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6 comments:
So who bought it? I did, but I haven't had time to sit and listen yet. Will probably do so tomorrow.
Chime in if you bought it.
Well, obviously, I got it. I could talk for some time, but will restrict myself to two thoughts.
I think those who like (or liked) GnR fall into two camps - those who think Welcome to the Jungle was their finest hour, and those who think Estranged was. I am firmly in the Estranged camp, and as such, I love this album. The Jungle fans will hate it, as there's a lot of piano and soaring epics, and the rockers are without fail the weakest songs on the album.
But, for those who realize that since Appetite GnR has been a band whose sound leans closer to Estranged than to Jungle, and who are down with that, this thing is great. There are 14 songs - 5 of them are absolutely awesome. 2 are really good. 2 I need to listen to more. Only 2 are clear clunkers. But man, the highs on this are really great.
Here's the test for me of is this a worthwhile release - next year GnR is touring, and I will see them for the first time. Listening to this album, there are a number of songs that I want them to play live - now, I'm not saying I want the entire show to be new material, but I would be sad if they didn't play a lot of this. To me, that's a mighty fine sign.
I bought it. it's great. as Dr. Kittybrains pointed out to me, it's delightfully uncompressed - full of rich, intense dynamics.
awesome guitar work throughout, and some legitimately great songs ("Better" is my favorite).
Above all, the vocals are just plain astounding.
I'm not sure if anyone who wasn't an old school fan could ever like this, but I was and I do.
Had to cancel my listening party tonight because i'm sick as a dog, but i'm hoping to reschedule next week.
I like Better quite a bit, but wouldn't put it up with my favorites. Right now I'd probably have to put Street of Dreams at #1. There Was a Time is also high up there for me - the 2nd half of that is probably my highlight of the entire album.
And you are totally right - they won't win any new fans with this one, but that doesn't detract for me.
My initial Top 2 are Street of Dreams (which I still am mentally calling The Blues per its earlier, cooler title) and Riad N' the Bedouins.
I think the record is great. Vocals are fantastic. Guitar playing is great from all three major players-- Robin Finck, Buckethead and Bumblefoot.
The major mistake is that it ends with 3 of its weakest songs. If it had ended right after I.R.S., it would be amazing. I'll have a longer post on this later.
I can't believe you think 'the blues' is a cooler title! if by cooler you mean 'embarassing', than yes.
Riad is awesome,
as for the last 3 tracks, 'prostitute' is pretty great, and 'madasgascar' is worth it alone for the insane MLK and Cool Hand Luke spoken elements....
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