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Better - This crushingly epic track begins as a muted nursery-rhyme melody over a distorted guitar whine, exploding into a fiercely addictive rocker infused with the blood of Use Your Illusion. A logical step forward from where GNR left off so many years ago, Rose's narrative landscape and dramatic flair push the envelope just far enough to avoid alienating fans. With groundbreaking guitar work and a solo nothing short of brutally awesome, a screaming bridge and circular melody are a jaw-dropping guarantee that Chinese Democracy could move massive units based on this song alone - that is, if it's ever released.

IRS - Acoustic to electric to acoustic then HUGE and back again, the song is mean and bi-polar, with a soaring vocal performance by the eagle-lunged Rose. The live drums add considerable depth to the song (the original leaked demo featured a hollow, programmed beat) but the hook lyrics add a cheese factor that the blistering intensity just doesn't fully compensate for. Easily among the lower ranking tracks of the bunch, but it's well above mediocrity.

New Song #2 - I had an eyebrow fully cocked on this one until the chorus hit, somehow putting the rest of the song into context. That classic Axl power falsetto fits perfectly at home over a multi-instrumental onslaught like God's orchestra (if God were into programmed beats, that is) on speed. A beautiful Massive Attack-esque piano finish ties this one off nicely.

If The World - Flamenco guitars? What the hell? This hot-summer-night bluesy jam can do no wrong and, despite being completely alien to anything ever to carry the GNR name, it's perhaps the sexiest thing Axl's ever pulled off. If the world would end today/All the dreams we had would all just fade away... Insightful? Not exactly. But the atmosphere is thick, sweet and glorious, and it wouldn't be any surprise to see John Frusciante's name in the liner notes of this one.

The Blues - A clean, Elton John piano intro, matched with Rose's trademark golden wail sends you back to a time when things were simpler, when all we had to worry about was Axl getting to the next show on time, instead of spending fifteen years making a goddamned album with everyone on earth but the actual members of Guns N' Roses. All the love in the world couldn't save you/ all the innocence inside/ you know I tried so hard to make you/ to make you change your mind. Not really, man. You holed up and hid from the world for a decade and a half. This song's not great, in fact it's the only song of the bunch worth skipping, but it's put together well.

There Was a Time - With a disarming rainforest church choir that fades into a trip-hop welcome mat, T.W.A.T. straps on a hell of a heavy load from the word go. Axl's earnest, straight delivery over rising orchestral synths, a digital beat and a Slash-toned backdrop does more than hint that something of epic, anthemic proportions is headed our way, and we're in good hands; Rose has always been a master architect of the wait-for-it moments of shining musical genius, and "There Was a Time" is no exception. The song freakin' delivers. An unforgettable, shredding solo weaves perfectly into a choir of Axls as the song rapidly downshifts out, finishing the way it started. The individual pieces of this track are gorgeous on their own, but the sum of their parts are nothing short of one of the best Guns N' Roses songs ever written. Yeah, it's the Axl Rose project now, it doesn't count as GNR - whatever. This song is fucking amazing.