So, I've been meaning to blog this for a few weeks now - the imminent release of Guns N' Roses new album, "Chinese Democracy". A date has been set, Sunday 23rd November, and in the US it's being sold exclusively by BestBuy, who are taking pre-orders I think. Guns N' Roses (at least, as we knew them in the late '80s, early '90s) will always have a place in my "top bands of all time" list, and I suspect that given after 20 years or so my opinion hasn't been changed, "Appetite for Destruction" will always remain my #1 album of all time. I'm very keen to hear the new album in it's entirety. I've heard various songs over the years, some amazing, some forgettable, and I've been impressed with the various members cycling through the band over the past 14 years (since the fizzle that was the rest of the band leaving). Among the part-time players have been Chris Vrenna (from NIN's formidable "Broken" period), Robin Finck (from NIN - a guitarist I rate quite highly), Josh Freese (drummer from The Vandals and A Perfect Circle, then NIN), Brian "Brain" Mantia (Primus' drummer for some of the 90s - quite a job in itself) and of course, Buckethead, perhaps the most technically gifted and certainly the oddest guitar player on the planet. Thus, with the history and knowledge of the album and band over the past 14 years, I'll listen to this album on it's own merit, and try and not "tar" it with the history (and magic) of the GnR of old. I certainly made that mistake on listening to the first Velvet Revolver album (which was then a horrible letdown). I hope for Axl's sake it sells a record number of copies, does critically well, and then we might see some more music from him.