I got the new Donald Fagen and the new Paul McCartney last month.  It should not shock you that I prefer the ex-Steely Dan-guy’s output to the ex-Beatle’s.  He does way more interesting stuff from a compositional perspective.  (There’s almost nothing jazzy about any of the Beatles.)  There is a weird progression on the chorus of the title track of “Morph the Cat”, and if that sounds like something you might be into, you should check it out.

I read this morning that someone at Clear Channel is saying that Chinese Democracy could be out in April. That would be a surprise, but in ways, it gives me hope.

Which reminds me, four complete Guns N’ Roses demo tracks came out in the past few weeks, and I’ve been listening to them a lot. Overall, the sound is a little more future-oriented, but not necessarily experimental. I’ve read some people say that Axl sounds really strong on these tracks, and his voice is excellent here: maybe having thirteen years in the studio to perfect it makes a difference, I don’t know. The guitar work has been laid down by any number of different guys: I’ve read that Catcher in the Rye features Brian May (and it certainly sounds like it), and the very thrashy 128th note parts are probably by ex-guitarist Buckethead, but there is some other lead work that could be pretty much anyone else.

Better - Starting with a little manipulated keyboard loop and some distorted drums, Axl comes in with a falsetto, maybe something like Estranged. But then the real rock kicks in, and we’ve got a real driving rhythm, and some interesting chords popping underneath a pretty wide-open (and extremely catchy) melody. The chorus builds to a nice peak: all the parts really fit. The breakdowns in the middle are a little too techno-thrashy for me: I know exactly what he’s going for, but it might be overdone, or maybe even a little outdated. It’s very busy, anyway. We go back to the chorus for a second, and then it’s time for another guitar solo. This is my favorite track of the demos, maybe because it’s so varied within itself: lots of interesting parts, and none of them go on too long.

I.R.S. - Don’t take this the wrong way, but there’s another distorted drum machine loop in the intro of this one. I love that effect, in truth: it’s kind of a techno / hip-hop way to introduce some elements before coming in with the real impact of the song, but it’s an effect that was overdone five years ago. This song has a sort of a swagger, but it moves kind of slowly. There’s so many words in this song, too, and I’m not sure why. It’s about a relationship gone wrong, again, except this time Axl is calling for government help. The break here comes kind of late, and it’s got fairly brief Slash-esque soloing. Almost a typical rock song: this will fit into hard rock radio no problem (but might have problems standing out).

There Was a Time - Would you be mad if I pointed out a plinky piano loop and a distorted drum machine in the intro? No? Okay. How about if I mentioned that this was about love gone wrong? Not a problem? Great. The verses of this song might suggest “Yesterdays” or “Civil War”, and the string section in the background certainly add to the epic feel. The break is pretty extended, with three sections to the guitar solo, while it builds back slowly into the groove again. At the very end, we get some Buckethead technique, but the song is six minutes old by that point, and hasn’t done much more than chant “there was a time, didn’t want to know it all” off and on for three minutes. Could be tighter, but won’t have a problem breaking through.

Catcher in the Rye - the last of these tracks to leak out, and my least favorite by a long shot. The guitar work is clearly Brian May, and even some of the melodic touches are Queen-esque. Add in a Cheap Trick-sounding guitar line and some Elton John-like piano work, and you’ve got a song that wouldn’t be out of place on 70’s AM radio. Which is fine, I guess, but the chorus seems unfinished, and the lyrics are sort of “they all say I’m crazy”, except they don’t come together enough to convince anyone that Axl isn’t actually crazy. This is perhaps the least ambitious of the demo tracks, but there’s still enough that I could see it working as a single or with a crazy video. (The demo ends kind of abruptly at 5:38, after a fade, so there could be more later that might change my mind.)

As a group of four tracks, these work really well together. One interesting thing: none of these songs was performed live (at least to my knowledge: four others, “Chinese Democracy”, “Madagascar”, “The Blues”, and “Rhiad and the Bedouins” were played, and “Silkworms”, but that was mentioned as unlikely to make the record by band members), but the titles are among the ones that were mentioned in 1999 or 2000, so these might be very new or very old tracks. Their complexity might be one of the reasons that they were kept under wraps during the 2002 tour, but the fact that these tracks weren’t been previewed anywhere else might lead some to believe that they were selected by the band / management to maximize the impact of the leak. I guess we won’t know until summer, or fall, or winter, or maybe 2007…