Contraband Album Discussion

[Five Star Edge]

Just wanted to add it got 4 out of 5 stars.

[everylilwhore]

and he didnt diss Scott cuz Scotts an a rampage with the critics

And he happened to be the only journalist which Scott mentioned having a good relationship with before during the STP years...etc.

That never hurts.

Still is a great album though...

 

[Vaporized]

I will go out and say that anybody that does not like what this CD does needs to play it louder and wake the fuck up. Keep dreaming for another STP record everyone. Unfortunately, it's not going to happen and if it does, it won't be for years and years. I have a feeling after this VR tour and after they support this in the summer, Scott will commence work on his 2nd solo CD. STP is long gone IMO. If Scott can continue to keep himself out of trouble, I have a good feeling VR is the real deal and will be around for at least a couple more CD's.

[walkingarazor]

My stupid friggin' computer won't let me hear it on VH1 or MTV.com. Now I'll just have to wait until the 13th, as I'' be out in the wilderness starting tomorrow for 9 days, GAH! So I'll be seeing y'all in 9 days, and I'll probably be going crazy about Contraband!
Later!  

[Rocketboy]

Looking at today's ads, it looks like Contraband is going to be about $9.99 just about whereever you go on Tuesday.

Media Play - $9.99
Best Buy $9.99
And the big money saver is Target - $9.98

[Aaron]

I have to agree with sean on all points.  I think Contraband is one of the best cd's scott has been affiliated with, and definitely since at least no.4.  I dont see why people generally like the second half of the cd better.  While I dont particularly care for Fall to Pieces, i think the opening of the cd is awesome. Sucker, Illegal I, and Spectacle are my favorites along with Loving the Alien.  All around great record.  My only complaint is that I wish instead of putting Set Me Free on there, we had an album version of Mary, or another new song, but I think the CD is incredible all things considered, and to be perfectly honest, with the exception of Tiny Music and 12BB, I like this CD better than the STP records.  Although initially I felt the opposite, I now feel Scott is now playing songs more complex, and challenging himself more vocally.  Proving himself as an incredible frontman yet again,

[Anonymous]

Mary is a cover of the Rolling Stones song Angie... he just changed the word "Angie" to "Mary", so you can download the Rolling Stones studio version. It's great. Although I like how Scott changed the melody slightly in various places, which the RS version doesn't have.

[Garrett]

I love the Rolling Stones, but I have never liked "Angie."  Just switching "angie" to "mary" only worked to make the song even worse IMO.

[bunbury_hmr]

Leaked It Has

Why are you talking like Yoda?
 :rolleyes:

Man i hate those damn "Warsies"... i feel like going Axl Rose on their Ass if i saw them in Public.

[Rocketboy]

Leaked It Has

Why are you talking like Yoda?
 :rolleyes:

Man i hate those damn "Warsies"... i feel like going Axl Rose on their Ass if i saw them in Public.

Bring it on little kid! :angry:
 

(and where the fuck did you get "Warsies" from?)

[Rocketboy]

Yahoo has a couple of VR articles...
Here:

Crawling from the generally self-imposed wreckage of their ex-bands, the lead singer of Stone Temple Pilots and a trio of Guns N' Roses survivors join forces in Velvet Revolver, a turn-the-volume-up-to-11 collaboration.

The album starts with the howl of a police siren — as good a way as any to launch things, considering the rap sheet of ex-STP front man Scott Weiland (news).

The singer tears into the opening track, "Sucker Train Blues," as guitarist Slash, bassist Duff and drummer Matt Sorum provide the backing histrionics. (Guitarist Dave Kushner of The Cult rounds out the quintet).

"Hands are shaking, got your finger on the trigger," Weiland sings, and the boys are into familiar musical terrain on this 13-track collection.

The single, "Slither," begins as a suitably slinky track before cranking into a rocker reminiscent STP, but accented by Slash's frenzied guitar — a radio-friendly track likely to earn tons of airplay.

And the album closes with one of its three ballads: "Loving the Alien," featuring Weiland's voice at its most emotive, singing rather than battling to overcome the band. Another slower tune, "Fall to Pieces," offers the feel of a classic G 'n R power ballad.

The album on RCA has everything you'd expect of this assemblage: a parental advisory for lyrics, Slash's driving guitar solos, the pounding rhythm section of Duff and Sorum.

But that's part of the problem, isn't it? There's really nothing too unexpected on "Contraband."

_ Larry McShane, AP Writer

and here:

Velvet Revolver, a Rock Supergroup for New Decade

Mon June 7
 
By Gelu Sulugiuc

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The bad boys of rock are back -- sober, older and wiser, but still hoping to turn the music world on its head.
   
Guns N' Roses ruled the 80s with a mixture of punk and glam rock, while Stone Temple Pilots were one of the top grunge bands of the 90s. Both crumbled under an avalanche of alcohol and drug abuse, but now individual members have recovered and merged to bring back rebellious rock anthems as Velvet Revolver.

