|
Let’s get one thing straight:
1. ’It’s not a fucking super group or a pre fabricated
fucking thing.’
2. ‘This isn’t a project.’
3. ’It was a totally organic process how we came together.’
4. ’We don’t sound like G n R and the Stone Temple Pilots
in the way that Audioslave sound like Rage and Soundgarden.’
When you try to keep a band that boasts a line up of
3 ex Guns n Roses and ‘the last real rock n roll’
front man and a ‘secret weapon’, it’s a PR stunt that’s
gonna blow up whatever happens. Whether it be in your
face or out of control, it remains to be seen. Born
out of a 2002 benefit gig for Randy Castillo, and after
a long haul search for a front man, Velvet Revolver
finally looked cocked and ready to rock. Understandably
hailed as a super group, a line up consisting of Slash,
Duff and Matt from Guns, Scott Weiland,
ex Stone Temple Pilots front man and Dave Kushner,
a serial underground guitarist, these guys have seen
it all. When Duff Mckagan starts talking about 3 gram
a day habits being ‘miniscule’, you better believe,
that along with others, he could have written the rulebook
of rock n roll excess. Still any ex Guns n Roses member
synonymous with the lifestyle, it’s a little disconcerting
to see him drinking non alcoholic beer.
Duff comes across as the blonde, more coherent, more
fucking articulate Ozzy. He speaks of family values,
and his two daughters. But he’s back with old partners
in crime (literally). ’I’m really fucking lucky my passion
is what I do. This is the rock band I’ve always wanted
to be in’. Some sound bite coming from the Guns n Roses
bassist. For a band who always looked like imploding,
it’s surprising that the Guns n Roses legacy has lasted
as long as the band members friendships. Almost 8 years
after the acrimonious departure, the ghost of Guns n
Roses retains more than one form, with a few echoes
of their illustrious past.
 So
does time really make the heart grow fonder? It’s no
coincidence that just as Velvet Revolver look to make
a mark, a Guns n Roses greatest hits appears on the
shelves. ’It annoyed us. We had no say in the track
listing. I actually agree with it not coming out sort
of, but it was like you two guys aren’t even in the
fucking band so fuck all y’all’.
In the way Duff and Matt made the skeleton for G n
R it can’t be denied that for all his eccentricity,
Axl, and Slash were the largest cogs in the Guns n Roses
machine. Once one failed, so would everything else.
It’s also not the industries best kept secret that
there was a mutual hatred that raged between all camps.
But it seems less bad blood is being spilt between the
respective bands. ’I’ve got over the situation about
having to leave my ownband. I had to leave that fuckin
disaster. I had to leave while it was still cool’. Stepping
out from the ruins, Slash and Velvet Revolver looked
to open a new chapter but they still needed to find
that missing link.
Enter Scott Weiland. Well documented personal problems
brought about the demise of the Stone Temple Pilots
and almost his own well being before Velvet Revolver
and most notably Duff came to his rescue. ’Scott used
to go to McArthur Park in a white limo and a dress to
score drugs! I mean I learnt early on, drug dealers
deliver to your fuckin house!’ In such professional,
if a little grizzled, company the inevitable hook up
occurred.
On the realisation that ‘there are no old junkies’
it was Weilands influence, from his vocals to his bared
soul lyrics, that deviate Velvet Revolver from their
old selves. ’It sounds pretty fresh. We haven’t really
changed anything at all. From my own point of view it’s
not as riff heavy as Guns, but I can see where you might
see similarities’. Velvet Revolver come at you with
an element of the Sex Pistols fury, some chugging Status
Quo-esque chording and of course Slash’s trademark riff’s
and licks, whilst Scott Weiland pulls off pretty mean
impressions of both Chris Cornell and Axl Rose. It’s
essentially a musical make over. The wrinkles have been
smoothed over, a few things tucked and tweaked, and
Velvet Revolver appear to be the finely toned, finely
tuned form that Guns n Roses once were.
The new found direction and energy that seems to have
returned has created an unexpected sound similar to
that of Audioslave more than anything else, which is
as interesting as it is unexpected. Forthcoming single
‘Slither’ is what ‘Cochise’ was to Audioslave. It’s
a pretty simple recipe, take an imposing riff, add some
phlegm soaked vocals, mix it with years of experience
and you have the perfect comeback single. ‘Slither’
is perfect in the sense it indicates everything you
would expect of the band. They’re older, possibly wiser,
but the ‘fuck you’ attitude won’t go away.
Formed on the premise of everybody making the music
they wanted to make, and following the ‘intense chemistry’
felt on stage and in the studio, the album ‘Contraband’
set to surface in the summer gives the band a perfect
‘vehicle for us to go out and perform’. With Ozzfest
already rejected the temptation of going back to their
roots is providing the perfect spur for the band. ’In
the big stadium shows I played with Guns the lights
would be so bright, sometimes we couldn’t even see the
crowd. I mean we could hear them but that was it’. The
echoed sentiment of both Duff and Slash was that of
’We want to maintain a toe to toe relationship with
our audience. We’re gonna play the small venues too.
We want to keep that closeness but don’t be surprised
if we take out a security guard’’ giving anyone who
missed the Guns n Roses heyday an opportunity to see,
if not hear, what they missed.
As they look to threaten authority from clubs to stadiums,
as well as Guns n Roses record sales, a phoenix has
risen from the smoke and the ash, so when the Revolver
takes aim, will the Guns be smoking?
Track listing Preview for ‘Contraband’
Slither
Sucker Train Blues
Headspaces
Fall to Pieces
Big Machine
Relevant sites:
/http://www.velvetrevolver.net
Sherief Younis for Crud Magazine 2004©
Photos by Karl Larsen
|
