Chinese Democracy

Chinese Democracy



I'm behind the curve here but it seems more timely with the Olympic Flame coming to the US of A.

You may have heard a couple weeks back that Dr. Pepper offered everyone in America* a free beverage if Axl Rose managed to release the much-delayed (17 years and counting since Use Your Illusion) Guns N' Roses album Chinese Democracy this year. While the corporate press release didn't mention the Olympics, presumably because the China market is immense, we all got the point.

* Excluding Slash and Buckethead.

Axl seems to think that's cool, but wouldn't make any commitments other than sharing his pop with Buckethead.

Then a week or so later Slash let it be known that his new band, Velvet Revolver, was firing singer Scott Wieland. “Among other things, his increasingly erratic onstage behavior and personal problems have forced us to move on.” Now that's bad, when even Slash thinks you're a mess. That's like when Brian Jones got booted from the Stones, because he was too f*cked up for Keith Richards.

So, you read it here: I predict the money-grubbing soda-drinkin' reunion, only without official Olympic sponsorship. Unfortunately, China won't achieve recognition for Worst. Olympic Site. Ever. -- kinda hard to top Nazi Germany on that front. It was those `36 Berlin games, by the way, where the torch relay thing (not the flame itself) started. You can see it in Leni Riefenstahl's "Olympia" , and ever since I learned that it's creeped me out a little.

But Ali lighting the flame in Atlanta -- that was perfect.

Anyway, listen to "Paradise City" back to back with "Let It Ride" by Bachman-Turner Overdrive, and ask yourself why Randy Bachman's lawyers haven't contacted Slash.