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AXL ROSE AND SLASH FIND ANOTHER WAY TO REACH THE TOP OF THE RECORD BUSINESS

One night recently, Guns N` Roses singer Axl Rose was strolling down Melrose Avenue when he spied something unusual staring down at him from the roof of a record store-two 8-foot-tall papier-mache sculptures of himself and bandmate Slash.

”He came in laughing and said he liked it,” said free-lance artist Grady Gonzales, 26, who works part time behind the counter at Record Trader on Melrose.

”Then he bought a few CDs and we took a picture of him with it.”

Gonzales spent about 40 hours creating the giant likenesses out of papier-mache and wire at his Sun Valley home.

The pieces portray Rose in sunglasses, and Slash wearing his trademark top hat and smoking a cigarette. Gonzales, a graduate of UCLA`s School of Design, installed the 46-pound sculptures a few days after the new Guns N`

Roses albums went on sale.

”We wanted to draw some attention to our store,” he said. ”Tourists have been taking pictures, and we`ve gotten lots of comments.”