Two weeks ago, GN'R's latest was considered a strong contender for the chart's peak position, with some predicting the album would outperform West's 808s in a close race for #1. Instead, history may show Chinese Democracy's first-week sales as an epic failure.

So, what exactly went wrong? Was it a byproduct of an exclusive deal with Best Buy? Recent albums by the likes of AC/DC and the Eagles were both released exclusively through Wal-Mart (which boasts more locations than Best Buy), and both debuted at #1 with more than 700,000 sold. Did Rose sign an exclusive deal with the wrong retailer?

Did the complete lack of music videos and mainstream press (Rose had not granted any media interviews around the album's release) hurt the album's sales? Or did the LP's extensive delay stymie interest? After all, 17 years is a long time to wait; some spouses don't even wait that long for incarcerated loved ones.

Was it the innumerable online song leaks over the years, or will the economy be blamed for the album's third-place finish? Perhaps, for a band that was popular 20 years ago, selling 261,000-plus records is a real achievement — especially in this day and age, when albums aren’t always bought, but illegally downloaded.

What do you think hurt first-week sales of Chinese Democracy? Share your thoughts below.

Rose's lawyer took a swipe at Dr Pepper last week, saying the drink maker didn't deliver on its pledge to give out the free sodas. Keep in mind, GN'R had nothing to do with the stunt. (Though wouldn't it be great if somehow this were all some bizarre viral campaign and you could hear Dr Pep jingles when you played the CD backwards, if that's even possible?)

Los Angeles-based lawyer Alan Gutman penned a poison letter to Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. President and CEO Larry Young, calling the company's online coupon-redemption scheme an "unmitigated disaster, which defrauded customers." Gutman also insisted that the beverage maker extend its offer and place full-page apologies in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal.

Again, GN'R was not involved in the original campaign, but now that it has allegedly tanked, the attorney says he originally saw it as an "exploitation of my clients' legendary reputation and their eagerly awaited album," adding that the promotion "brazenly violated our clients' rights."

But here comes the kicker: The band is now seeking "appropriate payment ... for the unauthorized use and abuse of their publicity and intellectual-property rights," threatening to take legal action if Dr Pepper doesn't clean up the sticky mess. Gutman argues that the whole idea of the campaign was to use interest in the album to hype sales of the drink, but now he's upset that the "mocking undertones" of the online promotion represent a "raw and damaging commercial exploitation of our clients' rights," and that the whole thing is even more detrimental to the GN'R name because the soda scheme was botched.

Dr Pepper put out a press release in March offering a free soda to any American if Democracy came out before the end of the year. The notoriously litigious Rose didn't take any action over the promotion, likely because he was busy remixing the album for the 900th time.

According to reports, the Dr Pepper Web site's servers crashed under the crush of demand for the coupons, so the soda maker extended its offer one more day, though some fans still weren't able to claim their soda via the site or a toll-free phone number.

"Dr Pepper was completely unprepared for the traffic to its site," Gutman wrote in the letter, describing the promotion as a "complete fiasco." Dr Pepper could not be reached for comment at press time. But just to summarize: Dr Pepper made the offer (mockingly, we suspect), and GN'R didn't care. Dr Pepper allegedly dropped the ball, and now GN'R are pissed that their image has been damaged. Welcome to the jungle.

Long before either album leaked in its final retail form, many of us here in the newsroom were asking the same question: Who will win this week's epic showdown between Kanye West and Guns N' Roses (a.k.a. Axl Rose and a bunch of new guys)?

In this corner, we have Kanye West with 808s & Heartbreak, which comes just 14 months after Graduation bested 50 Cent's Curtis on the charts. He managed to put together 808s in a year marked by lots of touring and lots and lots of appearances at awards shows (seriously, does this guy ever NOT get invited?). Not only has 808s been on repeat in the newsroom all week, but we've been recounting some of our early Kanye memories right here on the blog.

