JANUARY 1995
'Sympathy For The Devil' will be the next GN'R single, due out on January 2. The film from which it's taken, Interview With A Vampire, goes on general release in the UK on January 1. It will be accompanied by a full soundtrack album. (Appetite for Reconstruction, RAW, 11/94)

The single was released and the band regrouped to try out a new guitar player.

"Axl's like: 'What about Zakk? You like Zakk, right?'" (Slash, Metal Express, 1995)

"He probably thought I'd like the idea because Zakk was a friend of mine and I respected him as a guitarist, but that really didn't seem like an answer to me. I brought up the option of rehiring Gilby, but that idea was flatly rejected... I wasn't sure what to expect from Zakk Wylde but I hoped for the best... Axl asked [him] to come down to rehearse with us." (Slash, Autobiography)

"So we jammed together for just over a week. "we jammed over a whole bunch of shit and came out with three pretty cool ideas." (Zakk Wylde, Kerrang!, 01/28/95)

Some inspiration may have come from the Paul Huge -led shadow lineup; the inaugural session band that churned out raw material for Axl.

"[Zakk] brought energy and enthusiasm that was lacking within Guns at the time. 'We can build on the legacy,' he said excitedly. 'We can make something great. Listen to this.' He saw a piano against the wall and sat down and elegantly played it. I had no idea he could play piano at all, much less like this." (Duff, Autobiography)

"We came out with three pretty cool ideas." (Zakk Wylde, Kerrang!, 01/28/95)

"Even when Zakk Wylde and Slash played together, there were a couple of songs in which there was a natural progression and they were very rocking. You can imagine, they were really hard songs." (Duff, Popular 1, 07/00)

"It brought out some interesting things in Slash... it would've worked to do some songs." (Axl, 2002)

"We recorded a few demos with him, but nothing panned out." (Duff, Autobiography)

"One of the riffs ended up on the first Black Label Society record [Sonic Brew], [on the track] 'Rose-Petalled Garden'. The stuff that I wanted to do, eventually, would have been like GNR on steroids, man." (Zakk Wylde, MyGNR)

"We (Slash and Axl) just had a really rare, heated conversation a couple of days ago, where everything that I've had brewing - you know how quiet and laidback I am - I just let everything out." (Slash, Kerrang, 01/95)

"That whole bullshit thing with Zakk (Wylde)... Just to get that story straight, it's nothing against Zakk, it was just not the right... I love jamming with Zakk on his own, as a separate entity, but in Guns N' Roses it doesn't sound right." (Metal Hammer, 11/95)

"[Guns] doesn't sound right with two heavy-league guitar players." (Slash, Metal Express, 1995)

"Usually, Guns N' Roses has an off-rhythm and a main riff. So, now me and Zakk just play the same thing. But that's just because we're both lead guitar players." (Slash, Metal Express, 1995)

"I was used to working with and playing off of a more low-key rhythm player." (Slash, Autobiography)

"If Zakk and I were to do this, it would be a whole new trip... more like Judas Priest or something. Even he felt that the concept was wrong." (Slash, Autobiography)

"[Axl] sort of listened to me. I said everything I could possibly say that I didn't agree with." (Slash, Kerrang, 01/95)

"[Guns with Zakk] was a different approach that ended up being overpowering and didn't bring out the best in Slash." (Axl, 2002)

MARCH AND APRIL
Slash's solo world tour hits full stride, with European and UK dates currently planned for spring/early summer.
Meanwhile, the Uzi Suicide label plans its first releases, possibly from Soul and Davy's Farm.
There should also be a second solo album out from original Guns guitarist Izzy Stradlin' and his band, Ju Ju Hounds. (Appetite for Reconstruction, RAW, 11/94)

The Uzi Suicide label obviously didn't get going as planned. One of the four bands (The Assassins) featured Axl's half-brother Stuart Bailey as a guitarist/songwriter, their music described as "the currently hot Southern Rock vein being pursued by the likes of Pride & Glory, and on the softer side, Blind Melon". Maybe even, Slash's Snakepit?

The Ju Ju Hounds project folds without much fanfare and Izzy suddenly has time on his hands. On 03/10/95, he joins Duff and Matt on stage, as they all play in an all-star band at the opening of The Joint, a new Las Vegas venue within Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. Little do they know that the next official Guns show would be performed there - only not during their tenure.

Snakepit start their world tour by playing the first show (out of four) in Memphis, TN on 03/28. The final tour itinerary departs quickly from the one suggested above, as the European leg began in June, following legs in USA and Japan. It's possible the tour start was temporarily hindered.

Suddenly, Izzy's available.

