contraband review from entertainment weekly

[dave-gnfnr2k]

Sleaze To Meet You
The Scott Weiland-led Velvet Revolver aim for full-on rock decadence but sound half-cocked

David Browne
4 June 2004
Entertainment Weekly

Copyright ? 2004 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.

VELVET REVOLVER Contraband (RCA)

Velvet Revolver revive the once-fashionable notion of a rock super-group, with a Behind the Music twist: The band features three former members of the excess-friendly Guns N' Roses and one walking- wounded frontman (Scott Weiland of the defunct Stone Temple Pilots). The mind boggles at the quantity of drugs and alcohol that must have collectively been consumed by these men, and the band isn't in any hurry to bury that perception. In one song on their debut album-- titled (wink, wink) Contraband--Weiland refers to his image as a "junkie piece of s--." In another, he depicts a female addict, "her face packed with cocaine," and adds a refrain of "Cocaine/Alcohol/ Lady-lay/Withdrawal."

Such after-hours sleaze feels--to quote one column in this mag-- very five minutes ago, but Velvet Revolver don't care. On Contraband (in stores June , their goal is to return trashy decadence to rock & roll, whether we want it back or not. The GN'R core--guitarist Slash, bassist Duff McKagan, and drummer Matt Sorum--blare as if unleashing all the energy for which they've had no outlet since splitting with Axl Rose. Like a refurbished Corvette tearing down Sunset Strip, they're determined to rock, dammit, and they go about their job with a revved-up efficiency.

Anyone expecting Use Your Illusion III, though, will be in for a slight buzzkill. The songs suggest the pop grunge of Weiland's old band more than the careening overdrive of GN'R. Ironically, the album's most potent moments are its contemplative ones. "Fall to Pieces," whose title sums up Weiland's troubles, builds from sullen verses to rafter-rattling choruses. Toward the end of the finale, "Loving the Alien," Weiland keeps repeating "I'm moving on" while Slash's guitar caresses his words, and the combination is briefly, unexpectedly, moving.

Yet even at its sharpest, Contraband feels secondhand, and much of it is also hobbled by a disconnect between singer and band. Weiland is an apt replacement for Rose in the loose-cannon department; in the video for "Slither," he has the snake-thin, hollowed-out look of someone repeatedly busted for drugs. Burning musical rubber, the GN'R boys (and fifth member, guitarist Dave Kushner) appear stoked to reclaim arenas. But Weiland, who alternates between ravaged thoughtfulness and cocky arrogance, doesn't seem as eager. As the band cranks it up in "Headspace," he cautions not to "let any of those f--ers in my headspace," as if rethinking rockstar excess. In "Dirty Little Thing," he warns someone, probably himself, to "get away from the drugs you're taking." Velvet Revolver may be the least joyous rabble-rousers in recent memory.

Condemning bourgeois convention in "Big Machine," Weiland yowls, "We're all slaves to the big machine" as the band piles on the mountain-crumbling riffs. In the way they adamantly cling to an earlier, rowdier era of rock indulgence, Velvet Revolver are even bigger slaves than they think.

[Jizzo]

A semi bad review

[Naupis]

I knew this was gonna be a bad reviw when I saw Dave posted it. Will you sleep better at night now knowing VR is getting negative reviews?

[badgirl]

Ouch. It's not a very fair review because obviously the writer is biased against this type of music. You can hear the contempt even before he talks about the songs. That's lame.  

And that shmuck should do his research. Scott has publicly stated that "Dirty Little Thing" is about Paris Hilton.

I have no problem with negative reviews, but not because some (probably) grunge-friendly writer has a problem with what GnR became and what STP never was.

[eNgIeS]

Wow, what a suprize. Dave the dickhead posts a negative review. Ask yourself this question Dave & answer it HONESTLY, if this review was positive would you have posted it?

If this was a review of Chinese Democracy (which alot of the media has been unfair to) that was just as unfair & biased as the one above, would you post it?

or is it your mission to get every bad VR review (even if its not done by a proper journalist, like ur one comparing Madagascar & the Blues to Slither) & post it in this forum to bring even more fuel to the VR vs nuGNR fire.

