Search - Velvet Revolver :: Contraband

Great effort by a bunch of stoned musicians!

Will Culp | Greenville, South Carolina | 06/09/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Released June 8th, 2003, This is Velvet Revolver's first album.After Guns 'N Roses recorded and released the commercial and critical bomb "The Spaghetti Incident", Axl Rose and his band mates had different ideas about where the band should be heading, so the original instrumentalists disbanded with Axl Rose while Rose hired new instrumentalists. Meanwhile, Slash, Duff, Matt Sorum, and Dave Kushner set out to find a new singer, and their search even chronicled on VH1's "The Project". As if the stars had aligned, the Stone Temple Pilots had recently recorded the rather dull "Shangri-La-Dee-Da", which Scott Weiland was not very fond of, since it sounded more like a Barry Manilow album than the Grunge he originally was trying to do. So, after releasing the Greatest Hits compilation "Thank You", the Stone Temple Pilots officially disbanded. With Scott on the unemployed list, Slash and Weiland met in a club where they became fast friends. Then, after getting the band together, they immediately began jamming on a song that would eventually become "Slither". Around the radio's constant playing of "Slither" and all the buzz around this CD, will it hold up? Well, when you combine Guns 'N Roses style with the grungy sounds of Stone Temple Pilots, you get a combination that works throughout the album like a charm. Track Ratings: Sucker Train Blues-10/10: Starts off with a crazy guitar riff behind a police siren that perfectly sets the stage for the album, you're in for a crazy ride!Weiland's vocals immediately take center-stage, and he shows us he can still sing with the best of them! Great chorus that really enhances the song, plus as a treat you get great drumming from Sorum and a crazy solo from Slash! Do It For The Kids-10/10: Duff's bass line and Slash's riff sets the tone for this song, almost a sarcastic one.Weiland's vocals back up the instruments perfectly, and his chorus is one of the best on the album. This is a really angry song, just read the lyrics!Big Machine-10/10:Starts off slow with a little bass beat with Weiland whispering about "The Big Machine", then Slash's guitar jumps in and he drops a killer riff with Weiland's spooky vocals backing it up. Illegal i Song-10/10:Starts off with Sorum's killer drumming and immediately Slash jumps in with a dark riff that sets the stage and Weiland comes on, and his vocals are very angry, but they soften up considerably for the chorus where his vocals sound very soulful! Spectacle-10/10: Superb riff from Slash starts off this song, and I can't stop humming this song!Weiland's vocals aren't his best, but he sings the chorus as good as on any other song. Slash really steals the show here, with his crazy riff and his Guns N Roses-y solo that is amazing! Fall to Pieces-10/10: One of the slowest songs on the album, it certainly isn't bad because of that,and it's a very heartfelt song. An acoustic guitar starts it off behind Weiland's soul-searching vocals, and Slash continues it on with his combination of acoustic and electric guitar playing that is phenomenal, and his solo is truly beautiful. The chorus is great!Headspace-10/10:Right after we hear a relatively slow song, Velvet Revolver comes back full throttle with Slash's addictive riff and Sorum's inspired drumming, and Weiland's vocals are truly hard-hitting!Good chorus, and the lyrics for this song are great unlike some others! Superhuman-10/10:Starts off with a hard riff and loud base line, but slows down to just Weiland singing. But soon after the first chorus, it picks up to be a very hard-rocker! Slash's solo sounds very spooky and follows the song's tone to a tee! Set Me Free-10/10: Starts off with a crazy riff from Slash that's followed up by Duff's bass line and Sorum's drumming that sets the stage for Weiland's vocals, that sound almost like B.B. King surprisingly!The song picks up to become one of the hardest and fastest, so don't fret!Good chorus, and Weiland finds his normal voice for it. Inspired lyrics!You Got No Right-10/10: Probably the slowest song on the album, it has Weiland's heartbroken vocals that are perfectly followed up by the soulful instruments. A great ballad if you could say it was one, and the chorus is the best on the entire album!Slash's 40-second long solo is truly the highlight of the song, capturing the heart-broken tone the song conveys perfectly. Slither-15/10:There's no wonder they released this song as a single, it Rocks~! Starts off slowly with Duff's bass line, but Slash's guitar sweeps in to create one the best riff on the album!Weiland's vocals remind us of his Stone Temple Pilots' days unlike most songs, and that is a good thing! Slash's solo is probably the best on the album, and his guitarmanship steals the show in my opinion! The video sure is weird, but the song definitely rocks the hardest and the best on the entire album! Dirty Little Thing-10/10:Weiland's eerie vocals start off the song, and the chorus sounds really creepy! Definitely the darkest and doomiest song on the album,and the instruments portray that tone very well! Loving The Alien-10/10: Another slow song, Weiland's vocals sound very heart-broken, and Slash's acoustic guitar playing might even bring tears to the soft-hearted. Great solo from Slash,and this song perfectly end this great album on a soft note! Overall, this album ROCKS. This is the best thing any of these musicians have made in a long time, rivalling Appetite For Destruction and Core. Between the 3 ballads and the other tough rockers, this album basically suits any tastes of music!Hopefully, these guys will stay at it and continue to make great music in the coming years, and that means not going to Rehab guys!If you're a fan of Metal, Modern Rock, Grunge, or Guns N Roses or Stone Temple Pilots, there is no way you'll not love this CD!"

