01 - Sucker Train Blues
02 - Do It For the Kids
03 - Big Machine
04 - Illegal i Song
05 - Spectacle
06 - Fall to Pieces
07 - Headspace
08 - Superhuman
09 - Set Me Free
10 - You Got No Right
11 - Slither
12 - Dirty Little Thing
13 - Loving the Alien
14 - Bodies (Live)

Personnel:
    Scott Weiland – lead vocals
    Slash – lead guitar, backing vocals
    Duff McKagan – bass, backing vocals
    Matt Sorum – drums, backing vocals
    Dave Kushner – rhythm guitar
+
    Douglas Grean – keyboards on tracks 6, 10 and 13

Contraband features Slash, Duff, and Matt Sorum (as well as additional guitarist Dave Kushner) cranking out an updated version of Guns N' Roses swagger behind Scott Weiland's glammy, elastic vocals. With STP's vocalist and such a high percentage of ex-Gunners, Velvet Revolver really is a supergroup. "Went too fast I'm out of luck and I don't even give a f*ck," Weiland spits on "Do It for the Kids," and a peel from Slash's arsenal backs him up. Maturity has clearly come at a price for both parties. Weiland still mugs and sings like a florescent lizard king. But his appetite for the spotlight has somehow become more voracious even as he fights cynically against it, and longs for an escape. For their part, Slash, Duff, and Co. like stirring up their old demons -- check the explosive entrance on "Set Me Free" to get things a-tingling like the old days. But they're not running a nostalgia show, so there are new tricks and sounds, too, and plenty of choruses that shift into STP-style layering and vocal phrasing. The bass-heavy throb of "Big Machine"'s verses surges into a hard-charging '90s alt. rock chorus; "Headspace" alternates representative chunks of both bands' sounds with veteran skill; and "Superhuman" rants about illegal substances in language everyone can understand. Overall, Contraband sounds pretty much like you'd expect of such a collaboration. Lead single "Slither" is an immediate highlight, its gasoline-drinking cocaine strut staining it as the offspring of "Big Bang Baby" and "Nightrain", while the album's detours -- "Fall to Pieces", the gorgeous "Loving the Alien" -- are painted in dusty reds and browns, like idealized fever dreams of escaping to the desert with the one you love. These mediations point to the pain behind Weiland's cynical veneer, and perhaps the entire band's veteran hope for a head-clearing open space. Remember, between them they've probably seen it all. With Contraband, Velvet Revolver pull off something tidy - their music manages both hedonism and maturity. --- Johnny Loftus, allmusic.com

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01. Let It Roll
02. She Mine
03. Get Out the Door
04. She Builds Quick Machines
05. The Last Fight
06. Pills, Demons & Etc
07. American Man
08. Mary Mary
09. Just Sixteen
10. Can't Get It Out of My Head
11. For a Brother
12. Spay
13. Gravedancer (Don't Drop That Dime)

Musicians:
    Scott Weiland – lead vocals, keyboards on "Get Out the Door"
    Slash – lead guitar, talkbox on "Get Out the Door", acoustic guitar on "Messages"
    Duff McKagan – bass, backing vocals
    Matt Sorum – drums, percussion on "Get Out the Door", backing vocals
    Dave Kushner – rhythm guitar

Velvet Revolver always seemed like the answer to a quintessential L.A. rock & roll question: what does the engine of Guns N' Roses do when they're left to rust by the side of the road? It was long past the point when Slash, Duff, and Matt Sorum could possibly hope that Axl would abandon Buckethead, Tommy Stinson, and whoever else was toiling away in the studio under the GNR banner and go for a reunion tour, and old rockers need a place to make noise even while they're in the process of fading away, so they started a new band (Izzy may or may not have been invited to the party, but he long ago started following his own path and never seemed interested in coming back into the fold). A band as big as this needed a true star to front it -- a lesson well learned from the charisma-free black hole that was Slash's Snakepit, where the vocalists never could quite spar with the guitarist -- so even if they flirted with Buckcherry's Josh Todd, there really was only one choice to fill the singer's slot and that was Scott Weiland, who wasn't abandoned from his own imploding band, Stone Temple Pilots, as much as alienated from them due to a combination of ego and excess. A band in search of a singer, a singer in search of a band, both parties calling Los Angeles their home, both well-known for their all-encompassing love of rock & roll debauchery -- it seemed like nothing could go wrong.

As it turned out, nothing quite went unquestionably right, either, as their 2004 debut, Contraband, met the GNR-meets-STP expectations but never transcended them. It was far from a flop -- selling millions around the world -- but it wasn't quite compelling either, partially because it was too easy to hear the separation between Slash's sleazoid blooze riffs and Weiland's hazily psychedelic melodies, and they had yet to find a common ground apart from a handful of songs. Despite this, it was hard not to feel some affection for Velvet Revolver, since they were so unrepentant in their love for old-school rock & roll theater, and also since they were driven by Slash and Duff, two of the most lovable characters in '80s hard rock, and there was a certain joy to hearing them play again on a big stage where they belong. But the key problem with Velvet Revolver is that the GNR aesthetic doesn't quite gel with Weiland. If GNR are the kind of band all rock fans feel good about loving, Weiland is the kind of frontman who gets grudging respect; it's possible to love his music, particularly the irresistible swirling melodies, without really loving him. A large part of this is that he exudes a reptilian coldness that doesn't thaw even when paired with the big, blowsy rock of Slash and Duff, but instead of giving the music tension it just means that it doesn't quite gel, since both parties play to their strengths instead of finding a collective sound.

