think back to where you were a song or 2 ago, comparing it to the moment in a song you are at now.
I use that thought process all through the album and it always blows my mind and makes me enjoy the moment even more and you really get into the song. When you finally reach the outro to Prostitute you really feel like you've been on a musical journey and those soothing notes are so damn appropriate 
Re: 1st listen to CD in awhile...
Better: I actually like this less than I used to. I think a stripped down version could have been a big single.
I hated it once I heard the album version. Had the original 2006 leak been mixed/mastered, it had the potential to truly be a comeback single. You can tell just by listening to that it was pretty much their big enchilada and a lot was going to ride on that. Amazing he had the nerve to tinker so much with it. Try writing a new song if you have the desire to fuck around in a studio.
Sorry: Another WTF moment. This song should have been rejected from the album. Sounds like some 90s band whose name I can't remember...because they sucked.
Everlast? That's the first person I thought of when I heard the song. Put this song on End of Days instead of Oh My God, and this whole saga might have turned out differently.
Prostitute: Has a very 90s sound to it. Could have been a minor hit then I think. Way too dated now. I like it a lot more once the distortion kicks in.
I don't like this song at all, but I do agree that it could have did some damage in that time frame.
ITW: Not a bad song, but nothing stands out in it.
One of my favorite songs on the album. Love how he sings it, and Bucket's guitar work is just killer. Could have easily been a hit in previous years. Its actually a travesty that such a good song was relegated to the credits of a film.
I could ignore some of its horrid production if he had actually put in the effort to redo the vocals on some of these songs. Using ten year old vocal tracks is just plain lazy. Madagascar is borderline 'scratch vocals'. So is Street of Dreams. IRS is as well but it gets a free pass due to that scream.
Its a really good album, but very hit or miss. It's so close to being a masterpiece, yet so far away.
- mickronson
- Rep: 118
Re: 1st listen to CD in awhile...
talking of whiny little bitch, an X-Factor contender just took on SCOM... hah
