Music
All-Time High (And Low) Scores
Best Of 2009
Best Of 2008
Best Of 2007
Best Of 2006
Best Of 2005
Best Of 2004
Best Of 2003
Best Of 2002
Best Of 2001
Best Of 2000
Upcoming &
Recent Releases
70
AFI
65
Air
71
Alice In Chains
77
Amerie
70
Anjulie
85
The Antlers![]()
75
Arctic Monkeys
68
As Tall As Lions
82
Atlas Sound![]()
75
The Avett Brothers
67
Backstreet Boys
56
Bad Lieutenant
68
Devendra Banhart
72
Lou Barlow
88
Baroness![]()
69
Basement Jaxx
81
David Bazan![]()
72
Brendan Benson
72
The Big Pink
96
Big Star![]()
46
Billy Talent
75
The Black Crowes
51
Black Mold
59
Amanda Blank
68
Blitzen Trapper
75
BLK JKS
77
A.A. Bondy
73
The Bottle Rockets
63
Box Elders
65
Boys Like Girls
76
Brand New
73
Tyondai Braxton
87
Brother Ali![]()
70
Ian Brown
75
Michael Buble
78
Built To Spill
61
Colbie Caillat
79
Califone
68
Mariah Carey
84
Brandi Carlile![]()
73
Julian Casablancas
83
Rosanne Cash![]()
69
Castanets
65
The Cave Singers
84
Nick Cave & Warren Ellis![]()
79
Vic Chesnutt
75
Choir Of Young Believers
81
Circulatory System![]()
68
The Clean
84
The Clientele![]()
71
Cobra Starship
85
Converge![]()
71
Eric Copeland
80
Cymbals Eat Guitars
71
Datarock
59
Dead By Sunrise
76
Dead Man's Bones
64
Desolation Wilderness
88
Destroyer![]()
63
The Dodos
77
Drive-By Truckers
74
The Duke & The King
66
Bob Dylan
44
The Entrance Band
67
Esser
69
Fanfarlo
63
Felix Da Housecat
68
Fink
78
The Flaming Lips
66
Flight Of The Conchords
79
Florence And The Machine
67
John Fogerty
59
Frankmusik
77
Fruit Bats
83
Fuck Buttons![]()
71
Nelly Furtado
47
Gary Go
68
Ghostface Killah
79
Girls
59
Gloriana
69
Gossip
62
David Gray
66
David Guetta
79
Richard Hawley
74
Mayer Hawthorne
66
Headlights
79
HEALTH
77
Joe Henry
66
Hockey
69
Whitney Houston
68
Imogen Heap
59
Jack Ingram
79
Islands
73
Jessie James
74
Jamie T
83
Japandroids![]()
65
Jay-Z
51
Jet
69
Daniel Johnston
76
Karen O And The Kids
72
Toby Keith
69
Kid Cudi
65
Kings Of Convenience
62
Sean Kingston
64
KISS
76
Kris Kristofferson
68
KRS-One & Buckshot
76
La Roux
84
Miranda Lambert![]()
72
Ledisi
75
Sondre Lerche
56
Juliette Lewis
82
Lightning Bolt![]()
76
Lightning Dust
73
Little Dragon
44
Pixie Lott
73
Lyle Lovett
66
Lovvers
75
Baaba Maal
77
Madness
84
Madonna![]()
85
Manic Street Preachers![]()
62
Maps
55
Massive Attack
57
Matisyahu
67
Reba McEntire
66
Tim McGraw
65
Brian McKnight
79
Mew
77
Malcolm Middleton
77
Mika
68
Amy Millan
76
Mission Of Burma
73
Modest Mouse
76
Molina And Johnson
80
Monsters Of Folk
62
Morrissey
85
Mount Eerie![]()
78
The Mountain Goats
62
Múm
72
Muse
66
Willie Nelson
78
Nirvana
97
Nirvana![]()
72
Nisennenmondai
80
No Age
71
Noah And The Whale
75
Noisettes
79
Nudge
68
Nurses
47
Dolores O'Riordan
74
Os Mutantes
73
Osso
81
Owen![]()
76
Paramore
76
Pastels And Tenniscoats
51
Sean Paul
80
Pearl Jam
66
Jemina Pearl
72
Jack Penate
65
Phish
82
Pissed Jeans![]()
61
Pitbull
79
A Place To Bury Strangers
63
Julian Plenti
66
Robert Pollard
79
Polvo
72
Porcupine Tree
80
Q-Tip
80
R.E.M.
