Chinese Democracy Chinese Democracy Chinese Democracy is the sixth and most recent studio album by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses. Released on November 23, 2008, by Geffen Records, it was the first Guns N' Roses studio album since ""The Spaghetti Incident?"" in 1993, and their first album of original studio material since the simultaneous releases of "Use Your Illusion I" and "II" in 1991. In the mid-1990s, amid creative and personal differences, guitarists Slash and Gilby Clarke, bassist Duff McKagan, and drummer Matt Sorum all either quit or were fired. Only singer Axl Rose and keyboardist Dizzy Reed remained. In
Chinese Democracy fist holding a star covered by flailing human figures. Photographs of the Hong Kong skyline and the Chinese military also appear in the booklet. The booklet also includes pictures of Rose, Buckethead, Stinson, Pitman, Finck, Fortus, Bumblefoot, Reed, Brain, and Ferrer alongside lyrics to the songs. Rose stated in December 2008 that two alternate booklets were pending release, adding "the artwork has always been something I've been passionate about, and to release the album with unapproved and unseen final artwork with a 1st work only error filled draft when others more recent were readily available still has not been explained."