Admit it, you thought it would never happen.

If you asked your average rock fan they would probably have said that there was more chance of the CIA admitting their part in the assasination of Kennedy and Ringo Starr signing another autograph than the new Guns N Roses album seeing daylight.

Well a couple of weeks back it finally happened. After 17 years, a million false starts and a revolving door policy on guitarists and producers the most anticipated and hyped album ever, dropped on to my desk. Guns N' Roses, Chinese Democracy.

Having lived with it for a couple of weeks, I thought it was time to make my reviewing debut.

So what was I expecting? Well, after hearing countless leaked tracks over the last ten years I just hoped the production had improved and the majority of the dross I had heard hadn't made the final cut. I was relieved to both counts.

Is it a masterpiece? No. Will it become a classic like Appetite for Destruction? No. Is it a good album? Surprisingly, Yes.

Not sure why I was suprised really, after all Axl Rose has always had a good turn of lyric and a great ear for melody which has been at the surface of all the previous GNR albums.

On the new album the stand out tracks 'Shackler's Revenge', 'Better', 'Street Of Dreams', 'I.R.S', 'Catcher In The Rye' and 'Riad And the Bedouins' all benefit from Axl's talents and their are definite glimpses of the past glories. If I was being honest then their are maybe 3 songs too many on the album but I guess if you've waited nearly two decades to release your new album then you want to cram as much on it as possible.

It's all too easy to say "It's not Guns N' Roses." Or, "Slash would've played that better". Well he may well have played it better but he didn't and isn't likely too so move past it.

The musicianship however is of a very high standard as you'd expect form a control freak perfectionist like Mr Rose. There are certain elements of an industrial sound in places and a gentle leaning towards Metallica in others but to counter balance that you'll find a couple of sweeping piano led songs that would have sat snugly next to November Rain on the Illusion albums of so long ago.

When all is said and done the album is finally out there and people can now stop talking about it in a mythical way.

As I said earlier, its b no means a classic but it is a strong rock album and believe you me there are many a young rock band out there that would love to have released this album and quite possibly if they had it would be hailed as a modern classic given how fickle and brown nosed as the majority of the current music press is.

Not surprisingly rumours are already doing the round that Axl was more or less forced to finally release it ahead of schedule l (if you can believe it) so as to clear the way for the full on GNR reunion next year. Watch this space as they say because in the world of Guns n Roses and particular the walking time bomb that is Axl Rose it may just happen. Alternatively check back in 2028 for my review of the new Guns N Roses album.