Chuck Klosterman (HEART!) reviews "Chinese Democracy"

Perhaps the most satisfying album review I've read in my entire life. It is, indeed, a Devote An Entire Blog Post To Promoting It kind of good.

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've been thinking about this record for 15 years; during that span, I've thought about this record more than I've thought about China, and maybe as much as I've thought about the principles of democracy. This is a little like when that grizzly bear finally ate Timothy Treadwell: Intellectually, he always knew it was coming. He had to. His very existence was built around that conclusion. But you still can't psychologically prepare for the bear who eats you alive, particularly if the bear wears cornrows.

You'll laugh, you'll cry, it'll touch your soul. If I still smoked, I would be having a cigarette right now, post-coital-style. Link

Comments

[Samantha]

Very well written review, if it weren't for the fact that it's GNR. GNR makes me wonder if one can actually gouge out their own ears, or if that is reserved only for eyeballs.

[Cat]

Great review, I'll have to check it out!