Well, it looks like it won’t.

Estimates for Chinese Democracy have been revealed, which really aren’t that dominating for all the hype, and waiting. The album is expected to sell around 300,000 copies for it’s first week. While that’s not too shabby for most bands, it wasn’t even close enough to top the charts. Kanye West’s 808’s and Heartbreak has that honor with between 450,000 to 500,000 copies. Meanwhile across the pond in the UK, The Killers landed the top spot with Day & Age.

Now we’ll have to wait for the blame game.

Sure, it’s still way too early to even think that Chinese Democracy will be a flop, which it most likely won’t. But this was built up to be the release of the century. Not to mention that Axl did a lot of things right.

He released tracks slowly and methodically through various media outlets, like “Sheckler’s Revenge” on Rock Band. He streamed the entire album on MySpace, which broke streaming records, somewhere around 25 listens per second. He teamed up with Best Buy so that Chinese Democracy could only be found there, which worked for The Eagles and AC/DC at Wal-Mart. Shit, AC/DC’s latest release Black Ice sold just under 800,000 copies in it’s first week back in October.

Yeah, the economy is shitty and overall sales have been down, but people would dig up the change to be a part of this moment on rock n’ roll. So, I honestly don’t know where this thing went wrong.

Is Chinese Democracy that bad?

Or, do people not give a shit about bands like Guns N’ Roses anymore, which I think is bullshit.

The conclusion I can come up with is that people can’t forgive Axl and that ego of his. For as much as I try to look beyond his past misadventures, there is a part of me that can’t forgive him. I’m still bitter that he didn’t show up in Philly back in December of 2002; which is a great story to tell and being in the middle of a riot is always fun, but I really tried to give the guy a chance. I tried to look past the exits of Slash, Duff, Izzy and Matt and focus on the music, but to hand over my cash to someone that has been so shitty to fans, it just makes me feel dirty inside. I don’t know if I could sleep with myself at night. Yeah, I know that the label gets a bulk of the sales, but it’s the principle.

Let the excuses come to the rescue.

Image by Nienyi Ho via Flickr

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While not a 90’s band per se, Guns N’ Roses have revealed a number of listening parties for the long awaited Chinese Democracy. The listening parties are open to the public, but no recording devices what so ever will be allowed in. And, for fans that pre-ordered the new album and bring their receipt will get a free shirt. He may have taken over a decade to finally get Chinese Democracy out, but Axl seems to be making it up to the fans. Here’s the info on the listening parties:

November 17 – New York, NY – Webster Hall (7:00 p.m.)
November 17 – Dallas, TX – Whiskey Bar (8:00 p.m.)
November 17 – Chicago, IL – Joe’s (8:00 p.m.)
November 18 – West Hollywood, CA – The Roxy (9:00 p.m.)
November 18 – Minneapolis, MN – Fine Line (6:30 p.m.)
November 19 – Atlanta, GA – Tabernacle (7:30 p.m.)
November 20 – San Francisco, CA – Mezzanine (7:30 p.m.)
November 20 – Boston, MA – Cavern Club (8:00 p.m.)
November 20 – Detroit, MI – St. Andrews Hall (7:00 p.m.)

Speaking of shirts, I gotta give a shout out to wearyourbeer.com for hooking us up with a gnarly “chinese” guns and roses shirt!

Axl’s temporary replacement, well sort of, Scott Weiland is getting busy to promote his second solo album Happy in Galoshes. He’ll be appearing on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on November 21 and Jimmy Kimmel Live on November 26. Weiland has also set up a few live dates in December and will then embark on full solo tour in January.

Besides his second solo disc coming out on November 25, Weiland has also discussed STP’s future. Weiland has made it pretty clear that STP doesn’t want to do another major label release. The band would rather do something unconventional, where they have more freedom and can make more cash. However, Atlantic Records stands in the way. Check out his interview at MTV.com.

Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin have been on the road celebrating twenty years of Smashing Pumpkins. However, the festivities haven’t exactly been celebratory. Corgan has been putting up with a lot of hecklers, and even fans leaving, the shows. Seems like people aren’t too excited to celebrate a 20th Anniversary with only half of it’s members on board. Also, fans haven’t been too keen about the setlists, which contain a lot of obscurities and jam sessions. In fact at one show Corgan invited a heckler up the stage and asked what the problem was. The heckler stated, “Last night’s show fucking sucked, man!”, which drew some cheers from the audience. Corgan then told the guy to leave and replied with, “By the way, I liked that song you wrote. I heard it was Number 1. Wasn’t it Number 1 in Europe? It’s called Take Your Dick Out Of My Ass And Stick It In My Mouth.”

OK, fans should know by now that the Pumpkins now are just Billy and Jimmy, even if they don’t like it. Also, for someone that has been doing this for two decades, they should know how please fans at a show. There has to be a balance of hits and rarities to please casual and die hard fans, as well as, the musicians. Why do you think that Pearl Jam and Dave Matthews Band have built up such a following on their tours? Billy should really look into this and stop being Eric Cartman.

Dave Grohl will be sitting behind a drum kit once again. The former Nirvana drummer will be featured on the track “Run With Wolves”, which will appear on Prodigy’s new album Invaders Must Die, expected to be released in March of 2009. The drum tracks have already been laid down and were sent via e-mail; isn’t technology great? I always thought that Dave was one of the best drummers from the 90’s, glad to see him back at it. In other Dave news, you can catch him on Bravo’s Top Chef on November 26 at 10 p.m. Dave will be one of the judges for a special edition of the show creatively entitled “The Foo Fighters Thanksgiving”.