89
Raekwon![]()
69
Rain Machine
70
Ramona Falls
75
Dizzee Rascal
75
The Raveonettes
76
Jay Reatard
82
Reigning Sound![]()
81
Rodrigo Y Gabriela![]()
79
Russian Circles
69
Buffy Sainte-Marie
73
Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions
61
Sally Shapiro
78
Shudder To Think
75
Sian Alice Group
70
Simian Mobile Disco
58
Simple Minds
72
Six Organs Of Admittance
69
Slaughterhouse
80
Slayer
61
The Slits
62
Mindy Smith
83
Solillaquists Of Sound![]()
78
Soulsavers
77
Speech Debelle
58
Spiral Stairs
58
Squarepusher
55
Steel Panther
73
Sufjan Stevens
52
Rod Stewart
65
Joss Stone
75
George Strait
83
Barbra Streisand![]()
76
A Sunny Day In Glasgow
74
Susanna And The Magical Orchestra
78
The Swell Season
76
David Sylvian
83
Taken By Trees![]()
78
Tegan And Sara
68
The Temper Trap
72
Themselves
82
They Might Be Giants![]()
67
Third Eye Blind
68
Throw Me The Statue
66
J Tillman
69
Times New Viking
57
Tokio Hotel
67
Trey Songz
42
The Twang
71
The Twilight Sad
58
Carrie Underwood
56
The Used
68
Various Artists
70
Various Artists
74
Various Artists
77
The Very Best
71
Kurt Vile
67
Vivian Girls
71
Volcano Choir
76
Rufus Wainwright
59
Weezer
80
White Denim
76
Why?
83
Wild Beasts![]()
80
Wildbirds & Peacedrums
59
Andrew W.K.
71
Patrick Wolf
67
Wolfmother
84
The xx![]()
70
YACHT
75
Yim Yames
79
Yo La Tengo
83
Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band![]()
51
Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson
59
Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
Chinese Democracy

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 28 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 314 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Interscope
Release Date: 23 November 2008
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Rock
Summary
The long-gestating Guns N' Roses album finally sees the light of day.
Also On The Web: Official Artist Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Here are the simple things about Chinese Democracy: Three of the songs are astonishing. Four or five others are very good. The vocals are brilliantly recorded, and the guitar playing is (generally) more interesting than the guitar playing on the "Use Your Illusion" albums.
Read Full Review >MSN Consumer Guide (Robert Christgau)
It's touching on a human level. Noble, even. I didn't think he had it in him.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe
It's an exhilarating album. Seriously, after finally hearing these 14 tracks in their finished form I was so energized I wanted to climb a mountain.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times
Whether history declares it a tragedy or a farce, this is one album that's more than a pop exercise. And for that, Axl Rose can finally take a bow.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone
The first Guns n' Roses album of new, original songs since the first Bush administration is a great, audacious, unhinged and uncompromising hard-rock record.
Read Full Review >Sputnikmusic
Chinese Democracy is comfortably the most consistent record the band have put out since "Appetite For Destruction," and proof the ginger midget can put out genuinely great rock music without the blonde giant and the black guy.
Read Full Review >Billboard
The artist is in fine, ever-changing voice throughout, and there's certainly a ton of musical food for thought here, requiring several listens before the nuances are revealed. Worth the wait? Maybe. Worth a few hours of your time? Definitely.
Read Full Review >Hartford Courant
While few have ever actually accused the singer of using good judgment, Chinese Democracy shows him to be a man who, however divorced from reality, hasn't lost the instincts that once made him great.
Read Full Review >Spin
An outrageously overblown pop-metal extravaganza, Chinese Democracy feels like a perfect epitaph for all the absurdity and nonsense of the George W. Bush era--one final blowout before Principal Obama takes our idiocy away.
