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: #2726 in Music
• Released on: 2004-06-07
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Original recording remastered, Explicit Lyrics, Extra tracks

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.

CD 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.

Customer Reviews

contraband is an amazing rock album
i'm a huge fan of guns n' roses to start with. But as from today i'm officialy a bigger fan of velvet revolver. I've been listening to contraband for the past week on MTV's official website and its simply an amazing rock album. It kicks off with the punky "sucker train blues" which has a catchy bassline intro that'll stick deep into your head. The first 5 songs will rock you to the bone but then suddenly this down-spiralling riff from slash invites you to share what I think will be the song to catch everybodys attention to this band. With the name "Fall to Pieces" this is a beatiful power ballad that has a another catchy chorus and amazing guitar solo. This isn't the only ballad on the album, there's 3 in total. The other 2 are amazing too, with really strong lyrics and beautiful melodies. Other hard rockers include "Dirty Little Thing" (with a speedy solo) and "Slither" (this is probably the best heavy one on the album). If your sick of buying albums with 1 or 2 good songs, then the rest are crap... then fork out the cash for this one because believe me this doesn't fail to deliver!! There's at least 11 strong tracks on this album. Definately worth every penny!

P.S i forgot to mention the track "Loving the Aliens" very emotional track, really really good song

Velvet revolver
This is great rock music. Slash rips on the guitar in his usual fantastic style. The songs and lyrics are superb. This band has such a great feel to them, I can't wait for the next installment. This is highly recommended whether you're a fan of Guns and Roses or not, as it's just brilliant rock music. Turn your stereo up loud, put on this album and let the good times roll!

Second great rock 'supergroup' in 18 months
Audioslave set the recent benchmark for what could be achieved by taking a singer from one late, great rock band (although Stone Temple Pilots were never in the same league as Guns N Roses, or, with regard to Audioslave, Soundgarden) and the guitarists and drummers from another seminal rock band.

Perfectly timed to steal the thunder from the inadequate GNR best of, Contraband fulfils all the promise the line up offered. Full of huge guitar licks and memorable solos (well, if Slash couldn't still leave an imprint on an album, who could?) and with Scott Weiland's voice providing an edge of authentic 'rock' - all deep throaty venom, but capable too (on Fall to Pieces for example) of a satisfying change of pace - Velvet Revolver prove that some bands can indeed match the hype.

As has been said, basically if you love Slither, then this is the album for you.

Good to see Weiland actually making headlines for music and not for failed rehab attempts / arrests too. Seeing his skeletal frame gyrate around in the Slither video shows that 'heavy' rock's own Mick Jagger - check the hip wiggling! - is back on that ball.