Rumors circulated in 1997 that Axl Rose had returned to the studio to begin work on a new album. The album's producer was supposedly Mike Clink. Nothing came out of the rumors in 1997, and GN'R remained in hiatus. In 1998, Axl formally returned to the studio accompanied by drummer Josh Freese (of The Vandals), bassist Tommy Stinson (formerly of The Replacements), guitarist Robin Finck (formerly of Nine Inch Nails), rhythm guitarist Paul Tobias (aka Paul Huge), effects man Chris Pitman, and keyboardist Dizzy Reed.

In 1999, the band released one new song, "Oh My God", which was included on the soundtrack of End of Days. The song's release was intended to be a prelude to their new album, now officially titled Chinese Democracy. Geffen also released Live Era: '87-'93, a collection of live performances from various concerts during the Appetite for Destruction and Use Your Illusion tours.


Guns N' Roses logo, 2000-2005In 2000, avant-garde guitar virtuoso Buckethead joined Guns N' Roses to complement Robin Finck, and drummer Josh Freese was replaced with Brian Mantia (formerly of Primus). The revised lineup debuted on stage in January 2001 with two well-received concerts, one in Las Vegas and one at the Rock in Rio Festival in Rio de Janeiro. The band played a mixture of old hits as well as new songs from their forthcoming album. During their Rock in Rio set, Rose made the following comment regarding former members of the band:

"I know that many of you are disappointed that some of the people that you came to know and love could not be with us here today. Regardless of what you have heard or read, people worked very hard (meaning my former friends) to do everything they could so that I could not be here today. I say fuck that. I am as hurt and disappointed as you that, unlike Oasis, we could not find a way to all get along."[3]

Axl Rose during a 2002 concertThe new lineup played another two shows in Las Vegas at the end of 2001. In 2002, rhythm guitarist Paul Tobias left the band because of his frustrations with delays in the album's recording. He was replaced by Richard Fortus, formerly of the bands The Psychedelic Furs and Love Spit Love. The band then played several shows in August of 2002, headlining festivals and concerts throughout Asia and Europe. They made their way to New York for a surprise appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards in September.

The band's first North American tour since 1993 was organized in the autumn of 2002 to support Chinese Democracy. However, the opening show in Vancouver was canceled by the venue when Rose failed to show up in a timely manner and a riot ensued. This tour was met with mixed results. Some concerts in smaller markets did not sell well, while shows in larger markets such as New York sold out in minutes. Due to a second absence by Axl Rose in Philadelphia and the resulting riot by fans, promoter Clear Channel canceled the remainder of the tour.

The band went into hiatus until they were scheduled to play at Rock in Rio 4 in May 2004. However, Buckethead left the band in March of that year, causing the band to cancel their appearance.

Also in March 2004, Geffen released Guns N' Roses' Greatest Hits, since Rose had failed to deliver a new studio album in more than ten years. Rose expressed his displeasure with this album as its track listing was established without his consent and went as far as trying to block its release by suing Geffen Records.


Guns N' Roses logo, 2006-presentIn February 2006, demos of the songs "Better", "Catcher In The Rye", "I.R.S.", and "There Was a Time" were leaked on the Internet through a Guns N' Roses fan site. The band's management requested that all links to the MP3 files and all lyrics to the songs be removed from forums and websites. That same month, it was announced that the band would launch a European tour starting in May, headlining both Download Festival and Rock In Rio-Lisboa. Four warm-up shows preceded the tour at Hammer

The Spaghetti Incident?

On November 23, 1993, Guns N' Roses released a collection of punk covers entitled The Spaghetti Incident?. Despite protests from Rose's bandmates, an unadvertised cover of the Charles Manson song "Look at Your Game Girl" was included on the album at his request. Years later, Rose said he would remove the song from new pressings of the album, citing that critics and the media had misinterpreted his interest in Manson. However, as of 2006, the song is still present on the album. The Spaghetti Incident? did not match the success of the Illusion albums and tensions increased within the band.


