Chinese Democracy

Yeah, I've listened to Chinese Democracy. Hell, you can stream the whole thing off the band's MySpace, and it's not hard to find a leak link; finding one with decent-quality files that are not demos, are not the CD live tour, and are properly sequenced, however, is.

So, my initial thought:

Seventeen years for this?

It's not a bad album. But not a great one. For me, at least. Near the head of the Wikipedia page, it lists that the production costs of Chinese Democracy makes it the most expensive album ever made. Far eclipsing My Bloody Valentine's Loveless, etc. But then I thought: Should I give a shit, given that my favorite bands the past year have been No Age and Jay Reatard, who record on old equipment in their houses and have a lot of noisy grit on their sound? And whose pop-infused noise rock is much more entertaining than my first run-through of Chinese Democracy?

But anyway, it prompted a few thoughts. Seventeen years. Who can top that? Radiohead takes its time to make an album; three years between OK Computer and Kid A, then four between Hail to the Thief and the surprise In Rainbows. But that's not even close.

Then, of course, the obvious came to mind: Kevin Shield's yearly promise that a new My Bloody Valentine record is coming out within the year, which he says with the reliably of the "Free Beer Tomorrow" sign outside every dive. Given Loveless dropped in 1991, and given that it's safe to assume that it won't materialize this year (unless Shields pulls a Radiohead), that will make it eighteen years at a 1991-2009 minimum.

My listen of Chinese Democracy was, like many, I assume, rooted in curiosity: what does a cooking-for-seventeen-years album sound like? I'm not a big GnR fan. Sure, I like "Welcome to the Jungle" and "Sweet Child of Mine" as much as the next bro (and they're fun to play in Guitar Hero III and II, respectively). But I never polished off Appetite For Destruction and pined for more. So I guess I'm in the rare position to have an opinion of this album with no hype, no expectation.

And, upon first listen, I think it's okay.

Another story, though, will be my reaction to the next My Bloody Valentine album. Granted, I've only been a fan since 2004, so I haven't been biting my fingernails about it since '91. But Loveless is my favorite album, and I don't know if I want a rehash or something to blow my mind in a different way.

(Edit: Before writing this, I completely forgot about the monumental gap between the planned release of Brian Wilson/The Beach Boy's Smile and its release, but that doesn't count, since Smile was never in full-blown production. I think.)