Editing Chinese Democracy (section)

=== Legacy ===
{{Music ratings
| title     = Retrospective reviews
|rev1=[[ARTISTdirect]]
|rev1score=very positive<ref name="ARTDIR"/>
| rev2 = ''[[Martin Popoff|Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal]]''
| rev2score = 3/10<ref>{{cite book |last1=Popoff |first1=Martin |last2=Perri|first2=David|author-link1=Martin Popoff |title=The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 4: The '00s |publisher=[[Collector's Guide Publishing]] |year=2011 |location=[[Burlington, Ontario]], [[Canada]] |isbn=9781-926592-20-6 |page=196}}</ref>
|rev3=''[[Classic Rock (magazine)|Classic Rock]]''
|rev3score={{rating|2.5|5}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Guns N' Roses: Chinese Democracy – Album Of The Week Club review |author= |work=loudersound |date=June 10, 2019 |access-date=September 22, 2021 |url= https://www.loudersound.com/reviews/guns-n-roses-chinese-democracy-album-of-the-week-club-review }}</ref>
|rev4=''[[Decibel (magazine)|Decibel]]''
|rev4score=positive<ref>{{Cite web |title=Justify Your Shitty Taste: Guns N' Roses' "Chinese Democracy" – Decibel Magazine |first=Shawn |last=Macomber |work=Decibel Magazine |date=February 23, 2011 |access-date=September 22, 2021 |url= https://www.decibelmagazine.com/2011/02/23/justify-your-shitty-taste-guns-n-roses-chinese-democracy/ |quote=}}</ref>
}}

''Chinese Democracy''{{'}}s protracted recording process attracted extensive media coverage.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|url=http://grantland.com/features/justin-timberlake-daft-punk-chinese-democracy-effect/|title=Building a Better Democracy|last=Hyden|first=Steven|date=July 23, 2013|work=Grantland|access-date=June 26, 2018|language=en-US|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150616055730/http://grantland.com/features/justin-timberlake-daft-punk-chinese-democracy-effect/|archive-date=June 16, 2015}}</ref> According to ''[[Spin (magazine)|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".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.spin.com/2008/11/last-chinese-democracy-blog-post-ever-probably/|title=The Last 'Chinese Democracy' Blog Post Ever, Probably|date=November 24, 2008|work=Spin|access-date=June 26, 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180626192505/https://www.spin.com/2008/11/last-chinese-democracy-blog-post-ever-probably/|archive-date=June 26, 2018}}</ref> 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 second-worst GNR record; as a figure of speech, it is shorthand for the grandest of boondoggles."<ref name=":3" /> Hyden wrote that the album had served as a lesson for acts who took years to release "comeback" albums, demonstrating the perils of allowing backstory to overshadow the work and failing to provide a familiar product. He compared ''Chinese Democracy'' to subsequent, successful comeback albums by acts including [[Daft Punk]], [[David Bowie]], [[Justin Timberlake]], and [[My Bloody Valentine (band)|My Bloody Valentine]], which were "more modest" and offered "well-trod musical territory associated with each artist".<ref name=":3" /> ''Ultimate Classic Rock'' noted the album's reception, stating "The fact that it was, by all standards, a fairly good album, was completely eclipsed by its backstory" and stating that artists such as Bowie, [[Steve Perry]], and [[Tool (band)|Tool]] used the album as an example "by keeping a low profile during production and staying relatively faithful to what fans expected" for long-awaited albums.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/guns-n-roses-chinese-democracy-long-wait/|title=The Long Wait for Guns N' Roses' 'Chinese Democracy'|website=Ultimate Classic Rock|date=November 23, 2018 }}</ref> Multiple publications have used ''Chinese Democracy'' as a noun when describing other long-delayed albums.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/is-limp-bizkits-still-sucks-album-worth-the-10-year-wait|title=Is Limp Bizkit's Still Sucks album worth the 10-year wait?|first=Stephen|last=Hill|date=November 1, 2021|website=louder}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/chinese-democracy-peter-gabriel-albums-finally-coming-out-1234656806/|title=The 'Chinese Democracy' of Peter Gabriel Albums Is Finally Coming Out|first=Andy|last=Greene|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=January 6, 2023}}</ref>

