![]() ![]() I’d even go as far as calling it a masterpiece. Nothing to write home about, but enjoyable nonetheless.įall To Pieces is a favourite of mine. It is, unfortunately, a song that I tend to skip. The mastering limitations here is what I call headache-inducing. Illegal I Song suffers badly from the applied loudness, a shame considering it could have been significantly different. Nevertheless, Big Machine is a song that I love and one that everyone can relate to. I would have loved to have this as the lead song with Sucker Train Blues and Do It For The Kids slotted into other positions in the tracking of the record. Seriously, how distant is Sorum’s drumming on this track? It sounds like he isn’t even in the same studio and those cymbal crunches are just too crunchy with no decay present.ĭo It For The Kids is “R&FNR” and is thoroughly enjoyable.īig Machine is where, for me, Contraband begins. ![]() It is pure rock and roll but is the first of many examples of over-compression that takes away from the performance. Sucker Train Blues is a promising start to the album, but the song is a sucker once it gets past its introduction. A shame, yes, but it’s just something us fans have to live with. It is as if egos got the better of the musicians and each musician turned their performance up to eleven, thereby masking everyone else’s contribution. Dave Kushner maintains the rhythm and Scott Weiland sang his ass off, yet there isn’t a standout element to be heard on Contraband. Thankfully, Slash is always loud and clear, but that is no surprise. Unfortunately, when listening to the album I find that Matt Sorum’s drum performance is completely lost in the mix while Duff McKagan’s bass is only occasionally heard as a separate instrument. I acknowledge that the vinyl release for Contraband is more dynamic but one can likely understand my scepticism given the dismal mastering quality of the digital release doesn’t exactly exude confidence in this music lover especially when reviews have been mixed. The current CD/Apple Music master is headache-inducing and while I love the performance and songs, I seldom listen to it because it is a sonic mess. Those of you who have been longtime readers of Subjective Sounds would likely be surprised at that statement but this is one album whereby the original release is arguably worse than the worst remaster I’ve ever come across. To say Contraband needs a remaster is an understatement. I simply can’t understand why musicians with such credibility would have allowed their music to be released in this manner. Seriously, November Rain, Estranged, and Don’t Cry would have been absolute failures if they were mastered this badly. Even the ballad, Fall To Pieces is a noisy mess that lacks the definition and subtleties that are heard on basically every Guns N’ Roses album. Loudness was thoroughly applied resulting in a massively compressed soundstage that comes across as noise, rather than a musical masterpiece. It isn’t the performance, but the chosen recording style, mix and mastering. Yes, dear reader, Velvet Revolver’s Contraband sounds like crap. ![]() That is if you can get over the crushed soundstage that is just grinding and at times intolerable. As a lifelong Guns N’ Roses fan, Velvet Revolver appeared to be the natural transition following the dissolution of the original Guns N’ Roses lineup in the late 90s and while one shouldn’t compare the all-star lineup of Velvet Revolver, their songs are, for the most part, hard-hitting garage rock tunes that don’t break new ground but are a worthy addition to the rock and roll genre. ![]()
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