hinese State Media Against New Guns N’ Roses Album

Rock band Guns N’ Roses has released its first studio album in fifteen years and its provocative title – “Chinese Democracy” – has understandably irked China’s Communist Party.

A newspaper published by the Chinese Communist Party caustically criticized Guns N’ Roses’ most recent album as an attack on the Chinese nation, reports the Associated Press, quoting the Global Times. The album is said to “turn its spear point on China.”

Guns N’ Roses released their last studio album in 1993; “The Spaghetti Incident?” consisted of cover versions of 1970s and 1980s punk and glam rock songs. Their previous “Appetite for Destruction,” “Use Your Illusion I” and “Use Your Illusion II” albums had already turned them into a superband.

The band has been working on “Chinese Democracy” since 1994 – in the end, Axl Rose, the 46-year-old frontman, is the only original member left. The album became available in North America this Sunday, November 23.

Then again, many fans had already listened to the music when it was mysteriously leaked on the Internet by a man that pleaded not guilty to breaking copyright laws in a Los Angeles court last month. Kevin Cogill, a 27-year-old man from Culver City, California, is alleged to have leaked nine new songs from the album on his website, Antiquiet.com, in June. He afterwards took them down but the harm had been done.

In August, he was arrested and then released on $10,000 bail. Authorities said at the time he faced up to three years in jail if convicted. If he is found to have had a profit from uploading the songs, he can face an even longer sentence. Cogill has no known direct connection to the band.

While fans of the rock band from around the world have been eagerly awaiting the long-delayed release of the album, it is unlikely that “Chinese Democracy” will be released in China. The Associated Press reports spokespersons for the Culture Ministry and State Administration of Radio, Film and Television could not be reached for comment as of Monday. These are the government bodies which regulate album releases and performances in China.

The album has not been officially banned yet. It is not only the title that may worry Chinese authorities. The record’s title track makes reference to the Falun Gong movement that was banned in China as an “illegal cult.”

One song from “Chinese Democracy,” titled “Shackler’s Revenge,” was made available in September, when Harmonix and MTV Games released Rock Band 2. All of the tracks are available for listening, but not downloading, on Guns N’ Roses’ MySpace page.

Via efluxmedia.com