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Chinese Democracy
Chinese Democracy cover
Studio album by Guns N' Roses
Released November 23, 2008
Recorded Battery Soundtrack, Bennett House, Can Am, Capitol, Cherokee, Electric Lady, IGA, The Palms, Rumbo, Sunset Sound, The Townhouse, The Village, Woodland Ranch, 1994-2007
Genre Glam Metal, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Industrial Metal, Nu Metal, Symphonic Rock
Length 71:18
Label Geffen Records
Producer Axl Rose, Caram Costanzo
Guns N' Roses chronology
Greatest Hits
(2004)
Chinese Democracy
(2008)

Chinese Democracy is the sixth and most recent studio album by Guns N' Roses, released on November 23, 2008 on Geffen Records. The album took upwards of fourteen years to write and record, with many lineup changes occurring during this time. Despite debuting at #3 on the Billboard 200, the album was deemed a commercial failure, drastically underselling domestic expectations in the United States, although it was a moderate success internationally.

The album yielded three singles: "Chinese Democracy", "Better" and "Street of Dreams".

Due to the length of the recording process, the album features recordings from various lineups of Guns N' Roses, most prominently the lineup of Axl Rose, Robin Finck, Buckethead, Paul Tobias, Tommy Stinson, Bryan Mantia, Dizzy Reed and Chris Pitman, with later contributions from Bumblefoot, Richard Fortus and Frank Ferrer.

Track Listing[]

  1. "Chinese Democracy"
  2. "Shackler's Revenge"
  3. "Better"
  4. "Street Of Dreams"
  5. "If the World"
  6. "There Was a Time"
  7. "Catcher in the Rye"
  8. "Scraped"
  9. "Riad N' the Bedouins"
  10. "Sorry"
  11. "I.R.S."
  12. "Madagascar"
  13. "This I Love"
  14. "Prostitute"

Rock Band 2 Multitracks[]

Each song on Chinese Democracy's multitracks were ripped from the video game Rock Band 2. In 2010 the multitracks were leaked online. Most of them are seperated Into 7 different tracks.

  • Kick Drum
  • Snare Drum
  • Cymbals
  • Bass
  • Guitar
  • Vocals
  • Additional Instruments

The Mulitracks offer a unique look into each song on the album and include hidden solo's found on There Was a Time and Shackler's Revenge.

Most of the multitracks are slightly edited. Foul language was taken out since Rock Band 2 is rated T by the ESRB. The intros to most of the songs include drum counts that aren't present on the album versions. 

Alternate Artwork[]

Chinese Democracy was originally intended to be released with three artwork options. For unknown reasons, this changed shortly before the release date. The album was released with a single artwork option instead of the alternates. At least one of the alternate artworks exists in few numbers and is highly sought after by hardcore fans.

Fear N' Freedom: The Future of China And Western Society[]

Main article: Fear N' Freedom: The Future of China and Western Society

Of special note, the second artwork contains a social commentary essay written by Axl Rose called Fear N' Freedom: The Future of China and Western Society, which isn't present in the original booklet.

Unreleased Songs[]

It is not known for sure how many songs Guns N' Roses in fact produced to the Chinese Democracy project. On Axl's own words: "Depends how you look at it", regarding the amount of finished material. Many song numbers have been reported, 32 and 36, by Axl Rose himself, 70 by Tom Zutaut, and "enough for 4 albums" by Sebastian Bach.

