No, not the country, but the album! This album has been in one of the longest gestation periods known to man. It has been in the works for 15 years! Think back to 1993. Guns n Roses were the biggest band in the world, Appetite for Destruction ruled the late 80s, they had put out Use Your Illusion 1 and 2, which were epic masterpieces. Then...nothing. For a long time. Axl goes into hiding. Words leaks that he's working on a new masterpiece, called Chinese Democracy. He fires most of the original Guns members, hires new people, fires them, becomes more of a recluse. Eventually he returns, overweight, at the 2001 MTV VMAs. He has trouble making it around the stage because he's out of shape. That same year, Michael Jackson's long awaited studio album Invincible came out, leaving Axl as the sole writer of the world's most anticipated album. There are rumours that Chinese Democracy will come out in 2002, then again in 2004, and 2005. When there were rumours of it coming out this year, it was too hard to believe. Then, in late September, they announced that Chinese Democracy would indeed be coming out, and it came out today, November 23, 2008, 15 years to the day that Use Your Illusion 2 came out.
Sebastian Bach (of 80s hair band Skid Row) called the tracks that Axl had written for this album "f---ing epic" a few years ago. After listening to the album all afternoon, I have to concur. This is just a fabulous record. The title track is menacing, there are at least two November Rain style ballads in Catcher in the Rye and Street of Dreams, the guitars are classic soaring GnR, and Axl's trademark wail is still in full force. While I'm disappointed that years of Chinese Democracy jokes will now be forgotten (Josh, will you take the trash out? Sure, once Chinese Democracy comes out!), it surely was worth the wait.
Other news and notes:
1. Justin Timberlake is the man. He is so prolific. His latest endeavor was to take over SNL when Paul Rudd hosted last week. He is a staple of SNL, whether it's the Color Me Badd style music videos, or the Barry Gibb talk show, or his impressions that he does so well. He's the best guest host, the best guest musician, and a guy who generally takes himself lightly at all times. That is the key to being a good SNL host. Mark me down as a Timberlake fan.
2. I finally talked to the girl on the bus last Friday afternoon; of course, this was after I sat next to her on the morning bus and didn't say a word to her. I asked her her name (Mandy) and told her that she had a beautiful smile, which of course went over real well (but it is the truth). I was going to leave the ball in her court, and a minute later she asked me about where I work and we engaged in a conversation while the bus went up the mountain. We'll see if she remembers my name tomorrow.
3. I also had a date on Friday night. This girl's name is Melissa, she lives in Washington, PA. She's a teacher (as Jer noted, a good wife job). We hit it off really well. We went to Buca di Beppo in Robinson, and sat there and talked for three hours. Since it's a family style restaurant, we shared the salmon (bonus, she likes salmon!). It went well enough that I have scored a second date; we're going out Wednesday night. I have a few ideas what I'd like to do; dinner and a movie (always a classic), maybe ice skating at PPG Place, maybe bowling...I'm soliciting any other ideas that people have.
Well, that's about it for me.
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3 comments:
Josh is stepping up his game! Does she like to ice skate? If the weather is nice, this could be a classic date.
Well, personally I'd say go to the zoo, but it might be a bit cold for that! Although, at least on the west coast, most zoos have zoo lights where the whole zoo is covered with Christmas lights and you go at night.
The Pittsburgh zoo seems to call it Polar lights, not sure when that opens this year.
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