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Guns N' Roses

Date: Dec 15 2008

Themes: Alternative, Music

Grammar: Past Progressive Tense

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Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

Fans of the rock band Guns N’Roses finally have a reason to celebrate. After 17 long years in the studio, the band just put out the much-anticipated, much-hyped Chinese Democracy. But not everyone thinks the new GNR album was worth the wait. Reviews have been mixed, and the band has received some criticism for allowing the album to be delayed for such a long time. Plus, the members of the band changed several times while the album was in process.

Some say that front-man Axl Rose is too much of a perfectionist. If he didn’t obsess so much over every little detail, maybe he would make more music and his fans would be happier. On the other hand, perfectionism often leads to…perfection. Listen to what Jason and Devan think.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Jason

Devan

Jason: I got my free Dr. Pepper last week.

Devan: Because Chinese Democracy came out finally?

Jason: I cannot believe how long it took for that to come out.

Devan: They were working on it for almost 17 years.

Jason: What were they doing all that time, you know? It’s just an album.

Devan: Well, you know, you would think that he was perfecting it, to try to make it the best that it could possibly be, and that’s why it took so long…But, the reviews are in and they say it’s just OK.

Jason: Yeah, that’s what I was going to say. It’s not great. It’s not awful. It has awful moments. It has maybe a great moment or two.

Devan: After all that hype, all the anticipation, you know…

Jason: Yeah.

Devan: But you did get your free Dr. Pepper?

Jason: I did, but, um…I don’t know. Axl Rose was kind of a spoil-sport about the whole thing. You know, Dr. Pepper thought it would be fun to do this promotion. A joke about how long it took to come out. And then I guess not everyone got their free Dr. Pepper who tried to, and so GNR was threatening to sue Dr. Pepper or something like that.

Devan: He probably just wants to sue Dr. Pepper because he’s not gonna make as much money on the album as he was hoping to, so he’s gotta make his money somewhere.

Jason: He’s gotta take it out on somebody.

Grammar Point

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Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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Discussion

Dr. Pepper, a soft drink company, promised to give everyone in America a free can of soda if Guns N’ Roses released Chinese Democracy before the end of 2008. The album finally came out in November, and Jason was one of the many Americans who got a free Dr. Pepper.

Jason and Devan can’t believe it took GNR 17 years to release their new album. They both think that it doesn’t quite live up to the hype. It has some good songs, but it also has some bad songs. Axl Rose may be a perfectionist, but Chinese Democracy isn’t a perfect album.

Do you think Chinese Democracy was worth the wait? Are you a perfectionist like Axl Rose? Is it good to be a perfectionist?