Ryan McFadden

Fifteen years in the making. Could the latest album from the Axl Rose project possibly live up to the massive expectations? Hell, this album reminds me of the guy who begins to tell a joke/story, only to be interrupted several times. Demanding to be heard, our storyteller continues with the joke while everyone waits transfixed. Expectations rise, so that even a great joke is only average.

Except in this case, the joke has been going on for 15 years.

I bought Chinese Democracy from iTunes on Sunday. More out of morbid curiosity. After all, the title track left a lot to be desired. Sounded more like one of the few forgettable tracks from the Use Your Illusion series. By song two, I was cursing Axl for kicking out the original gang of Slash and company (Velvet Revolver at least had Slash’s trademark sound).

However, something happened on track 3 (called Better). Why, it was good. No, not good. It was excellent. Not really Guns N Roses, but hey, I was willing to keep an open mind. By the time I reached track 8, I knew this album WAS special.

Chinese Democracy is an exceptional album. 15 years worth? Probably not, but damn, it’s good. I’m not a music critic. I don’t know what makes things sound good. I can’t even tell what instrument is making what sound (I know guitar…but that’s about it). But I know that this sounds good.

You can almost hear the 15 years. Symphonies. Walls of guitars. Countless vocal tracks. It could’ve easily become a jumble of noise…but somehow he put it altogether.

When I first bought the Use Your Illusion Cds way back in university, I remember at first I was disappointed. It wasn’t Appetite for Destruction. It was different. Then, it became apparent that the Use Your Illusion Cds were something great. Why, they had grown as musicians.

The same can be said for Chinese Democracy. On several tracks, the guitars almost play second fiddle (no pun intended) to the orchestral or piano arrangements.

Axl explores, plays, and transcends what was originally Guns n Roses. I’ve never liked AC/DC. Why? Because they’ve been making the same song for 20 years. And I never really liked the original song.

U2 continues to redefine themselves. Chris Cornell is always unpredictable. I’d add the Axl Rose Project to that list.

Sadly, it comes 10 years too late. If this would’ve come out in the 90s…I really think it would’ve been hailed as a great album and sales would’ve been terrific. But considering that a 20 year old would’ve been 5 when Use Your Illusion was released…well, I don’t think they’ll really care. So I believe that Chinese Democracy will be thrown onto the scrapheap of music history — which is too bad.

It’s a fantastic album.

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Yes, my first post is about fish oil. I’ve been reading a lot about nutrition lately (yawn, eyes getting sleepy…) but I won’t bore you with that. But one of the things that amazes me is fish oil. Yes, little capsules that contain…well, oil from fishes (not cod liver oil, that’s not the same). If this were a DRUG, there would be around the clock ads by the pharma companies. As it is…it’s a natural product without a big company behind it.

What’s in fish oil? Omega 3s. Fat. The same thing that you’d get from Salmon and other cold water fish. Not only does it help you lose weight and gain muscle (simply by ingesting these) but here are 7 other benefits (stolen from various websites…all with research backing up the claim)

1. Less Pain and Inflammation. Omega 3 fatty acids, particularly EPA, have a very positive effect on your inflammatory response. Through several mechanisms, they regulate your body’s inflammation cycle, which prevents and relieves painful conditions like arthritis, prostatitis, cystitis and anything else ending in “itis.”

2. Cardiovascular Health. Omega 3 fatty acids have also been proven to work wonders for your heart and the miles and miles of arteries and veins that make up your cardiovascular system. They help to lower cholesterol, tryglicerides, LDLs and blood pressure, while at the same time increasing good HDL cholesterol. This adds years to your life expectancy.

3. Protection from Stroke and Heart Attack. When plaque builds up on arterial walls and then breaks loose, it causes what’s known as a thrombosis, which is a fancy way of saying clot. If a clot gets stuck in the brain, it causes a stroke and when it plugs an artery, it causes a heart attack. Research shows omega 3 fatty acids break up clots before they can cause any damage.

4. Better Brain Function and Higher Intelligence. Pregnant and nursing mothers can have a great impact on the intelligence and happiness of their babies by supplementing with fish oil. For adults, omega 3 improves memory, recall, reasoning and focus. You’ll swear you’re getting younger and smarter.

5. Less Depression and Psychosis. Making you smarter is not all omega 3 does for your brain. Psychiatry department researchers at the University of Sheffield, along with many other research studies, found that omega 3 fish oil supplements “alleviate” the symptoms of depression, bipolar and psychosis (Journal of Affective Disorder Vol. 48(2-3);149-55).

6. Lower Incidence of Childhood Disorders. Just to show how fish oil fatty acids leave nobody out, studies show that children (and adults) with ADD and ADHD experience a greatly improved quality of life. And those with dyslexia, dyspraxia and compulsive disorders have gotten a new lease on life thanks to omega 3 oils.

7. Reduction of Breast, Colon and Prostate Cancer. And finally, omega 3 fish oil has been shown to help prevent three of the most common forms of cancer – breast, colon and prostate. Science tells us that omega 3s accomplish this in three ways. They stop the alteration from a normal healthy cell to a cancerous mass, inhibiting unwanted cellular growth and causing apoptosis, or cellular death, of cancer cells.

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