Alice in Chains have been in the studio working on their first album since 1996’s self-titled release. While Layne Staley is unfortunately no longer here, the band has found a worthy replacement in William DuVall. Anyways, the band has released a second behind-the-scenes video of them in the studio. Actually, it’s just them fucking around. But, if you remember anything about AIC, they’re a bunch of clowns. It’s great seeing them back in action and having fun. You watch the clip right here.

The Killers have moved up the release date of their third album Day & Age. The album will be released one day earlier, November 24, in a unique move by their label Island Def Jam. The Killers won’t be the only Monday release on the 24th, as they’ll be joined by label mates Kanye West and Ludacris. Looks like it could be a busy three days for Best Buy, since Chinese Democracy comes out on November 23, this Monday release and the typical Tuesday release with Scott Weiland, Rivers Cuomo and more.

Finally, the Weekly Wrap-Up ends on a sad note. This week drummer Mitch Mitchell passed away of natural causes at age 62. Mitch Mitchell was the remaining member of the Jimi Hendrix Experience and had just completed the Experience Hendrix tour. He had a style of playing that was all his own and never stopped spreading Hendrix’s music. One of my favorite Mitchell moments was when he appeared on The Rolling Stones Rock n’ Roll Circus in 1968 as part of the supergroup The Dirty Mac.

The Dirty Mac consisted of John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards (on bass), and Mitchell, who did a sick version of the Beatles’ “Yer Blues”. Reread that and let it sink in. Without making light of the situation, at least he went out doing what he loved. Ever musician should be so lucky. R.I.P. Mitch, you will be missed.

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Supposedly, Led Zeppelin wants to tour again. Rumors about some sort of tour have been flying around since Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones reunited last December for a performance at the O2 Arena in London. The band was rounded out by Jason Bonham, the son of their fallen drummer John Bonham. Anyways, Robert Plant has said that he’s going to be busy for a bit, so the other members of Zep are looking for a replacement. One huge name that has popped up is Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler. In fact, Aerosmith guitarist Brad Whitford confirmed that Zep and Tyler have been jamming. While the thought of Aero Zeppelin tour sounds pretty sweet, I know most Zep fans won’t give a fuck unless Plant is on board. Most people think that this is a ruse just to get Plant back. I mean it worked when Jimmy Page worked with David Coverdale, which made
Plant re team with Page on No Quarter. Oh yeah, the name Aero Zeppelin is the title of a Nirvana song. I wonder now if Kurt Cobain was some sort of prophet.

The Beatles are heading to Rock Band! John, Paul, George and Ringo will be getting their own Rock Band sometime late next year. You can read more about it right here. Since I love the Beatles and Rock Band, this is a win-win situation. I can’t wait!

Axl Rose has scored his biggest debut single since 1991’s “Don’t Cry” with “Chinese Democracy”. Here’s how the track faired on it’s first week: No. 12 on Mainstream Rock, No. 15 on Active Rock, No. 37 on Modern Rock and No. 7 on Rock. Not too shabby there Axl. Also, the band’s official site has just launched a widget with a countdown meter until the release of Chinese Democracy. The widget also streams the new single.

The Killers announced their first tour dates of 2009, kicking off on January 17 in Denver. You can check out all their current North American and European tour dates for 2009 right here.

Former Bush frontman Gavin Rosedale, aka Mr. Gwen Stefani, gave a cool little interview with Rolling Stone. He chats about currently trying to market himself, how he almost joined Garbage and his thoughts of digitally releasing his music.

Wilco are giving fans a free download of a live performance of Bob Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released”, which can be found here. There’s a little catch though, you have to pledge to vote on Election Day, that’s this upcoming Tuesday folks! Sounds, like a fair trade to me.

Finally, congrats to the Philadelphia Phillies for winning the World Series! I know Eric doesn’t share my enthusiasm, but there’s been a bitter taste in my mouth for fifteen years. A taste so bitter that I stopped enjoying baseball. I now have closure on a part of my childhood, and I can finally stop cursing Joe Cater.

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Yup, it’s true. It looks like Hell is about to freeze over, as Axl officially released a new song from the decade plus in the making Chinese Democracy.

The self-titled track was just released to radio stations, and after giving it few listens, I can simply say that it rocks.

While it may not be one of his best tracks, it’s not horrible. It’s a straight ahead rock track that’s been lacking in mainstream rock as of late. “Chinese Democracy” features classic Axl vocals, blazing guitar work and a pretty catchy chorus. It’s good enough to please Guns N’ Roses fans, and it makes me pretty amped about the album’s release, which is reportedly going to be November 23 via a Best Buy exclusive.

You can hear for yourself right here.

Update! G’n'f’n'r has added the song to their Imeem page!

Chinese Democracy – Guns N Roses

Besides being a decent song, fans should defiantly be rejoicing about this song. As this is the first official G’N'R radio release since 1999’s forgettable “Oh My God”.

Also, it further proves that Chinese Democracy may actually be released as promised this time.

Besides “Chinese Democracy” hitting radio stations at 5 am this morning, Axl has been smartly releasing tracks from the new album within the last couple of months. There was “Shackler’s Revenge” on Rock Band 2, and then there was the track “If The World” being played during the credits of Body of Lies.

While Axl has teased us with tours and MTV appearances over the last few years, this finally seems to be the real deal. It’s one thing to go out on the road and test some new material, but it’s quit different to actually release finished material. Now that we have three tracks officially out there, it looks like we’re finally going to have Chinese Democracy.

I hate to say it, but, kudos Axl on a job well done.

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