First off, the CD release is now closer than it has ever been. There's no point in beating around the bush and we might as well collectively admit it. We're closer than we were in the last times, which were late 2000, late 2002 and late 2006. I don't count the infamous March 2007 tentative release into the equation, as it became apparent fairly soon into the year that Axl kept recording bits n' pieces and ultimately, was going to miss the moment. There's no great hype going on this time around, no worldwide anticipation we last experienced two years ago. The general response now seems to be, 'So it'll come out. Great. About time to move on.' Interest rate is in null and void, with or without new management, Rock Band 2 and Body of Lies.

Which is actually a good thing.

Guns N' Roses solified their near-mythical status in modern music with the release of the UYI's and the controversial events of the everlasting world tour. Izzy left, riots ensued, Izzy came back. Axl ranted about whatever he felt was wrong in the world, be it harsh conditions of growing up in Indiana or Warren Beatty taking his sweetheart to dinner. GNR left the limelight in a glorious fashion, turning itself from a lean and mean underdog into a decandent rock n' roll monster, claiming the throne just in time for Kurt Cobain to rise as the challenger, the Axl Rose of grunge. The remnants of GNR stepped down and self-destructed with a whimper as Cobain ended the story of Nirvana with one decided bang.

As time passed, everyone began to look back for Axl to come back and finish what he'd started. But Axl never fully arrived.

Axl's glorious quest to record the ultimate rock album received a mythic status before a single note was even heard in public. Such was his status that people truly believed he could deliver without any other members of the original lineup. Such was the desperation and disarray after Cobain refused to take on the mantle Axl'd left behind. Chinese Democracy became a symbol, a hail-mary chanted throughout the 90's as drought swept across the rock charts. Axl would deliver, basically because he had to, because the alternative would've meant that all hope is gone. For a time, this belief was shared by the music industry, the press, the fans and Geffen Records.

Little by little, all of them started to catch up with the fact that they'd been fooling themselves; ruefully speaking, using their illusions. Axl may be able to deliver a good album, yet CD can never be all things for all people. The bar was simply set at an impossible height.

As the Great Work has finally been completed, Axl reportedly has several albums in store. The question now remains, why should anyone give a damn anymore. CD itself will feature perhaps around 3-5 tracks which have so far gone unheard. The existing songs will introduce a varying amount of bells and whistles not yet realized in versions heard in the course of the past seven years. If anything, the fanbase will be provided with a much-needed closure to an overlong saga, in which the music itself hasn't proved to be the final punchline. Axl may come out of hiding to provide some answers to the never-ending process, which may be more interesting than the umpteenth ('final') version of Madagascar.

Ironically, this may prove to be the collective salvation of the GNR fanbase. No longer are we bracing ourselves for a leap to the unknown, wondering how the album will sound like. We know what it sounds like, the important thing now is to put the White Elephant into history books and see if Axl has some additional tricks up his sleeve before the almost-inevitable reunion.

Axl went out into the wilderness in the halcyon days with a prospect to return as a conquering hero. After so many false starts, heightened expectations and various disappointments, he may have finally succeeded in downgrading his version of GNR from the rock god status preserved for the old lineup (and the aformentioned reunion), and might finally be entitled to a fair trial and evaluation by their existing merits.

After all this time, it's a good thing for Axl, his band and the fans in general. Never mind the second coming, here's to just an album!