Hip-hop legend Grandmaster Flash is to release his first album of new material in more than 20 years. The DJ, real name Joseph Saddler, has not put out an LP of original songs since 1988's On The Strength. In the late 1970s, he teamed up with fellow hip-hop pioneers to form Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five. The group released the genre-defining hit The Message, but split in 1983.

We've waited 17 years for a full length album of new Guns N' Roses material, and this stretch of time was made all the more ridiculous after all the delays, firings, and apparent breakdowns by Axl Rose, the band's only remaining original member, and his ill-fated project: Chinese Democracy. As more and more time elapsed, as release dates were pushed back further-and-further, the expectations for this album became higher or lower, depending on how you look at it. Some might say that it couldn't possibly be good because Axl is totally off his rocker and has made simply putting out a rock n' roll record into something far more difficult than it needed to be. If you're a rock optimist praying that G n' R will shock everyone by jumping right back into the forefront of hard rock after a decade and a half in the dark, then you may be excited to break the seal on this disc and dive right in.In case you haven't heard, G n' R's are cross-promoting by making their latest release only available at Best Buy. Dr Pepper also chimed in with a promotion as well, where they promised a free soda to everyone in America on the condition that Axl Rose releases 'Chinese Democracy,' in 2008." According to Axl, Dr Pepper did not follow through and the whole deal may turn into lawsuit. The bottom line is a lot of people will not be getting their can of soda.