Velvet Revolver

Call them Stone Temple Roses if you want, but they still rock. With singer Scott Weiland (Stone Temple Pilots) and three ex-Guns N’ Roses members, including guitarist Slash, this is a headbangers ball. The opener “Sucker Train Blues” begins with a “Welcome to the Jungle” riff and ends with a scream. “Big Machine” is a rage against the world with the memorable line “He’s a junkie piece of shit because he says so.” “Fall to Pieces,” one of two ballads, is sad and painful but full of emotion, even if it nicks from Boston’s “More Than a Feeling.” The first single, “Slither,” is slinky sex rock with a cool guitar freakout by Slash. Weiland’s voice has always recalled David Bowie’s; it’s much better than Axl Rose’s. Contraband is like Beavis and Butt-head’s wet dream—so let’s party like it’s 1989.