Oregonian Contraband review

New band's aim is true
Friday, June 04, 2004
MARTY HUGHLEY

Guns N' Roses was the biggest hard-rock band of the late '80s and early '90s, but there was always the problem of Axl Rose. Between his infamous prima donna petulance and a voice like the shriek of a rat being stepped on, Rose made the group difficult to love.

A few years later, Stone Temple Pilots never was that hard to enjoy; it was just hard to admit you enjoyed them. Tarred early on as opportunists aboard the grunge bandwagon, they'd never shed the stigma, at least in the eyes of critics and hipsters.

But there was undeniable talent at work in both bands, and a new group featuring three GNR refugees (guitarist Slash, bassist Duff McKagan, drummer Matt Sorum) and STP singer Scott Weiland brings us another chance at appreciation. The group, which plays at the Roseland Theater on Saturday night, is called Velvet Revolver, maybe because the name Stone Roses has already been used.

On "Contraband," the debut album due out Tuesday, the group bears the expected resemblance to its predecessors, with lots of the big, dirty guitar grinding of GNR and flashes of the textural and melodic inclinations of STP. Slash remains an exemplary hard-rock player, instinctively able to tell heat from mere flash, and he works well with second guitarist Dave Kushner, an old friend of his. As important, McKagan and Sorum groove better than in their old band.

Weiland's versatility also is a big asset, as he moves from defiant shouts to sneering insinuation to pained confessions. Lyrically, he traces a tortuous path through his recent divorce and recurring substance abuse. It's sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll, but he's using one to get through withdrawal from the others. The band's electrifying riffage and Weiland's anguish come together best in the first half of the album, on expletive-laced rants such as "Do It for the Kids" and "Big Machine."

This is the kind of band that likes to think of itself as dangerous. And even if the main danger these notorious overindulgers pose is to themselves, the music has the swagger and the killer instinct to unite the hard-rock audience behind a band you can both respect and love.