The most obvious comparison for this band is to Audioslave, the other supergroup to form recently.  This is necessary because Audioslave set a perfect example of what a group like this should be, while Velvet Revolver failed.  Where are Scott Weiland's deep vocals from STP?  Where are Slash's amazing riffs and solos?  They get lost in the confusing assault of sound on this album.  They were too ambitious in trying to create a new sound.  They should have done what Audioslave did in taking the amazing music of RATM, and combining it with Chris Cornell's vocal and songwriting talent, and not trying to fuse them together until they find the right sound, which they clearly did.  Contraband is a mess of noises that don't really seem to flow together, but there is so much potential for this band.  By the way, does anybody else notice that "Dirty Little Thing", and "Sucker Train Blues" are almost the exact same song?