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
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