China Nixes Chinese Democracy

China's government-owned music monopoly has told record stores not to waste their time trying to order the first new Guns N' Roses album in 17 years, the Wall Street Journal reports. Officials say the title alone—Chinese Democracy—would probably be enough to doom it, but a reference to the banned Falun Gong movement finishes the job.

The band's many Chinese fans—wary of attracting government attention by searching for news about the album online—are split on Axl Rose's intentions. Some think the singer is trying to meddle in a political system he doesn't fully understand, while others think anything that shakes up the establishment rocks. "Rock 'n' roll, as a weapon, is an invisible bomb," says one. (More China stories.)