As previously reported by Corey Stulce of The Alton Telegraph, GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Richard Fortus was recently quoted as saying that the band will hit the road for a tour in support of new album Chinese Democracy that will last at least two years. Fortus has since issued the following retraction:

"OK, it seems that I am being misquoted once again. I never said that GN'R would be playing St. Louis, nor did I say that we will be doing free shows or that we are starting a two-year tour in March! Selective hearing. Never said it."

Bloggingstocks.com is calling GUNS N' ROSES' Chinese Democracy one of the Money Losers of 2008. Their commentary reads as follows:

For decades, Axl Rose, the lead singer for Guns N' Roses, has shown nothing but contempt for his fans, his fellow musicians, the public. and women. He would cancel concerts for no apparent reason. In 1991, he walked off the stage during a show in Germany.

Rose, born William Bruce Rose, is not a stupid man. He knew that the public still clamored for Guns N' Roses. Its songs were mainstays of rock radio. People continued to buy the group's DVDs. So, Rose went to work on the band's sixth album called Chinese Democracy.

And work. And work.

Chinese Democracy attracted almost legendary status as a project that languished for about 15 years. That's almost three lifetimes in the music industry.

Some critics liked the Rose's creation that was recently released. Rolling Stone called Chinese Democracy a "great, audacious, unhinged and uncompromising hard-rock record." Fans were not as enthused.

As the Los Angeles Times noted, "The Guns N' Roses album that was 17 years in the making climbed only as high as No. 3 when it debuted on the national sales chart. It has tumbled to No. 18 in its second week of release. That's a disturbing sign for the most expensive to produce album ever in rock, the cost once estimated at $13 million."

Given Rose's track record, odds are that he is not phased by the tepid reaction from his long-suffering loyal fans.

Check out more Money Losers of 2008 here.