The much anticipated team up of Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland with former Guns 'N Roses members Slash, Duff, and Matt Sorum seemed like a better idea on paper than the actual product.  As a band, Velvet Revolver tries to blend both elements of STP and Guns 'N Roses with alternative hooks and power ballad melodies; but it doesn't mix.  "Set Me Free", a teaser track featured on last summer's Hulk soundtrack, is just that: a teaser of what kind of album "Contraband" could have been.  "Do It For the Kids" is a rocking track, but the power ballads are stale for the most part, and where are the thick and heavy guitar riffs from Slash that we all expected and hoped for?  It's still worth a listen, just don't expect anything as profound as the material that these guys have put out before.