Axl Rose has been promising the imminent release of Guns N’ Roses’ Chinese Democracy ever since he looked like this (pictured). So most fans become properly skeptical whenever Billboard publishes an article like this one, claiming that Chinese Democracy will finally (no, really!) be released on Nov. 23. This time, though, there’s some indication that the news is for real. Namely, there’s the early, legitimate-channel release of a couple of the album’s songs: The game Rock Band 2 uses "Shackler’s Revenge," and "If the World" plays during the closing credits of the new Russell Crowe/Leonardo DiCaprio movie Body of Lies. So start bottling extra soda, Dr. Pepper, because you may actually have to make good on your bet.
Assuming the story is true, however, I wonder how disappointed we’ll all be. Not just because the disc will be available only at Best Buy, or that we won’t have an excuse to make jokes anymore about the Waiting for Godot-esque likelihood that the album would never come out. Rather, it’s that there’s no way Chinese Democracy can live up to expectations. Whether because of Axl’s endless perfectionism in tinkering with the tracks (and the lineup of musicians on them) over the years or the byzantine legal and contractual snarls that may have been involved, the project bears the inevitable odor of a pot roast that has been boiling so long that all the flavor has been cooked out of it. Given the passage of time, Axl is likely to have either updated the sound so that it’s no longer recognizable as the GN’R of nostalgic fondness, or else he’ll have preserved it in amber so that rings hopelessly dated.
Of course, I’ll be happy to be proved wrong, but how many of you think Chinese Democracy will really be worth the wait? Weigh in below.
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it will probably be good. i remember he tried doing a sort of test into the nine inch nails type industrial sound and released it on the last action hero soundtrack and it was DREADFUL. he seemed to scrap that idea and has been working in a different direction.(who really knows.) after 15 years of working on the same songs they will probably have expanded to symphonies. i do think it should be released under the name “the Axel Rose Project” because if it aint slash duff and/or izzy behind him it wont be a G~n~R disc. P.S. if he tours and the REAL guns n roses hasnt rejoined…just say NO people. when he toured with monsters of rock (faith no more and metallica), G~N~R were the headliners at the phx show. after metallica finished it took 3damn hours for axel to be ready to go onstage. i think he was afraid of being measured up to what metallica just did. it wasn’t worth the wait. dude is kinda a loser; albeit a very wealthy one
his new wig is cool looking though…y’know…for a wig
The Best Buy thing really pisses me off. I am not driving 80 miles(round trip) for a cd. I don’t think it’s fair to expect everyone else who wants a copy to have to get it shipped. This is a crappy way to treat your fans.
All this is going to do is encourage people to illegally download it. Me personally, I will wait for someone to get tired of the CD and I’ll buy one on Ebay and GNR will lose an album sale because of it.
if you dont want it dont buy it . i myself will be rocking all the way home from best buy
ive seen the new guns n roses and in noway can slash and duff play with these guys they are a step ahead of everyone else
Those of you complaining about the distance you may have to travel to acquire your Chinese Democracy, i am just wondering have you heard of the internet? obviously, but you know these conveniant order online features they have? they’re amazing.
also if the writer of the article chooses to read this, the sound of the album contains elements of old GNR, however the majority of it is progressive, the sound is not certainly not definable.
mmmmmmmmmmmm I love me some chinese democracy!
please understand, axl was the leader of the biggest band in the world, and it all fell apart. he could of gave up and lived on his legacy, but he didn’t. he got back up and decided to start again. as a musician, i know that is not an easy task. to replace almost every member of a group (keyboardist Dizzy Reed still remains, though he joined after the band had achieved international success) is virtually impossible.
and to then have to compose material worthy of the name GUNS N ROSES, another near impossible task.
so please, wait to judge axl or the chinese democracy album until you have actually listened/heard the whole album. i agree that the album is the most anticipated album since, well, probably ever.
thank you,
sean napier
Based off of the demo material I’ve heard, it will certainly be a good record. The material and the material alone should be the criteria for judging the record, not the number of years making the album or the controversy along the way.
to: captain winkler
We all know about ordering online, but it is not right to force your fans to pay extra for shipping not to mention making them wait even longer than the 25 years that has already passed. Hell, I could die while waiting on the CD in the mail:(
To: W Myers
You’ve been waiting 25 years? Since before Appetite For Destruction came out? Dude, you’ve had amazing foresight that they would be making this album even before the band formed! And you’re not willing to drive 80 miles so you don’t have to pay a dollar or two for shipping? I’m pretty sure that the album will only be exclusive to Best Buy for a little while anyway.
Me? I’m going to buy at least 12 copies and give away 11. I’m going to spread Chinese Democracy one disc at a time!
OK, OK OK………If Best Buy has a free shipping option like the do for the Metallica album I’ll learn to get over the extra couple days wait.
OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111111111111111111
i will get 100% the album
Let’s see… I hated Guns and Poseurs back in the 80’s and I think I hate them NOW.
Axl is a god amongst men. The new album will be as good as any album ever put out by the best thing to ever happen to music (Axl) so get excited and buy some real music when it’s released.
AXL you are amazing
This is gonna be the greatest album since the beatles white album.