You probably only post the positive reviews of GNR's concerts from 2001 & 2002

Either way Dave, which review holds more weight, one from a  well known rock magazine called Kerang! or does one review from some anti rock jock from Entertainment Weekly who's CD collection consists of Celene Dion & Enrique Iglasius (& no i dont give a fuck if i spelt there names wrong)?

[oneway23]

And here I was thinking Dave was sharing something out of the goodness of his heart....

[badgirl]

Wow, what a suprize. Dave the dickhead posts a negative review. Ask yourself this question Dave & answer it HONESTLY, if this review was positive would you have posted it?

If this was a review of Chinese Democracy (which alot of the media has been unfair to) that was just as unfair & biased as the one above, would you post it?

or is it your mission to get every bad VR review (even if its not done by a proper journalist, like ur one comparing Madagascar & the Blues to Slither) & post it in this forum to bring even more fuel to the VR vs nuGNR fire.

You probably only post the positive reviews of GNR's concerts from 2001 & 2002

Either way Dave, which review holds more weight, one from a  well known rock magazine called Kerang! or does one review from some anti rock jock from Entertainment Weekly who's CD collection consists of Celene Dion & Enrique Iglasius (& no i dont give a fuck if i spelt there names wrong)?

It's true. I would hardly count Entertainment Weekly or People or whatever as the authority on rock music.
Very curious to hear what Rolling Stone writes (not that it matters THAT much, but curious nevertheless).

[Eduardo]

It's true. I would hardly count Entertainment Weekly or People or whatever as the authority on rock music.
Very curious to hear what Rolling Stone writes (not that it matters THAT much, but curious nevertheless).

bahh.. they slammed albuns such as Sticky Fingers, and early Zep

[SLCPUNK]

There will be good and bad reviews of this and any band. No big deal.

Like the other poster said, as soon as I saw Dave posted it I knew it would be a bad review. Weird guy you are Dave....

[Pviljoen]

Sleaze To Meet You
The Scott Weiland-led Velvet Revolver aim for full-on rock decadence but sound half-cocked

David Browne
4 June 2004
Entertainment Weekly

Copyright ? 2004 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.

VELVET REVOLVER Contraband (RCA)

Velvet Revolver revive the once-fashionable notion of a rock super-group, with a Behind the Music twist: The band features three former members of the excess-friendly Guns N' Roses and one walking- wounded frontman (Scott Weiland of the defunct Stone Temple Pilots). The mind boggles at the quantity of drugs and alcohol that must have collectively been consumed by these men, and the band isn't in any hurry to bury that perception. In one song on their debut album-- titled (wink, wink) Contraband--Weiland refers to his image as a "junkie piece of s--." In another, he depicts a female addict, "her face packed with cocaine," and adds a refrain of "Cocaine/Alcohol/ Lady-lay/Withdrawal."

Such after-hours sleaze feels--to quote one column in this mag-- very five minutes ago, but Velvet Revolver don't care. On Contraband (in stores June , their goal is to return trashy decadence to rock & roll, whether we want it back or not. The GN'R core--guitarist Slash, bassist Duff McKagan, and drummer Matt Sorum--blare as if unleashing all the energy for which they've had no outlet since splitting with Axl Rose. Like a refurbished Corvette tearing down Sunset Strip, they're determined to rock, dammit, and they go about their job with a revved-up efficiency.

Anyone expecting Use Your Illusion III, though, will be in for a slight buzzkill. The songs suggest the pop grunge of Weiland's old band more than the careening overdrive of GN'R. Ironically, the album's most potent moments are its contemplative ones. "Fall to Pieces," whose title sums up Weiland's troubles, builds from sullen verses to rafter-rattling choruses. Toward the end of the finale, "Loving the Alien," Weiland keeps repeating "I'm moving on" while Slash's guitar caresses his words, and the combination is briefly, unexpectedly, moving.

