Solid

Review Score: (8/10)
After hearing the single "Slither," I wasn't too stoked on picking up the Velvet Revolver CD. Since most records these days have the single then a bunch of filler, I was worried that "Slither" was the best Slash, Duff, Matt, Scott, and Dave could come up with. Long story short, I heard the full album and liked it enough to go pick it up for myself.

Overall, I'd say that "Contraband" is a solid album that never really seems to stamp an identity on any of their songs. They seem too preoccupied with keeping that "Slash sound" that none of their songs stand out on their own. The effect of the whole album is...wow, this is good. Every song rocks pretty hard, and the disc opens with a couple of scorchers: "Sucker Train Blues," "Do it for the Kids," and "Big Machine." Apart from those, honestly...I look at the song titles and just can't even recall the songs except for the mediocre "Headspace," the ballad "Fall to Pieces," rager "Set Me Free" and closing "Loving the Alien," with its great bridge. Like I said, I really like the whole album and can listen to it all the way through, but no single song really grabs me, hence the four stars. Still, I hope these guys can keep it together to put out another record, because the personnel rocks, and even after all their past successes, these guys have the potential to be huge, especially in a world where real rock'n'roll doesn't exist.

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