Review Summary: The true defining 80s rock revival record to have. Slash is at the top of his game and so is Scott Weiland.
You know the band Velvet Revolver and either you hate them or you love them. No, better yet you hate Slash, the guitarist, or you love Slash. Honestly, I'm in the middle; he's not a bad guitarist but he's not as good as his legacy states. But with Velvet Revolver's second attempt at an 80s rock revival record,
Libertad Slash may actually silence a lot of the critics. Not only is Slash at the top of his game in
Libertad, Scott Weiland is truly at the top of his game; as his vocals are great in this album. He truly shows his multiple vocal abilities in this album, as Scott Weiland often changes his voice throughout the multiple songs on
Libertad.
Libertad truly shines where Guns N' Roses shined; the guitar work. Slash's guitar work is truly refined and as great as its ever been. Some of the guitar solos, such as the guitar solo in
She Builds Quick Machines and even the introduction guitar riff to this song are hard to play and Slash makes them his own in no time. Slash also manages to take the guitar sound from Sweet Child O' Mine and make into a tempo, mood-setting feel in a lot of
Libertad's songs.
Scott Weiland's vocals are another part of
Libertad that has truly showed how much he has matured from his time in Stone Temple Pilots to Velvet Revolver's debut
Contraband. He often goes up and down the scale, his key and pitch changes on almost every song on
Libertad. Scott Weiland's voice has never managed to blend in so well with the music as it does in
Libertad. It sounds as if these guys have been playing together for years. It's truly Scott's greatest accomplishment at the microphone.
Where
Contraband failed
Libertad succeeds; the songs are varied, flow a lot better than they did in
Contraband, but the songs aren't mindless rockers like they were in their first release, as Scott Weiland manages to explore his multiple and many demons in songs like
Pills, Demons & etc. and
Gravedancer. The lyrics are about as heartfelt as rock albums like
Libertad get but that doesn't make it any less hard rock; it still rocks.
The songs are surprisingly more tempo-driven and melodic though, songs like
She Mine, with its unorthodox tempo and guitar riffs, or songs like
She Builds Quick Machines which is about as catchy and fun as hard rock gets. There's plenty other songs that you just can't pass up though,
Mary Mary is fun and surprisingly lighthearted; but the song still manages to grasp the gritty feel of Slash's guitar into a mashup that is
Libertad's best song.
American Man feels like a Stone Temple Pilots outtake, filled with grunge-influenced guitars and Scott exploring the lower reaches of his vocal abilities. Then of course there's the last song,
Gravedancer which starts out like a straight-out hard rocker filled with Slash solos and heavy riffs before it goes into a country-influenced 'hidden song' that sounds about as tame and different than anything they've ever done.
Libertad is plain and straight out the best 80s rock revival album on the market. While
Contraband was such a letdown considering the members of the band,
Libertad is the true defining aspect of what Velvet Revolver should have put on store shelves with their first release. Rock fans of all ages; don't pass this album up, its one of the best we've seen come out of hard rock genres in a long time.
