Best Buy hopes Guns N' Roses CD rocks

Among all the rock fans ruminating about the 14-year wait for the new Guns N' Roses album, you won't catch the bosses at Best Buy complaining.

"Right now, in this economy, it's a great time to have music fans so excited about a single album," said Gary Arnold, Best Buy's senior entertainment officer.

It's certainly great for the Richfield-based retail chain: It won the exclusive right to sell "Chinese Democracy," rock's most talked-about record of the past decade, which finally goes on sale Sunday.

For real.

"It'll be there for sure," Arnold promised GNR fans frustrated by the many delays.

With the 2008 holiday shopping season threatening to be as bleak as a Metallica record, Best Buy hopes fans will rush in Sunday morning to buy "Chinese Democracy" and maybe pick up something pricier as well, like a new flat-screen TV or digital camera.

It's a ploy increasingly used by big-box retailers. Minneapolis-based Target is the exclusive seller of Christina Aguilera's first greatest-hits CD, which hit the Top 10 last week. Wal-Mart enjoyed even hotter sales of AC/DC's new "Black Ice" album, which sold 1.5 million copies via its stores and website only.

For an exclusive deal with the Eagles last year, Wal-Mart reportedly paid the band $30 million up front -- nonrefundable -- for 3 million copies of its comeback CD "Long Road Out of Eden."

Arnold would not disclose terms of the GNR deal, which does not include digital downloads (available only via iTunes), but said: "It's one of the biggest [ever] -- probably the biggest one we've done."

Millions in the making

A new book by Davis, "Watch You Bleed: The Saga of Guns N' Roses," chronicles the long, stormy and just plain bizarre gestation. After singer Axl Rose parted ways with the other GNR members, he reportedly spent several million dollars on recording. He overhauled the band's lineup several times. (Minneapolis-born bassist Tommy Stinson, formerly of the Replacements, is one of the few mainstays.)

"Axl was the greatest rock star of the late '80s and early '90s, and he possibly wasted that away in the making of this record," said Davis. "When you listen to the album, it seems to be all about Axl trying to justify his megalomania."

"The phone rang and it was Axl's manager, who said, 'I think the record is done, and we want to launch it in a really big way,'" Arnold recounted. "I said we would of course be interested in selling it, and my first question was, 'Can I hear the music?'"

Months passed before Arnold's crew heard any songs. Another year-plus went by as Rose continued to tweak the album and hired new managers -- including music heavyweight Irving Azoff, who helped the Eagles land their Wal-Mart deal.

By the summer of '08, Arnold said, "there was a group of people around [Rose] who -- after he believed it was ready to come out -- jumped into action. The ball started rolling fast, and there was no stopping it.

"I can't wait for everyone to hear it. Speaking as a music fan, I think it lives up to everything that's been said about it."

Favorable reaction at Fine Line

"I can't believe I'm finally going to hear it. I'm ecstatic," said Eric Laine, 26, of Roseville.

He was there with his new wife, Jenna -- whom he met at a concert by the GNR spinoff band Velvet Revolver -- and his older brother, Peter, who was more skeptical: "To me, it's a lie he's using the Guns N' Roses name without the other original guys, but I'm anxious it's finally coming out."

Fans listened intently as the 14-song album blared from speakers for about an hour. They applauded after many songs and discussed the omnipresent me-against-the-world lyrics. Afterward, reaction seemed universally favorable but rarely fawning.

"I was very skeptical, but I do think he pulled it off," said Joe Osburn, 27, of Minneapolis.

Lou Baker, 28, of St. Louis Park said he already had been impressed by nine songs that leaked on the Internet, but "the ones I hadn't heard were some of the best." The Laine brothers had a mixed reaction but agreed "it should still be a big hit."

"We've had a lot of people come in for the AC/DC record or any of these [exclusive] records, and they don't know anything about where they're available. It ... can create a backlash" against bands.

Some indie stores stock these albums by buying them from the big retailer and reselling them at a slight markup.

It doesn't look like the GNR deal has backfired with those fans who've heard the album.

"I'll definitely go get it right away," said Baker.

Kat Tapling, 24, of Prior Lake said, "It'd be nice if you could buy it anywhere, but at least it's a Minnesota company."