Chinese Democracy (song) their Chinese Democracy Tour in 2001, 2002, 2006 and 2007. The final line of the song was originally "like if your ass were your head, you can tell", but was ultimately changed to "when their arms reach out for your help". Axl Rose introduced the band's first live performance of the song in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 1, 2001 with the following: "Chinese Democracy" has been played live at most Guns N' Roses shows since the first "Chinese Democracy" Tour in 2001. With each tour, the performances drastically changed, gaining more background structure and guitar parts, along with a
Chinese Democracy audiences, bountiful royalties, escalating ambitions and dangerously open-ended deadlines", the music business in the early 21st century had become "leaner" and "leakier". In a 2015 review inducting the album into their "New Classic Albums" category, Artistdirect praised the album, calling it "a timeless work of art". Best Buy purchased 1.3 million copies of "Chinese Democracy" from UMG before release and pledged not to return unsold copies. The album was released on November 22, 2008, in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. It was released the following day worldwide, except for the United Kingdom, where it was released on November 24. "Chinese Democracy"