China state media blast new Guns N’ Roses Album
By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN for Associated Press
Nov. 24, 2008
BEIJING – A newspaper published by China’s ruling Communist Party is blasting the latest Guns N’ Roses album as an attack on the Chinese nation.
Delayed since recording began in 1994, “Chinese Democracy” hit stores in the U.S. on Sunday, although it is unlikely to be sold legally in China, where censors maintain tight control over films, music and publications.
In an article Monday headlined “American band releases album venomously attacking China,” the Global Times said unidentified Chinese Internet users had described the album as part of a plot by some in the West to “grasp and control the world using democracy as a pawn.”
The album “turns its spear point on China,” the article said.
China’s Foreign Ministry did not respond to faxed questions about the article, although a spokesman speaking on routine condition of anonymity said: “We don’t need to comment on that.”
Spokesmen for the Culture Ministry and State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, government bodies that regulate album releases and performances, could not be reached for comment.
The Global Times article referred only to the title of the album and not to specific song lyrics. The record’s title track makes a reference to the Falun Gong meditation movement that was banned by China as an “evil cult” and warns “if your Great Wall rocks blame yourself,” in an apparent message to the country’s authoritarian government.
Songs from the album could be heard on Internet sites such as YouTube and the band’s MySpace page on Monday and it was not immediately possible to tell whether China’s Internet monitors were seeking to block access to it.
Monitors use content filters that highlight and sometimes block messages containing words such as democracy. That prompted some Internet users to combine English and Chinese characters in their postings about the album to skirt such monitoring.
China approves only limited numbers of foreign films and recordings for distribution each year, partly due to political concerns but also to protect domestic producers.
Live performances are also closely regulated, with bands forced to submit set lists beforehand. The Rolling Stones were asked not to play several songs with suggestive lyrics during their 2006 China debut, including “Brown Sugar,”
“Honky Tonk Woman,” “Beast of Burden” and “Let’s Spend the Night Together.”
Earlier this year, bandleader Harry Connick Jr. was forced to make last-minute changes to his show in Shanghai because an old song list was mistakenly submitted to Chinese authorities to secure the performance permit for the concert. Authorities insisted he play the songs on the original list, even though his band did not have the music for them.
That came just a week after Icelandic singer Bjork embarrassed authorities by shouting “Tibet!” at the end of a Shanghai concert, prompting stricter vetting of foreign performers.
Despite such restrictions, computer file sharing and pirating of DVDs, computer games and music CDs is rampant in China, meaning that much banned material is available through alternative channels.
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Guns N’ Roses banned?
Yahoo News Room
(Monday November 24, 2008 07:59 PM)
The new Guns N’ Roses album has been banned in China, according to reports.
The hard rock titans released the long-awaited collection today in the UK, some 15 years after work apparently begun.
However, “Chinese Democracy” is said to have been banned because of the title, which has angered the national government and internet users.
An article in The Global Times details the backlash, under the headline “American band releases album venomously attacking China”.
An unidentified source claims Axl Rose’s latest work is part of plot by the Western world to “grasp and control the world using democracy as a pawn”.
“Chinese Democracy” is currently only thought to be available to nationals via the band’s MySpace page.
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China’s censors cool on Guns N’ Roses democracy album
Nov. 24, 2008
SHANGHAI (AFP) — China’s Internet censors appeared to be trying to block fans Monday from accessing websites related to Guns N’ Roses’ first album in 17 years, which is provocatively titled “Chinese Democracy”.
The album’s official site chinesedemocracy.com was inaccessible in communist China and Internet portal Baidu.com blocked music-related searches for “Chinese Democracy”.
However, Chinese Internet users were still able Monday morning to listen to the album’s 14 songs on MySpace.com, the band’s homepage remained accessible and bloggers were allowed to have their voices heard.
China’s Ministry of Culture appeared to be immune to the global hype surrounding the album headed by Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose, 46, the only member of the band’s original line-up involved in the recording.
“This is the first time we’ve heard about it,” a ministry spokeswoman said, when asked about the album and reports that it had been banned in China.
“I don’t know if they’re banned or not,” she said. “It might be a rumour.”
The album’s official website responded with a poll asking visitors if they thought the Chinese should be allowed to access it — about 70 percent of respondents said yes.
Like critics’ reviews, reaction from Chinese music fans has been mixed.
“I feel GNR has a mocking, misunderstanding and disdainful view of our country,” an Internet user who identified herself as Tiffany in Guangzhou wrote on Douban.com, a pop culture social networking site.
But many participants suggested an angry knee-jerk reaction was unwarranted.
“You are judging it just from the album’s name. Did you ever try to listen to it, understand it and think about it?” a male from Guiyang, calling himself Mr Lee, wrote on the same forum.
Another music fan appealed to Internet users to show more sophistication.
“Green Day could have an album named ‘American Idiot’, but if a band released an album named ‘Chinese Idiot’, whatever the content or motivation, Chinese patriots would be outraged,” wrote Shippo7, a Beijing male.
Western rock critics have also shown little restraint.
Rolling Stone described the album as a “great, audacious, unhinged and uncompromising hard-rock record” but the New York Times said it was the “Titanic of rock albums: the ship, not the movie.”
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Guns N’ Roses’ ‘Chinese Democracy’ Released in February 2008?
October 03, 2007 08:01:36 GMT
Amazon.co.uk has listed that Guns N’ Roses’ long-awaited album ‘Chinese Democracy’ will finally come on February 12, 2008
‘Chinese Democracy’ has been recorded since 1994. If it’s released, then it would be the band’s first album with original materials since 1991’s simultaneous releases ‘Use Your Illusion I’ and ‘Use Your Illusion II’. The recording has so far cost $13 million, the most expensive production for an album to be released.
[…] 42. Cover the production costs on 7 tracks from Chinese Democracy […]
It is nice to see GNR back. It was too long time since “Use Your Illusion”. This album is not that good, but still shows that Axel is back on the track.