Chinese Democracy

Chinese Democracy is the sixth and most recent studio album by Guns N' Roses, which took nearly fifteen years from conception to completion. Axl Rose became the only original member remaining, joined in production by a fluid cast including Robin Finck, Buckethead, Bumblefoot, Richard Fortus, Tommy Stinson and Dizzy Reed. After enormous cost and a long, difficult birth, it paints a dense, many-layered sound far removed from the band's earlier street-level rock and roll. The aggressive drive of the title track “Chinese Democracy,” banned in China, the Freddie Mercury-recalling ballad “Street of Dreams” and the slowly heating “Better” all became singles. From the drama of “There Was a Time” to “Madagascar,” which weaves in quotations from Martin Luther King, each song builds a different tension and scale. The album debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200. Opinion split sharply, but by firmly refusing to repeat the past and pushing Axl's ideal to the limit, it stands as an ambitious record.