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.