another glowing VR review

[dave-gnfnr2k]

Use Your Illusion
By GEOFF HARKNESS

Published: Thursday, December 9, 2004

Someday it will happen. Hell will freeze over. Pigs will fly. Every star and planet in the universe will align in perfect harmony, and the original Guns N' Roses lineup will reunite for an album and a tour. Don't hold your breath just yet, but it's bound to occur eventually. The original, diehard GN-fuckin'-R fans will accept no substitute. No Gilby, no Dizzy, no Skizzy or Comet or Cupid. Just give us the original fab five who masterminded Appetite for Destruction.

Until then, there's Velvet Revolver. The band is the latest and greatest redheaded stepchild in the extended GNR family. The quintet's core consists of founding GNR guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagen as well as Use Your Illusion-era drummer Matt Sorum. And then some guy named Dave Kushner on rhythm guitar.

But a band is only as good as its frontman, and with Axl Rose having gone the way of Howard Hughes, Slash and his buds launched a lengthy search for a singer with an abrasive disposition and a great set of pipes. Enter Scott Weiland, the man who put the stoned in Stone Temple Pilots.

But replacing one of rock's most inconsistent frontmen with one of rock's most notorious fuck-ups might not be the smartest move in the playbook. After all, Weiland has been rehabbed more times than the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Of course, that might also make him the perfect choice for center stage. The STP belter has always been far more interesting than the other poor man's Eddie Vedders channeling their pain in baritone. Plus, he's a genuine rock star: car crashes, drug busts, parole violations, and more court appearances than Judge Judy just in the past year. Clich?? You bet, but it's refreshing in an era when the Perry Farrells of the world have traded sport fucking and heroin spikes for Pilates and wheatgrass juice.

With Velvet Revolver on the road for the next two months and Weiland's ongoing legal and personal woes still simmering, trouble seems to loom constantly on the horizon. But who doesn't love an old-fashioned rock soap opera? Watching how long it takes these guys to disintegrate is half the fun.

Velvet Underwhelmed: What the hell is a Velvet Revolver anyway? Wait -- don't tell me. Like Led Zeppelin and Iron Butterfly, the moniker denotes a heavy-light dynamic that underscores the group's propensity for sonic and behavioral extremes, right? Besides, Aging Leather-Clad Drug Addicts was taken already. By M?tley Cr?e. At least it's not called Weiland's Snakepit.

Radio Ga Ga: Velveeta Revolver recently played an extra-cheesy acoustic set on KROQ (KROQ-FM 106.7) in Los Angeles. The ragged performance showed them to be little more than the world's most overrated, overpaid cover band. Redundant versions of STP's "Interstate Love Song" and GNR's "I Used To Love Her" inspired thoughts of the Gunners' disastrous punk covers album, The Spaghetti Incident? Di merda!

Axl Syndrome: Weiland is already exhibiting worrisome signs of Axl-esque behavior. Use Your Illusion featured "Get in the Ring," an enraged ode to music journalists in which Rose named names and alienated GNR from the national rock press. Maxim magazine recently dubbed Velvet Revolver's debut, Contraband, its album of the month, but Weiland took issue with the reviewer's "punk-ass backhanded comments" and posted a seething retort on the band's Website, www.velvetrevolver.net. "Let's meet up face-to-face," Weiland's blog challenged. "And see just how ?boozy' I am in person -- when I get ?maniac' on your ass motherfucker!" Next thing you know, the guy'll be showing up three hours late to gigs and starting riots in St. Louis.

Snake Shit: Forget gold records -- these guys' collective side projects haven't even gone tin. Slash's Snakepit was so bad it made The Spaghetti Incident? sound like Sgt. Pepper's. Weiland's and McKagen's solo efforts were relegated to cutout bins within seconds of release. Anyone remember the Neurotic Outsiders? Loaded? 10 Minute Warning? Mad for the Racket? Didn't think so.

Pig Fist: Having Sorum on board does not inspire confidence. One of rock's most ham-fisted drummers, the bandana buffoon's lumbering stick work was an unwelcome contrast to original GNR drummer Stephen Adler. And Sorum's resum? includes Mr. Big and Slash's Snakepit. 'Nuff said.

Mr. Anonymous: No one knows, and -- in a band full of stars -- no one cares about former Electric Love Hogs guitarist Kushner. Being in a group in which Sorum is way more famous than you has gotta be a humbling experience. Remember, Dave, there's always telemarketing.

Axl Still Rules: Sure, he's a weirdo hermit who hasn't released an album in ten years, but at least he has kept busy in the studio and (mostly) avoided public humiliation. The running joke is that there will be democracy in China long before there is Chinese Democracy, the working title of Rose's long-delayed opus. But it might be worth the wait.  If the reclusive Rose can get his shit together long enough to release Democracy and complete a tour, he could regain his status as a rock god -- and leave Velvet Revolver dead and bloated.

[younggunner]

Ive taken my seat and have my pencil and notebook ready...

[Eazy E]

Another review that attacks Scott Weiland?

I'm shocked. Really.

But replacing one of rock's most inconsistent frontmen with one of rock's most notorious fuck-ups might not be the smartest move in the playbook.

