[MrSandMan]

Last week, Guns N' Roses guitarist D.J. Ashba was the first in the group’s inner circle to publicly mention anything about the status of a new project by the band.

At the release party of the new video game, "Call Of Duty: Black Ops," in Santa Monica on November 4, Asha commented on the band’s plans, saying, "We're talking about that right now. We've been throwing around a bunch of ideas and it should be good, man. We've got a lot of good stuff on the plate coming out. It won't take as long, I promise."

Nothing concrete, nothing set in stone; simply the first reference that something is in the early stages.

Did Ashba speak out of turn, or is it simply that the mere mention of anything connected with new GNR is enough to turn fans heads around? After all, "Chinese Democracy" was 13 years in the making.

On Wednesday, guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal tried to calm the rising tide of fan interest when answering questions on his Facebook page.

"We've yet to get in a room and write as a band," notes Bumblefoot. "[I] know D.J. mentioned something about a new album, but don't want y'all expecting anything soon. Other than old, unreleased ['Chinese Democracy'] songs, songs need to be written, jammed, recorded, tweaked, re-worked, re-recorded, mixed, re-mixed, mastered, re-mastered, art, new art, label approval, a game plan from the label that Axl [Rose, lead singer] approves.... not as simple when it's on such a big scale... Just don't want ya getting frustrated if a GN'R album doesn't happen quick..."

Reported by Hennemusic.com.