Just had a PM on another music site stating the same thing.

One just wonders, if something happened during the month leading up to the release which led Best Buy to drastically cut back on their promotion--either internally with their sliding sales #'s, or due to something that GNR did, or failed to do?

Well, this thing will be lucky to push an additional 25K next week.  Best Buy should be ashamed of their efforts--pathetic.  They may have decided to write this thing off the books--as they need as many write-offs as possible (just about every U.S. retailer does right now--we are on the verge of the 2nd Great Depression).  This also, combined with Aguilera's exclusive Target bomb, may make Azoff think twice about these exclusives.  He struck gold with the Eagles and ACDC (Wal Mart, 4000 of them, and the demographics match up), but struck out with CA and GNR.  GNR has many fans in rural areas of the US, and they cannot afford to drive three hours both ways to buy the album, and don't have high speed internet.  I still cannot believe, though, just how pathetic Best Buy rolled this out--they did virtually nothing to push this, and in fact, almost hid the thing from the first hour onwards.  Pathetic!   

The material is there, and Axl should have released this thing in 2000 or 2001 as a solo record--where it would have pushed platinum status and would not have leaked, and would have been critically acclaimed. 

Anyone who thinks they will see GNR live again, without the top-hatted one and Duff in the mix is out of there minds.  As far as GNR is concerned, it's reunion, permanent hibernation, or bankruptcy.

Where is this 300K # confirmed?  I don't believe it's sold much more than 150,000 units.  That is my own guess, but that 300K number seems high.  Sales were dismal after last Sunday for this set.  The music is good, real good, but the whole roll out was horrendous; with that said, the album is very unique and was obviously the culmination of much hard work.  I hope people don't forget that great sales do not equate to great art, or that lackluster sales equate to bad art.

--Azoff has to be in heaven, as there is no doubt, he now has the leverage needed to convince Axl the only way his genius will be respected is through a reunion.

--There is almost no way the current line-up can tour, as they would struggle to sell out theaters--even with Bucket back.

--Album is under performing world-wide due to a multitude of mis-steps, namely as many have mentioned the stupid myspace gimmick and in the U.S. there only being about 1000 Best Buy's (not to mention Universal and Best Buy's horrible promotion efforts).

--I am of the belief that UMG held back promoting this either to force a reunion (Iovine's statement last Monday was a joke of some sort, as there has been no evidence of any push of this album from UMG, other than mailing a few hundred singles to the radio station with no notes or anything), or that they know one is already at hand.  There is no other possible explanation that they only paid for the shiteous in-store promotion at Best Buy and did not push the songs at all to radio, or push for interviews, or gain exposure in one of thousands of other ways.

Again, if GNR are going to resurface in 2009 as a workable unit ever again, it will be with Slash, Axl, Duff, and Izzy together.  That is the only conceivable way after this flat rejection.