Is "Better" Worse?

So, "Better" from the long awaited Guns N' Roses album "Chinese Democracy" was leaked, now it's rumored to be the first single.

I heard it about a week ago, and the local radio station was playing it yesterday, with a lot of people calling in and say :" This sucks!"

The funny thing is, I DIDN'T think it was THAT bad, maybe it's BECAUSE I'M NOT A GUNS N' ROSES FAN.

It's been what? Sixteen years since the last album (which is a little bit older than me)? Fans are fed up, tired of Axl Rose saying that Chinese Democracy will be released whatever year. This album has to be THE GREATEST ALBUM EVER RECORDED (okay, maybe not that much) to restore people's faith. And that track was not the greatest thing ever, so people are pissed (even more), and this applied to the GNR fans. Fans hated it more than non-fans, because Chinese Democracy meant more to them, so when they're disappointed, there's no mercy.

And you know, people's opinion are easily influenced, then once the initial impression is established, it's hard to change. So when the first wave of people who heard it (i.e the fans)and the view spread, people everywhere are starting to say this is bad. And those who say that this track is good will likely to get flamed and be called a over-obsessive fanboy/girl.

To be fair, like I said, it's not THAT bad. The beginning is bad, with Rose singing in falsetto (which sounded horrible)and some atmospheric sounds (as one radio personality noted, "it sounded like NIN"). Then there's a period of whatever the hell and it kicks in a (pretty) straight forward hard rock riff (with Axl Rose sounding better now). Near the end there's some more industrial-rock like electronic bleeps in the riff. And sadly, Axl tried to scream in the end, and again, it sounds horrible. For a while it sounds okay, maybe even good.

Wonder if this song was released, I don't know, 14 years ago, it would have a better reception. But it's not, so too bad.