Chinese Democracy

A promise, often made more than once over an extended period of time, which the person is either unwilling or unable to keep. The phrase originated in November of 1999 when Axl Rose's manager first officially announced the title of the next Guns N' Roses album, expected to release sometime the following year (2000). The album was not released in 2000, but the promise to release it "next year" was repeated then, as it has been subsequently repeated every year since, without result. By 2003 the title had become a joke in itself. That year punk band The Offspring announced they would be using the title for their own upcoming album; a sort of protest against Axl's endless delays, which was commonly interpreted as a statement of "you snooze, you lose," although none of the band members or their representatives ever turned that particular phrase. After being served with a Cease-And-Desist Order from Axl's attorneys, the band released the album as Splinter. Chinese Democracy, should it ever actually be released, would be the first album from Guns N' Roses since their 1991 release of Use Your Illusion 1 and Use Your Illusion 2, although many fans claim it would not actually be a Guns N' Roses album despite the use of the name because Axl Rose is the only original member still in the band.