tony286

That June he allowed a version of the old Guns N' Roses hit "Sweet
Child O' Mine" that begins with the original band playing but almost
seamlessly shifts into the new band to appear on the soundtrack of the
film "Big Daddy." Later that summer he agreed to release his first
original song in eight years, the industrial-flavored "Oh My God," for
another soundtrack and introduced it in a commercial on MTV. (Mr. Rose
fussed over the song so much that he, Mr. Iovine and studio
technicians stayed up until nearly dawn adjusting the final mix,
according to people involved.) News of its release stoked speculation
that an album might follow. But it was panned by many critics and
quickly forgotten.

In late 1999 he invited Rolling Stone to preview about a dozen tracks.
The magazine reported the album appeared "loosely scheduled" for
release in the summer of 2000. In fact, Mr. Rose's visits to the
studio had become so irregular, according to several executives and
musicians involved with the band, that an engineer working with him,
Billy Howerdel, and the band's drummer, Josh Freese, found time during
that period to start their own project, the band A Perfect Circle, and
to begin recording an album, "Mer de Noms," which went on to sell 1.7
million copies.

Label executives still clung to the idea that if they could just bring
in the right producer, he could find a way to finish the album and
finally bring a return on their ever-growing investment. They summoned
Roy Thomas Baker, famed for his work with the art-rock band Queen.
(Mr. Beavan, who was said to have tired of the project, soon bowed
out.) But instead of wrapping things up, Mr. Baker decided that much
of what the band had needed to be re-recorded - and painstakingly so,
as he sometimes spent as long as eight hours on a few bars of music.

The process was drawn out even further after Mr. Rose hired two new
musicians - the guitarist Buckethead, a virtuoso who wore a
mannequin-like face mask and a KFC bucket on his head, and the drummer
Brian "Brain" Mantia - whom the singer directed to re-record all the
music that their predecessors had spent months performing.

Still, Mr. Rose seemed to be emerging from his sullen shell. In
mid-2000, for what was thought to be the first time since the
"Illusions" tour ended in 1993, he performed in public, with the
Thursday night bar band at the Cat Club on the Sunset Strip. "He was
psyched," recalled one person who worked with the band at Rumbo. "It
seemed like it boosted him again, people still want to hear him."

At about 4 a.m on New Year's Day 2001, at the House of Blues in Las
Vegas, he and the new lineup of the band finally unveiled some of
their new material. "I have traversed a treacherous sea of horrors to
be with you here tonight," Mr. Rose told the crowd, which received him
with roars of approval. Warm reviews followed. Making the most of the
moment, he took his band on the road, going to Brazil to play in the
Rock in Rio festival.

With the band's return, Mr. Rose's machinery cranked up again. One
internal cost analysis from the period pegs the operation's monthly
tab at a staggering $244,000. It included more than $50,000 in studio
time at the Village, a more modern studio where Mr. Baker had moved
the band. It also included a combined payroll for seven band members
that exceeded $62,000, with the star players earning roughly $11,000
each. Guitar technicians earned about $6,000 per month, while the
album's main engineer was paid $14,000 per month and a recording
software engineer was paid $25,000 a month, the document stated.

Label executives were losing patience. Interscope turned to Mr.
Zutaut, the original band's talent scout. Could an old friend succeed
where so many others had failed? He was offered a roughly 30 percent
bonus, he said, if he could usher the project to completion within a
year.