Chinese Democracy a "toe-tapper". Early Guns N' Roses guitarist Tracii Guns said he thought it was "over-indulgent, sterile and not that exciting". "Chinese Democracy"'s protracted recording process attracted extensive media coverage. According to "Spin", a cottage industry grew around covering its development; "the only way the record could have lived up to its legend would have been to never come out at all". Five years after its release, "Grantland" journalist Steven Hyden wrote: "For years, it was widely assumed "Chinese Democracy" would never come out; in retrospect, the delay is all anybody cares about ... As music, "Chinese Democracy" is merely the
Chinese Democracy Tour release of "Chinese Democracy" was in Taiwan on December 11, 2009. In the same month the group played South Korea for the first time, as well as two dates in Japan. Since 2010 the tour has continued with concerts in North America, South/Central America, Europe and Australia. As of late 2010, the entire tour had attracted a total audience of about 4,000,000 people. The ten-year tour came to a close on the final day of 2011, with a New Year's Eve show in Las Vegas. The bulk of the band remained stable throughout the tour: lead vocalist Axl Rose; keyboardist