''The New York Times'' saw the album as a "loud last gasp from the reign of the indulged pop star"; where Rose had once commanded "loyal audiences, bountiful royalties, escalating ambitions and dangerously open-ended deadlines", the music business in the early 21st century had become "leaner" and "leakier".<ref name="Pareles"/> [[Jim DeRogatis]] compared the album to the movie ''[[The Godfather Part III]]'', claiming it was a "late-career installment in a beloved franchise that we never thought we'd see," but lamenting that it was "nowhere near enough to stand as an equal artistic accomplishment."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.jimdero.com/News2008/Chinese%20Democracy.htm |title=Guns N' Roses, "Chinese Democracy |last=Jim |first=DeRogatis |date=November 18, 2008}}</ref>

In 2012, ''[[Complex Networks|Complex]]'' named ''Chinese Democracy'' among the "50 Albums That Were Unfairly Hated On", praising Roses's vocals and the musicianship of the band and stating that the album's biggest flaw was the delays in release.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.complex.com/music/a/daniel-margolis/50-albums-that-were-unfairly-hated-on|title=50 Albums That Were Unfairly Hated On|first=Daniel|last=Margolis|website=Complex}}</ref> In a 2015 review inducting the album into their "New Classic Albums" category, [[Artistdirect]] praised the album, calling it "a timeless work of art".<ref name="ARTDIR">{{cite web|url=https://www.artistdirect.com/guns-n-roses/news/new-classic-album-guns-n-roses-chinese-democracy/87080|title=New Classic Album: Guns N' Roses – 'Chinese Democracy'|date=April 29, 2015|work=[[Artistdirect]]|access-date=June 4, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150503032349/http://www.artistdirect.com/entertainment-news/article/new-classic-album-guns-n-roses-chinese-democracy/11696634|archive-date=May 3, 2015 |last1=Direct |first1=Artist }}</ref> In a 2018 look back, ''Billboard'' called the album a "sonic anomaly" of the time due to the mixing and lack of compression making it sound "vintage or alien to rock music fans".<ref name="CD2018"/> A 2018 retrospective review by ''No Recess'' magazine compared the album to "their own version of [[Danzig (band)|Danzig]]'s [[Blackacidevil]]", stating "[After the '90s] the only thing left was to repeat or radically reinvent themselves. Chinese Democracy tries to do both, to varying degrees of 'okay, sure'."<ref name="NOREC">{{Cite web |title=Convolution Is Everything: A Meditation on Chinese Democracy |author=James Greene Jr. |work=norecessmagazine |date=November 23, 2018 |access-date=September 22, 2021 |url= https://www.norecessmagazine.com/single-post/2018/11/23/convolution-is-everything-a-meditation-on-chinese-democracy }}</ref>

''Loudwire'', although ranking the album second to last out of Guns N' Roses studio albums, wrote that there "was a lot of expectation and backlash built up before release" and highlighted "[[Better (Guns N' Roses song)|Better]]", "[[Madagascar (song)|Madagascar]]", "[[Street of Dreams (Guns N' Roses song)|Street of Dreams]]", "[[Shackler's Revenge]]" and "Catcher in the Rye" as standouts.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://loudwire.com/guns-n-roses-albums-ranked/|title=Guns N' Roses Albums Ranked|author=Loudwire Staff|date=August 25, 2016|website=Loudwire}}</ref> ''[[NME]]'' ranked the album last, stating "if you make your fans wait nearly two decades for a record, it's probably going to have to be the best record ever made to impress anyone. ''Chinese Democracy'' wasn't that, but nor was it the worst thing ever either. Instead, it was what you might have expected—epic, overblown and full of noodling guitar solos."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/guns-n-roses-rank-albums-1898913|title=Guns N' Roses – Rank The Albums|first=Rhian|last=Daly|website=[[NME]] |date=December 7, 2016}}</ref>

