Velvet Revolver's debut album "Contraband" is the album for those disappointed by Metallica's "St. Anger." This is a work of ferocious, sometimes personal hard rock virtuosity that we haven't seen since, well golly, since the days of Guns N' Roses. It's no secret that the hype and attention directed at the band is due mostly to the fact that these are the ex musicians of the classic metal band fronted by Stone Temple Pilots wild man Scott Weiland. Some may say this is a publicity stunt, but here the guys prove they are really just a group of musicians emerging back into the flood lights desperate to really rock out. The band doesn't even try to prepare you for what's coming, with the first track "Sucker Train Blues" they immediately inject a roaring dose of Punk meets metal meets blues hard rock that never slows down. A lot of the album feels like a speeding train going out of control, the great thing about these veterans of classic song writing is that they know how to put heart and melody into the distortion. "Illegal I Song" and "Superhuman" sound like end of the world anthems of decadence and debauchery, but the band members know how to do it with gusto and Weiland brings his melodic brushstrokes from his STP days and masterfully mingles them with Slash's burning guitar licks and Matt Sorum's driving drums. Their tune for the "Hulk" movie, "Set Me Free" is also here and it still sounds like a refreshing rocker for a dry season for those tired of Linkin Park. The single "Slither" is one of the album's best cuts, it has a pounding trible drum feel, ripping chords and Weiland sounding like a Jim Morrison meets Iggy Pop with a dose of Kurt Cobain mutant. And yet the band isn't all pounding and roaring, their softer moments are evocative and very well-assembled. "You Got No Right" almost feels like a skillfull intermixing of 60's ballad-crooning with modern hard rock touches. "Loving The Alien" is another more softer moment that sounds like classic STP reflecting mixed with GNR jamming. One of the stand-out elements of the lyrics is the fact that Weiland makes them so personal at times. For months there was so much talk about the group's future seeming hazy after Weiland's double run-in with the law and his stint at rehab (again). But this adds to the emotions and feelings pouring from the songs, in "Slither" Weiland sings "rape my mind and smell the poppies" and gets edgier and more honest in other tracks. The guy has obviously suffered and knows how to filter it through the music. Velvet Revolver signals like Audioslave, the new era of the supergroup. Here we have some of the best rock talents of the past 20 years jamming and delivering with an album of pure ferocity. Anyone looking for something refreshing and exhilarating should make this album into a must.