I would've promoted it by putting stickers on prostitutes and handing leaflets at the IRS HQ.

But seriously, you raise an interesting point. What we have here is the first of three studio albums ( all nitpickers may revisit the Axl/Trunk interview for confirmation on that ), which is already a $4.3 Million investment for the record company on an even split. Because it'll be the first ( and in the worst case scenario, only ) album to be released, it's by comparison riskier than the other two.

Since Universal controls the publishing rights for the CD sessions material, new GNR music may end up into a Dr Pepper commercial. As people here have ( correctly ) noted, Axl's a very sue-happy individual when it comes to the GNR brand. He fought ferociously against GH and Hollywood Rose, even if the former of which significantly boosted the market value of his own brand! Like hell would he let a soda company ride the name of his labor of love at this hour.

It's no secret that CD also needs a viral marketing campaign to make a decent result in the current market. Advertising's getting more n' more a vicious playground by the minute, remember those 'bodies' in a taxi trunk next to Sopranos bumper stickers? If one decides to go that route, CD needs something ridiculously big. Dr Pepper might just that.

Also, take a look to the far side of the fence. Cadbury Schweppes is in the middle of demerging. Simply put, the candy company and the soda company merged in 1969. Now they're separating. Candy company goes to London stock exchange, soda company goes New York. The timetable shows that the new company, Dr Pepper Snapple Group will be listed on May 7th. They're in a situation where they can sure use nationwide visibility like this.

If it's happening, it's not a coincidence that Dr Pepper's willingly getting involved. However, it's a real stroke of luck for Axl and Universal to have the album "ready" at this hour. If this thing doesn't keel over like the Harley ad ( which's less likely to happen since the album's done now, it seems ), nor will it turn out to be the greatest April Fool ever, things should get very interesting between now and May 7th. Can't see an album for May; might see a single and a Dr Pepper-sponsored event, maybe even a tour. Nothing new in that; remember them Miller Beer-sponsored 'secret' shows for The Cure, with Hole as the opening act?

'How many ads Slash will do this year', or whatever that thread was called on that one board -- what was it, the name kind of escapes me.

The Fragile has some great music in it, but it's not without problems. To me, some bits come out as TDS 2.0, by which I mean that Trent's basically using the same bag of tricks and doesn't even bother to try and renew himself, which - while resulting in tunes he knows in n' out and can make the most of - doesn't exactly push the envelope any further than TDS already did. Some songs (Starfuckers, The Wretched, We're in This Together) set in motion the direction that would become painfully apparent in WT; Trent went poppy, creating these sing-a-longs, which were tailor-made to please a bigger market than TDS. Have you listened to The Fragile demos? There's a roughness in the recordings which proves Trent was still coming off the TDS mindset and polished some tracks up to the point where the edges began to wear off. Hard to say how I'd feel about his original take on the album, but as a rule of thumb, give me an honest TDS 2.0 instead of a masqueraded TDS 2.0 any given day.

Then there's the instrumental tracks as well, which represent the third group of songs. The reason why I can't wholeheartedly embrace The Fragile (despite responding positively to various tracks during the initial hearings) is that I think I hear Trent going on in circles, trying to figure out one of three roads to take; re-do TDS, make radio-friendlier single material the record company's pushing for, or just go and try something else. To me, that something else would come up in some songs of YZ and the majority of Ghosts. WT is a crossbreed of the poppy Trent and the remnants of TDS 2.0. Still a bit of pop left in YZ, while TDS ["tedious" ] no longer seemed to overshadow the creative process as much.

That's pretty much why I have mixed feelings about The Fragile.

Ghosts is great, a welcome return to form after the ever-declining series of underachievements began with The Fragile. Seriously, while the albums from Pretty Hate Machine to The Downward Spiral seemed to be pushing Trent's personal abilities and his then-direction of choice to the limit bit by bit, I felt he sort of lost it afterwards. After you've written the ultimate ode to suicide, what's there to share about your worn-down soul? If I'd be mean, I'd say The Fragile stood little apart from its predecessors aside the piano. With Teeth featured some of the most uninspired Trent lyrics and sounds to date; only the latter half of the album is bearable, and that's where he actually gets into his old ways again. Year Zero was a step in the right direction, but I never really got into grips with Trent's enthusiasm with spoken word. The sounds on YZ were good though; he was finally giving up his TDS style for good. While uneven, YZ might get my vote as the best NIN album between TDS and Ghosts for the effort alone.

Ghosts has Trent going further to his YZ'ish direction, ditching the tiresome spoken word. This is basically the album I've been waiting for after TDS; just ditch public expectations and explore new avenues. However, I do understand why it took 14 years from him to reach this point. Following TDS with a Throbbing Gristle-ish instrumental record could've been a career suicide, and if not, it would've at least robbed Trent an established mainstream status (gained through The Fragile).

I wager it's no surprise his very first release outside Interscope is Ghosts. He also seems to release music quicker when not preoccupied in writing bleeding-heart poetry about the way of the world. It'd be interesting to hear him and Axl collaborate on something, if it wouldn't take half a century to complete.

What Mysteron's actually saying is that we have here a $13 Million light-bulb. Axl's spent years trying to change it, with producers and players coming in rows. A lot of people have gotten burned in the process, which should come as no surprise. The record company finally got tired of Axl keeping them in the dark and said "That's it Axl, we're not coming back before you lighten up!"

There was never a clearcut direction to properly change the light-bulb. The band was in the studio on most weekdays, while Axl would came late into the evening and sit around with producers and A&R men. Axl observed the bands best efforts but thought they were never quite able to pull it off. Whenever a ray of light was shed, it was overshadowed by the shape of this one tophat. That made Axl go 'Heureka!' one night, and thus he hired Buckethead.

To say the changing of this light-bulb has been an unbearably long and incomprehensible journey would be an understatement. Overcoming the endless and seemingly insane amount of obstacles faced by all involved, notwithstanding the emotional challenges endured by everyone -- the fans, the band, our road crew and business team -- has at many times seemed like a bad dream in which one wakes up only to find that they are still in the nightmare. Unfortunately, this time it has been played out for over a decade in real life.

It takes approximately eight weeks for the light to hit the wall once it has been turned on at the electric company. For whatever reasons, it appears that it may have been mistakenly inferred by management that this time period could be condensed to three weeks. With that being said, this is not a promise, a lie or a guarantee, but we do wish to announce a tentative release date of March 6. This is the first time we have done this publicly for this light-bulb. Others have made up all the other dates for their own reasons. We would like to assure the fans that everything in our power will be done to meet this date. Once it is finalized and official, you will be notified. If we are delayed for unseen reasons, you also will be notified as soon as possible in regard to a new date, and the album will be released as shortly thereafter as is possible. We thank you for your patience.

In the end, it's just an light-bulb, but it's one that I, the band, our electric company and all involved believe and feel is a true Guns N' Roses light-bulb. Ultimately the public will decide, and regardless of the outcome, our hearts, lives and our passion has been put into this project every step of the way. If for no other reason, we feel those elements alone merit your consideration. We do hope you can hold on just a bit longer, and if not, please take a break and we'll be more than glad -- if you so choose -- to see you again later.