In 2021, ''Ultimate Guitar'' called the album "unfairly maligned" while highlighting "There Was a Time" as the standout track.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/underrated-guns-n-roses/|title=Underrated Guns N' Roses: Most Overlooked Song From Each Album|first=Bryan|last=Rolli|website=Ultimate Classic Rock|date=April 28, 2021 }}</ref> ''Ultimate Classic Rock'' also highlighted "There Was a Time", and wrote: "At its best, Chinese Democracy recaptures the metallic thunder and epic grandeur of GN'R's heyday."<ref name="UCR21">{{Cite web|url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/underrated-guns-n-roses/|title=Underrated Guns N' Roses: Most Overlooked Song From Each Album|first=Bryan|last=Rolli|date=April 28, 2021|website=Ultimate Classic Rock}}</ref> Journalist [[Gary Graff]] wrote "its sprawling, indulgent insanity is maybe even more fun to hear now than it was at the time" after re-listening to the album in 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/guns-n-roses-chinese-democracy-45-minutes/|title=Slashing 'Chinese Democracy' to 45 Minutes: Roundtable|first=Ultimate Classic Rock StaffUltimate Classic Rock|last=Staff|website=Ultimate Classic Rock|date=November 23, 2021 }}</ref> In 2022, ''Loudwire'' placed the album on a list of "10 Hated Rock + Metal Albums That Are Better Than You Remember", stating "it may be a mess, but there are still some great jams here."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://loudwire.com/avenged-sevenfold-m-shadows-guns-n-roses-chinese-democracy-album-deserves-more-credit/|title=Avenged Sevenfold's M. Shadows Believes One Guns N' Roses Album Deserves More Credit|first=Chad|last=Childers|website=Loudwire|date=June 28, 2022 }}</ref> ''Rolling Stone''{{'}}s Joseph Hudak referred to the album as "criminally under-appreciated" and listed "Catcher in the Rye" as the standout track in 2023.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/guns-n-roses-perhaps-axl-rose-1234808408/|title=Axl Rose Empathizes, Apologizes in New Guns N' Roses Song 'Perhaps'|first=Joseph|last=Hudak|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=August 18, 2023}}</ref>

When listing "The 50 Worst Decisions in Music History" in a 2022 article, ''Rolling Stone''{{'}}s Andy Greene listed "Guns N' Roses begin work on ''Chinese Democracy''" as 29th, saying "Axl and a rotating crew of new gunners spent nearly 15 years laboring away at ''Chinese Democracy'', burning untold millions of dollars and an incalculable amount of fan goodwill in the process... When it finally came out in 2008, few fans were still paying attention. A little patience is one thing. Nearly 20 years is something else."<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Greene |first=Andy |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/worst-decisions-in-music-history-1234626744/chinese-democracy-2007-1234629451/ |title=The 50 Worst Decisions in Music History |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |publisher=Brian Szejka |date=November 28, 2022 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20221129010337/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/worst-decisions-in-music-history-1234626744/chinese-democracy-2007-1234629451/ |archivedate=November 29, 2022 }}</ref> In 2024, Greene ranked the album 4th in ''Rolling Stone''{{'}}s list of "The 50 Most Disappointing Albums" saying "Despite a handful of strong songs [...] the album is ludicrously overcooked".<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/most-disappointing-albums-ever-1235111528/guns-n-roses-chinese-democracy-1235112336/|title=The 50 Most Disappointing Albums of All Time|first=Andy|last=Greene|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=October 11, 2024}}</ref> In 2025, former Guns N' Roses band manager [[Alan Niven]] dismissed the album as an "Axl solo record masquerading under a GN'R logo" and said "The biggest sin of the record was that it was boring".<ref>[https://metalinjection.net/news/guns-n-roses-most-controversial-album-wasnt-bad-it-was-boring-says-former-manager GUNS N' ROSES' Most Controversial Album Wasn't Bad — It Was Boring, Says Former Manager]</ref>