Unless you're Axl Rose, it must be a pretty crashy number being in Guns N' Roses these days.

Imagine it: you're probably on a hefty retainer, on paper you're in one of the biggest rock bands of the last 20 years, and yet the reality of it is that you've got plenty of down time to spend working on your own projects until you "get the call" from Mr Rose.

Which is how it must be for former Replacements bassist Tommy Stinson.. And "Village Gorilla Head" is what he's been getting up to while his boss is been tinkering in the studio.

Stinson is much more than a bassist, and takes on the roles of songwriter, singer, rhythm and lead guitarrist, bassist and ocassionally drummer on this record.

Those expecting something GN'R sounding will be disappointed. Those who remember The Replacements' glory years, however, will find much to enjoy here. "Somethings's wrong" is full of ramshackle guitar and hoarse vocals that that band's Paul Westerberg would be proud of, while closer "Someday" is a beautiful, mid-paced ballad.

If this is the stuff Stinson is capable of making on his own, hopefully Axl never makes the call and his bass player can go on creating music as enjoyable as this.

A picture of Richard Fortus and Dizzy Reed hanging out at the New York City Hookers N' Blow show can be seen here.

On October 1st, the Danish radio station P3 had a competition where listeners were asked to vote for the best guitar solo ever. The prizes were Guns N' Roses "Greatest Hits" and a Gibson Les Paul guitar signed by Slash himself!

The final five nominees were:

Guns N' Roses: Sweet Child O Mine
Eagles: Hotel California
Dizzy Mizz Lizzy: Silverflame
Metallica: One
Gary Moore: Still got the Blues
At the end, the winner was GN'R.

Velvet Revolver will appear on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno on October 14th.