This should be, and probably will be, the album to reignite interest in guitar oriented rock and roll.  While it isn't Guns and Roses or Stone Temple Pilots (nor should it be), this entire CD has a quality that has been missing from popular music for too long.  It sounds gritty, raw, and dangerous, and while I wouldn't say Contraband is a great album, it is a very good one.  The heavy songs rock, the ballads work without being syrupy, and nothing on the CD sounds like filler to me.  Velvet Revolver should be a very interesting and productive second act for McKagen, Slash, Sorum, and Weiland. Let's hope they keep it together long enough to realize their potential!