For those unaware, the invaluable
AllMusicGuide.com has been revamped, and a new addition Ive noticed is a song review for "Slither". Its a good review by Johnny Loftus, just like his
Contraband review. Whats puzzling to me is that despite an enthusiastic review, the album only recieved two-and-a-half stars - one-half star less than it originally had...
Song Review by Johnny Loftus
"Slither" started deceivingly ? its slog of slowly paced bass and volume-fiddling guitar was your average loud rock vamp. But coming to a cannon shot stop before hitting its marks in the cutting main section, the song became something much more: a death's head calling card. Ex- STP'er and rock star pro Scott Weiland had found a new platform with Velvet Revolver, the project of Guns N' Roses survivors Slash, Duff, and Matt Sorum. Admittedly, it looked a little weird on paper. But "Slither" introduced the union as effectively cool, echoing the legacies of its veteran members but swaggering confidently into a future of silver spangles on stained black leather. With Weiland's glammy vocal posing and the Gunners' dirty sidle (and enough of Slash's signature tones to keep the old schoolers happy), "Slither" was a fix of straight-up hard rock in a radio era of demographic and formula. It also straddled blatantly the line between maturity and excess, just like the whole of VR's
Contraband. "When you seek me you'll destroy me", Weiland sang. "Rape my mind and smell the poppies". The song's half-time chorus rejoiced over water to "Wash away the sins of you and I". However, that holy liquid "Only burns you faster than you'll ever dry". "Slither" took to radio with no bad axels and a brand new rattlesnake suitcase; it debuted April 12th, 2004 and soon lodged itself in the Top 10 of Billboard's Modern Rock chart.
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