For more than a decade, Guns N’ Roses’ Chinese Democracy has been a thing of legend. It was to be the platform that would prove Axl Rose is still the undisputed king of all frontmen, carrying on the GN’R name without the aid of his former bandmates. But the album that Rose began recording in 1994 has tested GN’R fans patience to the limit (pause to reflect on everything that’s happened since recording began: the O.J. Simpson trial, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and Bush’s seemingly never-ending reign). So we have all pretty much given up hope, right? Not so fast. Ultimate-Guitar has recently learned that Axl Rose is giving our site exclusive rights to release a downloadable version of Chinese Democracy. While word on the street is that Rose was inspired by Radiohead’s own groundbreaking move to initially release In Rainbows digitally, the move was triggered more so by his recent travels to the East. “With all of the stress that I’ve had over the past decade, it’s been hard to concentrate,” Rose told Ultimate-Guitar. “I needed to find my musical muse once again. Oh, and I like vacations.” In an effort to regain the drive and passion that he had when he wasn’t in his 40s, Rose traveled to China for several months. Members of Rose’s posse requested to go along for the ride, but the singer insisted that only he and his trusty Raygun of Creativity (see photo) make the journey. Being the nomad he is, Rose opted to also take a Southern day trip – lucky for us. He just happened to land in Ultimate-Guitar’s Russian headquarters. The UG staff convinced Rose to partake in a brief interview, a few photo shoots (one of which captured his Raygun of Creativity in all of its glory), and eventually encouraged the reclusive singer to patronize a few local bars with them. After a night of Guitar Hero, Botox parties, and some unexpected temper tantrums (at one point Rose began to chew on one of our writer’s legs), the vocalist revealed that he felt closer to the UG staff than...
For more than a decade, Guns N’ Roses’ Chinese Democracy has been a thing of legend. It was to be th...