Oh I see, more than 10 years after releasing his first album (which almost went diamond if I'm not mistaken), he joins a new band which releases the best-selling rock album of the year... and kicks a drug addiction.  What a fuck-up.

[Booker Floyd]

This was posted a long time ago...And Im pretty sure I shared my thoughts then.? Or maybe I didnt even bother, because this sums it up...

Axl Still Rules

Riiight...So attack the band thats actually doing something - something that a few people seem to like - and praise the guy whos done nearly nothing for over a decade.? Thats the nature of some fans I suppose.?

And I mean it when I say I feel sorry for Dave.? You guaranteed a GNR release, or an announcement at the very least, in 2003.? Guaranteed it.? Now here comes 2005, and...??

Perpetually crestfallen, you rely on posting the occassional negative VR article to make yourself feel better.? You ignore the countless enthusiastic articles/reviews, stellar sales, and those pesky Grammy nominations.? Instead, you dredge up some poorly written, negative website article...Does that really make you feel better, or vindicated?? If thats the case, once again, Im sorry.  Keep the faith. 

[Top-Hatted One]

for the record VR doesn't play "interstate love song" as the article suggests. Damn I wish they did

[RichardNixon]

The article was dated "December 9," but I remember hearing some of those comments earlier. The "Stoned" in "Stone Temple Pilots" is borrowed from before.
At anyrate, that was a very poor-written, unfair article. If you don't like Velvet Revolver or "Contraband," that's your opinion. However, you should criticize the band and it's album on it's own merit. All this "reviewer" can do is throw sucker punches and insults. All this article does is take cheap shots at the band and it's members. For instance, the whole Weiland is a poor-mans Eddie Vedder is so old and not even true. The "Core" era Weiland is comparable to the "Ten" era Vedder, but apart from that, the two sound nothing alike. How does "Sour Girl" or "Big Bang Baby" sound like Pearl Jam? What does "The Spaghetti Incident" have to do with anything? What do the sales of Duff's solo albums and Snakepit have to do with anything? This was just a nasty review written by some musician wanbe flunky.

[Top-Hatted One]

people take spaghetti too seriously. many journalists and rock fans think it's a gnr album when it's nothing more than a cover album and a good one at that because they made each song sound better than the original as they do with all covers

[Walapino]

for the record VR doesn't play "interstate love song" as the article suggests. Damn I wish they did

they did play it on KROQ acustic set!

And I loved it how he squashed Matt!
looooooooooooooooooooool

This was a fun read none the less, I accept no substitue... no Skizzy or Wizzy

[mikegiuliana]

it's always original when the people dissing vr use a stp  refrence like dead n bloated.. Just seems like a huge axl fan...

[Top-Hatted One]

for the record VR doesn't play "interstate love song" as the article suggests. Damn I wish they did

they did play it on KROQ acustic set!

And I loved it how he squashed Matt!
looooooooooooooooooooool

This was a fun read none the less, I accept no substitue... no Skizzy or Wizzy

Oh yeah how can I forget.  later down the road I would love it if VR did what gnr did in '93 and bust out a couch and play acoustic versions of interstate love song, patience, you got no right and loving the alien in between the rockers! instead of playing its so easy/brownstone/used to love her/crackerman over and over.

[tomass74]

I still find it hugely annoying that Dave never hardly posts here unless he finds something negative. 99% of the shit out there is positive but you would never see him post any of that. Very immature...

After reading this trash I find it pretty humorous. The guy doesn't really have a clue. All his bashing went no where and had nothing to do with VR's actually music, live show or anything. It was all pretty pointless actually. It was pretty obvious that the guy wanted to suck Axl's dick though. You must be one happy man Dave....   

[gnrvrrule]

They actually did play Interstate Love Song once on KROQ, the acoustic section.  They also played Slither and Used to Love Her that time.  And I have to say, even though VR kicks ass, ITL and UTLH weren't very good.  This review is shitty though.

[Top-Hatted One]

take this davy boy...An article with actual facts not a fucktard's already made up opinion..

Velvet Revolver's quick success no shot in the dark

Velvet Revolver scored three Grammy nominations this week for best rock album, song and performance -- and they're showing off why tonight at Mansion in South Beach.

BY ROBERTO SANTIAGO

rsantiago@herald.com



There was buzz about Velvet Revolver even before the band had performed live, signed a recording contract or had a name or front man.

From the start, the line-up was a recipe for a super group: bass player Duff McKagan, lead guitarist Slash and drummer Matt Sorum, all from Guns 'N Roses, and rhythm guitarist Dave Kushner, formerly of Wasted Youth and Electric Love Hogs.

All that was missing was a mesmerizing lead singer.

A classified ad McKagan placed in music magazines in September 2002 turned up no suitable candidates.

But six months later, Scott Weiland, taking a break as front man for Stone Temple Pilots, came through the door, sang Set Me Free and Velvet Revolver was a band.

''The rock gods blessed us with Scott. He is better than anything we could have ever advertised for,'' McKagan said in a telephone interview from a tour bus bound for South Florida.

