A few days ago nine demos of new Guns N' Roses songs leaked into cyberspace. Of these nine, three were previously unheard while the remaining six consisted of ones that had leaked over the last couple years (although some from this batch appear to be different recordings). Some sites reported these to be the final mastered tracks due to the quality of the recordings and the fact that the Guns N' Roses camp handed a finished copy of their long-awaited CD "Chinese Democracy" to the record label a few months ago. However, the band's guitarist, Bumblefoot, mentioned on a message board that "they're older demos." The nine demos that leaked are:

• Rhiad and the Bedouins (never before heard)
• If the World (never before heard)
• Untitled (never before heard)
• Chinese Democracy
• Better
• The Blues
• I.R.S.
• Madagascar
• There Was a Time

It should be noted that although the demo for "Rhiad and the Bedouins" had never been heard before, the band did in fact perform the song a couple times in concert in 2001 and 2002.

Of the leaked demos, there are a few notable ones that stand out. "Better" has a catchy rock vibe to it that will no doubt be popular, "Madagascar" features powerful sound clips in the middle of the keyboard and piano driven song, and "Chinese Democracy' is a good rocker as well. ‘There Was a Time" also deserves a special mention for being a very good ballad that grows on you over time. Again, for being demos, the recordings show lots of promise and make the wait for the album Chinese Democracy a little bit easier (the band and their record label are still in negotiations on the release of the album that has been in the works for over a decade). And while most media outlets have expressed mixed opinions on their impression of the demos (one writer, interestingly enough, mentioned that she didn't care for the albums Appetite for Destruction or Use Your Illusion 1 & 2 either, which makes us wonder if her view is even necessary), we'll reserve judgment until we hear the finished product. After all, if you were to listen to the original November Rain demo and then the finished product, you'd be amazed at the difference.