Credit: Found On Internet

We admit it – Music Towers had our doubts that Axl Rose really would deliver the 17-years-in-the-making Chinese Democracy album by the proposed Thanksgiving release date. But given that the title track is all over the internet following its official unveiling today, and that HMV appear to have confirmed what the PR people have told us – a UK release date of November 24 – it looks like it might actually be coming out.

So what do you think? On the one hand, there wasn’t a trouser leg’s chance in dogland of this not being a disappointment on some levels – after a wait of the best part of 20 years (well, nine years, if you count the solitary new track that surfaced on the End Of Days soundtrack), and a reported $13million production cost, every song on the new album was never going to live up to expectations. It doesn’t have Slash playing on it.

On the other hand though, it’s got big fuck-off guitars, Axl Rose’s trademark wail doesn’t seem to have changed since 1987. It’s got a ridiculously over-blown intro. Despite all the fears that Guns were going in a new direction (remember all that talk about an industrial record? Urgh), it’s still recognisably a GnR track.

We’re still undecided – we can’t help but unfavourably judge it against all the bullshit that’s surrounded GnR for years. With Appetite For Destruction pretty much our favourite record of all time, we struggle to feel anything past "mildly underwhelmed".

What do you think? Let us know. Want to hear the track? Go listen to it on XFM’s Listen Again feature.

Still, I’m glad I’m not a Dr Pepper executive right now.