  Axl Rose and his Gunners debuted at No. 1.
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Guns N' Roses finally hit No. 1 again after 17 long years, but it wasn't the knockout retail punch that many expected.
The band's long-awaited return, "Chinese Democracy," hit the top spot on the Canadian album charts with sales of 70,000, according to figures compiled by Nielsen SoundScan.
Good numbers, yes, but consider this -- the album was released two days before (Nov. 23) the usual Tuesday schedule in order to maximize their sales.
The new effort fell well short of being one of the top debuts of '08 -- that honour still goes to AC/DC's "Black Ice," which sold 119,000 copies in October, while Coldplay's "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends" hit 90,000 copies back in June.
The last time Guns N' Roses were at No. 1 was for 1991's "Use Your Illusion II."
In the U.K., "Chinese Democracy" failed in its bid for the top position, losing out to the Killers' new offering "Day & Age," while in the U.S., it premiered at No. 3 with 261,000 in sales ("Democracy" was a Best Buy exclusive south of the border), behind Kanye West's "808s & Heartbreak" (450,000) at No. 1, and Taylor Swift's "Fearless" (267,000) at No. 2.
Some newspaper reports have indicated that many label insiders are blaming the unremarkable sales on frontman Axl Rose, who has given no interviews or any kind of promotion in support of the album.
Meanwhile, back in Canada, Nickelback's "Dark Horse" (35,000) slipped from No. 1 to No. 2, Il Divo's "Promise" (30,000) came in at No. 3, and Kanye West entered the top 10 at No. 4.
AC/DC's "Black Ice" dropped two notches to No. 5, the Killers checked in at No. 6, and the compilation "MuchDance 2009" sank from No. 4 to No. 7.
Rounding out the top 10 was Taylor Swift at No. 8, Enya's "Winter Came" at No. 9, and Elvis Presley's "Christmas Duets" at No. 10.
