Chinese Democracy which meant that the salaried musicians, engineers, and assistants were often unable to work; Zutaut said: "These fucking people are getting paid shitloads of money and they’re sitting on their arse doing nothing because Axl’s not coming to the studio and they can’t get him on the phone." Zutaut estimated that Guns N' Roses were working on 50 or 60 songs; he went through each with Rose, trying to decide which were worth finishing. According to Zutaut, during his time with the band they completed versions of "The Blues", "Madagascar", "Chinese Democracy", and a "good" version of "Atlas Shrugged". When
Chinese Democracy passing the 500,000-shipped mark on January 7, 2009. "Chinese Democracy" was certified Platinum by the RIAA on February 3, 2009, having shipped one million copies in the United States. The album placed 55th on the 2009 Billboard 200 Year End charts. "Chinese Democracy" secured an IFPI European Platinum Award, having sold more than one million copies in Europe, and had sold 2.6 million units worldwide by February 2009, according to Universal Music. The album also reached triple platinum certification in Canada and was awarded platinum certifications in many countries including Finland, the Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Poland, Romania,