Chinese Democracy he played me these songs, asked me my ideas about them... I actually wrote some melodies and stuff.The music was eclectic and at the time that I was doing it there were no lyrics on the songs that I was working on." In February 2001, Geffen head Jimmy Iovine asked Tom Zutaut, whom the label had fired two years previously, to help Guns N' Roses complete "Chinese Democracy". Zutaut was an A&R man who had discovered the band and guided them through the recording of their previous albums. After they had resolved some personal differences, Rose told Zutaut of his
Democracy (album) the river Thames at Henley, with Youth reportedly braving the murky waters for a naked swim. "Democracy" was mixed in Sarm West in London's Portobello Road towards the end of 1995, with the exception of the track "Savage Freedom" which was mixed at Butterfly Studios, Brixton, by celebrated British engineer-producer Ott. However, guitarist Geordie Walker has expressed disappointment with the resulting "Democracy" album. After a short tour in the summer of 1996, the band began their longest career hiatus to date, not reforming until 2002 and releasing their second eponymously titled album in 2003. "Democracy" was released on 1 April