Here’s the thing:  I’ve had Chinese Democracy for over a month now.  After buying it I popped it into the stereo to listen on the way home.  Two songs into it I got bored and listened to something else.  For the next week or so I kept thinking about listening to it but could work up any interest to do it.  After that I started listening to it quite a bit.  Not because I liked it - more because I couldn’t figure out why I didn’t like it.

Now I was fully aware of the lineup changes, so I wasn’t expecting Appetite for Destruction Part 2 or even Use Your Illusion 3.  What I was expecting was something more interesting, something that took a lot of chances.  When I read that Buckethead was being brought on to play guitar I started to think that it would be really good.  The sad fact is that it’s just incredibly average.

The harder songs sound like cookie cutter versions of what’s being played on rock radio today.  As my friend Brian pointed out, the ballads sound like Axl is trying to write another “November Rain.”  The songs aren’t horrible or anything, but just okay.

The biggest frustration is that there are some great bits in a lot of the songs, but none of the songs really come together except for “If the World”, which is far and away the standout song.  Songs like “Better” and “IRS” have the potential to be great songs, but fall apart for one reason or another - in the case of “Better” the chorus is terrible and the lyrics end up sinking “IRS”.

The other thing is that the last song released by Guns ‘N Roses, “Oh My God” from the End of Days soundtrack, is amazing and what this album should have been.  It wasn’t even included on Chinese Democracy, so I don’t even know what the deal is there.