Axl Rose and Guns n’ Roses are finally making an effort to promote the poorly selling Chinese Democracy, and oddly enough a member of Metallica might be hindering their plans: Is the album’s long-promised music video for the track “Better” being delayed by Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich?

That’s the story coming from the MyGNRForum, where Fernando Lebeis — the son of Axl’s personal assistant — told fans, “Tell Lars to OK the vid and it’s done. That’s all that is pending.” When pressed to explain who Lars was, Lebeis responded, “Lars Ulrich. We are pending his release form to be signed.” In a message board chat weeks ago, Rose promised the “Better” video would be released in the near future and would feature live and backstage footage. Among the footage, supposedly, is Lars not only backstage with the band but also performing with Gn’R at a concert in Oakland, California in December 2006.

Of course, just hours after Lepeis posted on the forum and the firestorm began, the post was quickly pulled. Lepeis then personally contacted Blabbermouth.net, who picked up the story, and told them the post “was a fun comment and not an attack on Lars.” An official statement from Gn’R soon followed which reads, “Lars isn’t holding anything up with our video. Our message board comments were meant casually, in fun and amongst friends. Unfortunately, someone with Blabbermouth may have taken things a bit out of context and made them into a bit more than they are in reality. Our apologies to anyone who may have been confused. We hope to have our video out shortly. Thank you.” — Rolling Stones

Dave Navarro’s take on Chinese Democracy, 70% awesome and 30% really weird. Dave Navarro answered some fan questions on his website. http://www.6767.com/

Question:Have u had a chance to sit down and listen to Chinese Democracy all the way through? Your thoughts on it?

Dave Navarro: Yes. I have to say that I pretty much love it. The way I have been describing it has been 70% awesome and 30% really weird, but after a few listens… The weird becomes awesome again. I don’t know if it’s the songs or the fact that I just enjoy hearing that guy’s voice or both, but I am a fan. It’s not GnR as we know it… It feels more like an Axl solo record… Probably because as music lovers, we were able to get a feel for the old GnR dynamics and the personalities of each member in the band. I know very little about this band so it’s hard to connect with each member sonically like I did before. People have been commenting on how long it took to make but I kind of don’t believe he was working on all THESE songs the whole time. I’m sure there have been versions, stuff that got scrapped, breaks, line up changes, personal time… I’m speculating of course, but having worked on so many projects I know that there are a million things that go down before you even decide on the track listing.