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Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy. Yes, it's real.

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25. The final tab is over $13 million…

…which works out at $928,571 (about £625,000) per song.

26… because no expense was spared

"One area where an astronomical amount of money was being spent was in rented gear," says Zutaut. "It's a bit of a luxury to have a '59 Les Paul at however many thousand dollars a month when it isn't even being used. We'd paid enough in rental for it that we could have bought it!"

Contrary to reports of 60 vintage guitars being primed for action, Ron Thal's setup was "real simple", comprising a Gibson Les Paul, a Vigier fretless, a Marshall JCM800 head, a wah and a Boss BD-2 Blues Driver.

28. Not everyone is excited

"We never thought this day would come" Dr Pepper spokesman. We bet he didn't.

Covers band UK Guns N' Roses won't be learning the Chinese Democracy songs. "We feel it probably won't be anywhere near the work by the original and best line-up," they sniff. Read MusicRadar's interview.

29. The first track for public consumption was Shackler's Revenge

It was released via the Rock Band 2 video game. Could you keep up?

30. It comes with a free Dr Pepper

Having promised a free can of Dr Pepper to all Americans upon the release of Chinese Democracy, soda giant Dr Pepper Snapple Group have seen their bluff called. "We never thought this day would come," said a spokesman. "Now it's here, all we can say is the Dr Pepper is on us."

31. Buckethead has made the cut

Dr Pepper's pledge came with a stipulation – no free fizz for ex-guitarists Slash and Buckethead. "As some of Buckethead's performances are on our album," said Rose, "I'll share my Dr Pepper with him."

32. Slash wants it to succeed

A lesser guitarist would surely wish failure on his estranged frontman. Not Slash. "That sounds cool," he remarked when played the title track on Boston's WBCN station. "It's good to hear his voice, you know?"

33. This is just the start

According to ex-Skid Row frontman and Rose confidante Sebastian Bach, Chinese Democracy is the first instalment in a rock 'n' roll masterplan. "The thing that nobody gets," he insists, "is that he has like, four albums done. I've heard it. So get ready." Hey, MusicRadar predicted that already.

Very soon, MusicRadar will deliver its own roundtable review of Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy.

It won't take us 17 years to write, hopefully…