Contraband (album)
Contraband is an album by
Velvet Revolver, which was released on
June 8,
2004 through
RCA Records. It debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Charts.
Velvet Revolver formed when three
Guns N' Roses musicians -
Slash (guitar),
Duff McKagan (bass) and
Matt Sorum (drums) - combined to play at a
benefit concert for fellow musician
Randy Castillo in 2002. They decided to form another band and recruited guitarist
Dave Kushner who had previously played with
Suicidal Tendencies,
Wasted Youth, and
Dave Navarro. Kushner had gone to school with Slash and had worked with McKagan before. The quartet was known as The Project pending the selection of a permanent name.
The quartet then set about recruiting a lead singer with the recruitment process filmed by
VH1. Several lead singers auditioned including
Josh Todd formerly of
Buckcherry,
Kelly Shaefer of
Neurotica and
Travis Meeks of
Days of the New but they were unsuccessful.
Scott Weiland had become friends with McKagan and had played on the same bill as Kushner when
Stone Temple Pilots were known as Mighty Joe Young and Kushner was in the
Electric Love Hogs. Weiland heard the material and offered his services as the lead singer and the band clicked. Slash suggested the name Revolver for the project and Weiland suggested the addition of Velvet to the title.
Velvet Revolver recorded its first track "Set Me Free" for
The Hulk soundtrack in 2003, along with a cover of
Pink Floyd's "Money" for
The Italian Job. The band played their first live gig at the El Rey in
Los Angeles in July 2003. It recorded its first album Contraband in the latter part of 2003 with recording complicated by Weiland's court appearances for drug charges and his subsequent sentencing to undertake rehabilitation.
In February 2005, RCA Records released a "Tour Edition" of the album in Europe, which included a bonus disc containing three songs: "Surrender", "No More, No More" (originally by
Aerosmith), and an acoustic version of "Fall to Pieces".
The
United States release of the disc uses the
MediaMax CD-3 system for
copy protection, while
Macrovision CDS-200 is used for the
European release.
The Contraband album was released in June 2004 debuting at #1 on the Billboard album charts #11 on the British album charts and #2 in Australia. The first single "Slither" topped a composite world modern rock chart in June, reached #1 on the Billboard mainstream rock chart and #5 on the Billboard modern rock chart. Slither has also reached #64 on the Billboard Hot 100, gone top 20 in Finland and top 40 on a European composite chart, Canada and Australia.
Metacritic.com has given
Contraband an average score of 63 based on 14 reviews, indicating that the critical response has been "generally favorable". [
1]
Mojo rated the album as "a perpetually guilty pleasure." (June 2004 page 107)
Q Magazine said it was "astonishingly good" rating it as four stars. (Jul 2004, page 127)
Rolling Stone rated it as 4 stars out of 5 said "it is a rare, fine thing: the sound of the perfect A&R sales pitch turning into a real band. Now we can find out if these guys can stay together, and go somewhere new." Best tracks: "Sucker Train Blues", "Slither", "Do It For The Kids", "Big Machine", "Fall to Pieces" [
2]
ShakingThrough.net rated it as 3.5 stars although it said:
"Contraband, the debut result of said pairing, never does transmute its elements into something new and exciting. Mostly, it sounds like no more and a little less than one might hope for from such a union." Best Tracks: "Slither", "Spectacle", "Headspace", "Superhuman" [
3]
Entertainment Weekly rated it as 67 saying "Even at its best, Contraband feels secondhand, and much of it is also hobbled by a disconnect between band and singer." [4 June 2004, page 79]
All Music Guide rated it as 3 stars out of 5 saying "With Contraband, Velvet Revolver has pulled off something tidy, fashioning music that manages both hedonism and maturity. It upholds legacies while grading a new route." Best tracks: "Big Machine", "Fall to Pieces" "Slither" [
4]
Blender said it was "A showcase for Weiland's vocals" (#27, page 148).
Playlouder rated it as three candles out of five saying it sounded more like Stone Temple Pilots and "anyone who'd hoped for Guns n' Roses mark II (or III) will be very seriously disappointed." Best track "Fall to Pieces" [
5]
E! Online rated the album as a C saying "Velvet Revolver sounds like a hungover bar band playing catch-up, wading through tired blues licks and meaningless grunge imagery on tracks like "Slither" and "Big Machine". Velvet Revolver is locked and a total load." [
6]
# "Sucker Train Blues" â€" 4:27# "Do It For the Kids" â€" 3:55# "
Big Machine" â€" 4:25# "Illegal I Song" â€" 4:17# "Spectacle" â€" 3:41# "Fall to Pieces" â€" 4:30# "Headspace" â€" 3:42# "Superhuman" â€" 4:15# "Set Me Free" â€" 4:07# "You Got No Right" â€" 5:33# "
Slither" â€" 4:08# "Dirty Little Thing" â€" 3:57# "Loving the Alien" â€" 5:48
The UK release also included a live cover of "
Bodies" by the
Sex Pistols as a 14th track.
In the Australian Tour Edition (also available outside Australia), there is a bonus disc packaged with the original. This disc includes covers of
Cheap Trick's "Surrender",
Aerosmith's "No More No More", and
Nirvana's "Negative Creep."
*"Slither", released in May 2004
*"Fall to Pieces", released in August 2004
*"Dirty Little Thing", released in November 2004
*Assistant Engineer: Rocco Guarino
