Velvet Revolver - Contraband
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CD Details
Artist: Velvet RevolverEdition: Music CD
Format: Content/Copy-Protected CD, Enhanced, Explicit Lyrics
CD Release Date: 2004-06-08
Music Label: RCA
Soundtracks:
- Sucker Train Blues
- Do It For The Kids
- Big Machine
- Illegal i Song
- Spectacle
- Fall To Pieces
- Headspace
- Superhuman
- Set Me Free
- You Got No Right
- Slither
- Dirty Little Thing
- Loving The Alien
Music reviews of Contraband
Music Review: Recycled and Uninspired GN'R Leftovers
Rating: 3 Stars
As a longtime Guns N' Roses fan and casual Stone Temple Pilots fan: the two bands that gave birth to "Velvet Revolver" no one wanted this album to be an instant classic more than me, but sadly this is not the case.
The album does have moments of greatness:
The lead single, "Slither" contains a hypnotic bass-line and memorable guitar riff. "Fall to Pieces" is the most genuine and heartfelt track of the album, and "Set Me Free" is the most developed 'rocker' with a sizable attitude in tow.
But besides a few moments of greatness, Contraband feels more like a set of recycled and uninspired GN'R leftovers. The album isn't particularly well mixed which wouldn't be a huge deal if it wasn't already bogged down by a myriad of problems such as it's convoluted structure, lackluster Slash riffs, poorly written lyrics, and an uninspiring vocal performance by Weiland. It's got the same amount as excess as "Appetite For Destruction" but without the direction and the unquenchable, hate-filled vocals by iconic front man Axl Rose anchoring the project together.
And that's where the greatest tragedy of this album lies. It feels like it was written for Axl Rose at the helm. Contraband' doesn't do anything to define the 'Velvet Revolver' sound or take the Guns N' Roses sound to a different level. Weiland's vocal performance leaves much to be desired and the poor mix makes Weiland hard to hear and exposes the weak-to-average performances by Slash, McKagan, and Kushner.
What's missing? A better question would be: what isn't missing? Because 'Contraband' has nothing really to say, no direction and no soul, and to many the most important piece: no Axl Rose. The reason this album sold so well would be because so many of us hoped it to BE Guns N' Roses and because it capitalized on a wave of growing nostalgia thanks to VH1 and Vice City. There will be plenty of people telling you why you should listen to this album, but fact is, you don't. It's commendable that there is a band that plays their own instruments in the post-millennium era, but it doesn't mean that what music those instruments produced is any good.
If you're looking for something to tide you over until "Chinese Democracy" or until that supposed (never going to happen) GN'R reunion, this isn't it. Just because it has three former members of Guns N' Roses, doesn't mean it has the same quality of their former band. 'Contraband' is a lot like greasy fast-food. At first you'll feel great about it, but once everything settles and the euphoric effect wears off, it will leave you with wholly unsatisfied with a blistering headache, wondering why you didn't explore different options.
In short, "Contraband" is a chilling and heart-breaking reminder why supergroups are always a band idea, no matter how fantastic and magical they sound. It's hard for a longtime Slash fan to listen to this album and discover how truly average he's become.
-Alex
Description of Contraband
The debut release from VELVET REVOLVER features Guns N' Roses founding members Slash and Duff, as well as Stone Temple Pilots vocalist Scott Weiland. The complete line-up is below...SCOTT WEILAND - Stone Temple Pilots SLASH - Guns N' Roses, Slash's Snakepit DUFF - Guns N' Roses MATT SORUM - Guns N' Roses, Slash's Snakepit, The Cult DAVE KUSHNER - Infectious Grooves
Scott Weiland. Slash. Duff McKagen. Matt Sorum. It doesn't seem like a good idea to put these people in a room together, let alone a band. But it was the same exact explosive element of danger and low I.Q. scores that made both of these players' former groups--Stone Temple Pilots and Guns N' Roses--sell billions, so why stand in their way? The music on Contraband sounds appropriately monumental, all window-quivering riffs, and ticker-tape parade choruses. "Do It For the Kids" and "Set Me Free" take direct inspiration from Nirvana, meaning they are brilliantly raw, raucous, and indecent. It's great stuff. The power-ballads like "Fall to Pieces" and "You Got No Right," however, are more heartburn than heartbreak when compared to past achievements like, oh, let's say "Sweet Child O' Mine." --Aidin Vaziri
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