Guns and Roses is one of my favorite bands of all time. For me, no
band has burned brighter and flamed out as spectacularly as the band
headed by Axle Rose. The album was always there to get me amped for
football games in high school and the discs were almost with me when I
was in college. I remember waiting in line at the college music store
at midnight to pickup Use Your Illusion I and II during my freshman
year in college. I remember being struck by the diversity of the music
on the albums and how well put together the music was.
Unfortunately
that was the high point for the group as they one more album before
going their separate ways while Axel worked on Chinese Democracy. This
was in 1993 and the album was finally released last month, nearly 15
years later. Personally I had low expectations for the album as most
things that go on that long are abject failures as the industry passes
the artist away. I was hoping for a semi-decent album that might
trigger some resonances of earlier years but nothing more. After
buying the album and ripping it to my Zune I fired up the CD and you
know what. It kicked ass.
Let me rephrase that...it kicked f**king ass.
The
music was clearly Guns and Roses sound but modern and almost timeless
like the rest of their music (Sweet Child of Mine could be released
next week and still hit the top of the charts) Sure the album isn't
perfect but it's damn good and it manages to maintain the classic sound
and feel without feeling dated. The release of the album got me me
thinking about Duke Nukem Forever as the two are linked in my mind.
I've
been pretty harsh on the game over the last year or so but Chinese
Democracy is giving me pause and a little hope. Maybe 3D Realms will
be able to deliver the mind blowing game they've been promising since
1997. Maybe they'll be able to give us a
relevant hero,
solid multiplayer, and maybe even deliver on the unbelievably high
expecations that people have set for the game. That's a lot of maybe
but it's enough to help move my cynicism meter a few notches back.
Another question is how will reviewers react to the game when it's released. Chuck Klosterman sums up my feelings a bit in his
review of Chinese Democracy by stating:
"Reviewing
Chinese
Democracy
is not like reviewing music. It's more like reviewing a unicorn. Should I
primarily be blown away that it exists at all? Am I supposed to compare it to
conventional horses? To a rhinoceros? Does its pre-existing mythology impact
its actual value, or must it be examined inside a cultural vacuum, as if this
creature is no more (or less) special than the remainder of the animal kingdom?"
I'm
not sure there's even an objective way for anyone to really review and
rate the game given the full on history of the game. Anything short of
a B+ rating would be considered a critical failure. Given the games
decade long development you have to wonder how many copies the game
would have to sell to be considered a commercial success. I'm not sure
if this really matters to the folks at 3D Realms but you would have to
think they (and their backers) would like to get some kind of return on
investment from the game. Honestly, I think even seeing the game on
store shelves would rank as major accomplishment at this point given
the history behind the game.
Blather aside I'm hoping we see the
game in 2009 just so we can all move on with our lives. I'm nearly at
the point where even talking about the game induces a vague pain in my
lower back and I'd rather just get the thing over and done with no
matter how good or bad the game is. I do think now that there is a
slim chance the folks at 3D Realms could deliver a good game now that
Axel Rose has delivered an album that trumped expectations. I just
hope George Broussard doesn't use the same hairstylist.