AN UP AND A DOWN FOR GUNS N' ROSES.(ARTS & ENTERTA)

Byline: RANDY LEWIS Los Angeles Times

Guns N' Roses took one step forward and one step back last week, entering the national sales chart at No. 3 with ``Greatest Hits'' the same day singer Axl Rose announced that the beleaguered band was canceling plans to venture out in public again to headline the annual Rock in Rio festival in Lisbon.

This week will provide a better idea of which direction the GNR career pendulum is swinging with second-week figures on the Geffen Records hits collection, whose release Rose and two of his estranged former bandmates unsuccessfully tried to stop.

Rose and fellow original members Slash and Duff McKagan argued in a …