As the poet once sang, it's hard to hold a candle in the cold November rain — but Slash is still hanging in there, shining the light within his soul as a lucid path back to the days when guitars were guitars, hair was hair and shirts were for pussies. Like a sweet child from out o' the past, welcoming us to the jungle o' the future, the ex-Guns n' Roses axman rides again on the second album from Slash's Snakepit. There's nothing here as inspiring as the debut's Zen pinball meditation "Be the Ball," but the real problem is that great guitarists need great bands, and the Snakepit dudes are barely functional backup peons who don't even have cool names, except bassist Johnny Blackout. So concentrate on Slash, and feel the burn of his guitar reminding you that, once upon a time, he was the guy who co-wrote "Paradise City," "It's So Easy" and "Get in the Ring." One question, though: Where's Izzy?

“Oh Sherrie”

Steve Perry's girlfriend Sherrie Swafford was actually in the studio when Perry began writing this song--his lone Top Ten hit as a solo act--with two co-writers. The trio began at midnight one night with just "Oh, Sherrie!" and "hold on, hold on." Three hours later, they had a complete song. Swafford, however, had to wait until the next day to hear it. "Sherrie actually got tired and went to bed," Perry said. She also appeared in the video, but their relationship did not hold on for long.