As has been well documented, it looks like the end of the world as we know it will indeed commence at this time a week from now right before we celebrate Thanksgiving.

If you’re a rock fan and even the slightest Guns N’ Roses fan, you might be extra thankful because Chinese Democracy should be arriving at Best Buy. Oh. I’ll be there. If you hate Axl, I don’t blame ya. But just remember. It’s very rare that the truly great acts remain together though I wish I could see him and Slash with the ‘ole gang one more time.

Aren’t they all gonna eventually get inducted into the Rock N’ Roll Hall Of Fame? Life’s too short for such bitterness to last. I hope by that point Axl and Slash will have exchanged pleasantries and just admit they were part of something very special and much better together than apart regardless of whatever success Velvet Revolver and this new version of GNR have.

I believe one thing becomes abundantly clear whether you support Axl, Dizzy Reed and the new guys or not. Nothing will ever be as great as the original band. That’s understood. There will never be another Appetite. So, the critics who don’t even want to give the new stuff the time of day need to take their heads out of their asses. That was dead and buried a long time ago once the Illusions had success.

It had become clear that things were moving in a new direction. So, maybe we should’ve seen the proverbial writing on the wall. Guys eventually get tired of each other from all the touring and say, etc. And GNR sure did their share of partying. It’s hard to fathom that all the original members remain around which means they survived and didn’t become a rock n’ roll statistic which happens all too much.

‘If’ this much anticipated overhyped album is finally coming out, I’m just glad to have some good music to listen to that Axl and his very gifted new band worked on.

When the redone “Chinese Democracy” was finally released recently, I liked it and felt they made some good adjustments to the track giving it more of a better rock sound with a great intro and cool ending.

So, what was going to be in store for “Better?” When I heard this song live at the shows in Hammerstein Ballroom, I came away impressed as it had that classic rock sound full of guitar riffs and Axl rolled into one. It sounded like it’d be one of the ‘better’ songs on the album.

The other day on K-Rock, they introduced the final version and not surprisingly, I sat in the car listening to the end parked sipping on some French Vanilla espresso excited and intrigued by how good it sounded. Judge for yourself:

And one more live version just to compare to:

In concluding my thoughts, this song just has IT. It’s got those awesome riffs and the guitar work from Robin Finck and Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal is tremendous. This has big time potential.

Who knows how the rest of it will sound? But there’s reason for some optimism.