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Guns N' Roses' latest sweet album o’ mine will soon be on shelves. The long-anticipated Chinese Democracy is set to be released on November 23rd, 2008. This is their first album since 1991's Use Your Illusion I and II.

There is a lot of pressure for the band's 6th studio offering to live up to high standards set by eager fans. Frontman Axl Rose has been producing Chinese Democracy in the San Fernando Valley for more than a decade with a lineup that few fans of classic Guns N' Roses are likely to recognize.

Gone from the band are guitarists Slash and Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Steven Adler. The only remaining members from the band's glory days are Rose and keyboardist Dizzy Reed.

According to the official Guns N' Roses website (www.gunsnroses.com), the rest of the band's studio lineup consists of guitarists Robin Finck, Richard Fortus, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal, and Tommy Stinson, drummers Brian “Brain” Mantia and Frank Ferrer, and Keyboardist Chris Pitman.

“It's a very complex record, I'm trying to do something different. Some of the arrangements are kind of like Queen. Some people are going to say, 'It doesn't sound like Axl Rose, it doesn't sound like Guns N' Roses.' But you'll like at least a few songs on there,” Rose told Rolling Stone Magazine.

The New York Times reported that the album cost $13 million to produce, making it the most expensive album to never be released. With a confirmed release date, the album will now have to live up to its hefty price tag.

Ten songs have been confirmed: Chinese Democracy, The Blues, Madagascar, I.R.S., Better, There Was a Time, Sorry, Rhiad & The Beduins, Silkworms, and Catcher in the Rye.

Rumor has it that Dave Navarro may lend his hand on guitar and Shaquille O’Neal will contribute his vocal stylings. Fans of Sebastian Bach will be excited to hear his vocal cameo on the track Sorry.

As for past members of the band, Axl had this to say: “I know that many of you are disappointed that some of the people you came to know and love could not be with us here today. Regardless of what you have heard or read, people worked very hard, meaning my former friends, to do everything they could so that I could not be here today. I say [expletive] that. I am as hurt and disappointed as you that unlike Oasis, we could not find a way to all get along.”

The long recording process was not without its quirks. Spin Magazine’s website said Rose painted the walls of his home four inches deep with wet adobe from the Sonoran Desert to capture a specific drum sound.

Muddy drum sounds or not, many fans just are hoping that this album can live up to fifteen years of anticipation.