Technically Velvet Revolver isn't more Guns 'n' Roses than Guns 'n' Roses, because out of the three GNR members in VR (Slash, Duff, and Matt), only two of them are classic lineup members (Slash & Duff, Matt replaced classic lineup drummer Steven Adler), and neither Slash nor Duff were in the founding lineup of GNR (which was made up of Axl, Izzy Stradlin, Tracii Guns, Rob Gardner, and Ole Beich), so technically GNR is still more GNR than VR is (in a sense).
And it's going to be released this year, because it has been finished, and Axl's manager (Beta Lebeis) has stated that they are discussing with the record label how they should release it in order to make as much money as possible.