Breakup

In 1994, Gilby Clarke was let go from the band as other members felt his songwriting skills were inadequate for their future projects. That same year, a cover version of The Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil" was recorded by the band for the movie Interview with the Vampire. The addition of Axl's childhood friend Paul Tobias in place of Clarke did not sit well with remaining band members. During the recording of "Sympathy for the Devil", Tobias played several solos in addition to solos that Slash had recorded. Slash was infuriated when he heard the song's final mix and that Tobias' solos were used in place of his.

Slash then drifted in and out of the band for the next year or so, beginning a side project called Slash's Snakepit before finally quitting in late 1996, citing musical differences with Rose. He was replaced by Robin Finck. The next year, drummer Sorum was fired from the group following a verbal dispute with Rose regarding negative comments Paul Tobias had made about Slash. In early 1998, McKagan opted out of his contract. This left Rose as the sole original member of the group.

In 1990, Guns N' Roses returned to the studio to begin recording their most ambitious undertaking yet. During recording sessions, drummer Steven Adler was unable to perform due to his struggles with cocaine and heroin addiction. Axl said later in an interview that "'Civil War' was recorded a good sixty times because of Adler." Coincidentally, "Civil War" is the only post-GN'R Lies song on which Adler appears, and was featured (along with a cover of the UK Subs punk anthem "Down on the Farm") in a televised excerpt of the band's set at Farm Aid IV on April 7, 1990 which became the last concert appearance of the band with Adler as drummer. He was fired in August 1990, and replaced with former Cult drummer Matt Sorum. About the same time, keyboardist Dizzy Reed joined the band as a full time member. The band's manager, Alan Niven, was fired in May 1991 and was replaced with Doug Goldstein.

With enough music for a double album, the band instead chose to release Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II as two separate albums on September 17, 1991. The tactic paid off when the albums debuted as #2 and #1 respectively on the Billboard charts. Prior to the release of both albums, Guns N' Roses embarked on the twenty-eight month long Use Your Illusion World Tour to support them. It would become famous for both its financial success and the many controversial incidents that occurred at the shows.

The creative highlights of the tour includes a Slash guitar solo incorporating The Godfather theme, and a brilliant piano driven Axl Rose solo of "It's Alright" by Black Sabbath. An extended jam on the classic rock inspired "Move to the City" was where Rose showcased the ensemble of musicians assembled for the tour. While many of the band's older tunes were presented in a revised or extended fashion, most of the Use Your Illusion songs were performed flawlessly similar to their studio takes.

Unfortunately, much of the tour's brilliant moments and accomplishments were equally matched and often overshadowed in the press by the riots, late starts, outspoken rantings by Rose that plagued it. While the band's previous drug and alcohol issues were seemingly under control, Axl was often agitated by lax security, sound problems, and unwanted filming or recording of the performances. He also used the banter inbetween songs to fire off political statements or retort against music critics or celebrity rivals.

During a July 2, 1991 concert at the recently built Riverport Arena in St. Louis, Missouri, Axl Rose jumped into the audience and tackled a fan that was recording the show with a video camera. After being pulled from the audience by his security team, Rose subsequently left the stage, ending the show early. The angry crowd began to riot, and dozens of people were injured. Rose was charged with having incited the riot, but police were unable to arrest him until almost a year later, as the band went overseas to continue the tour. Charges were filed against Rose, but a judge ruled that he did not directly incite the riot. In his defense, Rose stated that the Guns N' Roses personal security team had made four separate requests to the venue's security staff to remove the camera, all of which were ignored; that other members of the band had reported being hit by bottles from the audience; and that the venue's security had been lax, allowing weapons into the arena and refusing to enforce a drinking limit.[1]

During this time, guitarist Izzy Stradlin quit the band due to differences with Rose. He was replaced by Los Angeles based guitarist Gilby Clarke. In late 1991, Rose added a touring ensemble to the band which included a horns section and several background vocalists.


Use Your Illusion IIIn 1992, the band appeared at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, performing a two song set. Later in the year they went on a mini-tour with American heavy metal band Metallica. During a show in August 1992 at Montreal's Olympic Stadium, Metalli