Yet even at its sharpest, Contraband feels secondhand, and much of it is also hobbled by a disconnect between singer and band. Weiland is an apt replacement for Rose in the loose-cannon department; in the video for "Slither," he has the snake-thin, hollowed-out look of someone repeatedly busted for drugs. Burning musical rubber, the GN'R boys (and fifth member, guitarist Dave Kushner) appear stoked to reclaim arenas. But Weiland, who alternates between ravaged thoughtfulness and cocky arrogance, doesn't seem as eager. As the band cranks it up in "Headspace," he cautions not to "let any of those f--ers in my headspace," as if rethinking rockstar excess. In "Dirty Little Thing," he warns someone, probably himself, to "get away from the drugs you're taking." Velvet Revolver may be the least joyous rabble-rousers in recent memory.

Condemning bourgeois convention in "Big Machine," Weiland yowls, "We're all slaves to the big machine" as the band piles on the mountain-crumbling riffs. In the way they adamantly cling to an earlier, rowdier era of rock indulgence, Velvet Revolver are even bigger slaves than they think.

O.. so that is supposed to count for something?

Haha should I post all of the negative journalism pertaining to Botox Rose?

[dave-gnfnr2k]

Oh entertainment weekly doesnt count but maxim does? EW has much more cred than maxim
Oh its because maxim was postive right?  

[badgirl]

Sleaze To Meet You
The Scott Weiland-led Velvet Revolver aim for full-on rock decadence but sound half-cocked

David Browne
4 June 2004
Entertainment Weekly

Copyright ? 2004 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.

VELVET REVOLVER Contraband (RCA)

Velvet Revolver revive the once-fashionable notion of a rock super-group, with a Behind the Music twist: The band features three former members of the excess-friendly Guns N' Roses and one walking- wounded frontman (Scott Weiland of the defunct Stone Temple Pilots). The mind boggles at the quantity of drugs and alcohol that must have collectively been consumed by these men, and the band isn't in any hurry to bury that perception. In one song on their debut album-- titled (wink, wink) Contraband--Weiland refers to his image as a "junkie piece of s--." In another, he depicts a female addict, "her face packed with cocaine," and adds a refrain of "Cocaine/Alcohol/ Lady-lay/Withdrawal."

Such after-hours sleaze feels--to quote one column in this mag-- very five minutes ago, but Velvet Revolver don't care. On Contraband (in stores June , their goal is to return trashy decadence to rock & roll, whether we want it back or not. The GN'R core--guitarist Slash, bassist Duff McKagan, and drummer Matt Sorum--blare as if unleashing all the energy for which they've had no outlet since splitting with Axl Rose. Like a refurbished Corvette tearing down Sunset Strip, they're determined to rock, dammit, and they go about their job with a revved-up efficiency.

Anyone expecting Use Your Illusion III, though, will be in for a slight buzzkill. The songs suggest the pop grunge of Weiland's old band more than the careening overdrive of GN'R. Ironically, the album's most potent moments are its contemplative ones. "Fall to Pieces," whose title sums up Weiland's troubles, builds from sullen verses to rafter-rattling choruses. Toward the end of the finale, "Loving the Alien," Weiland keeps repeating "I'm moving on" while Slash's guitar caresses his words, and the combination is briefly, unexpectedly, moving.

Yet even at its sharpest, Contraband feels secondhand, and much of it is also hobbled by a disconnect between singer and band. Weiland is an apt replacement for Rose in the loose-cannon department; in the video for "Slither," he has the snake-thin, hollowed-out look of someone repeatedly busted for drugs. Burning musical rubber, the GN'R boys (and fifth member, guitarist Dave Kushner) appear stoked to reclaim arenas. But Weiland, who alternates between ravaged thoughtfulness and cocky arrogance, doesn't seem as eager. As the band cranks it up in "Headspace," he cautions not to "let any of those f--ers in my headspace," as if rethinking rockstar excess. In "Dirty Little Thing," he warns someone, probably himself, to "get away from the drugs you're taking." Velvet Revolver may be the least joyous rabble-rousers in recent memory.

Condemning bourgeois convention in "Big Machine," Weiland yowls, "We're all slaves to the big machine" as the band piles on the mountain-crumbling riffs. In the way they adamantly cling to an earlier, rowdier era of rock indulgence, Velvet Revolver are even bigger slaves than they think.

O.. so that is supposed to count for something?

Haha should I post all of the negative journalism pertaining to Botox Rose?

Oh, SNAP!!
 

