Black Ice Vs Chinese Democracy Vs Death Magnetic

Three old time rock bands have released new albums towards the end of last year-AC/DC,GnR and Metallica!

Ok, a bit of my background first. After Linkin Park(yikes!) my first foray into proper rock was GnR in my 11th standard. I heard Sweet child of mine on radio/tv and absolutely loved it! I went on to listen to all their big hits and fell in love with a lot of them. Lets move on. I heard Metallica & Ac/Dc on & off in the next few years. Think I probably heard Ac/Dc the first time in the movie "School of Rock"(one hell of a movie, a must watch). I liked Metallica's first few albums better than the later ones(the ones in the 90s)- I loved Black but didn't care much for Load & Reload.
All right?! So lets get on with it!

1.Black Ice (AC/DC)

If you have heard AC/DC before, you'll love this one. Its typical of their style- which I think is plain, fucking, happy rock- no ballads, no desperation, just plain old rock for the heck of it! So lets talk about the songs. The trouble with me is that I find all AC/DC songs a bit similar to one another. And I don't pay much attention to the lyrics(except, of course when its "You shook me all night long..." or "Hard as a rock",wink wink!) The song which was first released is I believe, Rock n'Roll Train, which is awesome. Other decent songs in the album- Black Ice(title song), Big Jack, She likes Rock n'Roll. The title was taken from "black ice"-transparent ice which often proves hazardous and apparently forms in Scotland a lot(Scotland is from where the Young brothers originally hail from). According to various sources, Black Ice has outsold even Death Magnetic, Metallica's latest album

2.Chinese Democracy (Guns'n Roses)

If you were expecting anything which was typical of Axl Rose or the good'ol GnR, then forget it. This ain't anything like GnR ever played before. Its modern all right but didn't strike a chord with me. I mean I know he has spent millions of dollars and over 15 years on this piece of shit, but it remains what it is- a piece of shit. And hey-there is no Slash! The only songs I liked were "Madagascar" & "Catcher in the rye"- both of which leaked ages ago on the internet. The title is I guess a dig at the Chinese government( its definitely a oxymoron). Well its been banned in China anyway,lol. Other songs you can put up with-"I.R.S" & "Sorry".


3.Death Magnetic (Metallica)

Probably the most expected album of 2008, it has ruled the charts ever since it released(like any good old Metallica album!). Unfortunately I didn't like it a lot. Lars keeps banging on the drums a bit too hard, Hetfield's voice sounds fucked up but hey- we can finally hear Kirk Hammett's solos again! The album clocks over 70 minutes which is really long for an album these days! The average length of each song is over 7 minutes- most of modern rock can't even last 3 minutes.

Lets check out the songs. My best friend(who is also Metallica's best fan, I'm sure of it!) suggested that I first listen to "Suicide & Redemption"- an instrumental. Its kinda long and tries hard to sound like an instrumental but fails miserably. I felt the song was desperate for some vocals! I then tried out "All nightmare long" and "The end of the line" - both of which reminded me of some old Metallica 80s song (can't place my finger on it). The songs had solos by Kirk but they were too long for my ears' comfort. "The day that never comes" was kinda decent-its supposed to be a ballad. "Unforgiven 3" sucks big time- its nothing like Unforgiven 1 or 2. In short, the album is full of long songs with solos which don't really gel and Lars drumming away to damnation and Hetfield sounding like a hoarse old man at 45. I guess the album is probably way better than most of the mod rock crap that people listen to nowadays - maybe thats why its on top of the charts! If you are a hard-core Metallica fan(like my friend!), then you might like the album. But for a moderate fan like me- who feels Metallica started losing it ever since "Load" you can skip this one all right. And oh ya this album features Robert "Gorilla" Trujillo as Bass Guitarist for the first time.


Album covers: You can check out the three album covers on the bands' websites or Wikipedia. I liked AC/DC's best. The cover for "Chinese Democracy" shows a cycle with a cane basket. Dunno whats that supposed to mean. Death Magnetic's cover has well, "Death Magnetic" written in typical boring Metallica font.


The Verdict:
AC/DC wins hands down with "Black Ice". I can listen to it any time, anywhere, without discomfort. At number 2 would be "Death Magnetic", I guess. Sorry metallica fans. At the bottom, "Chinese Democracy"- and no, no apology! Black Ice is played once a day on my speakers. The other two- I am afraid I need to take treatment for forcing myself to listen to them so that I could write this crappy review(Oh! Review tha kya?!)

How did I get the songs? Don't buy the CD, idiot! Whats p2p for? If you like the songs, and feel you wanna help the band(who are fuckin' millionaries anyways) you can buy the cd. Until then, visit isohunt.com
For those about to rock....we salute YOU!