Here Today... Gone To Hell!

IRVINE, California ? Like Metallica cutting their hair and Enrique Iglesias removing his mole, Slash losing his signature top hat in the Velvet Revolver publicity shots has hardly gone unnoticed.

The legendary guitarist and his bandmates would like to make it clear, however, that journalists who have noted a total absence are not entirely accurate.

"It makes occasional appearances," drummer Matt Sorum said backstage at the KROQ Weenie Roast.

"Sometimes it's just on the stage in the corner by itself, sometimes it's on me," guitarist Dave Kushner added.

"I just need it," Slash declared with a smile, hiding behind his long locks of hair, which have not changed. "I need it close by for security, in case I get overly shy, so I can pull it over my head."

The hat is traveling with Velvet Revolver on tour, but it's made few appearances, perhaps a sign of how comfortable the guitarist is onstage with his new band. And now that the group's debut album, Contraband, is in stores, Slash only expects to have more fun playing live.

"We started out last month just going out with a bunch of material that no one had ever heard," he explained. "Now that the album's out, we get to watch this whole new plateau of how people react to different songs and what people are into."

"As it is now, when we kick into 'Slither,' it really goes off," Sorum added. "That's really exciting for us."

"Slither," of course, is the first single and video from Contraband, and the #1 song on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and #2 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart.

Slash said the song was one of the first pieces of music he, Sorum, Kushner and Duff McKagan wrote before Scott Weiland joined the band.

"It got shelved for a second, then it came back and we gave it to Scott, and Scott came up with the lyrics and all that," Slash said. "And 'Slither' was the working title, so he just made words that went along with 'Slither' and it just became our song. So when it came time to put the record out and pick a single, we didn't know what to pick because there was a lot of cool songs on the record. We said, 'Well, "Slither" is pretty indicative of just the band in general, and it's easy,' so we just put it out there."

Velvet Revolver have yet to select the follow-up to "Slither," but Slash, Sorum and Kushner agree that "Superhuman" is a front-runner.

"It's just got a lot of good texture," Kushner said.

"It reminds me of ... just sweaty, grindy, greasy sex stuff," Slash added.

"It's a bit of a booty-shaker," Sorum said.

Whatever Weiland's thoughts are on the next single, the media will probably never know, as the frontman recently declared on the band's Web site that he's no longer granting interviews in light of issues he had with Maxim and Revolver, which called him "the biggest f----up of them all."

His bandmates are supportive of his decision

"In this band he's just out there proving himself as someone who is really serious about what it is that he does," Slash said. "And as soon as you get a really negative, opinionated thing from the journalists, it's like, 'You're just not getting it. I don't want to talk to you anymore.' And I totally understand it, because it's like we're out there and he's pulling it off and the last thing he wants to hear about is [what happened] six months ago or two years ago or three years ago. ... The rest of us all have pretty sordid pasts [as well ? we] just never got caught."

?Corey Moss

Source(s): http://www.mtv.com


/jarmo

He made 3 goals in one match ?! He is not only a guitar-wonder but also a great soccer player!!! :hihi:

I thought I read somewhere on this site that FTP was next up.   ???  That must have been an erroneous report.  Maybe it will still happen.

I think Superhuman would make a great next single.  "Rodeo, rodeo, rodeo, rodeo ... throw the rope around her neck and get the show on the road."  What's better than that??   :rofl:

I think that FTP would be better to release next for the band.  Liek I said before, I think it would give them a chance a real crossover hit that could broaden their fanbase quicky.  But, personally, I like the song Superhuman more than FTP.  And the idea that VR may want to release another rocker so as if to say "This is waht we are really about" sits well with me also.  There really is no losing for them on this one.

-TyRod-

Freakin Scott Weiland says before they play Fall to pieces that it will be the next single!

no i totally agree

VR want to be a rock band, so release another rocker like superhuman then come with ftp

i think its excellent strategy, i wouldnt wanna be thought of as a ballad group either

cause once they release FTP superhuman may not be received as well

keep riding the mainstream modern rock success of slither with another kick ass rocker!

I think Superhuman is an excellent choice. It doesn't matter to me whether FTP is released second or third. Although, I still prefer YGNR to FTP. I think YGNR has more potential to be a crossover hit and grab more fans/

I love VR but why would they play the Maxim Party in A.C. if Scott has a problem with Maxim?

Hell yeah- i agree!
Superhuman is so Rawkin!!!!!!!  :smoking:  :beer:  :smoking:

I love Slash's quote- wish Duff said it!  :o Sowwy!

In Detroit Slash wore hit hat for half the night, and yes Scott did say in concert that FTP was up next.

I think its just about the writer, not the magazine.

Year WRITERS SUCK!. One minute they are tossing his salad saying how its the best shit they ever tasted and the next they are writing up a review about how his shit stinks.

Slash wore the top hat a couple times during the Philadelphia show, where I saw VR.  It was funny because the audience gave the top hat a huge ovation when the crew member brought it onstage.   That hat means a lot, I tell ya.   8)

It has to be Fall to Pieces.

Maybe Superhuman is the the next "rock" single to follow Slither, after FTP.

Or maybe they changed there mind, they have done that a few times recently, ie Josh Todd/Keith Nelson, The El rey ep, need I go on?

Maybe.

I actually think FTP is a much better choice than Superhuman. Even though I love Superhuman and think it rocks like a motherf**k!

I was playing Contraband in my office today at work (as I have the last few weeks), and the girl sitting across from me told me she really likes that "falling to pieces" song and she asked me to play it a few times on repeat.
By the 3rd time I played it, she was singing along with it too. From that, I think FTP could have huge radio potential.

WOW!  Just as I sit here typing, Slither just came on on MTV Australia! :beer: