Soft drink manufacturer Dr Pepper, which this past spring offered to send a free can of the beverage to "everyone in America" (excluding ex-GN'R members Slash and Buckethead) if GUNS N' ROSES' new album, "Chinese Democracy", were to arrive anytime during the calendar year 2008., has commented on the reports that the long-awaited CD is finally scheduled for release in late November.

"We're waiting to hear about 'Chinese Democracy' just like all the other GN'R fans," Dr Pepper VP of marketing Tony Jacobs told Billboard. "But if the rumors are true, we're putting the Dr Pepper on ice."

"Chinese Democracy" will be released on Sunday, November 23, sources have confirmed to Billboard. The long-delayed set will be exclusively available at Best Buy and will skip the usual Tuesday release date for new music. To whet fans' appetites, so to speak, the group's label will reissue its classic 1987 debut, "Appetite for Destruction", in a new vinyl edition on October 28. One new GUNS song, called "If The World", can be heard in part over the end credits of the film "Body of Lies", which opens Friday (October 10), while another track, "Shackler's Revenge", will make its debut on Rock Band 2 at the end of this month.

The last all-new GUNS N' ROSES releases were the 1991 double albums "Use Your Illusion I" and "II". Since that time, every single original member of the band except for singer Axl Rose has departed.

"Chinese Democracy" has been in the works since the mid-'90s, with speculation and mystery surrounding the album's 13-year journey, ever-changing roster of players and spiraling recording costs.

Keyboardist Dizzy Reed, who joined in 1990 and is the longest-serving member after Rose, told The Pulse of Radio a while back that he thinks fans will be pleased when they finally get to hear the results. "It's a pretty intense musical journey, really," he said. "Everyone that is in the band, or was in the band at some point '” 'cause there, you know, there's been a few guys who have come and gone even since the old band '” has contributed, and because of that I think it really takes you to some interesting musical places. When you add Axl and guitars, of course, though, it kinda glues it all together. There's something for everybody, but I think if you're a GUNS fan, if you're an Axl fan, you'll like it all. You'll love it all."

There is no official confirmation yet of the release date for "Chinese Democracy". Axl Rose's last promised arrival date, back in March of 2007, came and went with no news.

-Blabbermouth-