And in the other corner, we have a comeback (of sorts). Fourteen years in the making and at a estimated cost of more than $13 million, Axl finally decided that Chinese Democracy was ready to be unleashed upon the world. The frontman isn't doing interviews, has not announced a tour and has not released a video, and the album is only available at Best Buy. Yet, for the past two weeks, Chinese Democracy has piqued our interest so much that at any given moment, someone in the newsroom was either listening to it or could be heard defending it against detractors.

So, are fans ready to embrace Kanye as a rapper who no longer raps? Or, as 50 Cent predicted, will fans find themselves unable to forgive Kanye for giving up rapping for singing?

And will Guns fans old and new show up to buy the first album of new GN'R material in more than 17 years? Or have years of unfulfilled promises, canceled tours and a revolving cast of band members taken their toll?

In the video below, we hit the streets to find out if people think Kanye or GN'R will come out on top, but now we want to know what YOU think. Hit us up with a video.

Yesterday — the day the GN'R record hit stores — Dr Pepper's site was flooded with visitors looking to cash in on the deal. Due to overwhelming demand and several site issues, Dr Pepper has extended the offer until 6 p.m. today; the deal was originally set to expire last night at midnight. Participants have until February 28 to redeem their coupon for a 20-ounce can of the drink.

Dr Pepper had to increase its server capacity and set up a toll-free number (1-888-DRPEPPER or 1-888-377-3773) to handle the demand. So if you couldn't access the Dr Pepper site yesterday — or completely forgot about the offer — you still have plenty of time to get in on the action.

MTV has had quite a lengthy and, um, interesting relationship with Mr. W. Axl Rose — one that has spanned decades, musical genres (metal, pseudo-industrial, sorta rap-rock) and, of course, cornrows.

Our cameras have been there at basically every step of Rose's career: from Guns N' Roses' first appearance on "Headbangers Ball" in 1987 to their ascent to legendary status in '91 and then through the bevy of beefs, arrests and in-band bickering that eventually led to their demise. And, for the most part, one man has been in front of (or beside) those cameras: Kurt Loder.

So after combing our vaults to find the most Awesome Axl Moments on MTV, we decided to sit down with Kurt to get his take on the man himself — and luckily, he also had more than a few truly excellent Axl stories to share with us before the release of Chinese Democracy.

(More of Kurt's Axl stories, after the jump!)

On Axl, The Man:

"Well, I think Axl is a little out of control, which is the way you should be if you're going to be a big rock star with the limos and all that," Loder said. "You should be out of control, and you should never know what's going to happen next, so I thought that was great. That doesn't happen at that level any more, because I think bands arrive at that level with all kinds of attorneys and handlers and stuff. They sort of pose as rebels, but they're not dangerous. Nothing's going to happen around them. Whereas with Axl, you never knew. Because I think he was on drugs or something, I don't know. He was a very talented guy. He could be very, very nice, and he could all of a sudden be prickly. So, it was always interesting to be around him."

On Axl's Post-Bail Limo Trip In 1992:

"Oh yeah, it was totally prearranged. Totally corny, totally prearranged. All set up in advance. [Axl] was inside signing autographs for the cops; they loved him. He had started a fight a year earlier, outside of St. Louis, and there was a fugitive warrant out for him, so he was arrested when he arrived at JFK Airport in New York. They brought him down to the jailhouse and kept him there overnight or something, so we went there, got the limo, he got in and we talked to him. It was all preplanned, of course. But he was in a jolly mood, you know? And then he went on to start a tour. ... He also started wearing a lot of Versace [around then]. Maybe it was the Elton John period."

On Axl, The Myth:

"It's a shame that people who claim to be revolutionary and dangerous today, they just aren't. I'm sure there are a million bands at a lower level, but when you reach the big chart level, you're not going to endanger anything. Whereas Axl Rose can take 16 years to make a record, still keep his record label, after 16 years of having various studios on hold around the clock, and make it work. He's finally put the record out. Who else could do that? Nobody." [Editor's note: If there's a band working that angle these days, it's Hinder — check out what they have to say about Chinese Democracy here.]

