Maps of Music

Chinese Democracy (2008)

Where the lyrics of Chinese Democracy take you, and where it was really made.

Recording took more than a decade and reported costs exceeded $13 million, so the delays became the album's defining story.

Key places

Where the long recording began (2008)

Recording site Rumbo Recorders — Guns N' Roses began recording the album here in 1998. Parts of Appetite for Destruction had been tracked at the same studio. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

One of the album's recording studios (2008)

Recording site Capitol Studios — Capitol is one of the fifteen studios used across the album's long recording process. It is listed among the recording locations. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

One of the album's recording studios (2008)

Recording site Cherokee Studios — Cherokee is one of the fifteen studios used across the album's long recording process. It is listed among the recording locations. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

A New York studio in the recording list (2008)

Recording site Electric Lady Studios — Electric Lady is one of the fifteen studios used across the album's long recording process. It is the New York studio named in the recording list. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

One of the album's recording studios (2008)

Recording site Sunset Sound — Sunset Sound is one of the fifteen studios used across the album's long recording process. It is listed among the recording locations. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Where the band moved during the delays (2008)

Recording site Village Recorders — Around the time of the lineup changes in 2000, the band moved its work to this studio. It is also named in the album's list of recording studios. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Chinese Democracy: sixth studio album by the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses
• Released November 23, 2008, through Geffen Records and Black Frog
• First album of original material since Use Your Illusion I and II (1991)
• First Guns N' Roses album with no classic members aside from vocalist Axl Rose
• Development spanned over a decade, one of the most protracted and expensive recording processes in history
• Reported costs exceeded $13 million

Background

• Recording began in 1998 with the intention of producing multiple albums
• More than 50 tracks were completed, but Rose's inconsistent studio schedule and repeated re-recordings caused long delays
• Blends hard rock with industrial and electronic influences, a shift from the band's earlier blues and punk-based music
• First Guns N' Roses album not produced by Mike Clink; Rose and Costanzo handled production
• Title revealed in a November 1999 interview

Recording

• Recorded amid lineup upheavals, legal disputes, and leaks
• Rose worked with a rotating cast of musicians and producers, including Youth, Sean Beavan, and Roy Thomas Baker
• Recording spanned 15 studios, including Capitol, Cherokee, Electric Lady, Sunset Sound, and The Village

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in Los Angeles, California, in March 1985 by Axl Rose, Izzy Stradlin, Tracii Guns and others from L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose.
• The classic lineup of Rose, Slash, Stradlin, Duff McKagan and Steven Adler was finalized in June 1985.
• Signed with Geffen Records in March 1986.

Members

• Current members include Axl Rose (vocals), Slash (guitar), Duff McKagan (bass), Dizzy Reed (keyboards), Richard Fortus (guitar), Melissa Reese (keyboards) and Isaac Carpenter (drums).
• Rose is the only constant member since the band's formation.

Career

• Debut album Appetite for Destruction (1987) sold more than 30 million copies worldwide and became the best-selling debut album in the U.S.
• Use Your Illusion I and II (1991) debuted at numbers two and one on the Billboard 200.
• Chinese Democracy (2008) was the long-delayed album reportedly costing $13 million.
• The Not in This Lifetime... Tour (2016–2018) grossed $563.3 million.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012; the band has sold more than 100 million records worldwide.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Debuted at number three on the Billboard 200
• Received generally favorable reviews for its ambition and vocal performances
• Production and the lengthy recording process drew mixed reactions
• Rolling Stone: David Fricke called it "audacious, unhinged and uncompromising"
• AllMusic: Stephen Thomas Erlewine noted the dense production and called it strangely modest compared with the Illusion double albums
• Pitchfork criticized its "dated" sound, comparing it to Oasis's 1997 album Be Here Now
• Q said Rose "did himself a grand disservice" by overloading the mix

Reappraisal

• Later reassessments were more generous than the release-era reviews
• Loudwire and Rolling Stone both called it "better than remembered"
• Critics noted that the long-delayed release became the album's defining narrative
• Criticism persisted: Loudwire ranked it second-to-last among Guns N' Roses albums

Records

• US Billboard 200 debut at number three with 261,000 first-week sales, below expectations
• UK Albums Chart debut at number two
• US sales fell 78 percent in week two, dropping to number 18
• Certified Gold on January 7, 2009, and Platinum on February 3, with one million copies shipped in the US
• Reached 2.6 million units worldwide by February 2009
• Triple Platinum in Canada

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• In the United States the album was sold exclusively through Best Buy, and it was banned in China over lyrics in the lead single.
• Before release, Best Buy bought 1.3 million copies from UMG for $14 million, agreeing not to return unsold stock.
• Producer Roy Thomas Baker convinced Rose to rerecord the entire album, after Josh Freese's drums were judged too industrial.
• Manager Alex Lebeis's team and Tom Zutaut said 48 songs were completed by March 2001, with 50 to 60 in development.
• Dr Pepper was reported in March 2008 to be offering a free can to every American if the album was released that year.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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