Wiki
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Release Date
22 November 2008
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Length
14 tracks
Chinese Democracy is the sixth studio album by American rock band Guns N' Roses. It was released on November 23, 2008, worldwide and in the United Kingdom on November 24, 2008. It is the band's first studio album since 1993's "The Spaghetti Incident?", and their first album of original studio material since the simultaneous release of Use Your Illusion I and II in September 1991. Retail store chain Best Buy is the exclusive retailer of the album in the United States. Despite debuting at number three on the Billboard 200 and being certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), Chinese Democracy domestically undersold expectations. It received generally favorable reviews from music critics. The album achieved international chart success and has sold over one million copies in Europe.
In 1994, Guns N' Roses' progress on a follow up to The Spaghetti Incident was halted due to creative differences between members. Slash, Duff McKagan, Matt Sorum, and Gilby Clarke all resigned or were fired from the band in the mid '90s. Vocalist Axl Rose and keyboardist Dizzy Reed were the only members from the previous lineup remaining by the time production had started. A new lineup, consisting of Rose, Reed, guitarists Robin Finck and Paul Tobias, bassist Tommy Stinson, drummer Josh Freese, and keyboardist Chris Pitman began working on the album in 1997. Initially intended to be released in 1999 or 2000, the album was re-recorded completely in 2000. The album was worked on by multiple lineups of the band, including later members Bryan Mantia, Buckethead, Richard Fortus, Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal, and Frank Ferrer. Personnel and legal reasons, as well as Rose's alleged perfectionism caused the album to be delayed multiple times, including missing an announced March 2007 release date, before being released in November 2008. With production costs reportedly eclipsing $13 million, the album is the most expensive album ever produced.
In a 2007 interview, Axl Rose's close friend Sebastian Bach stated that Chinese Democracy will be the first installment in a trilogy of new albums. Bach also remarked that Rose had told him the third, as yet untitled, album has been slated for 2012. Although no new release had happened since, Rose mentioned in a 2014 interview that a 'sequel' to Chinese Democracy, as well as a remix album were done and pending release.
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