User Score
Generally favorable reviews- based on 427 Ratings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 348 out of 427
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Mixed: 27 out of 427
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Negative: 52 out of 427
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- Most helpful
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EvanT.Nov 23, 2008Not old guns. But this is still good music.
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JKNov 23, 2008Killer production value, great songs, uncompromised integrity, and most importantly, worth the wait!!!
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EricaJ.Nov 23, 2008This is the best album I've heard in a long time. It gave me goosebumps. There Was a TIme...Madagascar...Prostitute...all unbelievable songs. The only one that is even "just okay" is Sorry. Still....it's better than a lot out there.
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RodrigoL.Nov 23, 2008I agree it's not perfect, but goddamn it, Chinese Democracy gets closer than anything i've ever heard. I just love six tracks on it and there's only one I really don't like that much.
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JoeP.Nov 24, 2008It is crap. Guns and Roses has done godd stuff in the past, but this is awful. I think any good reviews are people just wanting it to be good. If it wasn't under the name Guns and Roses, nobody could listen past the first song.
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LukeNov 24, 2008Of course, the indie critics will loathe this album. Little do they know that their own brand of "good" bands are way more forgettable than this single release. When I listened to "Chinese Democracy" last evening, I was blown away at all of the angles for individual songs. I admire anyone who can put music like this together. Kudos to Axl Rose; it is a grand achievement.
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PaulM.Nov 24, 2008
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RyanZ.Nov 24, 2008Axl turns in a quality rock record that holds up after repeated listens. Who would have thought Chinese Democracy would actually be any good? But here we are.
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MichaelCNov 24, 2008Didnt know what to expect. Very nice to see a great album from a band I once loved. In all fairness I really hoped this would be good. The news is that it is good.
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RomeoR.Nov 24, 2008
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NikM.Nov 24, 2008Axl' s voice just sucks, it mainly relies on cheap drum beats, and the only good thing is the guitar work Buckethead provided. Sorry, it isn't a masterpiece by any means
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RajRNov 24, 2008
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JesseBNov 25, 2008
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JonathanENov 25, 2008
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JoeyD.Nov 25, 2008
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JamesO.Nov 25, 2008Way overproduced; the guitar tone is so pro-tooled to death so that it has absolutely no life. The riffs are boring and trite. Very much a cookie-cutter album with little in the way of originality or freshness. Avoid at all costs, unless of course you like seeing Axl Rose trying to rehash the glory days of Guns 'N Roses without GnR (aka the rest of the band).
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JeffN.Nov 26, 200814 solid, diverse, well-thought out tracks. I like how almost all of the bad reviews focus entirely on how long it took (as if there's a rule) and the reviewer's own pre-conceptions and biases regarding the lineup and what they expected it to sound like. It is a solid rock n' roll album top to bottom. I don't hear that too often anymore.
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ChrisA.Nov 27, 2008I am an all-time GnR Fan and first didn't like Chinese Democracy at all, as especially the first songs rather sound like NiN than the classic 90s GnR. BUT the more often I hear it, the better I like it. Finally new melodys to hum from the Gunners (okay from Axl) aside the ones I have in mind sind 1989. Therefore: 8 out of 10! GIVE IT A CHANCE!
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PeterN.Nov 27, 2008I've never been a huge GNR fan, but after hearing some of the songs on the radio and myspace I just had to get myself the best birthday present in years. It's massive.
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JessicaD.Nov 27, 2008This album is far so good i love it. its just as good as the other albums. my fave song though is Madagascar and this i love and Chinese democracy.
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JamesPNov 27, 2008
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MustafaO.Nov 28, 2008I wasn't expecting to like this album, let alone buy it. But from the off it totally blew me away. Not all the songs are great, but then again I don't know of an album where all the songs ARE great. This is a fine album, somewhere in between Appetite and Illusions... Easily the best thing I've heard in years.
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ricksNov 28, 2008Great,regardless of the fact that the band is a complete forgery now,axl still kicks ass and that's all that i care about.still better than 90%of the crap released these days.
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SeanA.Nov 28, 2008This CD is extremely enjoyable and gets better with each listen. It is not Guns N Roses best CD, but a new path in their music with amazing guitar, keyboards, and vocals.
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NaNaNov 29, 2008
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BillB.Nov 29, 2008
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May 10, 2011Reaks of ego. Axl's ego that it. Even if it was released back in the 1990's it still would have been the over produced, generic and rediculous record that it is now. Dull, tedious and very boring.
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Mar 27, 2011
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Apr 16, 2011
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Jan 7, 2013
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Sep 10, 2011
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Aug 5, 2014This album has a lot of foot-tapping moments, and moves along at a quick clip. It does not stand out in the mire of the vast seas of generic rock albums. Putting all the time, money, personnel, and egos aside, this album is listenable. While over-cooked and over-produced, it is not bad. I would not go out of my way to tell others this is a "must buy" album.
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Jun 30, 2012Very over rated, it had its moments. But I think at best it has a couple good songs. The reason my vote it so low, because when you take 15 yrs to make an album, better be one of the best damn albums ever, and this is barely average
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Jul 29, 2012I think this recording shines in utter atmospheric beauty. Apart from the ever present hate from mr rose he's a genius. He has really become a crime by not making music for all these years. This one's so craved for that it's doomed to fail but then i realise it's pearl of passion! Best album of 21 century to date.
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Apr 28, 2015
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Feb 11, 2013
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Nov 9, 2013
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Oct 10, 2016
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May 9, 2016
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Mar 7, 2017Love Chinese Democracy. The album starts off with the relentless title track and the album is filled with some excellent ballads with some great lyrics by Axl. Definitely recommend this album.
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Jul 13, 2017
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Jan 25, 2021This album has got me through alot of times! Songs like The Street Of Dreams, Catcher In The Rye and This I Love are absolute masterpieces!!!! Please give this album a chance!!!!!!
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Jun 29, 2022
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Aug 10, 2023Honestly in my opinion the best GnR album. Controversial but that’s what I believe!!
Awards & Rankings
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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.
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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.
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Soundwise, Chinese Democracy is all over the place.