![]() The current CD/Apple Music master is headache-inducing and while I love the performance and songs, I seldom listen to it because it is a sonic mess. ![]() Those of you who have been longtime readers of Subjective Sounds would likely be surprised at that statement but this is one album whereby the original release is arguably worse than the worst remaster I’ve ever come across. To say Contraband needs a remaster is an understatement. I simply can’t understand why musicians with such credibility would have allowed their music to be released in this manner. Seriously, November Rain, Estranged, and Don’t Cry would have been absolute failures if they were mastered this badly. Even the ballad, Fall To Pieces is a noisy mess that lacks the definition and subtleties that are heard on basically every Guns N’ Roses album. Loudness was thoroughly applied resulting in a massively compressed soundstage that comes across as noise, rather than a musical masterpiece. It isn’t the performance, but the chosen recording style, mix and mastering. Yes, dear reader, Velvet Revolver’s Contraband sounds like crap. That is if you can get over the crushed soundstage that is just grinding and at times intolerable. With Contraband, Velvet Revolver pull off something tidy - their music manages both hedonism and maturity.As a lifelong Guns N’ Roses fan, Velvet Revolver appeared to be the natural transition following the dissolution of the original Guns N’ Roses lineup in the late 90s and while one shouldn’t compare the all-star lineup of Velvet Revolver, their songs are, for the most part, hard-hitting garage rock tunes that don’t break new ground but are a worthy addition to the rock and roll genre. Remember, between them they've probably seen it all. These mediations point to the pain behind Weiland's cynical veneer, and perhaps the entire band's veteran hope for a head-clearing open space. Lead single "Slither" is an immediate highlight, its gasoline-drinking cocaine strut staining it as the offspring of "Big Bang Baby" and "Nightrain", while the album's detours - "Fall to Pieces", the gorgeous "Loving the Alien" - are painted in dusty reds and browns, like idealized fever dreams of escaping to the desert with the one you love. Overall, Contraband sounds pretty much like you'd expect of such a collaboration. rock chorus "Headspace" alternates representative chunks of both bands' sounds with veteran skill and "Superhuman" rants about illegal substances in language everyone can understand. The bass-heavy throb of "Big Machine"'s verses surges into a hard-charging '90s alt. But they're not running a nostalgia show, so there are new tricks and sounds, too, and plenty of choruses that shift into STP-style layering and vocal phrasing. like stirring up their old demons - check the explosive entrance on "Set Me Free" to get things a-tingling like the old days. But his appetite for the spotlight has somehow become more voracious even as he fights cynically against it, and longs for an escape. Weiland still mugs and sings like a florescent lizard king. Maturity has clearly come at a price for both parties. "Went too fast I'm out of luck and I don't even give a f*ck," Weiland spits on "Do It for the Kids," and a peel from Slash's arsenal backs him up. ![]() With STP's vocalist and such a high percentage of ex-Gunners, Velvet Revolver really is a supergroup. Contraband features Slash, Duff, and Matt Sorum (as well as additional guitarist Dave Kushner) cranking out an updated version of Guns N' Roses swagger behind Scott Weiland's glammy, elastic vocals. ![]()
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