How does one make this album eligible for voting? It deserves that.
It's strange Appetite for Democracy was even released as GN'R is still sitting on at least 2 albums of unreleased material. A good but not great live album issued in a generic Las Vegas themed package is not exactly what the fanbase is begging for. Everything about this release feels like it was contractually obligated by Universal Records with little to no input from GN'R. Just like their Greatest Hits and to a lesser extent Chinese Democracy, which Universal botched the art/packaging and led to a Axl Rose media blackout upon its release. Understandable if you saw the variant album covers and cool art Axl lined up.
One has to wonder, what is going wrong between Universal and Axl? The two seem to be at odds with one another with Universal able to drag out a lackluster contractually obligated release from GN'R every 5 years or so. Here again, we have the lazy art/packaging which recycle past GN'R peaks while plowing no new ground, and sparse bonus features (short pithy interviews) which should've been left off all together, and 3D which seems like a desperate gimmick to sell a dodgy performance...only this ISN'T a dodgy performance.
Appetite for Democracy's sonics and mix are not the problem. Both are pretty good. It's the art/packaging, location, and video presentation which are the problem. That this is staged in a Las Vegas casino immediately cheapens everything. Visually there is too much Axl and not enough of the rest of the band. You would not know Dizzy Reed, Chris Pitman, or Frank Ferrer are even in this version of the band, which is too bad and detracts from the whole. Unfortunately, you WOULD know that DJ Ashba is in the band. Ashba is the human personification of the Las Vegas Hard Rock Casino and he would be better off opening Hot Topic stores in malls throughout the US or playing guitar solos for the Hulkster as he roids off in wrestling rings. He dresses like a nu metal version of Slash a comparison you would think Ashba would go out of his way not to evoke but through balls, or more likely lack of self awareness, he does. It's too bad this is not the Robin Finck/Buckethead version of the band, or even the late 2000 edition where Axl looked and sounded better. Either would have made this a better release.
A direct comparison to Soundgarden's Live from the Artists' Den is this type of live blu-release done right. Excellent video presentation. I would also recommend people search out GN'R's live House of Blues performance which has Finck, Buckethead, and Brain in the band. All upgrades over their counterparts here although no Richard Fortus, who is missed. I think this was the first performance of the new lineup. Excellent.
Anyway, this is still a good release. GN'R is playing their umpteenth residency show to a garish Las Vegas crowd. You wouldn't know it from the performance. The band has great energy and execution but much outside of the that could have been improved upon. If only...
Performance: 7.5
Mix: 7.0
Sonics: 8.0
