New Guns N' Roses Tracks Leaked

Apparently this time, Axl Rose wasn't kidding.

The reclusive Guns N' Roses frontman promised "new music this year" when he made a surprise appearance at a Korn tour launch party in Hollywood last month. But he's been singing the same "any day now" tune about his next album, the near-mythical Chinese Democracy, for almost a decade, so few fans took the assurance to heart.

Just last week, however, tracks began surfacing on the Internet that appear to be bonafide studio versions of new GnR material. There have been conflicting reports about the tracks, and of course we here at ARTISTdirect wouldn't be caught dead snagging illegal downloads, so they're hard for us to verify. One version of the story mentions two leaked tracks, "Twat" and "The Blues," while an AP report this week lists three bootlegs, including "IRS," "Better" and "There Was a Time," all songs named by Axl in a recent Rolling Stone interview.

Whichever tracks are out there, one thing seems clear: For the Axl Rose faithful, the long wait may finally be over. And even if Chinese Democracy doesn't surface by this summer, fans can at least make the journey to Donington Park in England for the Download Festival in June. Guns N' Roses -- the new version, minus Slash and other founding members -- are scheduled to co-headline the festival with Metallica.

-- The ARTISTdirect Staff
02.21.06