Chinese Democracy Syndrome: Five other long-awaited projects

Jonah Bayer | 11.12.2008

It’s finally true. After over a decade of speculation, innuendo and excuses, Guns N’ Roses’ long-awaited Chinese Democracy is finally set for a Nov. 23 release. For us, it begs the questions: What are some of rock and roll’s other time-consuming projects? And were any of them as belated as Chinese Democracy? Here’s a list of our favorite rock and roll efforts that took forever to reach the masses. Were they worth the interminable wait?

Will Chinese Democracy be worth all the never-ending delays? Well, that’s up to you to decide.

Let us know in the comment section below.

 

Flaming Lips’ Christmas On Mars

Films understandably take longer to come to fruition than albums, but not even the Flaming Lips themselves could have possibly predicted that it would take seven years for the band to complete the science-fiction flick Christmas On Mars. Filmed largely in frontman Wayne Coyne’s backyard utilizing friends, family and household items, the end result is something that’s as eccentric and entertaining as the Flaming Lips’ unique brand of rock. Speaking of rock, we recommend trying to see Christmas On Mars in the theatre to get the full experience of 5.1 Zeta Bootis Surround Sound, which was specially designed by the Flaming Lips and their longtime producer Dave Fridmann.



Dillinger Four’s Civil War

Most punk bands are able to release a new album every year or two, which is what makes it even more remarkable that the Minneapolis pop-punk act Dillinger Four took six years between 2002’s Situationist Comedy and 2008’s Civil War. Amazingly, the album was completely worth the wait – and although most of the band’s peers were able to release a handful of albums during the interim time span, Dillinger Four made a timeless album that introduced a welcome melodic edge to the band’s seasoned brand of Midwestern punk rock. That said, let’s just hope the band are able to release their next album before 2014, because we’re not sure we can endure another wait this long again.

 

Brian Wilson’s Smile

Brian Wilson started work on his iconic album Smile all the way back in 1966 while still with the Beach Boys. Following his well-documented mental breakdown, however, he stopped work on the project only to begin work on it again in 2004. The result is an album that fills in the holes of Wilson’s late ’60s demos, and amazingly feels like one cohesive work despite the fact that it took nearly 40 years for the album to come to fruition. Regardless of all the stories surrounding Wilson’s erratic behavior in the studio during the original sessions, and the humor inherent in the disc’s imagery, the album still has a somber edge that humanizes Wilson and makes the sounds encoded on Smile just as impressive as the story behind its production.

AC/DC’s Black Ice

From 1975 until 1981, Aussie legends AC/DC released a mind-boggling one album per year (including two full-lengths in 1976), so it’s understandable that many people took it as a shock that there was an eight-year interlude between 2000’s Stiff Upper Lip and 2008’s Black Ice. Nonetheless, judging by the reaction to the disc — which sold 784,000 copies during the first week of its release in the U.S. alone — the time off seems only to have increased the anticipation for the disc. Additionally, the band clearly didn’t just rush out a subpar product. Black Ice is actually AC/DC’s longest album to date. And you’ve got to give the guys a break when you consider the fact that singer Brian Johnson is 61 years old and still sounds as gritty as ever.

Zack De La Rocha

When Rage Against The Machine broke up in 2000, everyone turned their sights to frontman Zack De La Rocha who had reportedly been working on a solo release since the mid 1990s. Unfortunately, the album has never materialized, though recently it seems De La Rocha’s solo effort has morphed into One Day As A Lion, an alternative rock act which also features drummer Jon Theodore. It’s too early to say if their full-length debut will make up for the interminable wait between efforts, but we’re betting that De La Rocha bought some extra time from longtime RATM fans by getting his old band back together last year. Now if we could just get Brian Wilson to do the same thing with the surviving members of the Beach Boys!