POP MUSIC : Guns N’ Roses--Loaded With Contradictions

*** GUNS N’ ROSES. “GN’R Lies.” Geffen.

“Take it for what it is,” singer W. Axl Rose warns on the song “Used to Love Her.” That line explains the spirit in which this LP should be taken. It’s not meant as a follow-up to “Appetite for Destruction,” the L.A. band’s 1986 debut album that has sold more than 6 million copies. It’s strictly aimed at keeping the band’s fans satiated until the group’s true follow-up comes out next year.

Side “G” of “GN’R Lies” is taken from the band’s self-released ’86 EP, “Live, Like a Suicide.” The four live tracks crackle with the rough ‘n’ tumble spirit of GNR’s earlier days, from the hard rock-boogie of “Move to the City” to the street-wise imagery of “Reckless Life” and “Nice Boyz.” “Mama Kin” (an Aerosmith cover) is a razor-sharp parallel to the other songs. The fiery performances are as raw as a festering wound and contain the spark which later ignited on “Appetite.”

On the mostly acoustic side “N,” you might expect to find GNR’s softer side, but this is not always the case. The cynically humorous “Used to Love Her,” is a country-esque tale of a man who kills his annoying mate. The toned-down version of “You’re Crazy” (a song from “Appetite”) becomes more insinuating within its bopping, percussive groove.

Clearly, “One in a Million”--with its abhorrent epithetical references to gays and ethnic minorities--will be a point of controversy. Does the band agree with the views or is the song a recognition of small-town prejudice as the darker side of the American Dream? (See Pop Eye on Page 84.)

GNR does have that softer side though, and shows it on the most striking tune, “Patience.” There is a revealing warmth in Axl’s natural tenor as his words reach sweetly for a higher state of mind--and its sincerity is as powerful as anything else on the record. GNR is a complex band, full of contradictions, and that’s what makes a simple record like “GN’R Lies” so fascinating.