"Once in 1995, I went to ring the doorbell at [Axl's] place, and he opened the door. (Izzy, Hard Rock, 07/01)

"And I go up... there he is. He's like, 'Hey, man! Glad to see you!' Gives me a big hug and shows me round his house. It was great." (Izzy, Classic Rock, 2001)

"In April, 1995, Duff calls me again: 'I'm trying to compose new songs for the guys in GN'R. Come and give me a hand.' It made five [years] that I'd left Guns but I said myself: 'Well shit, after all, why not?' Duff and I wrote ten songs in the space of week. We even recorded them as demos." (French Izzy interview, 2001)

"There's a lot of debate over who's going to play guitar. Axl and I were having an argument about it yesterday (04/12/95)." (Slash, New York Times, 04/20/95)

The argument could've well been related to Izzy's sudden return to the Guns camp, and his possible re-entering to the band.

"[Izzy]'s been writing; he wrote some stuff with Duff. He wants to write songs, but he doesn't wanna deal with the whole thing... He's so laid back. He doesn't want to deal any pressure... Izzy's Izzy." (Slash, Metal Hammer, 11/95)

"Izzy agrees with writing stuff but he's not interested in touring... He doesn't want to deal with Axl." (Slash, Sao Paulo Journal, 07/21/95)

The lawsuit to which Stephanie Seymour subpoenad Erin Everly to participate in March '94 was met with a litigation over a year later. Oklahoma was inspired by this court date.

"'I was sitting in my litigation with my ex-wife [Erin Everly], and it was [April 20th, 1995,] the day after the [Oklahoma City] bombing,' Rose remembers with a wince." (Rolling Stone, 2000)

"It's part of Axl's trip... talking about [his] ex-wife or ex-girlfriend... he sees what he's singing, y'know?" (Slash, Metal Hammer, 11/95)

"This person is spewing all kinds of things and 168 people just got killed. And this person I'm sitting there with, she don't care. Obliterating me is their goal.'" (Axl, Rolling Stone, 2000)

"Axl wrote [Oklahoma] with inspiration from the Oklahoma City bombing (more as a tribute to those who died, if I'm not mistaken)." (Dave Dominguez, Sp1at, 02/07/05)

In the same month, on 04/27/95, Izzy also appeared onstage with Slash's Snakepit in The Metro in Chicago.

"Izzy jammed with Snakepit in Chicago, and we did a Stones song [Bitch], and it was great to see him." (Slash, Metal Hammer, 11/95)

"Probably a month later, one night [Axl] calls me [and] we got into the issue of me leaving Guns N' Roses. I told him how it was on my side. Told him exactly how I felt about it and why I left.... But, I mean he had a fucking notepad. I could hear him [turning the pages] going, 'Well, ah, you said in 1982... ' He was bringing up a lot of really weird old shit. I'm like, whatever, man. But that's the last time I talked to him. (Izzy, Classic Rock, 2001)

Izzy almost came back into the band.

JULY AND AUGUST
After a brief holiday, Slash, along with SVO Snakepit cohort Matt Sorum, will regroup with Axl, bassist Duff McKagan, keyboardist Dizzy Read and possibly Paul Huge to begin rehearsals for the next GN'R album(s).
(Appetite for Reconstruction, RAW, 11/94)

After Izzy had come and gone in April, not much was happening in the Guns camp.

"Axl had demonstrated a lot of compassion over the years — and especially in the wake of my pancreatitis. That’s what also drove me crazy. He knew that I’d changed my life around, that I got up early and went to bed early, that I was doing whatever I could to stay alive. And yet, right at this point he made a big switch and became a night person." (Duff, autobiography)

"A frequent visitor to the studio says; 'When Stephanie Seymour's birthday [July 23rd] came around, Axl seemed to shut down for weeks. A lot of this record is about Stephanie: She was his perfect woman, at least his image of what she should be.'" (Rolling Stone, 05/11/00)

On July 14th, Seymour had married businessman Peter Brant, which likely dampened Axl's moods as well.

"I used to go to [Guns'] practice place, me and Matt would play for a while, but no one else used to show up." (Duff, Popular 1, 07/00)

"Matt Sorum called to see whether I’d be interested in playing rhythm guitar for a Monday-night show at the Viper Room with Steve Jones - the original Sex Pistols guitar player - and John Taylor of Duran Duran. It was tempting. Slash was out touring with Snakepit, so there wasn’t anything happening on the Guns front. And shit, Steve was a personal hero of mine. Still, it would be a big step for me because up to this point I had not played a live show sober... and Steve Jones was sober now. Matt Sorum and John Taylor, too, so I would be in good company. I decided to go to a few rehearsals." (Duff, autobiography)

"They were supposed to keep working while I was gone. That's why Matt didn't come on tour with us, because he was supposed to help keep that foundation for them to jam." (Slash, Metal Hammer, 11/95) 

"I stayed at home and I worked a bit with Axl and Duff. I'm sure I took the good decision." (Matt, 1996)

"Well, they only jammed like twice since I was gone, so no one had really been doing anything." (Slash, Metal Hammer, 11/95)

"One night [Axl] showed up at the rehearsal studio as I was packing up to leave.

