2008.06.21 - The Guardian - Long-awaited Guns N' Roses album leaked

by **Blackstar** Sun Dec 02, 2018 3:27 am

Long-awaited Guns N' Roses album leaked

Sean Michaels
Sat 21 Jun 2008

For all those fans who have been practicing air guitar and hard-rock yowls - the age of Chinese Democracy may at last be upon us. An American blog has leaked nine purported "mastered, finished" tracks from Guns N' Roses long-awaited album, and as these songs swirl through the internet, it's hard to imagine that a release could be very far off.

The leak comes via Antiquiet.com, a little-known American rock website. A poster named Skwerl made nine songs available on Wednesday, without explaining their source. "I always said that the more that Axl and Geffen jerked around trying to figure out how to release this finally finished album that we've all been waiting over 13 years for, the greater the chances would be that it would slip out of a pressing plant or office somewhere and wind up in the hands of some asshole with a blog," Skwerl wrote. "So ... hey, I told you so." The songs were removed hours later, with a note that, "we got a call from Guns n' Roses".

Billboard reported that Antiquiet received a cease-and-desist letter from Axl Rose's lawyers. But the songs had more than enough time to get on to filesharing and torrent sites, as well as YouTube. Of the nine songs, only three - Rhiad and the Bedouins, If the World, and a track with an unknown title - had not previously leaked. But all appear more polished.

If the World is particularly indicative of the almost 14 years that Chinese Democracy has been in development. Many musical trends have born and died since 1994, and we get to hear a number of these alongside Axl Rose's familiar shriek.

Guns N' Roses' last studio release was 1991's Use Your Illusion. Since 1994 Axl Rose has burned through an alleged $13m (£6.5m) in recording costs and alienated every other member of the group, so there are an awful lot of people who could have been responsible for leaking these tracks.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/jun/21/news.world