On Axl's 1992 VMA Performance With Elton John, And His Backstage Beef With Kurt Cobain:

"Axl had that song 'One in a Million' ... and he tried to explain that 'n-----' didn't necessarily mean 'black person,' and he tried to explain the 'f----t' thing, so he got together with Elton John. You know, Elton John got together with Eminem. He's there to save souls, I think. So, the two of them up there, with the pianos — it was a little weird, you know? The backstage thing was the most interesting, because it was Courtney [Love] and it was Kurt [Cobain] and it was Axl. It was like two worlds colliding. That was sort of an important moment in the way fashions changed, and you really saw the culture of music going in a slightly different way. But it didn't last, did it? The guys in the flannel shirts started buying Gucci too."

On Axl's 2002 VMA Performance:

"Well, nobody knew about it. Really nobody knew about it. And then [MTV Executive VP] Dave [Sirulnick] came to me and said, 'You should really come over to see this.' It was the night before the show, and they were doing a rehearsal, and it was Axl. And you just thought, 'Where's he been? What decade are we in?' And he had this big band — and they were a great band, you know — but he was doing Guns N' Roses material, and they were great. It really was a surprise. And when he came out, it was like the Pee-Wee Herman moment."

On Axl, The Legend ... And The Dinner-Party Host:

"I think, even as eccentric as Axl seems, he really is who he is. It's not really an act or anything. I think maybe he had some problems with kind of ... keeping it together in public, which would be storming off the stage or jumping into the pit to wrestle cameras out of fans' hands. But that's just the way he is. He's not at all pretentious. And it's good to have him back. I think Sebastian Bach was telling me that he thought Axl should get out of the house more, because he spent years just giving dinners — he had a big long table and people would come eat. But I had heard that Sebastian told him 'Axl, you're Axl. Why don't we go out occasionally?!' And he started getting him to go to nightclubs occasionally, which was probably a good thing."

You see, whenever we do in-person interviews, we send a gang of people to get the footage we need. Usually, this includes a person from production management, a segment producer, a shooter to work the camera and the person who conducts the interview (me). For Hughes' interview, I was accompanied by three of the lovely ladies I work with, and as expected, Hughes couldn't contain himself.

Throughout our 15-or-so-minute talk, Hughes simply couldn't focus. He was like a kid with ADD on a sugar rush. Sometimes, instead of answering my questions, he'd turn to one of my co-workers, just to tell them how gorgeous they are. Or to request that she wink at him, seductively. He even tried to get all three ladies to attend the EODM show in New York last night, to no avail.

During the interview, Hughes thanked me for bringing along some eye candy for him to feast his eyes on. I told him it was unintentional, but that didn't matter; he was still appreciative. It was an awkward interview, but at the same time, a hilarious one.

Let's just say that, after yesterday's interview, I've learned that the next time we get some face time with Hughes, I'm bringing a crew that looks like they could have been the Misfits, circa 1980.

Suffice to say, the last time we had W. Axl Rose in our lives, the world was a very different place.

That will all change Sunday, when GN'R's long-awaited Chinese Democracy comes to screaming life. And, so, in celebration of what is undoubtedly the year's biggest rock event — and to point out just how long we've been waiting — we've compiled a time capsule of sorts, a snapshot of the day the Use Your Illusion albums were released. It was a time when Axl was king, Miley was just a glimmer in her father's eye, and George W Bush was the owner of the Texas Rangers. It was a different world, indeed.

» On the date Use Your Illusion I & II were released, Garth Brooks' Ropin' the Wind was the #1 album in the country and Color Me Badd's "I Adore Mi Amore" sat atop the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart (Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch's "Good Vibrations" was at #2). "Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare" was the #1 movie at the box office.

» Only two-thirds of the Jonas Brothers were alive on the day the Illusion LPs were released. Miley Cyrus wasn't born yet, nor were Demi Lovato or Selena Gomez. Christina Aguilera was 10, Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake were 9. Chris Brown was 2 years old (but he could probably already dance), as were Paramore's Hayley Williams and Tokio Hotel's Tom and Bill Kaulitz. Jordin Sparks, Taylor Swift and Emma Watson were all 1.