'Sorry, man, but I have to go,' I told him.
'What do you mean you have to go?'
'Dude, it’s four a.m., and I’ve been here all fucking night. I’ve got to get home.'
'Fuck that, man!'"

(Duff, autobiography)

Meanwhile, Snakepit still had everything going for it.

"We are going to meet in August after we've toured with Snakepit. Then we'll see what happens." (Slash, Aftonbladet, 04/02/95)

"Everything rolled on: the record sold, the tour was fine; I was on the road with no end in sight... I wanted to keep the tour going [geographically] beyond Japan; I wanted to take it to Australia, I wanted to finish what I set out to do." (Slash, Autobiography)

"When this tour ends, it's a six-month tour, in August, I'll go home and basically, we'll regroup, so to speak. And then, Guns will probably spend a little bit of time in the studio, and then we'll be on the road for a while. We'll be like family for a long time, and when the tour ends, I'm probably just go back do another Snakepit record and do another small club tour. And we'll just sort of play it that way. But of course, nothing is ever that predictable. That's the basic plan." (Slash, 06/05/95)

"We were in the midst of booking another leg when I was informed by Geffen that they'd sold a million copies of It's Five O'Clock Somewhere and had turned a profit so they saw no reason for me to continue the tour... I was to return to L.A. because Axl was ready to begin working on the next Guns N' Roses record... In case I objected, [Geffen] made it clear that the financial support for Snakepit was over." (Slash, Autobiography)

On 07/26, Slash's Snakepit plays the last show of their continuous world tour in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Two days later, on 07/28, Duff and Matt play a benefit show at the LA club Viper Room with Steve Jones of The Sex Pistols and John Taylor of Duran Duran. The group is dubbed Neurotic Outsiders, and the baton of the 'away member' would soon move from Slash to Duff.

"At the time of that Viper Room show, I had been out of the public eye for more than a year... Before I knew it, gig night had arrived and there was a line stretching down the block of Sunset Boulevard in front of the Viper Room." (Duff, autobiography)

On 08/01, Slash's Snakepit throws what could be described as a homecoming show in the Troubadour in Los Angeles.

Suddenly, Guns were all over the town again.

What's in a Name?

The Geffen Contract, 1992.
Cilck on the

The Resignation Letter, 1995.

"As far as contractually - and this is a discrepancy between myself and our attorneys - apparently Axl owns [the GNR name]. Now I should have known that, because I could have then said: "Okay." I don't give a fuck who owns the name. But I find out later that Axl legally owns it - apparently." (Slash, Metal Hammer, 11/95)

"I didn't really know what else to do after Axl sent a letter on August 31, 1995, saying that he was leaving the band and taking the name with him under the terms of the new contract. After that we tried to put it back together." (Slash, Autobiography)

"I’d left and formed a new partnership, which was only an effort to salvage Guns not steal it." (Axl, MyGNR, 12/14/08)

"This will serve as notice [that] effective [...] Decemeber 30th 1995, I will withdraw from the partnership. [...] I intend to use the name 'Guns N' Roses' in connection with a new group which I will form." (Slash & Duff v. Axl lawsuit document, 2004)

"The perception I have of what Axl's doing at the moment is that he's basically making a solo album but retaining the GN'R name so that he can get at the major contractual advance that's waiting at Geffen for a new Guns N' Roses-titled record. I can't give you the exact figure but I will tell you it's in the multi-million-dollar range. This renegotiation was effected just before I was fired." (Alan Niven, Icon Magazine, 10/97)

"GN'R began work on a new album of original material, drawing from a Geffen advance thought to be around $10 million - Madonna kind of money." (Rolling Stone, 05/11/00)

"Axl had hired an attorney to push this through, so Duff and I did as well, and the three of them started haggling, having those attorney feasts that do nothing but cost their clients money. Doug Goldstein was also there helping "facilitate" the whole thing." (Slash, Autobiography)

As the contract negotiations dragged on, Slash silently fell out of Guns N' Roses.

"He (Slash) has been 'OFFICIALLY and LEGALLY' outside of the Guns N' Roses Partnership since December 31, 1995." (Axl, 10/30/96)

"Slash QUIT Guns N' Roses after his solo projects flopped. Geffen Records President Eddie Rosenblatt literally begged Axl to keep the door open for Slash." (Del James, Mudkiss, 2008)