GOING PLATINUM

The buzz was prophetic. Velvet Revolver's CD Contraband debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 100 in June, went platinum in August and on Tuesday was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rock Album.

This summer, the band's eerie, heart-pounding single, Slither, hit No. 1 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Track Charts. It received a Grammy nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance.

Today, the No. 1 spot is held by Velvet Revolver's textured power ballad, Fall To Pieces, which was also nominated, this time for Best Rock Song.

Now Velvet Revolver makes its South Florida debut at South Beach's Mansion at 11 tonight.

''We've all matured as musicians and as people. We've gone through the tough times and understood them. I think you can see that in our lyrics and arrangements and how we work together,'' said McKagan. ``It's all a group effort.''

That extends into their personal lives. When Weiland was arrested for cocaine and heroin possession two months after joining the band, McKagan introduced him to the martial arts discipline of wing chun kung fu, which has helped both men stay sober.

Staying sober is essential to the success of the band, as Weiland's past drug problems, drug convictions and 32 stints in rehab ultimately derailed Stone Temple Pilots at its height.

''We're making it work right now, but I'm not going to lie and say it's going to be that way forever. For the good of the band and its survival, I hope it stays that way, that we stay clean. That Scott stays clean. But I can't predict the future,'' McKagan said.

Before Weiland joined in March 2003, his four bandmates had collectively composed and arranged 60 songs. Friend and former Guns 'N Roses rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin also contributed a few.

''Izzy was never interested in joining,'' McKagan said. ``After Guns 'N Roses, he will never work with a lead singer again.''

McKagan says Velvet Revolver's creative process happens informally -- while they are rehearsing or just hanging out.

Even the name of the band -- its original working title was The Project -- was a collaborative effort.

''The name Velvet Revolver doesn't mean a damn thing,'' McKagan said. ``Slash had suggested the name Revolver -- and I liked it because of its Beatles connotation. But there are several hundred bands named Revolver. After a while, Scott suggested adding Velvet to the name. Slash sketched out the band logo and that was it.''

The lyrics and arrangements come about in a similarly informal fashion, McKagan said.

STARTING WITH RIFFS

''`Sometimes it happens fast. Fall To Pieces started off with Slash throwing out some guitar riffs. Eventually I did the bridge, and we all started adding lyrics,'' McKagan said.

``But ones like Slither and Do it for the Kids took longer, and we did several versions until we picked the one that worked right.''

Weiland's vocals have also changed. The low-growl rock baritone flaunted in Stone Temple Pilot's Sex Type Thing has given way to a broader, melodic higher-octave range.

''Scott can embrace lyrics in so many different ways,'' McKagan said. ``He sounds completely different than when he was with Stone Temple Pilots.''

[Top-Hatted One]

except Duff is wrong...Scott sounded his best in STP up til Tiny Music

[Butch Français]

I haven't read a single thing in this thread, but let me guess, since I saw it was dave posting it.
it some low stab at VR again?
some poor written piss he's dug up?
(I will read comments to this post to see if Im right or not, Im pretty much willing to bet hefty sums that Im right )

[dave-gnfnr2k]

I still find it hugely annoying that Dave never hardly posts here unless he finds something negative. 99% of the shit out there is positive but you would never see him post any of that. Very immature...

After reading this trash I find it pretty humorous. The guy doesn't really have a clue. All his bashing went no where and had nothing to do with VR's actually music, live show or anything. It was all pretty pointless actually. It was pretty obvious that the guy wanted to suck Axl's dick though. You must be one happy man Dave....? ?

Well we really should post all the VR reviews shouldn?t we? You guys missed this one so I posted it for you.

I love how all the VR fans get their panties in a bunch when an article slams VR yet they are laughing and say hey it?s just a review when it bashes Axl or the new gnr.  VR fans keep showing how pathetic they are and how hypocritical they are.  Why is it that its ok to post a negative axl/new gnr article but not a negative vr article?

[Top-Hatted One]

thats because there's more than enough solid reasons to bash Axl

[oldleadbelly]

Dave, seriously, it's time for a new act.

[Eazy E]

Well we really should post all the VR reviews shouldn?t we? You guys missed this one so I posted it for you.

I love how all the VR fans get their panties in a bunch when an article slams VR yet they are laughing and say hey it?s just a review when it bashes Axl or the new gnr. VR fans keep showing how pathetic they are and how hypocritical they are. Why is it that its ok to post a negative axl/new gnr article but not a negative vr article?

I think people have more of a problem with you and your "style" of posting then they do with the New GN'R.

[Mikkamakka]

I still find it hugely annoying that Dave never hardly posts here unless he finds something negative. 99% of the shit out there is positive but you would never see him post any of that. Very immature...

After reading this trash I find it pretty humorous. The guy doesn't really have a clue. All his bashing went no where and had nothing to do with VR's actually music, live show or anything. It was all pretty pointless actually. It was pretty obvious that the guy wanted to suck Axl's dick though. You must be one happy man Dave....? ?

Well we really should post all the VR reviews shouldn?t we? You guys missed this one so I posted it for you.

No, we didn't miss it, it was posted before. But you were too happy reading it so you posted it again forgetting that it's an old story.