I just picked up the new Guns n’ Roses album, “Chinese Democracy”. I didn’t know what to expect; I haven’t purchased anything by GN’R since their classic, “Appetite for Destruction”.
I saw Axl Rose a couple of years ago on the Grammy’s (I think) and his vocal chords were not up to par. The man has an amazing set of pipes; I wondered how long they would hold out. I didn’t run out to grab “Chinese Democracy” thinking I would be purchasing the boys in somewhat of a “comeback” form instead of revisitng their bite of yesteryear.
I’m floored by what I’m hearing. I know they had a lot of creative differences that led to their demise (not to mention egos) and I expected a mish-mash of that. Instead, I found them to be tight, the lyrics intelligent, the harmonies perfected, Slash uses his talent to the max and there are some very dramatic melodies. They chose just the right mix for this album.
Call me strange but until now, there was only one song that could move me to highest point of emotion and that was REM’s “Night Swimming”. Today it’s GN’R’s “This I Love”. It’s haunting melodies that my ears can’t take, and before I know it, I’m brought to tears. I know that entertainers strive for a deep emotional connection and by accomplishing that, they’ve used their gifts to their ultimate advantage but in a way, when an artist does that to me, I’m angry that I’ve lost control of my emotions.
Looking at the connection factor of music, I found a website that lets people express their emotion in songs. It’s called JamsBio and its tagline is, “Your Life Through Music”. It’s a very well put together site that has lots of features including: games, blogs, favorite lists, the opportunity to express yourself and share stories about how music and musicians have touched your life.
For someone like me, who is not moved very easily, I use the site for testing my knowledge of songs and artists but now that I just shared my bawling story, I guess I have something to talk about…
Who brings out the emotion in you?
-Jodi
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