I understand what are saying and agree to the extent that I'll concur that not everyone shares the hardcore level of enthusiasm that most in the online community do. However, I do feel there is a reasonable, if passing and casual,  interest among the wider community for the following reasons:

While old GNR was always about more than just Axl and some new fans forget this, we must remember it was Axl up front making a lot of the news. Riots. Accusations of Racicm and Homophobia. Fueds with Nirvana. This stuff makes the news. It was hard to have watched TV back in the day and have never him running around in bike pants and one of his civil war jackets. Then there was the terminator 2 clip which was huge at the time. I know people who are totally anti hard rock and metal...but when they hear any version of KOHD they add in the "Aye...Aye...Aye..Yeah" parts. Watch the first and second season of stuff from back then like Melrose Place and there is GNR refrences in the dialoge. What i'm saying is people remember who Axl is. And so when the album is released, and a lot of noise is made about his return, a lot of people will check it out. I mean how much fuss was there in the press when he came back in 06. And what did he really do? Go to a few parties, then do a few shows in NYC and there was a ton of coverage.

There will be a few types of people. Those who care like us. Then those who would have a passing interest but don't really care too much - these people would have heard the occasional story in the media over the years about how Axl is nuts and doesn't release records. So if enough noise is made about one - they might check it out. Especially as every review will go on about it being so long. Then there aere people who will have assumed Axl was just gone - and consider this a form of comeback like say any big 80s star does from time to time. Then there's the new fans who got into GNR through greatest hits because the name had become a legend of one of those cool old bands people talk about.

You know all these years its bugged me when I read mocking articles and stuff. But i think all those negatives might become positives now - as giving axl a bunch of shit has given him exposure to new people. Look at this article that was posted like a month or two ago in a JB Hi Fi cataloge (that's the big HiFi and Music retailer in Australia for those overseas) as an example. This kind of thing used to be bad...but with an album comming out...would only increase the amount of people who notice it.

Good Interview and Good Answer's from BBF I thought. He managed to keep the secrets he would be required to keep without being an asshole about it, and I must say overall I get a positive vibe about GNR moving forward from this article

Our games issue for anyone who gives a shit..the problem is that classification is compulsory over here.

Movies are classified as follows, we use some of the same language as the USA but the meaning are a bit different.

C: recommended for very young kids
G: General Admition (all ages)
PG: Parental Guidance Recommened (no enforcment)
M: Recomended for people 15 and older (no enfocment)
MA: Restriceted to People 15 and older (enforced at cinema)
R: Restricted to people 18 and older (age of legal adulthood here) (enforced in cinemas).
X: Only for porn - only legal in some states.
RC: Refused Classication - basicly the government makes this film illegal to view.

(So a usa PG13 either becomes PG or M here. A USA R rating is usually M or MA and a NC17 rating in the usa is R).

The problem comes in that for games they only rate them up to our MA standard...i guess from the very false assumption that its only kids that play games. This means that if i game contains something that if it was in a film would make the film R rated (or nc17 to you folks) - typically sex, violence or otehr adult themes - then the game can not be given a rating, and thus is illegal to sell in the country.

It needs to be fixed because it means adults of 35 can not play a game where they do an adult activity such as have sex because it doesn't fit into what should be in a movie for 15 year olds. Insane.

Edit: Moral of the story - many games are banned over here, but rockband is not one of them,  they just havn't got the resources to release it apparently. But it does mean it looks like people like me will need a single release to hear Shackler's Revenge in any decent timeframe!

It's time for my dirty mind to add my usual contribution to the TWAT lyrics debate:

Social Class and Registers
Cocaine in the arm
on the way from California
on the way to your next call
to those non-negotiations
to simulate a cause
for the betterment of evils
and your way around the laws
that keep you up and sitting pretty
on a pedestal up there
and now you're sleeping like an angel
never mind who you gave head...

I swear that's what I hear!!! I'm not sure if i'm alone....