Damn you. I don't get Christmas Eve or the day after. But yes, November 25. That's the date, off the record.

I don't think If the World will be the first single. I do think it's one of the strongest of the leaked tracks and don't fully understand its criticisms, although I can see where they'd be stemming from. I think Riyadh stands no chance at rock radio, wouldn't translate well to any crossover/general audience, wouldn't reach out beyond the current hardcore fanbase, and would be met with a cold/disastrous reception on par with SR and OMG. I think many of you are overestimating your own opinions of this material as being the general public's willingness to accept that sort of material as Guns N' Roses. If the World stands out as a Guns N' Roses track. If the World could easily be the missing song off Use Your Illusion II. I don't see the cheese in the lyrics, and I don't think a general audience will either. I think this Praxis influenced GN'R is nearly unmarketable, but these ballads ... that's what a lot of people think of when they think GN'R. And I don't mean ballads in a bad way. These are beautiful songs. Axl wanted GN'R to be something more akin to Queen. Well, he got that. Not everything has to be AFD and not all of us want another AFD. Ideally yes, I can see why the first single should be a "rocker." I also see what constitutes rockers on this album all but failing at radio. Better is a catchy tune, terrible for introducing this band as a lead off. CD is all intro. TWAT is a masterpiece, but I'm worried is too long and too obtuse.

I think Best Buy's exclusivity window will be for the Thanksgiving/Black Friday first week of release. Maybe second week, too. That's it. It'll be limited exclusivity, which they've done before, to bank on such a big sales week. This is quickly turning into a brilliant marketing coup. Congrats to the new management. By the way, as for the ball being dropped on SR, can anyone else say "smokescreen"?

Drums sound better than usual, especially noticeable on TWAT.

If the World is top five for me for the leaks and makes a better introduction to the new material than SR ever could. The vocals are immediately recognizable and the song fits in tonally with the Illusions era material (ie GN'R on top of the world).