Guns N' Roses Return To Radio With "Chinese Democracy"

Radio listeners were rewarded for their years of patience this morning when rock stations across the country added Guns n' Roses' official new single "Chinese Democracy" to their playlists. (A few hours later, the band confirmed news of the album's November 23rd Best Buy arrival — and Dr. Pepper has laid out plans to distribute all that free soda). The track marks the first time a Chinese Democracy song has been officially released to radio, as opposed to leaked. As promised, Axl Rose announces his return with a scream before the full guitar assault shows up. The song is comparable to the leaked versions that have emerged, but even on an Internet stream the sound quality is clearly superior. So was it worth the wait? Listen here and decide for yourself:

After just 24 hours, the band's reps report that it got a whopping 683 full-length spins on the radio Chinese Democracy, as we told you, will hit Best Buy stores on November 23rd.

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Song Stories

“All Along the Watchtower”

The Jimi Hendrix Experience | 1968

Jimi Hendrix got hold of Bob Dylan's early John Wesley Harding tapes and in late 1967 recorded a version of "All Along the Watchtower" with the Experience in London. Dissatisfied with that first development, Hendrix brought those tapes with him to New York in early 1968 when he began work on Electric Ladyland. Eddie Kramer, Hendrix's engineer at the time, told Rolling Stone that Hendrix "was still looked upon by his basically white audience as the mammoth black guitar hero. There was a constant fight within him to expand himself." Hendrix's successful take on Dylan's work has long been recognized by the songwriter. "I liked Jimi Hendrix's record of this and ever since he died I've been doing it that way," Dylan wrote in the liner notes to his Biograph box set. "Strange how when I sing it, I always feel it's a tribute to him in some kind of way."

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