Velvet Revolver

Contraband

RCA Records

Grad: A

"Contraband" by Velvet Revolver is a pleasant mixture of Stone Temple Pilots' lyrics with Guns N' Roses' musical scores.

The union of Scott Weiland from STP and Slash, Duff and Matt Sorum from GNR (as well as Dave Kushner from Infectious Grooves) is not unrewarding.

Fans of both bands will quickly see similarities, especially on tracks "Fall to Pieces" and "Superhuman," where Slash's guitar intros and solos are quite noticeable.

The music itself seems to fall in an alternative/metal genre of its own and does not disappoint.

Some of the explicit lyrics will have anyone shouting "Sweet child of mine!" but nothing is there that will ruin the album as a whole.

Not one song on the CD should leave anyone a sour girl, especially with songs of all types and tempos.

The album's first single, "Slither," is up-tempo with a great Slash solo, while other songs, such as "Fall to Pieces" and "Loving the Alien" are slightly slower, with Slash solos, as well.

The only thing seemingly missing from the album is the vocal styling of Axl Rose from the original GNR to complement Slash's guitar play.

That being said, the album is great.

Some might even call it paradise city.

"Contraband" proves that the older guys still have life in their music.

Not many star artists have the guts to come together and put fame and pride away to make great music, but Velvet Revolver accomplishes that in great fashion.

As no surprise, the album jumped to the Billboard number one spot and sold over 256,000 compact disks in the first week of its release.

Hopefully "Contraband" is the beginning of a beautiful union amongst past greats. But, then again, nothing lasts forever É not even cold November rain.

-- By Kyle Roberts, Staff Writer