2004.03.16 - Associated Press, Rolling Stone - Judge Denies Axl Rose Bid To Stop Release Of Guns N' Roses CD

Judge denies Axl Rose bid to stop release of Guns N' Roses CD

ALEX VEIGA; Associated Press Writer

A federal judge has rejected a bid by Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose and two of the metal band's former members to block Geffen Records from releasing a greatest hits compilation next week.

Rose sued the record label, a unit of Universal Music Group, last week, saying he never gave his permission to release the record or have its hits remixed for the new album. Former band members Slash and Duff McKagan, who haven't been in the band since the early 1990s, joined the lawsuit.

But on Monday, U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer denied Rose's request for an order blocking the release, scheduled for next Tuesday. The next hearing in the case is set for two days later.

"Their lawsuit is meritless," Universal Music Group spokesman Peter LoFrumento said Tuesday. "Fortunately, since the court has denied their application for a temporary restraining order, the album will be released as scheduled."

Rose's management declined to comment.

Led by the mercurial Rose, Guns N' Roses soared to superstar status in the late 1980s following the release of "Appetite for Destruction," with hits such as "Paradise City," "Sweet Child O' Mine" and "Welcome to the Jungle."

The group continued to rack up hits in the early 1990s, but by the midpoint of the decade Rose was left as the only original member. He attempted a comeback in 2002 with a new lineup, but it fizzled after he was a no-show at several planned concerts.

Geffen decided to go ahead with the greatest hits album because Rose did not deliver on promises to complete a new record, tentatively titled, "Chinese Democracy," a source familiar with the deal said on condition of anonymity.

Geffen has paid $13.5 million into the "Chinese Democracy" project, which has been more than seven years in the making, the source said.

Rolling Stone, March 16, 2004:
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Gn'R Lose Compilation Lawsuit

Hits collection will hit stores next week

A California judge has derailed Axl Rose's attempts to block the release of Guns n' Roses' Greatest Hits next week.
Rose filed suit against Geffen hoping to stop the release of the compilation, an album he maintains was assembled without his input. Former Guns guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan (who now play with Velvet Revolver) joined the suit. But U.S. district Judge Dale Fischer refused to grant a restraining order against Geffen, clearing the path for the label to release the album next Tuesday.

A lengthy Gn'R draught might be one factor in the label's decision to issue the hits package. The group hasn't recorded an album of new, original material since 1991's two Use Your Illusion records, and its last studio set was the 1993 covers record The Spaghetti Incident.

Rose has long been at work on Guns' next album, Chinese Democracy, though no word has been given as to a possible release date. Hits would be the second recording to dig through Gn'R's vaults; in 1999 the label released the two-CD concert compilation Live Era: 1987-1993. The new fourteen-song collection includes hits from Gn'R's 1987 debut Appetite for Destruction ("Sweet Child o' Mine," "Welcome to the Jungle," "Paradise City"), the 1989 GN'R Lies EP ("Patience"), the Illusion albums ("Don't Cry," "November Rain") and various covers, including the Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil," Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" and Wings' "Live and Let Die."

ANDREW DANSBY

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