Velvet Revolver are a formidable collection of important figures from 80’s and 90’s hard rock, and this strong mixture of personalities lends their music a certain charisma, even when it isn’t particularly accomplished.
Velvet Revolver are a formidable collection of important figures from 80’s and 90’s hard rock, and this strong mixture of personalities lends their music a certain charisma, even when it isn’t particularly accomplished.
To explain further: much of Libertad is devoid of infectious riffs and melodies, yet it is still imbued with a great deal of power and presence. When the album is played through, only a handful of tracks will have lodged themselves in the listener’s memory, yet it was still a frantic, enjoyable listening experience for its duration. Just not a particularly memorable one.
The record is dominated by brawny, testosterone-fuelled rockers, full of fat, squealing guitar solos and macho posturing. Ex-Stone Temple Pilot Scott Weiland’s vocals possess a certain sullen charm, but lack dynamics and emotional range. Slash’s guitar-playing is technically skilled, yet still steadfastly traditional, and devoid of any real surprises.
There are only a handful of genuinely excellent songs here. ‘American Man’ is a primitive, balls-out rocker in a similar vein to the rest of the record, but is given added depth courtesy of a spooky guitar riff and some echoey maraca clacks. ‘She Mine’ is also cut from the usual Velvet Revolver cloth, but there is actually a strong vocal hook this time, in the bridge to the chorus.
There is also an excellent trio of power ballads – ‘The Last Fight’, ‘Gravedancer’ and ‘Can’t Get It Out Of My Head’ – on which the boys start to exhibit their flair for melody. The last of these three is particularly impressive, but tellingly, it is an ELO cover – though perhaps the Americans deserve some credit for the grand, Queen-esque arrangement.
The unnamed hidden track provides the only real departure, with its country-ish slide guitar and jaunty bar-room piano. The remainder of the record is one-dimensional, and extremely ‘Revolver-by-numbers, but it still possesses something. This band may be going through the motions, but they are doing it with such style and poise that it is difficult not to cherish them.
If you ever wondered how Slash’s legendary guitar solos would go down without the requisite fog of cigarette smoke in these post-ban environs, the short answer tonight is; they don’t. Shrugging off the rules with enviable elan, the ex-Guns’n’Roses guitarist is tonight doing what he does best – flouting convention and delivering the type of riffs for which big hair and a smattering of menacing looking tattoos are almost required.
Read More As Velvet Revolver prepare to play Dublin on January 12, Duff McKagan talks to Steve Cummins about the band's chart-topping success and his pancreas-exploding days of yore with Guns N' Roses.
Read More While Axl sits away somewhere working on those overdubs just one more time, his former bandmates are having the time of their lives. ‘Fall To Pieces’ does nothing to rewrite the rock template, but you’re in such safe hands that it really doesn’t matter.
Read More Velvet Revolver kick off 2005 with an early January visit to the Point Theatre
Read More Displaying more balls than Old Trafford on a Saturday afternoon, Velvet Revolver’s music is much more than the sum of its parts – and that’s saying something.
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