GUNS N' ROSES: 'Chinese Democracy' Barely Hanging In U.S. Top 30

GUNS N' ROSES' new album, "Chinese Democracy", sold 47,000 copies in the United States in its third week of release to land at position No. 29 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD has shifted 365,000 units since it was released on November 23 as a Best Buy exclusive after a wait of more than 15 years.

Following his two question-and-answer sessions on GUNS N' ROSES fan boards late last week, singer W. Axl Rose has responded to further questions about the breakup of the original lineup and other issues in a lengthy, nearly 5,000-word post at MyGNRForum.com. In the post, Rose gives his side of the story, in sometimes hard-to-follow fashion, regarding how he came to own the band name, why all the other original members left the group and whether it's right for him to keep using the name when he's the only founding member left.

Rose seems to lay most of the blame for the years of turmoil in the GUNS camp at the feet of former guitarist Slash. Discussing a famous incident in which Slash said that Rose refused to go onstage for a show unless the rest of the band signed over the name to him, Rose writes, "Never happened, all made up, fallacy and fantasy. Not one single solitary thread of truth to it. Had that been the case I would've have been cremated years ago legally, could've cleaned me out for the name and damages."

In other excerpts, Rose addresses Slash's contention that the earliest recording sessions for what ultimately became the new GUNS N' ROSES album, "Chinese Democracy", were stopped because of musical differences. Rose says, "I have the rehearsal tapes. There's nothing but Slash-based blues rock and he stopped it to both go solo and try to completely take over GUNS ... I was specifically told no lyrics, no melodies, no changes to anything and to sing what I was told or fuck off."

When asked why he still uses the GUNS name, Rose replies, "I'm literally the last man standing. Not bragging, not proud. It's been a fucking nightmare, but I didn't leave GUNS and I didn't drive others out ... I'm supposed to throw the baby out with the bath water?"

As for the notion of releasing "Chinese Democracy", which came out after 17 years last month, as a solo record instead of a GUNS album, Rose writes, "This is who I am ... I don't see myself as solely GUNS, but I do see myself as the only one from the past making the effort to take it forward."

Responding to whether the original GUNS would reunite if it was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Rose says, "Not to offend anyone but personally I don't have an interest ... It's a ways away and seems a bit presumptuous to be contemplating being inducted now."

In other news, Kevin Cogill, who was arrested in August for allegedly leaking nine tracks from the then-unreleased "Chinese Democracy" album online through his blog, pleaded guilty violating federal copyright laws in a Los Angeles court on Monday (December 15). According to the Associated Press, Cogill's plea deal requires him to cooperate with investigators and may lead to a sentence of up to a year in federal prison, probation and a large fine.