Contraband

1	Sucker Train Blues
2	Do It for The Kids
3	Big Machine
4	Illegal i Song
5	Spectacle
6	Fall to Pieces
7	Headspace
8	Superhuman
9	Set Me Free
10	You Got No Right
11	Slither
12	Dirty Little Thing
13	Loving the Alien

Barnes & Noble

On paper, the mating of Scott Weiland and Guns 'N Roses' musical core seemed like a slam-dunk in terms of both sonic melding and that old birds-of-a-feather thing. And while best-laid plans can sometimes go awry, Contraband shows the newly assembled team hitting the ground running as fast and furiously as any of the members did in their previous lives. They set a surly guttersnipe tone right from the siren-laced opening moments of "Sucker Train Blues," on which Weiland rasps through a set of urban-jungle diatribes that run headlong into some of Slash's most acidic guitar playing in ages. "Illegal I Song" -- perhaps the closest thing to an antisocial Appetite for Destruction–style anti-anthem in evidence here -- is bathed in a similarly purposeful ugliness that's underscored by both asymmetrical battering-ram rhythms and distorted vocals. Contraband isn't entirely given over to back-alley explorations, though. "Do It for the Kids," punctuated with harmony-laden choruses and driven by four-on-the-floor drumming, plays up the dissipated pop aspect of the band's sound, while the instantly contagious "Spectacle" flirts with glam-rock coquettishness. Naturally enough, the specter of power ballad rears its head -- in the form of "Fall to Pieces" -- and just as naturally, that's Contraband's one snooze-inducing stretch. But taken as a whole, the disc proves that bad attitude and big riffs will always go together like a burger and fries. David Sprague

All Music Guide

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. With STP's vocalist and such a high percentage of ex-Gunners, Velvet Revolver really is a supergroup. "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. Maturity has clearly come at a price for both parties. Weiland still mugs and sings like a florescent lizard king. But his appetite for the spotlight has somehow become more voracious even as he fights cynically against it, and longs for an escape. For their part, Slash, Duff, and Co. like stirring up their old demons -- check the explosive entrance on "Set Me Free" to get things a-tingling like the old days. 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. The bass-heavy throb of "Big Machine"'s verses surges into a hard-charging '90s alt. rock chorus; "Headspace" alternates representative chunks of both bands' sounds with veteran skill; and "Superhuman" rants about illegal substances in language everyone can understand. Overall, Contraband sounds pretty much like you'd expect of such a collaboration. 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. 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. Remember, between them they've probably seen it all. With Contraband, Velvet Revolver pull off something tidy - their music manages both hedonism and maturity. Johnny Loftus

Rolling Stone

Contraband... is a rare, fine thing: the sound of the perfect A&R sales pitch turning into a real band. David Fricke