Velvet Revolver
Libertad
(RCA)
Essentially soft and unable to point it where you want it, Velvet Revolver is an appropriate name for a band whose pop tendencies have upset and confused rock snobs, given the players' hard rock pedigree.
Libertad does indeed carry a sense of identity crisis, veering from hard-edged rock to sanitised melody. There is the occasional sense that guitarist Slash may be imprisoned in his python cage as the album lacks the kind of artery-bursting rock-out that Set Me Free provided for 2004's Contraband. Even maracas and pianos feature as well as a cover of ELO's Can't Get it Out of My Head.
Yet there's an undeniable sense of progression: Let it Roll is a raucous opener, while She Builds Quick Machines features an irresistible duel between Slash and his old Guns N' Roses chum Duff McKagan on bass.