Guns N’ Roses single a disappointment

Guns N’ Roses fans, the wait is over.

“Chinese Democracy,” the title track from the band’s first studio album since 1991, was released Wednesday to radio stations. The track was also available online, where it was streaming on various Web sites.

Was the wait worth it? Axl Rose is the only band member left from the band’s original incarnation and so this is essentially a solo project.

Rose sings in the lower end of his range, save for the introduction where his heavily processed voice sounds like a distant air-raid siren; otherwise, the wicked-witch cackle that defined his Sunset Strip bad-boy incarnation in the ’80s sits this one out.

The track indicates that Rose hasn’t gone soft. But technical prowess is no substitute for a great song.

Beneath the six-string buzz there really isn’t much of a melody, or even a memorable hook. After 17 years, this is the best tune Rose could conjure for the lead single?

Not a promising sign for an album that is supposedly going to be made available exclusively at Best Buy stores the week of Nov. 23.