» On September 17, 1991, Barack Obama was the president of The Harvard Law Review. John McCain was still serving his first term in the U.S. Senate.

» Pearl Jam's Ten had been in stores for nearly a month, while Nirvana's Nevermind was still a week away from being released. Soundgarden's Badmotorfinger would hit stores the following month, while the Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream wouldn't materialize for nearly two years. The inaugural Lollapalooza festival — featuring Jane's Addiction, Siouxsie & the Banshees, Living Colour, Nine Inch Nails and Ice-T — had just wrapped a 26-date run in Enumclaw, Washington.

» MC Hammer's Too Legit to Quit would be released the following month, as would Vanilla Ice's "Rebel Without a Cause" update "Cool as Ice."

» On this week's episode of "Beverly Hills, 90210," the students of West Beverly High are still atwitter over the arrival of mysterious new student Emily Valentine. In two months, Valentine will invite Brandon and the gang to an illegal "underground" dance party, where she will spike B's drink with a drug called "U4EA" and attempt to make out with him. Brandon will be too wasted to reciprocate (and drive), so he will leave his car at the club, where it will be trashed by vandals. This was surprisingly compelling in 1991.

» The Sega Genesis rides high thanks to the success of "Sonic the Hedgehog." Following the success of the just-released GameBoy, Nintendo unveils its 16-bit system, the Super NES, bundled with a copy of "Super Mario World." The first incarnation of Sony's PlayStation was still more than three years away.

» The nation rejoices as President George H.W. Bush proclaims September to be "National Rice Month," in order to "promote greater awareness of the versatility and value of rice and to celebrate America's status as a major exporter of rice for both commercial and humanitarian purposes." Somewhere, his son thinks, "Man, being president is easy," and ponders a run at the White House.

» Tommy Hilfiger, inspired by the success of his menswear collection, begins plans to take his company public. Nearly 15 years later, Hilfiger and Rose would engage in an awesome (sorta) karate brawl at New York City nightclub Plumm after Rose allegedly moved the designer's girlfriend's drink. After a few tense moments, Hilfiger is led away — reportedly "kicking and screaming" — by his own security guards while Rose laughed. Axl is awesome.

» On September 17, 1991, there are an estimated 252 million people living in the United States. There are an estimated 5.3 billion people living on planet Earth. Nearly all of those people buy Use Your Illusion. As of this month, the Census Bureau estimates that the U.S. population is now 305 million, while the world population has been estimated at around 6.7 billion people. Not many of those people still buy CDs, which does not exactly bode well for the success of Chinese Democracy.

Back in March, the beverage company said that it would give every man, woman, and a child in the U.S. a free can of Dr. Pepper should Guns N' Roses release Chinese Democracy before the close of 2008. And now, the event no one — certainly not the folks at Dr Pepper — thought would happen is rapidly approaching.

"We never thought this day would come," Tony Jacobs, vice president of marketing for Dr Pepper, said in a statement issued Wednesday. "But now that it's here, all we can say is: The Dr Pepper's on us."

So, how does Dr Pepper plan on dispensing the free sodas? Well, on November 23 — and only on November 23 — thirsty Americans can log on to the official Dr Pepper Web site and register all of their vitals, so that the company can mail them a coupon for a free 20-ounce can of the drink. Once that coupon arrives in the mail, redeem it wherever Dr Pepper is sold. The last step in the process, according to the press release: "Drink your Dr Pepper slowly to experience all 23 flavors. Dr's orders."

As we said, registration for the free Dr Pepper coupons is available only for 24 hours, beginning at 12:01 a.m. ET on November 23, and the coupons will have an expiration date of February 28, 2009. Obviously, there is a coupon limit — one per person.

So get out your straws and chill those glasses, kids — the Dr will be in your fridge soon, all thanks to Mr. Axl Rose.

