In 1989, Guns 'N' Roses was huge. "Appetite For Destruction" was, and still is, one of the best-selling albums of all time. And whether you'll admit it or not, chances are at one point it could be found among your collection. It's okay, don't be ashamed. There was something raw about the band back then, something real. They had long hair and they wore leather pants, but for some reason it didn't seem funny. They weren't radio friendly. The media ignored them. It didn't stop them, though. The music and t he attitude of the band spoke for themselves.

It wasn't long after their success that drummer Steven Adler was sacked. The first to go. Adler's last project with the band was the EP, "GNR Lies." After that, rumors of a new album, as well as bootlegs of demos for new songs, circulated wildly. By the time Guns 'N' Roses actually released any new material, though, it was more than four years after the release of their first album. Apparently Axl had been having a bit of a personal crisis. He had started psychotherapy, and eventually was undergoing fi ve hours of therapy every day. This is a guy who was already on a prescription for Lithium.

Axl came out the other side of this experience a changed man, trying his best to convey the idea that the "old" Axl had died with the birth of the "new" Axl with the band's video for "Don't Cry". The question was whether the change was for the better. One of the realizations Axl arrived at through therapy was that he had been abused as a child. Fair enough, but he also realized he had been abused in the womb. This is where one wonders about the validity of such treatments. Axl's ego seemed to have been r eborn as well, and it grew to the point where he was challenging Bono for the title of most megalomaniacal rock star.Then, during the tour for the long awaited "Use Your Illusion" albums, Izzy Stradlin, rhythm guitarist and friend of Axl's since high scho ol, walked away. In the video for "Yesterdaze" Axl destroyed photos of the old line-up and look of the band, and there was no going back.

On stage, the "new" Axl wore skimpy bicycle shorts and T-shirts, and occasionally an umpire's chest protector or a kilt. Concerts were delayed, sometimes for hours, and even cancelled due to his erratic schedule. Axl added a keyboard player to the band. T hen a harmonica player. Then a horn section and back-up singers. They added a reggae bit to one of their songs. This was the group that once played "Welcome to the Jungle" and made it sound threatening. Now it was no longer a hard rock band - it was a ci rcus, with Axl as the ringmaster and the clown.

Then came "The Spaghetti Incident," a full album of cover songs that went by almost unnoticed. That was over four years ago. Even though they did a cover of "Sympathy For the Devil" for the "Interview With the Vampire" soundtrack after that, most people j ust assumed they had split up. Most people hoped they had split up. That's why it was so strange when Axl sent out his press release two weeks ago. Was it to announce a new album? A comeback tour? A new Axl Rose fashion line? No, it was to inform us all t hat Slash had left the band. And that remaining members Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum are on warning that they could be next. I wonder if they're scared.

Excuse me, Axl, but did you happen to notice that Duff and Matt have already formed another band (The Neurotic Outsiders) while they were waiting? And, um, about Slash being out of the band, what band exactly are you referring to? Without Slash there is n o band. There's just you. Sure, you can still go on and write your own songs, and call yourself Guns 'N' Roses, in Trent Reznor style. Of course, you really only play piano, and all we've seen from you for a while are cover tunes, so I suppose we can all look forward to the next GNR release, "Axl performs the hits of Billy Joel and Elton John." Or maybe, with enough additional therapy, you'll realize it's over. It's been over for a long time. I do feel kind of bad for you, though. Really, I do. I mean, i t must be hard for a megalomaniac when no one wants to listen to you anymore.

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