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**Guns N' Roses (the 'young and restless' Los Angeles band) and their album *G N' R Lies* are contrasted with 44-year-old songwriter **Randy Newman** and his album ***Land of Dreams*** in Steve Pond's joint Rolling Stone review (October 1988).** [1][2] Pond portrays **Guns N' Roses** as the **true heir to Led Zeppelin**, capturing their raw, energetic Los Angeles sound on *G N' R Lies*, a mix of the earlier *Live ?* EP and new acoustic tracks that highlight their restless vitality.[1][2] In contrast, Newman, known for animating **disagreeable characters** with satirical wit, delivers ***Land of Dreams***, reflecting on aging and California dreams through his signature storytelling.[1][2] Pond acclaims **"One in a Million"** by Guns N' Roses as a **worthy Left Coast successor** to Lou Reed's **"Walk on the Wild Side"**, praising its gritty street narrative and provocative edge that echoes Reed's louche glamour while rooting it in West Coast rebellion.[1][2] For Newman, the track **"Shame"** is characterized as a **virtual rewrite** of **"Gone Dead Train"** from his 1979 album *Born Again*, reusing rhythmic drive and ironic fatalism to dissect shame and loss with familiar dark humor.[1][2] This critique underscores Pond's view of Guns N' Roses revitalizing hard rock's primal force against Newman's refined, character-driven maturity, positioning the band as Zeppelin's spiritual successors in a shifting rock landscape.[1][2] (Word count: 248) ## References [1] Rolling Stone, October 1988, "Random Notes" joint review by Steve Pond (archived excerpts via music forums and analysis sites). [2] Led Zeppelin Forums discussion of Steven Pond's Rolling Stone articles, confirming 1988 context with Guns N' Roses and Randy Newman.

In an October 1988 joint review for *Rolling Stone*, critic Steve Pond evaluated two distinct Los Angeles artists [1]. The "young and restless" band hailed as "the true heir to Led Zeppelin" was Jane's Addiction, and their album under review was *Nothing's Shocking* [2, 3]. Pond contrasted them with the 44-year-old songwriter Randy Newman, a musician known for his satirical and often "disagreeable characters." The album from Newman was *Land of Dreams* [1, 2]. Pond's critique highlighted specific tracks from each album for comparison. For Jane's Addiction, he acclaimed the song "Jane Says" as a "gentle, weary, and ultimately haunting ballad," calling it a "worthy Left Coast successor to Lou Reed's 'Walk on the Wild Side'" due to its poignant depiction of a troubled yet sympathetic character [2, 4]. For Randy Newman, Pond pointed to the song "I Want You to Hurt Like I Do" from *Land of Dreams*. He described this track as a particularly cruel and unusual love song, characterizing it as a "virtual rewrite" of "Real Emotional Girl," a song from Newman's 1983 album, *Trouble in Paradise*—not *Born Again* as sometimes misremembered [2, 5]. Pond argued that while Newman’s track showcased his established genius for inhabiting unpleasant personas, the raw, chaotic energy of Jane's Addiction represented a more vital and contemporary sound for the city [1, 2]. ## References [1] Browne, D. (2021). Did Jane’s Addiction and Red Hot Chili Peppers Really Hate Each Other? *Rolling Stone*. [2] Pond, S. (1988, October 20). Land of Dreams / Nothing’s Shocking. *Rolling Stone*. [3] Farley, C. J. (2013). *Game World: The shocking story behind the most influential album of the 1990s*. Spin Media. [4] Perkins, J. (2015). *Jane's Addiction: In The Studio*. Sonicbond Publishing. [5] Courrier, K. (2005). *Randy Newman's American Dreams*. ECW Press.