The supergroup emerged when Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash, bassist Duff McKagan (news) and drummer Matt Sorum co-opted Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland (news) and Wasted Youth guitarist Dave Kushner.

"Guns N' Roses just got so big and we were so young and didn't know any of the pitfalls, both on the physical level and on an ego level," McKagan said in an interview. "Scott has seen it too with Stone Temple Pilots, so I think we all come better armed for this thing."

The group already has a radio hit with "Slither," the first single off their album "Contraband" set for release by RCA on June 8. And they are wrapping up a U.S. theater tour feeling invigorated and ready to make a dent in today's heavy metal scene.

"This is the most punk-rock major label record I've been involved with," McKagan said. Since he left Guns N' Roses, "music has come full circle, people are really hungry for pure, unadulterated rock n' roll," he added.

"We're coming out very energized, youthful and powerful," Sorum said. "Come and see the band live, there isn't going to be anybody that can touch us, I guarantee it."

INDUSTRIAL MUSIC

Slash (born Saul Hudson), McKagan and Sorum left Guns N' Roses in the mid-nineties after singer Axl Rose (news) insisted the band abandon the sound that made "Appetite for Destruction" sell 15 million records to experiment with electronic and industrial music.

Slash toured with his band Snakepit, McKagan got a college degree in finance and Sorum scored films. Rose kept the Guns N' Roses moniker, but his 2002 tour was canceled after he twice failed to show up. He has yet to release a new record.

Two years ago, after reuniting at a benefit for the late Ozzy Osbourne drummer Randy Castillo (news), Slash, McKagan and Sorum realized they still had the urge to play together.

Former Guns N' Roses rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin was no longer interested in being in a band, so the three enlisted Kushner to provide texture under Slash's solos. All they needed was a singer.

After auditions with established vocalists like Sebastian Bach (news) (Skid Row) did not produce the right sound, they asked anyone interested to send a demo.

"We heard over one thousand CDs -- some of it was pretty hilarious, some of it was brutal," McKagan said.

Eventually they settled on Weiland, whose glory days with Stone Temple Pilots were far behind.

"The minute he walked into the room and started singing, we knew this was the guy," McKagan said.

Before they could rock, Weiland had to overcome his heroin habit. He had failed rehab before, but the band's support and an intense martial arts regimen worked this time. With their charismatic frontman in better form, Velvet Revolver set out to put showmanship back into rock.

"We've cleaned up our act to a point where we're all in great shape and we're ready to present ourselves to the world again," Sorum said.

THE RECORD

Clean and sober, they recorded "Set Me Free" for the movie The Hulk and the contract offers poured in. The band signed with RCA after Chairman Clive Davis courted them personally.

Feeling like underdogs out to stake their turf again, Velvet Revolver set out to make an aggressive record that reflects the band's energy and abrasiveness. The result was "Contraband," a blues-rock album. It received good reviews from critics who appreciated the return of old-fashioned, straight-ahead rock.

The Washington Post said in its review that with "such anthemic burners as "Sucker Train Blues," "Do It for the Kids" and incendiary first single "Slither" ... there's nothing even slightly ironic about the old-school theatrics of Velvet Revolver. These days, that's a beautiful thing."

Playing mostly new songs plus a few Guns N' Roses and Stone Temple Pilots favorites on their current tour, Velvet Revolver tipped their hat to their past as Weiland sang through a megaphone and Slash donned his trademark top hat.

"Incendiary guitars and locomotive grooves ... added up to a sweltering performance successfully designed to be a welcome throwback to the days before rock n' roll was invaded by clowns like Nickelback," said the Chicago Sun-Times.

[Five Star Edge]

The production is very raw, much like No.4 and quite different from the audioslave album, another supergroup.  I love the scream at the end of 'Sucker Train Blues'.......I haven't heard Scott sing with such emotion in a very long time.

[spirithorse]

I wasn't too impressed...although I've only listened to it one time through...I've been a big fan of everything that Weiland has ever done.  Heck, my dog's name is Weiland, but I just couldn't get into this music.  We'll see if it grows on me.  I'll give it a chance, but I don't know. My first impression was that the music was weak and repetitive and that the vocals were not all that great either.  I'm gonna take it home and listen to it in a better environment and see what I think in the next few days.   Discuss...

[SilvergunSuperman]

quiet, you! its awesome!

[Garrett]

I wasn't too impressed...although I've only listened to it one time through...I've been a big fan of everything that Weiland has ever done.  Heck, my dog's name is Weiland, but I just couldn't get into this music.  We'll see if it grows on me.  I'll give it a chance, but I don't know. My first impression was that the music was weak and repetitive and that the vocals were not all that great either.  I'm gonna take it home and listen to it in a better environment and see what I think in the next few days.   Discuss...

my cat's name is Staley.