At the time, the Los Angeles Times reported that Cogill, known online as "Skwerl," admitted in an affidavit submitted to federal agents that he put streams, not downloads, of the songs on his site, though he would not say how he managed to score a copy of the 17-years-in-the-making disc; he took the songs down after a few hours when GN'R's lawyers complained.

Cogill, who used to work for Universal Music, faces up to five years in prison if convicted of the misdemeanor. But to find him guilty, the prosecutors would have to show beyond a doubt that he unlawfully posted the songs in order to turn a profit, E! Online reports. The blogger was the first Californian charged under a three-year-old federal anti-piracy law that makes it a felony to distribute a copyright work on computer networks before its official release. Democracy, which has become something of a rock-and-roll punch line thanks to its epic recording time and myriad missed-release dates, is finally slated for release through Best Buy on November 25.

Now that Hits Daily Double is reporting a firm November 23 release date for Chinese Democracy, the wait for some fresh GN'R — at least in the way Rose meant for it to be heard — looks like it may soon be over. It also got us to thinking about what's transpired since Guns N' Roses' last studio LPs dropped. And the short answer is "a lot."

For instance, a Jonas Brother — Nick, to be more specific — was both conceived and born since the release of Use Your Illusion II. Back in 1991, there were no iPods, no satellite radio, no CrackBerrys, and the Internet was something you could only access through a landline. Since 1991, several bands have come, gone and come again, including Ace of Base, Destiny's Child and even Phish.

Rage Against the Machine formed, broke up and have since gotten back together for some reunion gigs; in fact, three of Rage's members even had enough time to start a completely new band (Audioslave), release three records with that project and call it quits — with two years to spare. Even the Spice Girls came, then thankfully went, only to return last year for a reunion run. Bands we never thought would be able to overcome their differences (Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and the Police, to name a few) have been revived since 1991, leaving fans wanting more.

Since 1991, the Stone Temple Pilots have had enough time to release five studio albums (including their '92 debut), break up (with members releasing solo LPs and starting two new bands: Velvet Revolver and Army of Anyone) and then get back together for a reunion tour. In that same time, Velvet Revolver has given Scott Weiland the boot, and Army of Anyone have called it quits. Interestingly enough, even Richard Patrick, who fronted the latter, had time to release Filter's first album, 1995's Short Bus, put the band on hold and then return again in 2008 with Anthems of the Damned.

Jane's Addiction have broken up, patched things up and recorded an album since 1991, and even the Smashing Pumpkins have enjoyed an entire career between GN'R records. They released Gish in 1991 and their breakthrough Siamese Dream in 1993, then broke up in 2000, only to return in 2006 and release Zeitgeist in 2007.

The Backstreet Boys have also been way more prolific than Rose since 1991. They issued their debut in 1996, and — a couple of albums later — took a four-year hiatus in 2000. Since 2004, they've toured, released two records (2005's Never Gone and last year's Unbreakable), and now seem to be in another holding pattern. Likewise, the New Kids on the Block have released two albums since 1991 — 1994's Face the Music and the new The Block — and spent 14 years in between pursuing non-NKOTB endeavors.

Perhaps the problem is Axl Rose himself, because two bands that have lost their frontmen have also managed to be more productive. Alice in Chains went silent after the 2002 death of Layne Staley, but reformed in 2006 with a new singer, William DuVall; they're said to be in the midst of recording their comeback LP. Blind Melon lost Shannon Hoon — a pal of Axl's — in 1995 to a cocaine overdose, but have carried on without him, releasing For My Friends earlier this year.

And the band that helped manage to dethrone GN'R, Nirvana, have released more material than Rose has since 1991, even though Kurt Cobain committed suicide in 1994. Since then, there's been 1994's MTV Unplugged in New York, 1996's From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah, 2002's Nirvana compilation, 2004's With the Lights Out box set and 2005's compilation of the box set, Sliver. And let's not forget that Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl is currently on hiatus from his post-Nirvana band, the Foo Fighters, who, since 1995, have released six studio albums.