[Johnnyblood]

Rolling Stone, which even then had negative-ten credibility, thought Appetite was derivative. Nowadays RS has negative-100000 credibility, and they have twice as much as Entertainment Weekly. Dave, you should not postition yourself for the sodomy you will receive for posting this review! I heard the Chilean radio boots of 1/2 the songs from Contraband. This mostly turd-burgling review is unwarranted.

[Booker Floyd]

Not a terrible review...Seems indecisive for the most part.  He uses seemingly positive adjectives to describe the actual music, but apparently isnt thrilled about Scotts serious, self-reflective lyrics.  Fair enough.

The authors opinion about the disconnect between singer/band is a legitimate one, I guess (although one wonders if the band was STP or a group of no-names, if the same observation would be made).   However, I dont like that "clinging to an earlier, rowdier era of rock indulgance" is viewed as a con, and I certainly dont see how that makes them "slaves"?  

[badgirl]

"On Contraband (in stores June , their goal is to return trashy decadence to rock & roll, whether we want it back or not."

that part pissed me off the most. what the fuck does Entertainment Weekly know about what the we want?
Or maybe i don't want to believe that hard rock is gone and never to return again. Either way, i don't think David Browne has any authority to make that kind of call.

[Acquiesce]

I don't think the review is bad, but I agree with you badgirl. I would love even a fraction of that trashy decadence in music today. I'm so sick and tired of currebt musicians who do nothing but whine about how miserable their lives are. I listen to music to have fun and to escape from the depressing parts of my own life. Who wants to hear some rich musician who made their dream come true whine all the damn time? Rock n roll was meant to be fun and spicey. Lately it's just bland and predictable. Thankfully, there are some rays of hope and VR seems to be the brightest one so far.  

[eNgIeS]

Oh entertainment weekly doesnt count but maxim does? EW has much more cred than maxim
Oh its because maxim was postive right?  

Lol, i didnt say Maxim was more credible, I dont think anyone did, what people have a problem with Dave isnt that you like Axl Rose (well thats an understatement, but i'm a fan of Axl's talents), it isnt coz you like the new GNR or coz you can remember every single word in the overdub in madagascar

its because you go out of your way to shit on the former band members, acting like Axl was GNR all by himself, & you act in a biased matter about everything & you like to start shit like you have done here (these reasons are among many other reasons people have a problem with you)

Hell after hearing most of the album I can say the Maxim review sucked because the guy obviously didnt give the cd a close listen, & thou it was mostly positive about VR he said the album sounded like Appetite, which is Bullshit. This album is totally different from AFD, doesnt mean it sucks, its a different style, its more modern, just as AFD was more modern in 1980's.

Anyway Dave you avoided my post below, i'll post it again & i want you to answer it & confront reality

"Wow, what a suprize. Dave the dickhead posts a negative review. Ask yourself this question Dave & answer it HONESTLY, if this review was positive would you have posted it?

If this was a review of Chinese Democracy (which alot of the media has been unfair to) that was just as unfair & biased as the one above, would you post it?

or is it your mission to get every bad VR review (even if its not done by a proper journalist, like ur one comparing Madagascar & the Blues to Slither) & post it in this forum to bring even more fuel to the VR vs nuGNR fire.

You probably only post the positive reviews of GNR's concerts from 2001 & 2002

Either way Dave, which review holds more weight, one from a  well known rock magazine called Kerang! or does one review from some anti rock jock from Entertainment Weekly who's CD collection consists of Celene Dion & Enrique Iglasius (& no i dont give a fuck if i spelt there names wrong)? "

[eNgIeS]

O.. so that is supposed to count for something?

Haha should I post all of the negative journalism pertaining to Botox Rose?

Oh, SNAP!!
 

   

Dave is  

[swosh26]

Give me a break dave, Back when GNR was touring and people that were against the band posted all the negative reviews (and there was a lot of them) i thought it was dumb and irrogant. This is no different. It should work both ways there buddy. And I have been around for a long time Im known as axl2 everywhere else.

I dont mind you posting reviews but why does it have to be the WORST one you see?

[starchild_666]

There will be good and bad reviews of this and any band. No big deal.

Like the other poster said, as soon as I saw Dave posted it I knew it would be a bad review. Weird guy you are Dave....

the same here