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 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."