Write what you will about traveling 80 miles to Best Buy (where do you live dude? MOVE!) or about how Metallica put out albums (ok, thats a hardcore band to compare to…. joke! feature film anyone?), has anyone considered we THANK Axl for not putting out 2-3 albums of drivel (Pearl Jam/Sound Garden/Red Hot Chili Wankers) instead of achieving a true vision?
I will be waiting in line to buy this and see what the heck he’s been up to for way way way too long… and honestly if its crap he can go to hell!
attn:sean napier-G~N~R was (arguably) a GREAT band for about three years(maybe 3&a half/4… more or less.) BUT!! one GREAT, and two-and-a-half good albums doesn’t make a band “THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD.” i admire your devotion but, seriously, that puts them historically on the level of judas priest and (currently) coldplay.(yup’ you read right…coldplay) AC/DC,METALLICA,THE POLICE,THE BEATLES,PINK FLOYD,U2,LED ZEPPELIN= “THE BIGGEST BANDS IN THE WORLD!!!” ANY band trying for THAT title needs at least 6 GREAT albums in their repetoire. maybe the axel rose project might someday reach those stellar heights but ask yourself….at this rate,will you live to see it?
Given Best Buy’s recent purchase of Napster, it is entirely possible you will be able to download all of the tracks LEGALLY, and negate the need to drive any distance, or pay for shipping costs.
What’s the point without Slash really? It’ll be rubbish without him.
WE’VE SEEN WHAT AXL IS MISSING. IT’S CALLED VELVET REVOLVER. I THINK HE’LL BE JUST FINE BECAUSE THEY ARE A SNORE!
AXL ROSE IS STILL THE BEST SINGER AND
SO IS GUNS N ROSES
Has anyone turned on like Rage or other music channels on a saturday morning in the last few years? Other then the odd cool song by Cold play, everything else is just re-hashed garbage … If it takes 10-15 years to make something that will actually stand for something…then so be it!.. Haters will always hate.. so good luck to you.. When and if you ever Get on a level where you can actually comprehend.. The music that will be released By Axl… You may all revel in your own self doubt and pity!! cheers to everyone else
I heard most of it (via leaks) and it’s fantastic!! Can’t wait to hear the rest of the songs.
Guns n’ who? Who cares at this point? They WERE a great band 21 years ago when Appetite came out, that was a classic, no arguement by anyone on that. But since that album they have put out fillers albums Lies & Spagehetti Incident. And there there was Use Your Illusion I & II, which at best could have been a medicore album if combined into a single disc. They have had no respect for their fans, I saw them 2 times, once at MSG in NYC they went on after 11pm, leaving the crowd sitting there getting sober after Soundgarden left the stage over 2 hours earlier. On the Monsters of Rock with Metallica, they were BLOWN off the stage by Meatllica and left mid-set after someone threw something at Axl. Enough already, time for the next band, Gn’R and Velvet Revolver are history.
If you leave a comment at least get your facts right. They never played Monsters of rock. Axl left after he dove in the crowd to take care of a lapse in security. Chinese Democracy by just hearing the demos is going to be CLASSIC.They are a classic band and you don’t have to have 6 great albums to be good.Sex Pistols had one and Guns had Appetitie and the Gound breaking Illusions albums. They both broke records.If you dont want to hear it then don’t. But quit flappin’ your gums about something you don’t know about. Funny how CLASSIC bands have t-shirts on sale at any store(AC/DC, Pink Floyd,Zeppilin) right next to the Guns N Roses shirts.They are right next to the big stack of Nirvana shirts no one buys.Democracy is not the Classic sound…It is a NEW classic sound.So do something new with your life that gets this much attention so the REAL fans can bask in History in the Making.If you disagree that is fine…but your wrong.I’m proud of what I wrote so waste your time to disagree PEACE
If you leave a comment at least get your facts right.Axl left after he dove in the crowd to take care of a lapse in security. Chinese Democracy by just hearing the demos is going to be CLASSIC.They are a classic band and you don’t have to have 6 great albums to be good.Sex Pistols had one and Guns had Appetitie and the Gound breaking Illusions albums. They both broke records.If you dont want to hear it then don’t. But quit flappin’ your gums about something you don’t know about. Funny how CLASSIC bands have t-shirts on sale at any store(AC/DC, Pink Floyd,Zeppilin) right next to the Guns N Roses shirts.They are right next to the big stack of Nirvana shirts no one buys.Democracy is not the Classic sound…It is a NEW classic sound.So do something new with your life that gets this much attention so the REAL fans can bask in History in the Making.If you disagree that is fine…but your wrong.I’m proud of what I wrote so waste your time to disagree PEAC
History In the Making!!! For a band the some losers say “Who Cares” they sure do waste the minutes in life to complain. A classic band does not have to have 5 or 6 great albums to be great.Ask the Sex Pistols.This is a New classic sound so get on board or be satisfied with CDs that are put out by “artists” who are told what to do by THE boss.Axl does what he wants when he wants and if you don’t like it He and the REAL fans don’t care.Peace and Thank You AXL.
I am not so sure if this is going to be so spectacular. When Use Your Illusion came out, MTV (when it played Rock, when it played music period) kept on hyping the record, and played Don’t Cry, and November Rain practically non stop. However was UYI a masterfully produced album? Not as masterfull as Appetite , which not only defined the end of the eighties, but combined hair band glam and serious hard rock like an oreo cookie.