In 2002, fellow ex-Gunners Slash, Duff McKagan, and Matt Sorum were playing a benefit concert for a fellow musician named Randy Castillo. In response, the three decided to form a new band to attempt to bring back mainstream rock. They invite fellow rhythm guitarist and ex-Gunner, Izzy Stradlin, but Stradlin refuses due to his behavior on tours. So they find Dave Kushner, who has played with many bands such as Wasted Youth and the Infectious Grooves. Many lead singers, such as Sebastian Bach of Skid Row and Josh Todd of Buckcherry auditioned, but were unsuccessful. The ex-lead singer of Faith No More, Mike Patton was invited, but ultimately turned down the offer to front the band.
However, we have Scott Weiland of the recently disbanded Stone Temple Pilots, who became friends with Duff and played with Dave Kushner offered to front the band. Of course, Scott accepts, and what we have is one of the most interesting supergroups ever: Velvet Revolver. A year after their formation, VR immediately jumps into the spotlight with their first album, Contraband, which was really more of a "meh" album rather than a great album.
We start with
Sucker Train Blues, an extremely generic '80s song, meaning it focused on something about either sex, drugs, or Satan. What we have in this song is one of the worst attempts by Velvet Revolver to become known, as neither Slash or Scott are in their comfort zones. The solo from Slash seemed half-hearted, and it is immediately obvious to tell the decrease in Scott's singing, seeing as the grunginess in his voice has dropped after listening to this one track. That's fine with me, it happens, but the lyrics on this song are horrid and nonsensical.
Do It For The Kids isn't that much different, except in this song, Slash sounds a little more in his comfort zone, while Scott is trying to be a speed demon so that he can keep up with the band's playing speed, while continuing the irrelevancy of the lyrics, which are some of the worst lyrics that Scott has written since his days in STP.
Even Matt Sorum is not in his comfort zone with his offbeat drumming in
Illegal I Song, where everyone but him and Scott sound in their comfort zones, as all of the major problems with this song meet at a head. Scott continues to try to be a speed demon while he randomly spouts "I-Don't-Anymore" before the chorus, and Matt is using the skins and creating a cacophony of offbeat drumming overshadowed by Scott's poor lyric structure and uncomfort in Velvet Revolver. Velvet Revolver in Contraband does not sound like Velvet Revolver, because too many songs are generic to Guns N' Roses, resulting in a formula consisting of the band being considered and ultimately labeled as nothing but Guns N' Roses with Scott Weiland.
Surprisingly, Velvet Revolver is turn the tide in Contraband, starting from
Fall To Pieces, which is nothing more than a power ballad, but the thing I must applaud Scott on is the fact that he wrote some better lyrics, and he used that familiar grungy voice that I absolutely admired in STP, most notably in Big Empty and Plush. The entire band for once, is on the same page, as we go into
Headspace, the major turning point of Contraband. This song is another rocker, but the difference here is that Scott actually takes his time, still using that very familiar grungy voice that refreshes my mind, showing that Scott does not have to be a speed freak to still make a song sound good, no matter how hard-hitting or up-tempo the rest of the band is. Call me a fanboy.
Slither, the band's most well known song, just kills, with that guitar intro and wonderful use of Dave's rhythm guitar. If it weren't for Dave, Velvet Revolver would probably be the equivalent of Slash's Snakepit times five. I personally like
Dirty Little Thing because once you hear the chorus, it instantly makes you think of the Hollywood starlets overdosing on cocaine these days(like Lindsay Lohan), and is one of the very well written and thought out songs of Contraband.
While Contraband had its high points, it had many low points to it, showing Scott's decrease in his vocal ability and some of his abundantness when it comes to the irrelevant lyrics, while being overshadowed by the band's genericy of sounding too much like Guns' N Roses with Scott Weiland. It's safe to say that Scott was not in his comfort zone during the making of Contraband, and it was safe to say that neither were Slash or Matt in certain songs. However, they were able to get over the uncomfort, while it took longer for Scott to finally adjust and get in his comfort zone to work together with the band and make masterpieces like Slither and Headspace. Nonetheless, Contraband was indeed an average album that could have been ruined if not for the second half of Contraband. Libertad would later tend to these flaws and make a better release than Contraband was, while it would not fix them completely and still shows that Velvet Revolver did not stray away from Contraband's sound with the disappointing single, "She Builds Quick Machines", as it dragged most of the problems with it, but it would give the band their own sound for once, while sometimes sounding generic to the original bands that they came from. Contraband was indeed a step in the right direction for Velvet Revolver, though, as it showed that the band can still sound good and make some great songs performed with mastery.
