Velvet Revolver

As with Contraband, the first Velvet Revolver CD, Libertad is an amalgam of its influences: some good (Guns N' Roses), others less so (Stone Temple Pilots). Still, the unregenerate retro-ness of the project — and of Slash's axing in general — will leave those with a taste for cock rock at least temporarily sated. The best songs bookend the disc: "Let It Roll," the opener, is an appropriately succinct scorcher, while "Don't Drop a Dime," a hidden track, is "Dead Flowers" country by way of the Betty Ford Center. In between, Scott Weiland pours on plenty of STP, and if the slickness doesn't prove fatal on "She Mine," it clogs up "The Last Flight" and a dreadful cover of ELO's "Can't Get It Out of My Head." As for "Pills, Demons & Etc.," yet another of Weiland's gonna-stay-clean proclamations, the tune's nothing special until Slash's solo, after which it goes back to being nothing special again. This last bit of guitar wankery goes on for just 18 seconds. Still, it feels mighty nice while it lasts.