(Credit: Alamy)

Guns N’ Roses were going to be a shell of their former selves after the tour for Use Your Illusion. After coming off a worldwide tour that involved going around the globe twice, no one wanted to deal with Axl Rose’s antics anymore, gradually leaving ‘The World’s Most Dangerous Band’ to get their rocks off somewhere else. Though fans were tied over by the covers album “The Spaghetti Incident?”, the long wait for Chinese Democracy began to feel like an eternity.

As Rose tried to get a stable lineup for the group, there would always be slight teaser tracks coming out before the album’s release. While a handful of tracks may have been passable, like their song ‘Oh My God’ from the Arnold Schwarzenegger film End of Days, Rose would usually commit to an album release date only to pull it.

By the time the early 2000s were dawning, it looked like the band had a sort-of steady lineup, taking the stage at the MTV Awards with resident guitar weirdo Buckethead filling Slash’s shoes. Then again, any member that was onstage with Rose that night was just a short sample of who was actually going to be on the record.

Throughout the recording cycle, Chinese Democracy went through countless session musicians trying to get the tracks right. On guitar duties alone, Rose went through every legend that took his call, with Buckethead, Ron ‘Bumblefoot’ Thal, Robin Finck, and Paul Tobias being credited.

For all of the hangups that come with Axl Rose, his bandmates weren’t too far behind. During the recording, a story came out detailing Buckethead’s recording regiment, often appearing in costume and insisting that a chicken coop is in the studio for him so that he would have a place to relax.

With production being backed up, Geffen Records eventually lost their temper, suing Rose in 2004 for not delivering the album on time. Even though Rose eventually lost the suit, it would take a few more years for the album to hit store shelves.

After various leaks of the album came out online, GNR released the first song from the record, ‘Shackler’s Revenge’, in 2008 as part of a package deal with the latest Rock Band video game, with the album coming out a few months later. When fans finally had a new Guns N’ Roses album in their hands, though, it was a far cry from the Aerosmith-flavoured hard rock of their early days.

Containing the most overproduced songs in rock history and Rose’s voice fluctuating depending on the song, the album was not greeted with open arms by most fans. Even with all of the hype, the most shocking aspect of the album was its price tag.

After working on it for over a decade, Chinese Democracy became the most expensive rock album ever made, costing $13million before it finally saw a mainstream release. While the money can be heard in every chord, Rose’s need to make something perfect created an album that was far too polished from what used to be a band synonymous with grit and grime. Although it might have been chalked up to the rock and roll excess of the time, Chinese Democracy is what happens when a rock star takes the phrase ‘I can do whatever I want’ too seriously.