Another addition from November 1999, regarding the number of songs, Axl Rose and Kurt Loder

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Loder: How much stuff have you got for this new album? You've been working on this for a long time. Is there just tons of material?

Rose: We've been working on, I don't know, 70 songs.

Loder: Oh!

Rose: The record will be about, anywhere from 16 to 18 songs, but we recorded at least two albums' worth of material that is solidly recorded. But we are working on a lot more songs than that at the same time... in that way, what we're doing is exploring so, you know, you get a good idea, you save it, and then maybe you come back to it later, or maybe you get a good idea and you go, "That's really cool, but that's not what we're looking for. Okay, let's try something new." You know, basically taking the advance money for the record and actually spending it on the record.

I don't think these tracks were given a chance.

If Green Day could release a popular rock opera album in 2004 then you have to expect that anything was possible during this time.

Slash was asked about the EP by Trunk, it is nonsense.

We can start a new album thread mid November based on the written word. South American press are going on about a tour of at least five countries starting the end of March for new material. Slash also mentioned March in his interview.

Hard School, is the only track confirmed for the new album based on multiple photos of the alt setlist. Duff and Slash have put forward new songs, based on interviews over the past two years. Axl has obviously been quiet the past year and has recorded Rock the Rock.

Remember that new tracks are registered on ASCAP/SESAC before release, we have umgb2b for universal based released info ahead of time, Sterling will master, and Slash will not spend too long in a studio based on multiple interviews.

It is a great album, it has a good flow and the songs feel less cluttered. Given that the album didn't come out at the time, I think Chinese Democracy had to be what it was in 2008 because it had to reflect the journey it had been on.

It might be that different lyrics were attached to songs at different points in time.

The start of an Axl interview from 2012

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Edna Gundersen, USA TODAY

The Guns N' Roses singer says new music will come sooner than the band's long-awaited 'Chinese Democracy' did.

Few front men in rock 'n' roll have been as controversial, sensationalized or polarizing as Axl Rose, who suffered sexual and physical abuse in childhood, led Guns N' Roses to global fame starting with 1987's Appetite for Destruction and engineered its collapse a few years later. He spent years in seclusion hiring and firing new players while tinkering endlessly on 2008's Chinese Democracy. His current GNR lineup takes the stage Wednesday night in the first of a dozen shows at The Joint in Las Vegas' Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. In a rare interview, the press-leery Rose shares his thoughts on Guns now and then, old wounds and the music industry.

New music: "All the guys are writing, and we recorded a lot of songs over the years. We'll figure out what we feel best about. Chinese was done in piecemeal with one person here and one there at different times. Appetite for Destruction was the only thing written with lyrics and melody fitting the guitar parts at the same time. After that, I got a barrage of guitar songs that I was supposed to put words to, and I don't know if that was the best thing for Guns. I do want to lean more toward lyrics and melody."

The long wait for Chinese Democracy: "I had to deal with so many other things that don't have to do with music but have to do with the industry. There's such a loss of time. It was more about survival. There wasn't anyone to work with or trust. Someone would come in to help produce and the reality was they just wanted to mix it and get it out the door. They had a different agenda. (The next album) will come out sooner."

Songwriting slump: Supermodel girlfriend Stephanie Seymour and original Guns guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan "did more damage to my ability as a writer. To those three, it was all crap. It beat me down so much. At the time of the (Use Your Illusion) tours, Slash and Duff said, 'You're an idiot, you're a loser.' I didn't write for years. I felt I was hindered for a very long time. I was also trying to figure out what I wanted to say, when it's right to be venting and when you're digging a bigger hole. Lyrics on Chinese took a long time."