Chinese Democracy Tour of Europe was announced in December 2000 as a New Year's Day performance at the House of Blues in Las Vegas. It was also rumoured that the long-awaited "Chinese Democracy" would be released in June 2001, for which the scheduled European Tour would be promotional. Guns N' Roses – then composed of vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarists Buckethead and Robin Finck, rhythm guitarist Paul Tobias (who joined in 1994 to replace Gilby Clarke), bassist Tommy Stinson, drummer Brain and keyboardists Dizzy Reed (still with the band since joining in 1990) and Chris Pitman (who joined between 1998 and 2000) –
Democracy (album) 1996 by Youth's record label Butterfly Records in conjunction with Big Life, on CD and cassette. It reached number 71 in the UK Albums Chart. One single, the title track "Democracy", was released on 11 March 1996. It reached number 39 in the UK Singles Chart. The album was reissued in remastered form in February 2008 by Let Them Eat Vinyl, featuring a bonus track, a remix of "Democracy". Critical response to "Democracy" has been generally mixed. Adrien Begrand of PopMatters commented that on the album "the band sounds watered down". "Trouser Press" called the album "the wrong kind of