If pressed to name my favorite band and album of all time, I'd have to say Guns N Roses and Use Your Illusion II. I can't say anything cheesy like "the album spoke to me" or "defined me" or any crap like that. Really, I just thought GNR put together that perfect blend of kick ass rock and not so cheesy ballads that set them apart from the other bands of their day (Poison, Skid Row, Def Leppard, etc). Then Kurt Cocaine came along, killing rock as we know it, then offing himself. Axl spent the next 17 years working on this album, and somewhere along the way thought that cornrows on a white guy in his mid-40s was a good idea...supposedly the most expensive album ever made. I've been reading about this album, anticipating it for years. My expectations for the album were low, especially since I heard Axl was really into Industrial music. Expectations fell lower when I saw his cornrows. When I saw the release was confirmed, I pre-ordered on iTunes in order to get an early preview of the Chinese Democracy single. My motivation was mainly curiosity, wondering if it was worth the 17 year wait. I was surprised to find a pretty decent album. I'm by no means a music or pop culture critic, so I have to defer to Chuck Klosterman for an expert opinion on this album and its deeper cultural context.
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