of the band didn't stop "dancing with Mr. Brownstone," a reference to their song of the same name about heroin use. Adler was among those who promised to clean up, but he continued to struggle with his addiction. Adler was briefly fired from the band over his drug use in early 1990, but he was reinstated after signing a contract in which he vowed to stop taking drugs. However, by the time the band entered the studio to record the song "Civil War", his addiction had become so severe that he was unable to perform. By Adler's own admission, he tried to play the song "20, maybe 30 times." The song's drum track had to be heavily edited just for his bandmates to be able to play along with it. When problems in the studio continued, causing recording sessions to abort for several days at a time, Adler was formally fired from Guns N' Roses on July 11, 1990. He had played his final show with the band on April 7 at Farm Aid IV. Izzy Stradlin, who left the band in November 1991, later stated that replacing Adler with Matt Sorum of The Cult had a big impact on the band's sound. In response to an interviewer's suggestion that the line-up change had turned Guns N' Roses from a rock 'n' roll band into a heavy metal one, Stradlin said, "Yeah, a big musical difference. ... [Our songs] were written with Steve playing the drums and his sense of swing was the push and pull that give the songs their feel. When that was gone, it was just...unbelievable, weird. Nothing worked. I would have preferred to continue with Steve, but we'd had two years off and we couldn't wait any longer." 1990–2002: Post-Guns N' Roses troubles and hiatus Following his departure from Guns N' Roses, he was one of several drummers who auditioned to join AC/DC. However Adler claims that AC/DC's manager withdrew an offer, following Axl Rose announcing Adler's firing and branding him a drug addict onstage at the MTV Video Music Awards in September 1990. Adler instead reformed Road Crew with a new line-up, consisting of former Vain members singer Davy Vain, guitarist Jamie Scott, and bassist Ashley Mitchell, along with guitarist Shawn Rorie. They recorded an album and attracted attention from a major label, but due to Adler's persistent drug problems, the group disbanded shortly thereafter.