Chinese Democracy a "toe-tapper". Early Guns N' Roses guitarist Tracii Guns said he thought it was "over-indulgent, sterile and not that exciting". "Chinese Democracy"'s protracted recording process attracted extensive media coverage. According to "Spin", a cottage industry grew around covering its development; "the only way the record could have lived up to its legend would have been to never come out at all". Five years after its release, "Grantland" journalist Steven Hyden wrote: "For years, it was widely assumed "Chinese Democracy" would never come out; in retrospect, the delay is all anybody cares about ... As music, "Chinese Democracy" is merely the
Chinese Democracy band had publicly given a release date. In an interview held during the launch party for Korn's 2006 tour, Rose told "Rolling Stone": In a 2006 "Rolling Stone" article, Sebastian Bach described "Chinese Democracy" as "epic" and "mind-blowing": "It's a very cool album—it's badass with killer screams, killer guitar riffs, but it's got a totally modern sound. The word for it is 'grand.' It's fucking epic. [Axl has] reinvented himself yet again." Bach also described the album as having "the rawness and the power of "Appetite for Destruction", but it also has the grandiosity of 'November Rain'." Rose said in