As the lead vocalist/bass guitarist of a Guns N’ Roses cover band, I sit down to write this article with mixed feelings. Of course, most of the factual information contained in this post will already be known to the reader, but it is just included to support most of my opinions. It is just two days before Velvet Revolver (or more popularly known as Guns N’ Weiland or simply VR) release their second album, entitled Libertad; and as I listen to their debut album, Contraband, I cannot help but notice the missing “heaviness” in their songs. Sure it is metal, nowhere near the pop music so cherished by the youth of today, but Slash’s solos have lost their depth since he left Guns N’ Roses eleven years before the release of Contraband. Of course, the lack of depth can be blamed to the speed with which this album was recorded (Contraband was released the very same year that Velvet Revolver was formed), but that truly remains to be seen in Libertad. As for Scott Weil and; with all the criticism about his singing; I, personally, have admired his sense of experimentation since the days he sang for Stone Temple Pilots. His voice, though not as versatile as Axl’s, is definitely heavy metal material! The rhythm guitarist, Dave, is a hardcore heavy metal guitarist and echoes the effect produced by Izzi when he played in Use Your Illusion I. As for Duff and Matt, their style remains the same as it was eleven years before the release of Contraband and this is the same reason why Velvet Revolver still retains that GnR flavour.

Sadly, this is not true for the new Guns N’ Roses. On November 3rd 2006, when GnR fans all over the world had been expecting the rebirth of their favourite heavy metal band for the last fifteen years; they witnessed an album that could have been made in two years without all the hype surrounding it (a sad demise?). For most of you who have watched End of Days and heard its song Oh My God, would have expected a changed Guns N’ Roses when their album Chinese Democracy finally released. But no one could have expected what Chinese Democracy finally had to offer. Yes, overall it is a good heavy metal album; but it is a major disappointment considering that it took fifteen years to make after the release of the Use Your Illusion double album (which are one of the best heavy metal albums in rock history). The album was actually finished in 1999, but since then, members of the new line up have come and gone in and out of the band. It is argued that if Buckethead (Slash’s replacement as lead guitarist) had not quit the band in 2001, Chinese Democracy would have been a much better album than the final product. Unfortunately, this statement cannot be proved. After listening to the album, one cannot help but wonder where Axl’s perfectionist nature has vanished. Yes, he is still the old Axl Rose, but the rest of his line up have proved to be amateurs compared to Duff, Slash, Matt, Izzi or Gilby.

Waiting for Libertad to hit the stores; I have already prepared myself to judge it as a die hard Guns N’ Roses fan, by listening again to all the albums of Guns N’ Roses and the one by VR. Nothing that has been produced by either band in this decade can match the magnificence of Appetite for Destruction or Use Your Illusion I or II. But when I listen to Libertad, I will already be equipped with enough GnR music in my head to judge it by the new and old GnR standards. After having said all this, one cannot help but wonder if all the credit to Guns N’ Roses’ earlier success goes to Duff McKagan, Matt Sorum and Slash. The only way to find that out is by listening to Libertad and judging whether the guitaring legend, Slash, stands up to his name and gives us solos like the ones still ringing in our ears from Sweet Child o’ Mine and November Rain!