Former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Ron ‘Bumblefoot’ Thal has revealed he thinks the band’s polarising 2008 album Chinese Democracy will become more appreciated as time goes on.
Speaking on Music is Win’s Guitar Villains podcast (via blabbermouth.net), Thal described the much-maligned album as “very special.”
“At the time, people were still just going on about how it took this long to make, and it took this much money, and all that nonsense. And I always said, wait 20 years,” he began.
He continued: “People are gonna forget about all of this stuff, all of this baggage that they’re trying to attach to this record. And they’re just gonna listen to it for what it is and just listen to it as music, and they’re gonna hear so many layers of things and such an interesting combination of parts and people and changes in even style and technology that was happening over the course of many years — let’s say 10-ish years, [from] when they started writing to [when] it actually was on the shelves in stores.”
“And I don’t think any other album in the history of rock went through those kind of changes. So it’s a very special album with a lot of history just within each song that has layers to it. And I’m grateful that they had me on it.”
While Thal never officially announced his departure from the band, he stopped playing with them at the end of their Las Vegas residency back in 2014.
Back in September, Thal revealed that there were times where he “really didn’t” get along well with the rest of the band.
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“There were times when we got along great, [and] some times when we really didn’t, and everything in between,” he said.
“But ultimately, when you get on stage, most of the time, you forget everything and you just get lost in the music and you’re having a great time in that moment, just making music and being a part of something that’s bigger than ourselves and more meaningful than whatever you’re going through,” he continued.
“You’re there for hundreds or thousands or tens of thousands or whatever it is, that many people, that are there to be happy… and it’s hard not to be when you’re part of that.”
Check out Ron ‘Bumblefoot’ Thal discussing Chinese Democracy by Guns N’ Roses:
