Several days before its release, the band streamed the album on their Myspace page. It was streamed over 3 million times, breaking the Myspace record for most streamed album ever. After the album's release, Rose did not appear in public for several months and did not respond to calls from the label to promote the album. On December 12, Rose answered questions and posted statements regarding the record, former bandmates, and tour plans on several Guns N' Roses fan forums. On February 9, 2009, in his first official interview since the release, Rose said he had "no information for me to believe there was any real involvement or effort from Interscope". In a 2018 look back, "Billboard" decried the marketing for the album, stating: "The most anticipated rock record in history was murdered by a thousand different jabs and body shots, including artwork the artist wasn't committed to, but the colossal marketing blunder was the Tyson-esque knockout punch."