Will the new Guns N’ Roses album be worth the wait?

By BEN WENER

Hell is apparently freezing over again.

The first time, you’ll recall, was when the Eagles reunited. Now Axl Rose swears the long-awaited, near-mythological new Guns N’ Roses album “Chinese Democracy,” the first new GNR material since the twin “Use Your Illusion” sets of 1991, will drop Nov. 23 at Best Buy stores and BestBuy.com, where you can preorder it now.

Right, I know: How many times have we heard Axl say this is coming out, only to have its release pushed back indefinitely? Wasn’t it supposed to surface last year? And the year before that, when his pseudo-GNR played a series of concerts?

Still, given the tie-in, given the promotional push this will get, given the presumably set-in-stone date — and given that the title-track single is invading radio everywhere while “Shackler’s Revenge” can be unlocked on “Rock Band 2? and another new song, “If the World,” can be heard in the Ridley Scott/Leonardo DiCaprio flick “Body of Lies” — well, it sure seems like this ballyhooed beast will finally see the light of day.

My question: Does anyone still care?

I don’t doubt that “Chinese Democracy” will race to the top of the charts, especially considering that Best Buy has planned a “monumental campaign that matches the groundbreaking sound of the album itself” (oh really? groundbreaking?) but also seeing as it’s bowing Thanksgiving week — both an uncrowded time to issue something new and dominate and an ideal chance to suck in Christmas shoppers with no discerning taste.

But will it be any good?

“Shackler’s Revenge” (which you can hear via YouTube if you’re not “Rock Band”-savvy) is fairly generic — not as industrial-strength bad as “Oh My God” but hardly anything to get excited about. And the title track doesn’t sound much different from it. Less growling, perhaps, and that hook about Axl having nothing but precious time (no kidding, huh?) is chuckle-inducing — and I’ll admit that with studio treatment his voice is far less grating than it was recently on stage. But there’s nothing “groundbreaking” about it. (“Lame,” adds my colleague Kelli Skye Fadroski. “Does he still think it’s 1987?”)

After 17 years, dontcha think even an Axl-only GNR should sound a bit more daring than, oh, progeny like Avenged Sevenfold? (Best YouTube comment: “Call this Avenged N’ Sevenroses.”) I’m reserving further judgment until I hear the whole thing. But this isn’t a particularly promising start.