Review

Nostalgic metal/rock fans reminiscent about the glorious days of Guns N’ Roses had something to look forward to upon receipt of the news that three ex-members, Slash, Duff, and Matt had been formulating a new band. After a plethora of auditions in search of a lead singer, Scott Weiland of the early 90s band, Stone Temple Pilots, was welcomed with open arms to join this new fusion.

Enter Velvet Revolver – part 80s über-iconic rock, part 90s alternative. But what is this love child/end result of their first ever inception together? Contraband, a 13 track, poorly thought out amalgam that most die hard fans would be skeptical to even call an [gasp] album.

Come on, it’s Slash! The epitome of cool, a band’s ultimate paragon for a guitarist, his distinct solos are what drove home many of Guns N’ Roses’ songs, forever burnt into our frontal lobes and echoing in our ears still today. Then what went wrong? Well, like many bands’ contention, it takes the right chemistry to fuel the success of a band.

Contraband is arguably the apical antithesis of such a chemistry. Indeed, individually they have much to offer, and saw their share of achievements whilst jamming with their own bands, but this combination of musicians and artists might not be what the music world is looking for. It might be unfair to say, but nothing will amount to GNR. There may be some that say Velvet Revolver is not trying to emulate the sound of GNR, but when you have four prominent ex-band members two of the biggest metal/rock bands in history reviving itself into a new group named after, dare I say, another allusion to firearms, it is natural to compare.

Few tracks on the album have any memorable taste to them. “Slither,” “Fall to Pieces,” and “Superhuman” are all somewhat addictive, but other than that most of the remaining tracks sound redundantly produced. Weiland’s vocals are plainly too weak and with lyrics nothing short of awk. A lot of times in the songs, his voice seems almost drowned out. Which is actually a good thing, because underneath all this critical bantering, there still lies a tremendous amount of respect for the genius thrasher works of Saul “Slash” Hudson and Dave Kushner, brilliant bassist Michael “Duff” McKagan and percussion extraordinaire Matt Sorum. Musically, this band kicks ass, iambically though—a long stretch.

Review by Andy Tsang

2 out of 5