That's as true on their second album, 2007's Libertad, as it was on Contraband, but this record is more cohesive than the debut, partially due to the presence of Weiland's old STP producer, Brendan O'Brien, who lends the recording color and texture that enhances the melodies while still giving the guitars considerable muscle. O'Brien amplifies the energy for both the singer and the band and, taken on their own terms, they sound quite good. Weiland gets off some great tunes (as on the "Days of the Week" sequel "She Mine"), sometimes the band dominates (as on "Spay"), and sometimes everything suddenly clicks (as on the relentless opener, "Let It Roll," where both parties shine). Too often, though, there are concessions between Weiland and the others during the course of a song, with the bandmembers getting to ride their riffs during the verse, then fading into the background as Weiland delivers a chorus that is indelibly his own, as on "She Builds Quick Machines," which seesaws between the two extremes. This isn't necessarily a bad thing because both camps are good at what they do and the individual pieces of the songs are pretty enjoyable, but as Libertad rolls on, it's hard not to wish that Velvet Revolver buckled down and acted like a band, finding a way to fuse their two aesthetics into a whole, instead of stroking their individual egos by indulging in what they're good at.

Of course, indulgence is the very reason the band exists: it's what made them stars, and without GNR or STP around, all the guys in this band need some outlet for their energies (which may only be partially musical). And in that regard, Velvet Revolver fulfill a need for the bandmembers, but also for an audience that is craving rock & roll that is proudly about good times -- an audience that is not insubstantial in 2007, but is poorly served. Libertad won't necessarily provide that audience with lasting sustenance, but it is a quick enough fix of old-fashioned rock & roll hedonism that does do its job reasonably well, as it has the riffs and melodies to please, even if they're not quite pulled together as full-fledged songs. And that's all down to the band acting as a group of stars instead of a group -- the charisma of each individual bandmember still shines brightly, but if they can funnel that into some kind of group charisma next time around, they might finally have an album that lives up to their past instead of merely doing no disservice to it. ---Stephen Thomas Erlewine, allmusic.com

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01- Do It For The Kids (6:13)
02- Let It Roll (2:34)
03- Sucker Train Blues (4:35)
04- Sucker Train Blues Outro (0:22)
05- Crackerman (3:27)
06- Fall To Pieces (4:52)
07- It’s So Easy (3:22)
08- She Builds Quick Machines (4:22)
09- Wish You Were Here (5:29)
10- Set Me Free (4:17)
11- Sex Type Thing/Mr. Brownstone (10:55)
12- Slither (7:04)

Scott Weiland - lead vocals
Slash - lead & rhythm guitars
Dave Kushner - rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Duff McKagan - bass, backing vocals
Matt Sorum - drums, backing vocals

We all were pretty positive that that would never happen, so it's still sort of blowing our minds. (Slash)

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1 	Slither 	4:08
2 	Bodies (Live) 	3:19
3 	Negative Creep 	4:17
4 	Slither 	4:12 (2)
5 	Money 	7:38
6 	Set Me Free (Live) 	7:11

Backing Vocals [Additional Background Vocals] – Duff, Matt Sorum, Slash
Bass Guitar – Duff
Drums – Matt Sorum
Guitar – Dave Kushner, Slash
Voice [Voices] – Scott Weiland

Velvet Revolver began with a spring 2002 jam session that reunited ex-Guns N' Roses bandmates Slash (guitar), Duff McKagan (bass), and Matt Sorum (drums) on-stage. With the discovery that their chemistry was still going strong, the trio began pushing around some new music and auditioning singers for what became known as "the Project." Early entries included ex-Buckcherry shouter Josh Todd and Neurotica's Kelly Shaefer; both became acquainted with the cutting room floor. By early 2003, the existence of "the Project" -- and its quest for a singer -- was common knowledge, so much so that VH1 sent cameras to document the search. Dave Kushner (Wasted Youth, Dave Navarro) also joined up as second guitarist. Troubled STP-er Scott Weiland came on board next. He and the band clicked immediately and recorded a hyper piece of glitter metal for the Hulk soundtrack called "Set Me Free." By June, "the Project" had been renamed Velvet Revolver, and Weiland was officially made its lead singer, though possession charges stemming from a May bust were still outstanding. The band signed a deal with RCA and spent the rest of 2003 fitting in gigs and recording sessions around Weiland's court-ordered rehab. RCA next announced an April 2004 release for Contraband, Velvet Revolver's full-length debut; the date was then pushed to May, and finally to June. That spring, Weiland labored through court dates and recovery as Slash and Duff did advance press for Contraband, and fan anticipation for the album grew. VR also released the single "Slither," a rabid, ambitious rocker guided by Slash's signature guitar sound. The single sidled steadily up the active rock charts, and when Contraband finally dropped, it was to general appreciation for its mix of STP and GNR signatures and its surprising turn toward hedonistic maturity. Velvet Revolver's sophomore effort, Libertad, followed in 2007. In December 2015, Weiland was found dead in Bloomington, Minnesota, while on tour with his then-band, the Wildabouts. ---Johnny Loftus, allmusic.com

Supergrupa, która przywróciła do życia muzyków legendarnego Guns'n'Roses: Slasha, Duffa McKagana i Matta Soruma, oraz przygarnęła Scotta Weillanda - sierotę po Stone Temple Pilots. Razem z Davem Kushnerem stworzyli oni zespół, który udowodnił, że w XXI wieku można w ciekawy i świeży sposób grać klasycznego hard rocka. ---rockers.com.pl

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