Product Description

Debut album from one of the most anticipated rock 'supergroups' of the 21st century. Containing three ex-members of Guns 'N' Roses (Slash, Matt Sorum and Duff McKagan) plus formerStone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland and ex-Infectious Grooves member Dave Kushner. The album plays as expected from such a group; melodic yet heavy rock, with a sound coming from the early 90's. Comparable to acts such as Hanoi Rocks, Skid Row et al but managing to add a modern touch.

Track Listing

1. Suckertrain Blues
2. Do It For The Kids
3. Big Machine
4. Illegal 1
5. Spectacle
6. Fall To Pieces
7. Headspace
8. Superhuman
9. Set Me Free
10. You Got No Right
11. Slither
12. Dirty Little Thing
13. Loving The Alien

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2042 in Music
• Released on: 2004-06-07
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
Contraband, the debut album from Velvet Revolver (who include three ex-members of Guns 'n' Roses>, arrives with both a great deal of expectation and a great deal of baggage. That's the trouble with "supergroups": there's always the difficulty of stepping out of the shadows of the members' previous bands, and keeping old fans happy while appealing to new ones. Lead singer Scott Weiland gets off easy: he used to be in Stone Temple Pilots, widely regarded as an adequate, second-string rock band (in spite of selling millions of records in their native USA) due to the simple fact that they tended towards mediocrity. Not so his new bandmates Slash, Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum, who as members of Guns 'n' Roses raised the standard for rock music in the early 1990s.

Judged against G 'n' R's peak, Contraband can't fail to disappoint. But it's important to remember that even Guns 'n' Roses never recaptured their Appetite for Destruction heyday, and at the very least, Contraband is better than The Spaghetti Incident. Sure, there are a number of tracks that sound too much like contemporary American, radio-friendly rock-by-numbers, but "Do It for the Kids" and "Big Machine" recall UK rock stalwarts the Wildhearts, with shouted lyrics and punky guitars. "Fall to Pieces" is a classic lighters-in-the-air ballad, all emotional build up and crashing crescendo, while "Set Me Free" boasts one of Slash's best-ever guitar riffs (no mean feat for the man behind "Sweet Child of Mine"). The pleasures of Contraband aren't always immediate, but they are there. It's just that they're often buried under the weight of the band members' histories. --Robert Burrow

This album comes with three randomly selected cover colours.

Customer Reviews

A missed opportunity
I bought this with enough of an open mind to not expect it to be GnR Mark 2(000?). Unfortunately I was correct; this is a poor album. As happens on Amazon, I feel I must take issue with so many five star reviews of frankly mediocre and dull offerings. Many customers like me used to buy on the stength of these reviews. If there is only one two star review out of a hundred; read it and believe it. Five stars should be reserved for timeless masterpieces.
The production quality is poor, the vocals are very weak and most crucially, the songs are dull and completely unmemorable. It seems that the much maligned Axl Rose may have been the creative influence in GnR by a substantial margin. Was Slash overrated from his time in GnR? It seems so from this album, as his playing is wholly unremarkable.
The two stars are for Fall to Pieces and Slither - decent rock songs. Otherwise this is totally forgettable output from a bunch of bored millionaires.

Perfect mix of STP & GNR . Rock genius ....
I want to start by saying i will always be a fan of Scott Weiland , whatever he does . Stone Temple Pilots were and still are a superb rock band and Guns N'Roses are still an iconic band to this day . So i was always a bit worried that these couldn't mix well , but i was so wrong ! The first five songs on this album are pure rock genius , mixing great old fashion riffs that only Slash could play with quality lyrics that only Weiland could have wrote . Also Slash and Duff sound like they made this album halfway through making 'Appetite For Destruction' . All i can say is every song on this album did not dissapoint in anyway . It's a shame it didn't get the credit it deserved ....

A top quality hard rock album
I'd heard a great deal about Velvet Revolver, however, being a GNR fan of the old school I was weary of listening to anything that may be just a second rate GNR clone. This album is far from that, it is fresh, unique, with some excellent drums, guitar and lyrics. It is some of the best and most original hard rock/metal I've heard for years, a top quality buy.