Velvet Revolver

Contraband

Bringing rock back into the mainstream!

Review Score:

(10/10)
Before I start my review let me address a few issues - one other reviewer noted that the CD has copy protection and he was unable to copy tracks to his MP3 player, so he returned the CD. First of all, this is a pretty dishonest reason to return a working CD to a store. Second of all, if you weren't in such a rush to download it to MP3 you would have noticed that the CD has an autostart program that, once loaded, lets you rip the tracks as read-only to your hard drive - you can then copy these tracks to your MP3 player. First thing I did after bringing the CD home was pop it in my computer, rip the tracks to the hard drive, plug in my MP3 player and transfer them. They show up on the MP3 player (my Rio Nitrus) with all details - album, band, artist, and the music transfer is identical to the CD's quality.

I only bring this up because *SO* many people have been complaining that they couldn't copy tracks here. Instead of exiting the autolaunch program when it pops up, try reading first! It's that simple.

So with that out of the way, let me move on to the actual CD itself. Being a huge Guns N' Roses fan, and an infrequent listener of Stone Temple Pilots, I had looked forward to this CD. To be honest I only started listening to Gn'R etc. recently but quickly became die-hard - I had downloaded "Set Me Free" months ago not realizing it was from the "Hulk" soundtrack. I had been searching for Velvet Underground tracks on Kazaa and one of my searches accidentally picked up Velvet Revolver. I listened to the song and loved it but had no clue what it was as it was incorrectly labeled as Velvet Underground.

Anyway...I later found out after seeing the track listed online. After becoming immersed in Guns N' Roses I immediately ran out to my local store and picked up Contraband after realizing that Duff, Slash and Matt were all in the band. (Izzy also performed live with them in concert a few times, although those tracks are not included on the CD.)

I have two confessions - I don't think Scott Weiland's voice is particularly suited for hard rock. Or, let me expand upon that - when I listen to Axl screeching away during "Sweet Child O' Mine" it sends shivers down my spine. He just has the perfect raspy voice for hard rock - I listen to "Dead Horse" and can't get enough of it. Scott's voice is a bit less distinct...he doesn't stand out like Axl. I can't imagine anyone else singing "Welcome to the Jungle" - whereas Weiland never really struck me that way when I listened to STP.

My second confession is that, to be totally honest, I didn't much care for the CD at first. As another reviewer here noted, it takes about three listens to really start enjoying it. Their hit singles "Fall to Pieces" and "Slither" are generally regarded to be the best from the CD, and some people on Amazon have accused the rest of being shameless filler.

But you know what? After playing it a few times, I've come to realize (well, at least in my opinion) that there isn't a single bad track on this CD. Not a single one! How's that for impressive?

1. Sucker Train Blues - I didn't like it the first time but it's quickly become one of my favorites off the CD. Slash's guitar playing is great, Weiland's voice is suitably scratchy and it has the whole punk-blues-rock rhythm that Slash was yearning for when he left Gn'R in '95/'96. (Axl wanted to start making different kind of music - can't say I blame him but then again I can't blame Slash for disagreeing.)

2. Do it for the Kids - great opening line! "Went too fast I'm outta luck and I don't even give a...." I became addicted to that part. The song has a great beat, a great rhythm, great guitar playing and awesome lyrics! The chorus is really catchy.

3. Big Machine - not the best on the CD, in fact one of the lesser tracks, but nevertheless at 4 minutes and 26 seconds it's a fun listen.

4. Illegal i Song - great opening, pretty interesting "whine" voice from Weiland...but after a while it can become a bit grating as it's pretty repetitive. Probably the second worst on the CD - but it's still a good song.

5. Spectacle - another great opening, catchy rhythm and beat. Weiland's voice isn't so memorable here because it sort of gets drowned out by the loud guitar playing - but that's not necessarily a bad thing in this case.

