Week 2: Velvet Revolver - Libertad

I’m only two weeks into this deal and I’ve already made a mistake. Rather than opt for a slightly older release like say Linkin Park’s supposedly U2 inspired Minutes to Midnight, Modest Mouse’s We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank (from which I heard a standout track “Missed the Boat” recently), or even Bon Jovi’s new country tinged Lost Highway –I stick to my guns. That’s right, during a very slow July 4th holiday week I stayed the course selecting an album truly released this past Tuesday. That record was none other than Velvet Revolver’s Libertad.

In theory Libertad had some things going for it. First, the Tex-Mex title meaning “freedom” was clearly a brown nosing effort targeted this barely bi-lingual blog. Also I had read a very rock & roll blurb in a recent Rolling Stone where Slash talked about how sweating in leather pants left your legs stained black after shows. Rolling Stone referred to Velvet Revolver’s new album as “killer.” I was curious.

Tuesday I headed to Target and picked up my selection for Music Martes week two. Luckily it was priced right as a $9.99 sale item.

Less than one minute into the disc I was reminded of something awful: as Skeet Ulrich is to Johnny Depp, Scott Weiland is to Eddie Vedder. And that’s one of the biggest problems with Velvet Revolver, they are by definition a “too little too late” band. Pieced together with road kill from G n’ R and STP, Velvet Revolver sounds like leftovers. Even the album art style for Libertad is borrowed from Green Day’s masterpiece American Idiot.

Even more problematic, the filler on Libertad is a hell of a lot harder to tolerate than say Ryan Adams’ rejects. It’s just noise. Velvet Revolver’s last record showed glimpses of promise, but after Libertad I’m afraid the boys are destined for the casinos or the reality shows. In many ways Libertad is an over priced CD single. The only song that really popped off the bat was song five “The Last Fight.” “The Last Fight” seems much more produced than the others,--so much so I was surprised to learn this wasn’t the track Brendan O’ Brien helped on (it was “Can’t Get it out of My Head”). “Last Fight” is the only song on the record, that feels ready to go out on the town. It’s also an interesting message to the track. Weiland references jail, relationships, and his own personal demons in “The Last Fight,” While pleasing to the ear, “Last Fight” sounds like resignation. It’s an exhale track. A give up song that when surrounded by a lot of “trying too hard” feels good. One has to wonder if it’s also sending a bigger message for the band, if maybe Weiland knows the tank is empty. From the sounds of Libertad, waving the white flag is something Velvet Revolver might want to consider.

I was excited to see what Slash could do with the ax. And the boy still has some rattlesnake in his guitar, trouble is he doesn’t have the stadium sized “SERPENTINE!.” This is largely because the music and the licks are void of ideas. Sure Slash can jam on a solo, but he rarely sets your imagination on fire with anything he’s doing. The result is right now Velvet Revolver make the songs between the good songs on your local black t-shirt, mullet rock station.