Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy and the Charts
The Rise and Fall of GNR’s Long-Awaited New Album
Dec 16, 2008
On December 4th the Media Traffic website declared Guns N’ Roses’ (GNR) Chinese Democracy to be the biggest selling album of the week. In its United World Chart Official Global Hitlist it had Chinese Democracy top with 640,000 sales, followed by Kanye West’s 808s and Heartbreak with 546,000 and the Killers’ Day and Age with 486,000.
Where is Axl Rose? Guns N’ Roses Singer Avoids the Media
Chinese Democracy hit top spot in the global hitlist in its second week on the chart, after it was released on a Sunday in the United States of America (USA). Sunday is usually avoided as a release day, because it is at the end of the week for the chart figures, and most bands choose to release new records at the start of the chart week.
The Sunday release day suggests that GNR were unworried about chart position, and prepared to commit sales suicide. This was emphasised by lead singer and only surviving member of the original band, Axl Rose, not appearing anywhere in public or the media. Axl Rose would later provide a couple of interviews.
Chinese Democracy Sells on Advertising, Streaming and Fan Loyalty
Despite Axl Rose’s no show there was quite an extensive media advertising campaign, including prime-time television adverts that started with their 1987 hit Sweet Child of Mine before morphing into album title track, Chinese Democracy. Images of important world and media events during the time it took to record and release the record was juxtaposed with a countdown of the years.
GNR's MySpace site also streamed the album in the week before its release, which provided listeners with an appetiser for Democracy. Forums such as www.chinesedemocracy.com also saw fans supporting and promoting the album, with a devotion that is rare in today’s throwaway music industry.
Chinese Democracy seems to include musical styles that reflect Axl Rose's varied musical influences.
The Chart Positions
The fans’ loyalty, combined with media interest in the long-awaited album and mainly positive reviews meant that the album charted well upon its release, although it would probably have done even better if Axl Rose and the band had been enthusiastically promoting it.
In the USA it reached number 3, behind Kanye West and Taylor Swift’s Fearless. In the UK it hit number 2, behind the Killers. It reached number 1 in Finland, Brazil, Canada, New Zealand and Switzerland, and was top 4 in over ten of the other major national markets. It also became the European top seller, as well as the world.
However, the initial euphoria of a Guns N’ Roses release for its fans was not followed up with any new videos, and Axl went AWOL, as previously mentioned. This meant the album dropped out of the UK top 10 in its second week, and its sales in the USA have also plummeted.
That documents the rise and fall of Chinese Democracy. Another rise in the continuing saga depends on whether Axl Rose will reappear, tour and publicise.
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