Rock and Roll seems to be back - - and not in mind-numbing "retro-rock" form. Thats right my friends, forget about The Strokes and The White Stripes and all those other "The _______s" bands. The 60's retro thing might have been cool for a hot minute, but lets face it, its weak jingle pop with a distorted guitar. So now, I present to you the greatest album I've heard this year: Velvet Revolver - "Contraband". Thats right, Velvet Revolver has come screaming into your CD player and offers 60 minutes of pure, unbridled rock and roll. This is the CD that ripoff rock bands like Andrew W.K. and Godsmack wish they could make. Pulsing with the best influences of the past three decades, Velvet Revolver's sound is classic, modern, and forward-looking all at once. They create a menage trois of Guns & Roses' most powerful anthems, Stone Temple Pilots' crunching Zeppelin-influenced grind, and the raw talent of an undiscovered rock powerhouse. So I implore you, make a stop by the local record store and pick up this album. Velvet Revolver: possibly the last great rock band.