Chinese Democracy second-worst GNR record; as a figure of speech, it is shorthand for the grandest of boondoggles." Hyden wrote that the album had served as a lesson for acts who took years to release "comeback" albums, demonstrating the perils of allowing backstory to overshadow the work and failing to provide a familiar product. He compared "Chinese Democracy" to subsequent, successful comeback albums by acts including Daft Punk, David Bowie, Justin Timberlake and My Bloody Valentine, which were "more modest" and offered "well-trod musical territory associated with each artist". "Far Out" saw the album as anachronistic; where Rose had once commanded "loyal
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."