  • Oh My God
  • Silkworms
  • Jackie Chan/Checkmate/No Love Remains
  • The General
  • Atlas Shrugged
  • Quick Song
  • Down By The Ocean
  • Ides Of March
  • Berlin/Oklahoma
  • Thyme
  • Seven
  • Zodiac

Personnel[]

Guns N' Roses and former members
  • W. Axl Rose – lead vocals, keyboards, piano on "Catcher in the Rye", "This I Love" and "Prostitute"
  • Dizzy Reed – keyboards, piano, synthesizer, backing vocals
  • Buckethead – lead guitar, acoustic guitar on "If the World"
  • Robin Finck – lead guitar, acoustic guitar on "Sorry", keyboards on "Better"
  • Bumblefoot – lead guitar
  • Paul Tobias – rhythm guitar, piano on "There Was a Time"
  • Richard Fortus – rhythm guitar
  • Tommy Stinson – bass, backing vocals
  • Chris Pitman – keyboards, programming, sub-bass on all tracks except on "Catcher in the Rye", 12 string guitar on "If the World", backing vocals
  • Frank Ferrer – drums, percussion
  • Brain – drums, percussion
  • Josh Freese – drum arrangements on tracks 4, 6, 9 and 14
Additional personnel
  • Pete Scaturro – keyboards on track 10; arrangements on tracks 2 and 10; digital editing and additional engineering on track 10; initial production on tracks 2 and 10
  • Sebastian Bach – background vocals on track 10
  • Patti Hood – harp on track 13
  • Caram Costanzo – digital editing on all tracks; arrangements on tracks 2, 6 and 8; drum arrangements on tracks 3, 6 and 14; sub drums on track 13; production; mixing; engineering; initial production on track 8
  • Eric Caudieux – digital editing on all tracks; drum programming on track 5; arrangements on track 6; sub drums on track 13; Pro Tools engineering; additional production
  • Andy Wallace – Producer, mixing
  • Dan Monti – engineering
  • Bob Ludwig – mastering
  • Roy Thomas Baker – Initial album production
  • Sean Beavan – arrangements on tracks 1, 4, 6, 9 and 11; digital editing on tracks 4, 5, 6, 9, 11, 12 and 14; initial production on tracks 5 and 12; additional Pro Tools
  • Paul Buckmaster – Orchestra conductor, Orchestral arrangement on track 14, Initial Symphonic arrangements on tracks 4, 6, 12
  • Marco Beltrami – Additional Orchestral arrangements on tracks 4, 6, 12, 14; Orchestral Arrangement on track 13
  • Suzy Katayama – Orchestra contractor, French horns on track 12; Brass sectionarrangements on tracks 6, 12 and 13; Choral arrangements on tracks 6 and 13
  • Billy Howerdel – digital editing on track 6
  • Okhee Kim – engineering assistance
  • Andy Gwynn – engineering assistance
  • Brian Monteath – engineering assistance
  • Dave Dominguez – engineering assistance
  • Jose Borges – engineering assistance
  • Joe Peluso – engineering assistance
  • Christian Baker – engineering assistance
  • James Musshorn – engineering assistance
  • Greg Morgenstein – additional Pro Tools
  • Paul DeCarli – additional Pro Tools
  • Jan Petrov – engineering assistance
  • Jeff Robinette – engineering assistance
  • Bob Koszela – engineering assistance
  • Paul Payne – engineering assistance
  • Mark Gray – engineering assistance
  • Xavier Albira – engineering assistance
  • Dror Mohar – engineering assistance
  • Mike Scielzi – mixing assistance
  • Billy Bowers – additional Pro Tools
  • Justin Walden – additional Pro Tools
  • Eric Tabala – engineering assistance
  • Shawn Berman – engineering assistance
  • Donald Clark – engineering assistance
  • Shinnosuke Miyazawa – engineering assistance
  • Vanessa Parr – engineering assistance
  • John Beene – engineering assistance
  • Al Perrotta – engineering assistance
  • Paul Suarez – mixing assistance
  • Rail Jon Rogut – additional Pro Tools
  • Isaac Abolin – additional Pro Tools
  • Ryan Corey – design
  • Terry Hardin – cover photography
  • George Chin – photography

​Info[]

  • This album is banned in China due to the title track and title.
  • Saul "Slash" Hudson was quoted on his opinion of Chinese Democracy: "It's pretty good. It's nice to hear Axl's voice after so long."
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