6. Fall to Pieces - arguably the best song on the entire CD, it became the ultra-successful hit single they released alongside "Slither." Probably my favorite rock song in years, it's really epic and emotionally moving with great lyrics and guitar playing. I'm not always a huge fan of Weiland's voice for rock music as I said above but here it really matches because it's a slow, soft rock power ballad. Awesome stuff! Here's a song I actually can't imagine Axl singing - which says something for the quality of the band.

7. Headspace - pretty catchy. Not really epic or anything like "Fall to Pieces" but a really good rock beat and Weiland's great here. I love the line, "Don't let any of those f****s in my headspace."

8. Superhuman - one of the lesser tracks, a bit too repetitious. Nevertheless the opening is great with "I wanna be your superman" - really catchy. I'm surprised this was not included on the "Hulk" soundtrack, for obvious reasons.

9. Set Me Free - the most underrated song on the album. This was the first VR track I ever heard and it's amazing. It definitely has more of a Stone Temple Pilots "Big Bang Baby"/"Sex Type Thing" going for it with Weiland doing his low-pitch mumbling voice, which I love. He's really good at this and it makes him stand out more than when he's just singing straightforward. Great lyrics, great solo by Slash...second best song on the album if I do say so myself!

10. You Got No Right - A good, slower pace for the band. Good lyrics, soft beat...not great guitar playing or anything but powerful in a different sort of way. An understated song - doesn't leave much of an impression but it has some really, really good vocals by Weiland. This, along with "Loving the Alien" (see below) proves that VR could make just as much an impact in the slow rock world as the hard rock.

11. Slither - one of the best on the album, almost as good as (if not as good as) "Set Me Free." The only problem I have is that it's become so successful compared to "Set Me Free" that you could claim it's a bit overrated/over popularized, because in my opinion it's not as good as "Fall to Pieces." Still, it's an instant classic and fun to listen to.

12. One of the lesser songs on the album, I'm disappointed to hear this will be their next single/music video...I mean it's pretty good but doesn't hold anything against the others. That said, I guess it would be a great song to play if you're working out or something and are in need of some adrenaline boost. It's got a catchy hard rhythm. Also, the music video is going to be unique - it will start as animation on a moving train ("Polar Express" anyone?) and transform abruptly into reality.

13. Loving the Alien - another underrated instant classic. This is by far one of the best songs of the decade so far (that's right!) and a great change of pace for VR. It's sort of refreshing to find it as the last track of the CD - it implies a few thing. First it lets us know these guys can do more than just hard rock, and second of all it becomes a sort of cliff-hanger - on VR's second album will we hear more hard rock or maybe a bit more like this? This is the equivalent of Gn'R's "Patience" or "November Rain" - it's a huge change of pace and shows they can be more than loud and "ugly" (not that that's necessarily a bad thing! But you know what I mean).

Either way, if they have more hard rock or more soft rock on their next album, I'll be listening. This is one of the most impressive, refreshing and important albums released in decades - it's not as influential as Appetite for Destruction for obvious reasons (after all, it's comprised of "power players" as Amazon says - famous ex-band-mates who are already extremely famous and as a result the album seems a bit more commercial than, say, an independent breakthrough like Destruction).

But I don't care. It might be a bit more commercialized than some of us would like but it's still a great, great album. In a time when people are listening to Avril Lavigne and lip-synchers like Lindsay Lohan (she's a singer now just because she's made a few movies?) and Hilary Duff (ditto) it's refreshing to find a band that still knows how to make some great rock music. They're bringing the `80s back - I really thought Duff would have gotten a haircut by now.

Judging by the sales of the record (a quarter million upon release in June I heard), it seems a _lot_ of people have been waiting for something like this to come around. Maybe, just maybe, this will spark more interest in the hard rock influence of the '80s/early '90s...before grunge took over and destroyed it. Highly, highly recommended - just remember when you're listening that first impressions aren't always permanent ones!

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less talk more rock please

All these unappreciative people do is depress me. Blah blah I can't copy it. Blah blah I didn't like it after three listens. First off, I co [ ... read complete review ]

Velvet Revolver

Contraband

Bringing rock back into the mainstream!

PRICE: $13.99 [Buy Now]

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