Read Full Review >Blender
Chinese Democracy's non-existence is so well-known and ingrained, the source of so many jokes, that its actual existence can only be a letdown. That is until you hear it. Then, somewhat astonishingly, 5,475 days, at least $13 million, fourteen studios, twenty or so musicians (including five guitarists and a harpist) seems just about right.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly
At times it's possible to hear the world-changing CD that Rose--whose banshee howl remains gloriously intact....But too often quantity gets in the way of quality.
Read Full Review >The Guardian
Chinese Democracy is clearly not the greatest rock album ever made, but nor is it an absolute and utter failure. The irony is, that for all the lavishing of money and time and technology, it's saved by something as old fashioned as a good tune.
Read Full Review >musicOMH.com
It is odd that something so standard provides the denouement to this album, trying to span over a decade of fan loyalty. Will they buy it? Undoubtedly. Will they like it? Who knows.
Read Full Review >No Ripcord
It is ridiculous. It is overblown, it's pompous, it's aggressive and it's absurdly ambitious. But, here's the rub: it's actually pretty damn good. It rocks, often pretty hard.
Read Full Review >PopMatters
Yet even if it defies expectations, Chinese Democracy is not the masterpiece that it so desperately wants to be.
Read Full Review >Tiny Mix Tapes
While the album can aptly be termed “good,” it isn’t the epic that many might expect, especially to those whose interests have long since shifted away from GN’R’s aesthetic and the younger generation unable to emotionally connect with the sounds.
Read Full Review >Mojo
Chinese Democracy reveals itself to be an ambitious, brave and expansive offering. [Feb 2009, p.108]
Pitchfork
Even if Chinese Democracy had dropped a decade previous, it would still sound dated.
Read Full Review >Slant Magazine
While the band's label, fans and a handful of rock journalists would like to hail this album as the Second Coming of Rock, the reality is that Chinese Democracy is neither a musical resurrection nor the audio equivalent of Ishtar.
Read Full Review >Paste Magazine
Too bad the epitaph’s already scrawled in Chinese Democracy’s anachronistic margins: a bottomless pit dug by disposable income, a persecution complex and egomania.
Read Full Review >NOW Magazine
For all the wank and bluster throughout the album’s 14 tracks, the bottom line is that the shit simply doesn’t rock.
Read Full Review >Dot Music
Meandering atmospheric intros and outros, with lyrics that often just repeat the same verse ad nauseum, overshadow what could be, at times, shorter, snappier songs.
Read Full Review >Hot Press
The album fifteen years in the making that sounds like a slick but robotic imitation of what it might have been long ago.
Read Full Review >Q Magazine
By throwing everything at the wall and nailing up the stuff that didn't stick, he's done himself--and more importantly what he clearly views as his masterpiece--a grand disservice. [Jan 2009, p.110]
Prefix Magazine
Even if it came out in 1996, it would still be self-absorbed, turgid, over-produced and soulless.
Read Full Review >Under The Radar
Chinese Democracy is a multi-million dollar dud, an example of faded brilliance and wasted time. [Winter 2009]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 8.3 (out of 10) based on 314 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Neil P gave it a10:
I feel 13 again, as if I've just heard rock and roll for the first time.
Shawn M gave it a10:
A perfect record, absolutely flawless.
dave p gave it a9:
Great album. there was a time is pure class.
Dudu C. gave it a9:
It's very different from the past and one must accept this, however, great songs ar still present on this album with the best being "This I love", first time I heard it a tear came down.
Abbas M gave it a9:
Well...i was waiting to hate it when it came out but after listening to it it's butt kicking, face-melting,gigantic power-ballad rock n' roll at its best. And Axl still has THE voice.
Johnson H gave it a10:
This CD is so good i have listened to it so many times.
James H gave it a9:
At its lowest ("This I Love", "Scraped", the title track, and "Sorry"), "Chinese Democracy" is a narcissistic, overdone, overdue, and overbearing mess. But at its finest ("Better", "Street of Dreams", and "Prostitute"), the album suggests that, yes, the 15-year wait was worth it after all.
