1999.11.07 - Los Angeles Times - Guns Drawn

GUNS DRAWN

The Axl watch has suddenly picked up steam with the arrival of the first original Guns N’ Roses song since 1991’s “Use Your Illusion” albums. “Oh My God,” which has been released to radio but will not be commercially available, is from the soundtrack to the new Arnold Schwarzenegger movie “End of Days,” and its edgy, experimental sound has drawn comparisons to Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails.

The song will appear on the soundtrack album, which also features tracks by Limp Bizkit, Korn and others and will be in stores Tuesday on Geffen Records. And it will probably be on the long-awaited new Guns N’ Roses album, which the mercurial Axl Rose has been working on for years.

“It’s not entirely indicative of what the album’s going to be,” Guns N’ Roses’ manager Doug Goldstein says. “It’s a song that seemed to fit the movie. You know how diverse Axl’s always been.”

Rose, whose new GNR lineup is firm except for a lead guitarist, has nearly completed all the instrumental tracks and is currently writing lyrics. Goldstein says the collection, titled “Chinese Democracy,” should be out early next year.

Meantime, the earlier incarnations of GNR will be front and center with the Nov. 30 release of the concert album “Guns N’ Roses Live Era ’87-'93.” In conjunction with the two-CD set, Geffen Records will debut a video of “It’s So Easy” performed by the band at the Cathouse in 1989.

- RICHARD CROMELIN