For those complaining about iPod compatability

John | UK | 01/04/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've already written a 1300 word + review on CONTRABAND [EXPLICIT LYRICS].



Since Amazon will not allow me to write two reviews, I decided to post this here.



Basically, it's just about the Autorun/MediaMax/licensing/iPod issues with Contraband and how to stop it.



Anything can be broken. This includes the MediaMax software that autolaunches on the Velvet Revolver CD. Let's break it down this way: Insert the CD in your computer, up pops a mandatory "MediaMax" box that asks you to accept to their terms and agreements. You do, and they install a file on your PC (including licenses that confirm you've purchased the CD - and allow you to play the music on your PC). You're then taken to a new Velvet Revolver CD menu where you are given the opportunity to: Play music, rip music to hard drive (as read-only, non-editable WMA files), go to band's official website, etc.



The problem many people have been having with this is that they feel somehow cheated because WMA (Windows Media Audio), recorded at 64 Kpbs, is NOT transferrable to Apple iPods. (Which only support MP3 - 128 Kpbs format - and Apple iTunes, which you must pay for to download.) So for the computer illiterate out there - people who buy this CD in hopes of ripping tracks to their iPod are out of luck. Most MP3 players do not support WMA files, either. Once copied to your hard drive, all Velvet Revolver tracks are totally "locked" - i.e., you can't edit them at all. I tried to put them through Switch (a freeware program that changes file formats - e.g. MP3 to WMA or WMA to MP3) and because I had installed the MediaMax file on my PC, it "detected" that I was trying to change the format of the track and didn't allow me to do so.



For me it wasn't a problem because my MP3 player supports WMA. However I can understand the frustration of being an iPod owner and not being able to transfer files.



However, as I said, anything can be broken, including Media Max. You have a few options. First: When the Velvet Revolver CD autolaunch starts, hold down the SHIFT key on your PC. This somehow disables it. I haven't tried this. Someone told me it works. I can't guarantee it.



What I did (and which I think is the wisest thing to do for a number of reasons) is simply disable Autorun on your Windows system. This prevents the CD from autostarting when you insert it into your CD-ROM/DVD-ROM drive. It therefore stops the CD from downloading the nasty MediaMax file to your hard drive, which in turn prevents the file from "blocking" the "protected" music from being played on your PC until you download the proper licenses.



This is easy to change. In Windows click:



Start > Run



Type regedit



Press "ENTER"



A screen should pop up. Next, search for (and click) "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE>

SYSTEM>

CurrentControlSet>

Services>

Cdrom>



Double-click on "Autorun." It should be set at "1." Change it to "0".



Click OK



Now, restart your PC. If it asks you to enable Autorun when you boot up again, say NO and it shouldn't ask you again.



This is the most effective way to disable Autorun completely on your PC.



Now, after restarting your PC, insert the Velvet Revolver CD in your CD drive. Nothing should pop up.



Open Windows Media player. Select RIP TRACKS. Now, rip all the tracks to your PC.



They'll still be recorded as Windows Media Audio files by default, but this is changeable. By default any CD copied to your PC will be WMA (if you're using Windows to rip it) so it isn't exclusive for Velvet Revolver's Contraband. In fact you should be able to select ripping options somewhere in Windows Media Player's toolbar options. I don't know as I haven't tried.



Either way, once they're ripped to your hard drive, they are now totally editable. You don't need to download a license to play them. You can copy them to your MP3 without trouble. And since the license isn't stopping you, you can also now use a freeware program such as Switch (do a Google search for it) to convert the file into standard MP3 (128 Kpbs) and transfer them to your iPod!



See! Wasn't that simple?! It's not worth endlessly complaining about and returning CDs to stores (!) just because of MediaMax (which is now being included on many CDs as protection).



The first person to exploit this Autorun flaw in MediaMax was a college student who wrote a paper on it. They're currently suing him for $10 million.



Anyway...in summary: If you are frustrated because you can't copy Contraband to your iPod, just disable autorun. Then proceed with what you'd normally do to transfer tracks to your iPod.



It's that simple."

Dirty rock - minus the cuss words

Tim Brough | Springfield, PA United States | 02/01/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This combustible crew of misfits probably has spent more collective time in rehab than most small towns' citizenry. So combining them would mean that you were going to get something highly inflammatory or the usual supergroup corporate custard. Which also means that anything Velvet Revolver does would likely be similar to trolling the minefield. Fortunately, it turns out that they have made one of the best rock albums of the past few years. Slash has made the big riff record that G'n'R fans always know he has in him, and Scott Weiland has unobservedly become one of rock's most versatile voices.



Just listen to the way he growls into the otherwise rote number, "Set Me Free." He jumps from blues grunt to glam howl over Slash's heavy duty playing. (Too bad they couldn't invest the same amount of effort in the drivel word selection..."So take me down down down, etc.") There is also a great ballad performance on "You Got No Right," one of two obvious corporate ballads. It is those kind of compositional misfires that hold me from giving "Contraband" a fifth star.



But for what the members of Velvet Revolver excel at, "Contraband" has few equals. "Headspace" and "Big Machine" make glam rock relevant in the new century, as well as having fab solos. "Slither" is the kind of Heavy Metal that Audioslave promised but never delivered. "Loving The Alien" even cops to Bowie. I really hope that the elements that comprise Velvet Revolver can hold their stability long enough to make a second album that ups the quality of the lyrics and can also resist the temptation to play the compromise card."