It was eight years ago that the world first heard Axl Rose scream the indignant taunt "yesterday's got nothing on me" on Use Your Illusion II. Now, while skeptics and fans alike are still digesting "Oh My God," the first new original G n' R track in just as long, Rose's bold proclamation will be put the test with the Nov. 30 release of Guns N' Roses Live Era '87 - '93.

According to Geffen Records, the double-disc set features tracks recorded at performances in London, Paris, Las Vegas, New York, Budokan, Mexico City and Tokyo. Included are songs originally recorded for Appetite for Destruction, GN'R Lies and both Use Your Illusion albums. The set will also include one previously unreleased song, a cover of Black Sabbath's "It's Alright" presented in Axl-at-the-piano style. A live video of the Appetite song "It's So Easy" captured at the Cathouse in Los Angeles in October 1989 will be released to MTV in conjunction with the album.

Former lead guitarist Slash, currently in New York mixing his second Snakepit album, spoke positively about the GN'R live album backstage at the recent NetAid concert at Giants Stadium, where he performed one song with Puff Daddy. "Believe it or not, it's still a very mutual effort," he said of the long process of selecting material. "All things considered, it's as close as we ever got."

The result, he said, was "bitching."

"I have a standard for live records, because when I was a kid, I didn't have a lot of money, so rather than take my chances on buying a whole record based on songs that I liked or on hearsay about a great band, I'd always buy the live record," he continued. "I think that's what established in my own subconscious what it was supposed to sound like. So I always got the live record before I got the studio albums. Aerosmith's Bootleg, Budokan by Cheap Trick, Get Yer Ya Ya's Out! by the Stones...and anything by Jimi Hendrix live is awesome. Bootleg is my favorite, because it's by far the most rock. And when I heard this one, it was like very little post-production work -- almost none, because there's no one that's going to show up to do it! [Laughs]

"It's very honest, and it's like, 'What a f---ing bad ass band,'" he said, smiling fondly. "It's one of the best live records I've ever heard. I'm proud of it."

The complete track listing for Guns N' Roses Live Era '87 - '93 is as follows:

Disc 1:

1. Nightrain
2. Mr. Brownstone
3. It's So Easy
4. Welcome to the Jungle
5. Dust N' Bones
6. My Michelle
7. You're Crazy
8. Used to Love Her
9. Patience
10. It's Alright
11. November Rain

Disc 2:

1. Out ta Get Me
2. Pretty Tied Up
3. Yesterday
4. Move to the City
5. You Could Be Mine
6. Rocket Queen
7. Sweet Child O' Mine
8. Knockin' on Heaven's Door
9. Don't Cry
10. Estranged
11. Paradise City

RICHARD SKANSE