All-star supergroups are always somewhat of a gamble. Inevitably, there will be a select portion of fans that feel let down or put off by the final result. <\/p>\n
Case in point, as a big fan of Guns ‘n’ Roses, I was psyched to hear that Slash, Duff and Matt Sorum were recording again under the name of Velvet Revolver. Sadly, I was less than thrilled with the fruits of their efforts. Contraban<\/i>d sounded like a modern rock album spliced together over the course of celebrity AA meetings. It featured none of the riffs, attitude or \u2018rock n\u2019 roll decadence\u2019 that gave the early Guns albums their appeal. They had updated their sound without a hitch, but the overall product I found generic and forgettable.<\/p>\n
Thankfully, Libertad<\/i> is a marked improvement. There still isn\u2019t a great deal of variety to the songs, but the whole album flows much better, and sounds like much more of a group effort now that the band has an album and a full tour under their belt. It\u2019s filled with good hooks, and while a handful of songs seem lazy or merely clever, the majority of them are solid rock numbers. <\/p>\n
The first single, \u201cShe Builds Fast Machines,\u201d sets the tone for the album. A mid-tempo rocker carried by Duff\u2019s throbbing bass line, the relatively quiet verses give way to heavy, guitar-laden choruses with shout-it-out-loud vocals. Slash turns in a nice guitar solo to cap things off.<\/p>\n
The production is one of the first things to stick out here: damn, does this album ever sound good. All the instruments are crystal clear. Both guitars have plenty of chunk to them, the rhythm section is tight and clear, and the vocals aren\u2019t too up front. Much better than some of the wall-of-noise stuff that gets released these days. <\/p>\n
Velvet Revolver does an admirable job of turning in consistent, energetic songs on Libertad<\/i>, particularly on the first half of the album. Album opener \u201cLet It Roll\u201d and \u201cShe Mine,\u201d are both powered by simple but effective guitar riffs, with Slash trying out a faux Eastern-style guitar phrase in the verses of the latter. It\u2019s only seven notes, but they\u2019re surprisingly catchy. It\u2019s refreshing, also, to hear some guitar leads with a real chunk to their tone.<\/p>\n
VR hits\u00a0its groove three songs in with \u201cGet Out The Door.\u201d Here, singer Scott Weiland finally begins to gel with the band, turning in a memorable vocal line and a chorus that will have you singing it under your breath after a few listens. This is the sort of track that I had hoped VR would record when I first heard about the band\u2019s formation: songwriting that combines the riff-laden antics and attitude of Guns with the vocal stylings of a grunge \/ alternative-era singer. <\/p>\n
The band pulls this off further with \u201cFor A Brother\u201d and \u201cJust Sixteen\u201d as well. Of all the songs on the album, the latter reminds me the most of Use Your Illusion<\/i>-era Guns n\u2019 Roses, with plenty of trademark Slash solos scattered throughout.<\/p>\n
There are a few shortcomings, of course. To begin with, it\u2019s very samey. The band has clearly found a sound that they are comfortable with, and aren\u2019t taking a whole lot of chances, given the talent involved. A handful of songs — particularly the softer numbers, such as \u201cCan\u2019t Get It Out Of My Head\u201d — seem uninspired and closer to outtakes. It\u2019s hard not to roll your eyes as Weiland reminisces about \u2018walking through the burning rain \/ hoping just to know her name\u2026\u2019 His vocal style works well overall, but Weiland\u2019s lyrics and tendency to insert \u2018ooh-woo-hoo\u2019s\u2019 and \u2018nah-nah-nah-nah\u2019s\u2019 into choruses and outros can grate on one’s nerves after awhile. <\/p>\n
These minor quibbles aside, Velvet Revolver have certainly improved upon its debut. If Libertad<\/i> is any indication of what the band\u2019s future efforts might sound like, then a third album, if ever one is recorded, seems promising indeed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":28871,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7109],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-40371","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-velvet-revolver","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40371\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=40371"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=40371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}